How much wood needed to build a barn ?

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Ok I got a great idea{hehe} , well at least I think so .When we sell and find new land I am thinking of building a 2 story hip roof barn and making it into our house .It would be about 40 feet long and 30 feet wide and just high enough for a second floor and maybe an attic.We would put it on a slab to save money .Does anyone have any clue to how much the lumber costs would be ? I think i would want barn board on the outside.If anyone has any other ideas please sare them .Thanks ~ Patty

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@hotmail.com), December 18, 2001

Answers

If you will submit a complete set of blue prints, with all specs. I can tell you the price within $10.00 in my area, proabililly within $200.00 for your area. Your question is too vague to consider without much additional info.

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), December 18, 2001.

Your funny Mitch . I am trying to get an about price for the outside shell and the floor between floors.I know it cannot be exact .I am also looking into getting the wood from the Amish saw mills and maybe having them build it .I will save a bundle this way .Thanks

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@hotmail.com), December 18, 2001.

Patty, my answer was serious. When you say "barn boards" are you refering to RB & B or T-111, is your framing 16 or 24 inch on center? Trussed roof rafters, hand cut; stick built or pre-fab? No one out here can give you a real answer until we understand what you are seeking. What kind of roof, shingles or sheet metal? Your question is as vague as: What will your grandkids spend for shoes in their lifetime? We cannot give you an honest answer until there is a lot more details.

Lately, wood has taken huge leaps in price, to the point that steel framing is getting very popular, once reserved for commercial application. Let me explain it this way: Your a tax preparer and someone steps in and askes, "I made $48,192 this year what will my refund be?" Where are the details in between? That is what we need to understand in order to give you a real answer. The details you have presented suggests a shell cost between $7500.00 to $15,000.00 not including flooring, partishions, plumbing, wireing, insulation, drywall, painting, ect. I am not trying to be a smart alec, there is no way to answer your question without much more detail.

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), December 18, 2001.


Mitch , I am a woman and don't think of thoses things ! Hehe sorry .I will use metal roofing it will last forever and is great to let the snow slid off.As for siding what do you suggest ? Our climate has 4 seasons and can get as low as -35 in the winter .We get a fair amount of snow.I will insulate with r30 throughout the building .I will get a set of plans some where .I am just trying to figure out if it will be do able cost wise.The inside will be done as we can afford to .I like the 7500.00 price range .I can keep wishing !

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@hotmail.com), December 19, 2001.

Patty, Mitch is right, as an estimator I get people all the time asking "how much, in general?". For the siding upstate I would use board and batten from a mill for about 65 cents a board foot (or running foot if 1 x 12). Set up a table saw for the battens. Rough sawn from the mill it should be a full inch thick and green. Stack it for a year outside and covered only on top. Make sure air can circulate all around.

Here's a company- Don't know how close they are to you. Had to write it out. AOHell would set a link.

www.christmasandassociates.com/wholesale.html

I also think the metal roofing is a good idea. If you have a Lowe's Bldg wharhouse by you stop in. They have a computer design program for pole barns and can sit a figure a general price in about 15 minutes. Go at a time when they are slow though.

Good Luck.

-- Dark (Darkdakota@aol.com), December 19, 2001.



Patty, we are currently building a post and beam house , we are cutting the timbers from our land and have a bandsaw mill come in and process them for us. We are buying the siding from the Amish and we have access to the metal for the roofing from a local business (very reasonable). I am going to email you privately from work to let you know phone numbers, etc. Polly also in NNY

-- (jserg45@hotmail.com), December 19, 2001.

Patty:

If all you are interested in is the cost of framing and outside cover, try this for a ballpark estimate.

Figure the total length of the outside wall on the first floor. Say it is 140 feet. Multiply 12 and divide by 16. This will give you the number of 8 foot 2"x6" (for R30 insulation) needed for that floor. Would be about 105. Now double that for the second floor. To this you would need to add for the base plate (probably pressure treated here) and for the top plates. Thus, add another 420 lineal feet.

