Pole Building Home, Shouse, Metal Home

[Ronald Blue]

Whatever you want to call it a home constructed primarily like a pole building. What experiences does anyone have with these? We are looking to relocate and build. Already have purchased the land. Still weighing options and figuring out what we want. My shop will be separate from the house. If we go with the shed house the heat will be in the floor which is a plus. In the process of getting quotes at this time and have a lot of things to sort through.

[Lee Schierer]

Your first step should be to contact the local government and determine what building codes will allow for use as a dwelling.

[Wayne Lomman]

I doubt you will have problems with planning if you purchase one that is a house using similar construction to a shed. However, if you purchase a shed and have to convince planners that you will make it into a proper house, you may have more problems. Other than that, the construction method is sound and the only drawback for me is fitting out onto steel studs which I don't personally enjoy. Cheers

[John K Jordan]

Whatever you want to call it a home constructed primarily like a pole building. What experiences does anyone have with these? We are looking to relocate and build. Already have purchased the land. Still weighing options and figuring out what we want. My shop will be separate from the house. If we go with the shed house the heat will be in the floor which is a plus. In the process of getting quotes at this time and have a lot of things to sort through.

Are you referring to a "post and beam" or "timberframe" construction with pegged mortise/tenon connections? I live in one and it is wonderful, very well built, looks great inside with exposed beams and posts everywhere. Extremely expensive to build these days...

Or do you mean a pole building made with either wood or steel posts, beams, and metal siding over gerts and perlins? I've never seen a house made this way, just barns, sheds, and shops. Makes me wonder if it is permissible by codes around here for human occupation. If done right it should be tight enough. I built my shop with 6x6 posts, double and triple 2x10 beams, 2x6 studs on 16" centers between, and osb+smartside panels outside. This insulates well and is very strong. Didn't require permit or inspection though.

JKJ

[Dave Lehnert]

Think he is talking about a home like this.
https://mortonbuildings.com/projects/residential

[Ronald Blue]

Think he is talking about a home like this.
https://mortonbuildings.com/projects/residential

Dave nailed it. There no building codes to contend with. It is a post frame construction. Metal roof and siding.

[John K Jordan]

Dave nailed it. There no building codes to contend with. It is a post frame construction. Metal roof and siding.

Wow, some of those look fantastic! I have a site prepped for a second barn and it is tempting to let someone else build it instead of me. :)

Do you have some idea of the relative cost of having them build one compared to a similar sized building from wood posts and trusses but with steel siding?

JKJ

[Justin Ludwig]

JKJ, there are a lot of post frame homes in Northeast, OK area. I've seen many built under $80/sf.

As a frame of reference: my shop is 3200sf with an office, bathroom, and paint room and 2 windows. I'm not finished, but currently my costs are $23/sf. Had I hired the slab to be formed, electrician to wire it, and misc other things - I'd be sitting about $26-27sf.

The supplier in our area is Burrow (http://www.burrows-supply.com/)'s. I know they sent packages all across the country as my builders used to do a lot of work in Colorado. The fellow's that built my shop are currently starting a pole-barn neighborhood (spec homes).

[John K Jordan]

JKJ, there are a lot of post frame homes in Northeast, OK area. I've seen many built under $80/sf.

As a frame of reference: my shop is 3200sf with an office, bathroom, and paint room and 2 windows. I'm not finished, but currently my costs are $23/sf. Had I hired the slab to be formed, electrician to wire it, and misc other things - I'd be sitting about $26-27sf. ...


Thanks, that's useful. I'll probably build it myself!

Yikes, you have a huge shop. Mine is a paltry 24x62 with no bathroom yet. I want to add a small kitchen too. Fortunately I have a water line within a few yards of the building.

It is amazing how much you can save by working for free! I quit keeping up with the costs, but part way through building my shop I was at around $20/sq ft. I did all the grading, forming, rebar, posts, actually everything except surfacing the concrete and setting the trusses with a crane. Of course mine will probably be completely done some day! Or perhaps not...

JKJ

[Chet R Parks]

Pole building homes are quite popular up here in Minnesota and people make them look real nice. I'm sure you have your reasons for having a separate shop but making the pole structure larger to incorporate the shop along with the home/garage would be a lot easier and cheaper to run electric, water, heat, septic lines, propane/gas lines etc. Have fun with your project.
Chet

[Matt Meiser]

One thing to think about, if it matters to you, is that radio waves don't penetrate metal buildings very well. Expect to have little to no cell, TV, radio, etc reception unless you have outside antennas and in the case of cell service, a repeater inside.

