Tag Archives: roll in shower

Must Do’s for a Worry Free Barndominium

My Facebook friend RICK in MALDEN messaged me:

“I have never built a building like this. I have seen many bad experiences with concrete, poor quality metal work and many more issues. I would just like to know if there is a list of things to make sure I get a quality home. I saw the other day you said osb under the roof metal could help with condensation issues. I’m also worried about gaps where the metal meets together. I don’t want to just shoot spray insulation and call it good. You have said that is not the way to do it. I guess I’m looking for something to tell me the quality method for the most common mistakes people or contractors make. I am using a contractor because I don’t have the skill or experience to DIY. I also don’t want to rely on the contractor to tell me the right way. If I had it my way I’d have you do it. You are the most knowledgeable and in-depth person I have found on the internet about the Barndo building subject.”

Thank you for all of your kind words. 

There are days when I think what a joy it would be to be out building. I do truly love to build, smells of earth from freshly dug holes, lumber being taken out of a wrapped unit, sawdust – all of these give me warm, fuzzy nostalgic feelings.

I have kept myself in great physical condition and at 63 years-old I could certainly be out building. And I do know there are folks who would gladly pay my rate to have me do their construction. However this would allow me to properly assist only one client at a time. What I do now allows me to help thousands of people every year to get better buildings.

Enough of me waxing poetic – let’s get down to business!

(Side note – much of this advice is expounded upon in detail in previously written articles. Please visit www.HansenPoleBuildings.com, navigate to SEARCH at upper right corner, click on it, type in a word or phrase and ENTER)

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? If so, take advantage of them.

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.

Put up the largest building you can economically justify and fit on your property.

Plan for accessibility – 4′ or wider hallways and stairs, an ADA bathroom with a roll in shower. 3′ wide interior doors.

Walk-in (roll-in) closets for bedrooms, even secondary ones.

Consider if you truly want to live on a concrete floor. Crawl spaces are roughly the same investment.

Kitchen – two dishwashers, two microwaves, two ovens, trash compactor. Separate side-by-side refrigerator and freezer units. A good sized pantry.

9′ or 10′ finished ceilings in living areas.

Onto building construction itself….

Probably most important (and most often neglected) is proper site prep.

Make sure there is a vapor barrier under any slab-on-grade (and use 10-15 mil).

For slab-on-grade at least have pex-al-pex tubes run.

Personally I like flash & batt for walls – two inches of closed cell spray foam ideally with BIBs insulation to fill balance of insulation cavity. In this circumstance, you do not want a WRB, however you do want to order inside closures for top and bottom of every wall panel.

Order raised heel trusses so you can blow in fiberglass insulation to full depth from wall-to-wall.

For condensation control – use steel panels with Integral Condensation Control.

Vent sidewall overhangs and ridge.

Use all 5/8″ Type X sheetrock.

Make sure you and your contractor have a written agreement covering everything – it keeps feelings from being hurt and clearly outlines expectations. I will have a series of articles soon outlining some important inclusions for agreements, please watch for them.

Is This Floor Plan Doable as a Post Frame Barndominium Kit?

Is This Floor Plan Doable as a Post Frame Barndominium Kit?

This question was posed by Reader TIFFANY in HOPKINSVILLE. My answer is yes. Whether an existing floor plan or a custom design – virtually anything you can imagine, can be converted to a post frame barndominium kit, provided it is possible to do structurally at all!

When it comes down to it, your only limitations are – your imagination, budget and available space.

Here is an online description of this build:

“This design is of another stunning ranch-farmhouse which brings back a beautiful era. Country-style living is now becoming a trend all over America and there are many reasons why. Sometimes, a peaceful living space is all it takes for one to get a complete lifestyle makeover. The busy city can take a huge toll on one’s health, be it mentally or physically. It’s very hard to relax when you hear the loud honking of cars outside, parties in the next room and a ton of workload. Wouldn’t it be nice to move into a peaceful house where none of those things exist? This beautiful traditional ranch-farmhouse could be your dreamhouse.

A wrap-around porch and a steep roofline is among the many beautiful elements that this house has to offer. Having a traditional ranch-farmhouse for home doesn’t mean you’re going to totally eliminate any sense of modernity. The facade of this house can be tweaked and redecorated to perfectly suit the family. A family of around 5 members can freely occupy the three spacious bedrooms in this layout. Palladian head windows and doors are installed on the walls to provide the house natural sunlight.

A large attic could be utilized as a storage room or a man-cave for hobbyist dads. It can also be turned into another bedroom for new members of the household. The space on the upper level is vast and ideal for any purpose.”

 

Stats: 1,793 sq. ft., 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 car garage.”

I am a great believer in homes being custom crafted to best meet the wants, needs and budget of those who will live in it, as well as being tailored to best fit upon one’s property. With this said, I fear no canned plan is going to meet this.

In my humble opinion there are some less than ideal features in this plan. These would include:

Lack of accessible features – all doors should be three feet wide, hallways four feet. A step down to a dining room means those 10% of Americans who will be confined to a wheelchair at some point in their life will not be able to eat with everyone else. It is also a trip hazard, especially for guests. Sunken living or dining rooms were possible in he 90’’s but have mostly gone out of vogue. There is no accessible bathroom or roll in shower.

Upstairs bonus room – bonus rooms are not free space by any means. Nor are they accessible. Try to get anything of size around a corner and up those stairs would prove impossible.  Dormers might be cute, however they do come with a premium price and are not adding to usable floor space.

My kitchen is my domain and I would feel shut in with this design. I would do away with the kitchen eating area and open up it and the dining room to create a big open space along with the current great room. Pantry barely big enough to be a small closet – give me a space I can get a second refrigerator and an upright freezer in. Those additional storage areas are priceless.

A design for secondary bedrooms including walk-in closets would be preferable.

Laundry location is going to make for a lot of steps to the master suite. Sitting area looks cute in plans, but how many of us are seriously going to utilize this space? Rarely do those garden tubs ever get used, ditch it for a tiled open shower with a rain head (and roll-in wheelchair accessibility). Soaking tubs or jetted tubs are also very popular.

What about this two car garage would work for anything but two cars? Most of us have stuff (bikes, work benches, golf clubs, ski gear and many more) and “stuff” needs a place.