Pole Barn Ideas

[Peeps]

I’m retiring in February and then we are moving up to our cabin and land up north in NE Wisconsin. We plan on putting up a 40x60 pole barn next year. Thought I’d pick your brains for ideas for the design. It will be on the opposite side of our paved driveway from where the house is. In a few years we will be tearing down the house and building a new house in that same spot. The pole barn will be insulated and heated. Thinking 16’ height with an overhang on one side. With the driveway being an obstacle and the house going to be torn down I was debating having the barn having its own electrical hookup. It’s rt by the power lines. Wells in my area are standpoints so I think I’ll pound in a standpoint for the barn. Any recommendations for insulation, heating, ect are welcome.

 

[T-Max]

I would put a porch roof over the entry door and as many windows as possible. It really helps with water intrusion during rains. Driving rains can find their way in doors especially if they are more of a utility door than a more finished type.

 

[Peeps]

Good idea. I’m also thinking plenty of exterior lights with a few security cameras, good LED lights inside, a floor drain, and some ceiling fans.

 

[RGrizzzz]

Bathroom?

 

[birdog]

In floor heat and spray foam insulation. I would also use perma column footings.

https://permacolumn.com/

 

[swat1018]

I have a "butcher shop" bay in my barn, and a "shop" bay. Those 2 bays are insulated. I have about 2/3 of the barn that is just cold storage and not heated. In your neck of the woods, you may not want to pay to heat the entire barn. Floor drains and I'd also plumb other drain(s) for shop sink, etc. You could put an electric meter base on your barn, then when you tear down the shop you could put a disconnect and bury a line to the new house if you prefer one bill.

 

[keets]

one or 2 trench drains in floor, 3" closed cell foam in walls, blow in fiberglass in ceiling....power meter on shed, then jump to new house...heated floors are nice if you want to heat to working temp all winter, but if you want to keep it at 45 most of the time, and be able to turn it up to 65 when working on something, it takes days to raise temp...then you'll want a Modine in 1 corner....definitely want a wash sink, and toilet....I would put the sand point inside the building

 

[Jerry-B-WI]

Better check with code or a plumber. I don't think sandpoints are legal in WI anymore.

 

[Westwind]

Congrats on your retirement!

I have the wide batts of insulation in my walls. Wish I had spray in, think it would be tighter.

I have blow in fiberglass in ceiling. That really made a huge difference summer and winter. My trusses are 2x10 at the bottom and I filled up between them.

Have floor heat in my garage, wish I had it in my shed. Have a modine in the corner and it’s awesome to have heat all winter but it’s kinda loud.

In the summer I run a dehumidifier into a floor drain. I was getting some minor molding on leather stuff plus it feels noticeably cooler when I walk in. Maybe start out with a mini-split? I don’t know much about them.

I really, really wish I had crank out windows that open from the bottom. Real windows. Insulated glass and good screens. My windows leak sometimes.

The idea of an overhang over the garage door is a good one. My overhead door faces the east and I get seepage sometimes.

I wish concrete was cheaper. I’d have poured 4’ side walls to build it on.

I spend so much time in my shed. I feel so lucky to have a warm place in the winter and a cooler place in the summer.

 

[Peeps]

Great ideas guys, keep them coming. The electric pedestal at the barn and then running from there to the new house when we build it makes sense. Sandpoints are still legal where I’m at. Having a flush toilet may be difficult as the existing septic is quite a ways from the barn site and we will need a new bigger septic when we build the house. I’m hoping to run the floor drains and sink drain out onto a hillside. I think I can do that with a catch basin installed. Good options for the heating and insulation.

 

[Peeps]

Is Wainscoting worth adding to the exterior?

 

[T-Max]

Is Wainscoting worth adding to the exterior?

It doesn't add much cost and makes the appearance much more interesting. I have also found that most of the damage to our pole barns happens in the bottom 3 feet from mowers and such. Adding a wainscot makes replacing damaged tin easier in that damage zone.

 

[b116757]

Also on wainscoting many times on wall tin it’s the bottom 6” that gets rusty shitty replacing a short wainscoting is much cheaper than the entire wall tin. Use blown in cellulose over blown in fiberglass it’s a superior product with sprayed in foam being better than both of those options. In floor heat would be my choice for sure could be run off of a conventional hot water heater or outdoor boiler system. If you do the in floor heat pour your footings separately from the main body of the floor so you can install some sort of thermal break between the heated floor and the footings so your not loosing a lot of heat through the footings exposure to the outdoor temps. Use rebar and fiber in the garage floor it will leave fuzzies in the floor surface but a quick run over the floor with a weed burner will remove those with less likelihood of serous cracks developing in the floor latter down the road I’ve poured concrete with and without fiber and I prefer to use it.

 

[Barndog56]

We use a mini-split in our small ranch home and it works well. But if the outside temp gets below 30 degrees we have to run our pellet stove too. MrCool makes DIY minisplits where the refrigerant is pre-charged.