[John K Jordan]

One thing to think about, if it matters to you, is that radio waves don't penetrate metal buildings very well. Expect to have little to no cell, TV, radio, etc reception unless you have outside antennas and in the case of cell service, a repeater inside.

That is a very good point. When I built my shop with a metal roof and down behind a hill, my cell service went to almost zero in the shop. Most calls were dropped within 30 seconds.

I tried two different repeaters with outside antennas and they were unsatisfactory. Then I discovered the Femtocell network extender and I now have full bars in the shop. It is basically a tiny public cell tower registered on the Verizon cellular network. Range is reported to be about 30' but it works further. It operates over broadband which I had already run to the shop. It came with a built-in GPS so Verizon will know exactly where it is and so you can't activate it in one spot then take it to Mexico or something. I had to buy the device but there is no monthly charge.

JKJ

[Matt Meiser]

Forgot about that option. My parents' brick farm house with 1' thick brick walls had issues with Sprint and they had a network extender for a few years. One caveat, you need solid broadband--no dice if you are on satellite, very slow DSL, or another iffy connection.

[John K Jordan]

Forgot about that option. My parents' brick farm house with 1' thick brick walls had issues with Sprint and they had a network extender for a few years. One caveat, you need solid broadband--no dice if you are on satellite, very slow DSL, or another iffy connection.

Yes! I'm on Comcast cable which works well. I ran two ethernet cables (rated for direct burial) in 1" conduit underground about 250' The second cable is a spare. I use the broadband for the femtocell, the security system, and a WiFi router configured as an extension to the one in the house. I don't watch TV so I didn't run the Comcast cable itself.

BTW, the other thing I buried which may be useful some day: a separate 2" conduit, empty except for a rope. :)

JKJ

[Ronald Blue]

Pole building homes are quite popular up here in Minnesota and people make them look real nice. I'm sure you have your reasons for having a separate shop but making the pole structure larger to incorporate the shop along with the home/garage would be a lot easier and cheaper to run electric, water, heat, septic lines, propane/gas lines etc. Have fun with your project.
Chet

I don't want there to be any chance of fumes from fuel or finishes penetrating the living quarters. I am waiting for some quotes to come in on both structures. I will let you JKJ on the per sf cost to get the initial structure up.

[Brian Elfert]

Pole building homes are quite popular up here in Minnesota and people make them look real nice. I'm sure you have your reasons for having a separate shop but making the pole structure larger to incorporate the shop along with the home/garage would be a lot easier and cheaper to run electric, water, heat, septic lines, propane/gas lines etc. Have fun with your project.

I live in Minneapolis and I don't recall ever seeing a pole barn style house in my travels around Minnesota. I guess I need to pay more attention.

It is a great idea for a rural location. I'm not sure most urban zoning codes would allow it.

[Ronald Blue]

I live in Minneapolis and I don't recall ever seeing a pole barn style house in my travels around Minnesota. I guess I need to pay more attention.

It is a great idea for a rural location. I'm not sure most urban zoning codes would allow it.

You might have driven by them and not realized it. Looking to follow this basic design here.

pinterest.com/pin/114138171787605139/

[Chet R Parks]

Brian, I should have clarified and said rural Minn, sorry.
Chet

[Brian Elfert]

Brian, I should have clarified and said rural Minn, sorry.


I figured you meant rural areas. I certainly have not been all over the state, but I don't recall ever seeing a pole barn style house. My parents have vertical metal board and batten type siding on their house, but it is embossed to look more like wood and doesn't look like a pole barn.

I would love to do a pole barn style house, but I have a hard time thinking any municipality in the Minneapolis metro area would allow it.

[Chet R Parks]

Brian, your probably right. I spent my entire life in Chicago and moved out here 10 years ago just so I could do what I wanted. Sorry I didn't mean to hijack this thread.
Chet

[Jim Andrew]

Would advise you to look at Justin Ludwig's thread on building his shop. His poles go on TOP of the slab, so you don't have to worry about your poles degrading with time.

[Ronald Blue]

This is using what is called perma-columns. They are concrete bases that go in the ground and the post attaches to it.

permacolumn.com/what-are-perma-columns

[Jerome Stanek]

My sister has a house that is part pole building. This was built in 71 and that was part of the builders design to keep the cost down.