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Floor Plan Ideas, An “L” Shaped Building, and Floor Insulation

This Monday the Pole barn Guru answers questions about floor plan ideas for a monitor style building, plans for a “Zen Den” or “Party Barn” in an L shape, and whether or not it is worth adding reflective radian barrier under slab.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Hello, I am wondering if you have any floor plan ideas for a monitor style pole barn home for 4/5 bedrooms? I am running into a wall trying to create one and can’t find many online. I have 1 friend who recently bought a kit from you with a usable upstairs area and that is something that I’m definitely interested in. I believe her plan was 48×50. Any info would be extremely helpful. Thank you! NATE in PEYTON

DEAR NATE: Your friend happens to be one of my most favorite clients – they have been an absolute joy to work with. One beauty of post frame buildings is an broad adaptability to interior layouts. With a monitor style of these dimensions, you could easily have as much as 3600 square feet of floor space. For creating ideal floor plans, here are some tips:
Plan tips – consider these factors:

Direction of access (you don’t want to have to drive around your house to get to garage doors)

‘Curb appeal’ – what will people see as they drive up?
Any views?
North-south alignment – place no or few windows on north wall, lots on south wall

Overhang on south wall to shade windows from mid-day summer sun If your AC bill is far greater than your heating bill, reverse this and omit or minimize north overhangs.

Slope of site

Work from inside out – do not try to fit what you need within a pre-ordained box just because someone said using a “standard” size might be cheaper. Differences in dimensions from “standard” are pennies per square foot, not dollars.

Use the links in this article to assist with determining needed spaces, sizes and how to get expertly crafted floor plans and elevation drawings https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2019/10/show-me-your-barndominium-plans-please/

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: We are considering building a “zen den” or “party barn” scenario in our backyard. I have sketched a L shaped scenario that would be perfect for our needs. Is it possible for you all to do L shaped custom? How do I get started? We don’t want to mortgage the house for this thing 🙂 CHRISTY in NASHVILLE

DEAR CHRISTY: Our oldest daughter happens to be the Midwest version of a neighbor to you (here in South Dakota anything under 100 miles is a neighbor LOL) – she is a very successful professional Walking Horse trainer in Shelbyville!

Every building provided by Hansen Pole Buildings is entirely 100% custom – designed to best fit wants and needs of our clients. Whether L, T, Y or U shaped, your only limitations are your imagination and available space. One of our Building Designers will be reaching out to you for more information, or you can email your ideas to caleb@hansenpolebuildings.com or dial (866)200-9657 (please include your site address and best contact phone number if you do).

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Going to have floor poured in 40×40 pole barn, the barn will be well insulated. My question is putting radiant barrier under floor help at all with losing heat and cold coming through the floor will not be heated be an overhead shop heater. Walls will be r30 and ceiling is roughly r50, or is it a waste of money? Thank you. SHANE in FOSTORIA

DEAR SHANE: A reflective radiant barrier under your slab will not make any appreciable difference. You would be money better spent to use two foot of rigid R-10 insulation vertically below your sidewall steel base trim and backfill it on both sides.

This entry was posted in Pole Barn Questions, Pole Barn Design, Pole Barn Planning, Concrete, Building Interior, Lofts, Sheds, Pole Barn Homes, Pole Barn Heating and tagged radiant barrier, custom design, monitor style building, L shape building, floor plans on October 5, 2020 by admin.

Insulation, Spray Foam Issues, and Floor Plans

Lets close out the week with a fifth installment of The Pole Barn Guru. Today he’ll answer questions about the best insulation for a building with steel roofing over a vapor barrier over plywood, potential issues installing spray foam, and a request for a floor plan example– we now have a third party provider of interior floor plans!

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: My barn has metal roofing over a vapor barrier over plywood. How can I best insulate the ceiling if I want to keep the slope and not enclose it into an attic space? DARCY in TURNER

DEAR DARCY: Closed cell spray foam insulation between your purlins is really your only choice, as any other method requires venting from eave to ridge above the insulation layer. You can expect somewhere close to R-7 per inch. First inch should be roughly $1.30 per square foot, with 70 cents per square foot for each additional inch.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I am thinking of spray foaming my steel pole building, have you heard of any issues? Thanks TOM in LINO LAKES

DEAR TOM: In a not too long ago addition to our home, as well as Hansen Pole Buildings’ Productions Building warehouse, we applied closed cell spray foam directly to steel panels with excellent results. You can read more here: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2020/04/spray-foam-insulation-3/. You do have to protect interior spray foam surfaces from flame and make sure your installer is experienced and well trained to avoid potential issues with stink from a poor installation.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Do you have a floor plan example for model #08-0602 LORRIE in CLARKSDALE

DEAR LORRIE: We provide only the structural portion of most of our buildings, so do not have a floor plan for this particular building. You can have a floor plan custom designed for this particular building while best fitting your wants and needs via this link: http://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/post-frame-floor-plans/?fbclid=IwAR2ta5IFSxrltv5eAyBVmg-JUsoPfy9hbWtP86svOTPfG1q5pGmfhA7yd5Q

This entry was posted in Building Interior, Professional Engineer, Pole Barn Heating, Insulation, Pole Barn Questions, Pole Barn Planning, Ventilation, Alternate Siding and tagged floor plans, custom design, spray foam safety, insulation, spray foam on September 25, 2020 by admin.

Installing Buildings, Additions, and Custom Designs

Today the Pole Barn Guru answers questions about installing buildings, adding on to an existing structure, and custom designs.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: If we purchased from your company do have does it come with installing in Hedgesville WV. Thank you. BRENDA in HEDGESVILLE

DEAR BRENDA: Our buildings are designed to be able to be successfully constructed by anyone who can and will read instructions in English. And frankly, an average building owner will probably end up with a far better resultant than if a construction ‘professional’ was hired. We are not contractors or installers anywhere.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I have a detached block building that I would like to attach a 30×30 building on one side. Is it possible to mix the construction methods and have a shared wall or do they need to be separated with a breezeway or the like? The shared wall would be the gable end of the building. Frost heave is a concern in my area.

My thinking would be to do concrete piers under each post that go from below the frost line to few inches above grade. Would the two sides move too differently to work? ROBERT in ANNAPOLIS

DEAR ROBERT: It’s certainly possible to mix two dissimilar construction methods. Post frame buildings lend themselves well to being attached to a myriad of other types of structures.

As to frost heave movement, new addition portion of site can be prepared to virtually assure there will be no heave. You can read about prevention of frost heave here: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2011/10/preventing_frost_heaves_in_pole_building_construction/

If you prepare new site properly, then any movement issues could be attributed to existing block building – hopefully you have not been experiencing them.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I built a Hanson building kit many years ago. The gable ends were framed with 2×12, center pole, and purlins sat on a 2×8? and were nailed thru 2×12. Is this still an option for gable ends with sliding doors? DAN in HARRINTON

DEAR DAN: If you absolutely loved your previous building kit, then it must be one of ours! In all seriousness, I have searched through our records and we do not show you as having been a previous client. Also, we have never designed buildings with raftered ends, rather than trusses, unless it was to be pole and rafter design without any trusses, or was a specific request by a client. We also use engineered hangers to connect roof purlins to rafters or trusses, rather than reliance upon a nailed only connection on top of a ledger.

Whilst it would be possible to design such as you have suggested, it may merely add complexity, without benefit of gaining any interior height. My recommendation, call (866)200-9657 and discuss your particular needs with a Hansen Pole Buildings’ Designer.