For the exterior treatment, figure out the total wall surface. Say it is 16' x 140'. That would be 2,240 board feet of whatever thickness you decide to use. Don't deduct for doors or windows.

Next would be the flooring system for the second floor and attic. Use the technique for wall studs with a bit of modification. Again, say the building is 40' x 30'. Joices spaced 30' apart would require 30 2"x10" 30' long for it which be 900 linear feet. If you are going to use rough cut for the flooring, it would take 2,400 board feet to do both the second floor and attic.

The lumber required for the roofing system will depend on the design. You can use the 2"x10" for the second floor as a rough guide, but multiply by say 20% to allow for pitch.

With these figures find out what the cost of rough cut lumber would be, delivered.

For the concrete pad, figure out the square footage. Say it is 1,200 square feet. If the pad will average 4" thick, divide by 3. Now divide this figure by 27, which will give you the number of cubic yards of concrete needed. Would be about 15 cubic yards. Call a concrete supplier and ask their cost per cubic yard.

For the cost of roofing, just assume you will need 16' long sheets, 3 feet wide. If 40' long, you would need about 26 sheets. Call a local supply source.

Two things to keep in mind.

Rough cut lumber will not be the same dimensions even out of the same mill. 2"x6" may range from 1 3/4" to 2 1/4" thick and 5 3/4" by 6 1/4" wide. Even the lengths won't be consistent. Differences like this will show up later in things such as the evenness of floors and wall surfaces. You may have to buy a planer. Also, most small sawmills cannot cut over a certain length, probably about 12'.

All of the plumbing will need to be in place in the concrete slab before it is poured.

For a total project cost call around the contractors in your area and ask what rule of thumb they use for new construction. Say it is $30 per square foot (a WAG). If you will have 2,400 square feet of floor space, that would put it in the range of $72,000. To this deduct what labor you expect to provide and the difference between rough cut and commercial lumber. To it add extras such as an external garage, septic system, well, driveway and landscaping.

I am not a contractor so there are probably holes in this process. However, I do think it will provide a rough estimate for at least the outer shell.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), December 19, 2001.


Wow Ken you made my head spin !!!!! Dark {i think it was } thanks I will go there soon .Everyone else thanks you are giving me something to go on .Guess I need to sit down with pencil and paper now.

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@hotmail.com), December 19, 2001.

Unfortunately, if NY has building codes, the rule of thumb is: rough cut boards arent legal to build dwellings with. If your interested, I can give you some tips- I built a 24 by 20 2 story barn (roofing included) for 528 bucks this past year, and I figure thats doing about as good as one can do using NEW materials. I also have so ideas/ sources of free building materials that one can actually use with out concrete (cordwood, and stone and cinder blocks and strawbales are labor intensive and cause one to buy stuff to surround the free material, where as others can be used AS IS.

-- Kevin in NC (Vantravlrs@aol.com), December 19, 2001.

Kevin send it my way !!!!! Where we are in NY there aint many codes , most don't pull a permit either.

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@hotmail.com), December 19, 2001.


For Barn Plans you might want to take a look at the excellent designs at:

http://www.homesteaddesign.com

Other ones but not quite as good are at:

http://www.barnplans.com

There also is a excellent book on building a multi-use barn.Although you want to build quite a big structure at 30 x 40 ft and this barn is 24 x 30 all the principles apply and would give you a big insight into exactly how a structure like this is built. I will also give you an idea how to estimate the amount of building materials. It has over 300 illustrations. I bought it myself.

This book and also any books by Monte Burch are excellent.

There is 14 pages of it to view at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0913589764/qid=1014109416/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/102-6139274-1511368

-- Michael C (nospam@nospam.com), February 19, 2002.


Hey Michael C ~ What's the name of that barn plans book?

-- (juanamustang@yahoo.com), February 19, 2002.

Go to the web link I posted before at:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0913589764/qid=1014109416/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/102-6139274-1511368

Like I said, its called Building a Multi-Use Barn. The above link has a number of its pages posted. I have more info in my earlier post.

Michael C

-- Michael C (noemailon@webposts.com), February 25, 2002.


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