Tag Archives: attic spaces

How to Avoid Your Barndominium Being Kicked to the Curb

How to Avoid Your Barndominium Being Kicked to the Curb

Welcome back from last Thursday!

When it comes to resale value, you want your barndominium’s curb appeal to add to value, not kick you to the curb.

There are things you can do during design and build phases to improve appeal and good news is, many of them are relatively inexpensive.

Free – color choices. Try to avoid trendy or garish color combinations, as well as colors prone to rapid fading (reds are worst). For most steel siding and roofing colors, an upgrade to Kynar paint will keep colors looking close to new and minimize chalking for decades. Faded steel makes your barndominium look years older than its true age.
Utilize wainscot panels to break up walls (especially tall ones). If a wainscot panel gets damaged it can easily be replaced.

Roof slopes can dramatically improve curb appeal. Rather than a warehouse like a near flat roof, use 4/12 or greater roof slopes to increase interest.

Overhangs not only provide protection to your barndominium’s siding and shield southern exposed windows from extreme summer rays, but also take away industrial and boxy looks. Functionally they provide a great source of air intake for venting interior enclosed attic spaces.

Driveways and walkways oriented to provide obvious pathways to your main doorway are always good for favorable impressions. Protect your barndominium’s front door by either a recessed entry, or having an extended reverse gable roof to provide shelter for those who are awaiting an invitation into your home.

Avoid building a big box. Garage/shop areas can be shifted in relationship to living areas, breaking up what would otherwise appear to be a long, straight wall. Consider creating an “L” in living spaces. With a single level home and a tall shop space, turn shop roofs 90 degrees to run roofline opposite house roof.

Garage door openings with 45 degree ‘dogears’ in upper corners cost little and add lots. Utilize raised panel residential overhead doors, rather than commercial doors.

Porches have become popular barndominium features. To avoid them appearing dark (as well as blocking lines of sight), utilize trusses spanning across not only living areas, but also out across your porch. Consider wrap around porches to increase function as well as curb appeal.

It is well worth investing in services of a design professional. Someone who can take all of your ideas, those wants and needs and actually craft a floor plan and elevations to best melding them with the realities of construction and an attractive curb appeal.

Hansen Pole Buildings has just this service available and it can be done absolutely for free! Read all the details here and we look forward to continuing to walk with you in your journey to a beautiful new home: http://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/post-frame-floor-plans/?fbclid=IwAR2ta5IFSxrltv5eAyBVmg-JUsoPfy9hbWtP86svOTPfG1q5pGmfhA7yd5Q

Post Frame Purlin Blocking

Every time I begin to rest on my laurels and think I have covered all post frame (pole barn) building basics up jumps yet another one to bite me where I deserve to be bitten due to my overlooking it.

Our independent drafting team at Hansen Pole Buildings (thanks Kristie) came up with this question recently.

“As we are building our building, a question came up: what is the reason for purlin blocking? Why do we need it? What’s the important purpose for it? We will be doing this step tomorrow and actually considered skipping it (sorry, bad of us I know). Is this all explained in the CM, because I have looked and couldn’t find the why’s. I bet ALOT of people skip this step and just wanted to see why we have it.”

Well, our 500 page Construction Assembly Manual covers lots of “how tos” and very few “whys”. Biggest reason is we would hate to make it into a 700 or 800 page manual. We try to cover it all and continually add to it and improve it, so every time we get a question not covered by it, we add more information. Even though these subjects do not make a dime for Hansen Pole Buildings, we have recently expanded sections on Site Preparation and Concrete Floors. It is all part of us delivering “The Ultimate Post Frame Building Experience™” https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2019/05/the-ultimate-post-frame-building-experience-2/

Back on task – I will preface this by letting you readers know Kristie and her husband are currently erecting their own Hansen Pole Building.

There exist two types of purlin blocking:

At endwalls (this is Kristie’s case) – Building Codes require airflow from vented soffit on gables overhangs be blocked off. Ventilation for dead attic spaces must be accomplished by either a combination of eave and ridge vents or by gable vents. Venting through end overhangs will disrupt airflow for a properly ventilated attic space.

Structurally a solid load path must be provided in any building to transfer wind shear loads from roofing to ground. Purlins overhanging an end truss and attaching with a hanger such as a Simpson H-1 do not accomplish this. Brackets will not prevent purlin rotation under extreme loads. Properly placed, endwall overhang soffit panels can be attached to these same blocks, as they serve a plethora of duties.

Purlin blocking can also be “mid-span” – when a 2×10 or larger member (girt, purlin, floor joist, etc.) is 2×10 or greater mid-span blocking is required if a member is unsupported for more than eight feet.

There you have it and if you win on Jeopardy thanks to this, I will work for a percentage.