Has anyone here ever lived in a barn prior to building their house? I am thinking about whenever I move from here... I would need to have the barn in place and some fencing done prior to moving and it would be more expedient to have a small apartment in the barn than to have a temporary trailer. I have drawn up some floor plans that I believe would work, but I won't be able to get good cross ventilation in it. Does anyone have experience and ideas on things I should consider? Thanks!!

-- Doreen (animalwaitress@yahoo.com), February 24, 2002

Answers

You are actually asking several open ended questions without enough specific information. For example, how much do you plan to spend? Do you plan to live in the barn with animals or just live in a former barn now vacated of animals. Barns are notorious for drafts--what do you mean "no cross ventilation"? What about fans?

Lots of people put up basements, storage buildings, garages, barns and such and live in them while they build houses. It is not an unusual idea. Most questions relating to such a plan deal with what specifically you plan to build. Keep this in mind, though: in any such building within a building project, the higher and wider the barn is the easier it is for forklifts, loaders, boom trucks, bucket trucks and so forth to reach your building site and to maneuver.

Also, how you build depends on what is available in your area. Recently on other posts we have discussed salvaged materials. They vary considerably from place to place.

I used to work for a construction outfit that specialized in moving antebellum homes into upscale neighborhoods, then building 1890's style additions onto them to make them look like elegant old homes that had changed with the times. Then they finished them out with Victorian antiques and interior decor.

Here's why I mention this: it was hard as H, expensive as the dickens, and after the third house the company went out of business. There is an awful lot to be said for what industry calls "greenfield advantage". That is to say, make new construction from the ground up, use new materials and technique, and avoid crowded, hybrid, cobbled together and left over tangles. Build with singleness of purpose.

-- Rags (nobody@nowhere.org), February 24, 2002.

I remember an article in CS with a family doing just that. They were living in a loft area and using the winter to saw logs for their home. They even had a solar shower outside and an outhouse and I believe they were in Missouri. It was in a 1998 or 1999 issue. I'll have Becky search for it and let you know if we can locate it. She is doing her coma reenactment right now after a 12 hour shift.

-- Joel Rosen (JoelnBecky@webtv.net), February 24, 2002.

This would be a new construction barn. I'd have to do it myself...well, I will be roping my brother into it, too! The cost would actually be pretty minimal for the size. I was thinking of dry walling off a section as an apartment. The problem with cross vntilation is that my fengshuinsitivity will not allow for living in a rectangular and narrow space. I just couldn't take it. Even if I was only sleeping there. It's good to know your limitations! This means that it will be a squarish room walled off from the main part of the barn for sanitation and noise protection. I think it would be fine, but I am just hoping that I am thinking things through really well prior to doing it. I will have to haul water for a time, but can plumb it out and run all necessary electricity.

Unless I came across a house that would be a fantastic deal I will most likely do an earth bermed house. Sometimes the remuddling is a much harder proposition than starting from scratch. I don't want to start on the house until I have spent time on the land and know all the particulars in different weather. I really don't like things that are permanently cobbled together. Like I said, I'm a little nuerotic!!!

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), February 24, 2002.

What sort of barn do you plan to build? What materials do you plan to use? If you build a barn as a wide open shell be careful that your room inside doesn't totally close up one end and leave the other end wide open. That could let wind come in the open and blow the barn's skin off like a balloon. Leave the wind somewhere to get out on each end.

For earth berming a building, do you own or plan to own a tractor with a loader or a dozer with a bucket? Have you and your brother ever laid any 12" block? (not being smart aleck, these things really matter for that kind of construction). I've seen underground construction with 8", curved 8", and 12": I strongly recommend core filled, rebarred 12" on at least 24"x12" foundation. A good little 4wd tractor like a Kubota with a loader can be worth its weight in gold.

-- Rags (nobody@nowhere.org), February 24, 2002.

I can't recommend a Kubota. I have one at my job. We use it to put sand in the dump bed of the pickup to sand the road. It has a weight on the back but can't scoop much without tipping forward.

-- John Littmann (johntl@mtn.org), February 25, 2002.

Thanks for the tip John. I've seen a lot of them but I use a big Ford and before that I had a big Belarus. By the way, on your machine at work, have you tried filling the back tires with water?

But when you are berming a building a loader is a mighy fine thing. I've bermed some by hand and that's a hard way to go.

-- Rags (nobody@nowhere.org), February 26, 2002.

The spot I am thinking of for the house is on the side of a fairly steep hill. I would like to get a tractor unless I can work out a haying deal with a neighbor, but since I am unfamilar with tractors any advice on those is appreciated as well. My brother has a MF that is a pretty fair size, but since this property is in the Ozarks I think it will require a back hoe to do the job, or a dozer. The area where I will put the barn would be fine to level with a tractor. Thanks for your input!!

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), February 26, 2002.

We did this in an existing barn (not for us to live in, but for a friend who had hit hard times). One helpful thing was designing it with later usefullness in mind. When our friend moved out, we thought we'd turn the rooms into our hatching/brooding rooms or maybe our sickie hospital for animals who needed to be kept warm. Now it's looking like we'll keep it as is, with a bit more fix-up (he was a bachelor and didn't need much ;-), and use it as our "guest barn." Nice to have a place for friends to stay since we don't have a guest room in the house.

Good luck!

-- Wingnut (wingnut@moment.net), February 27, 2002.

Hi Doreen,

We live in a barn that is slowly being converted into a house (at least one half of it is). You don't have to live in a rectangle, you can square up one side like we did. We started with a 40 x 80 x 12 barn, and left one huge stall and two small stalls and a feedroom and tack room at one end.

The other end is our house. It has an office, a bathroom, a kitchen, two bedrooms, a music room and a very large walkin closet. The only thing is that you should be prepared to keep your "barn side" very clean so there will be no foul odors or flies. By the way, our barn was done new, but just the same we had to spend a pretty good bit to convert the half of the barn to the house. And we are still spending on stuff like siding, windows, etc.

But it is cheaper than having a barn and a house separately. I figure we got both for less than $50,000 and I have large rooms and high ceilings. I am claustophobic so can't stand small rooms and low ceilings. Our ceilings are 12 to 14 feet. Room sizes vary with the kitchen being large, 20 x 12 and the living room -entrance is 10' x 24. But the office is 12 x 12 and so are the bedrooms. We do plan on eventually expanding the house outward so rooms will be bigger, but only when the entire farm is paid for.

Hope you get what YOU want and don't listen to folks who think you're weird for living in a barn. We get lots of either "How could you live like that?" or "This is SO cool". But no one is neutral... :>)

-- Cindy (colawson@mindspring.com), February 27, 2002.

I knew a guy who lived upstairs from his dairy herd, in a portion of the hay loft. It was a gambrel roofed barn. As I recall the apartment was pretty nice, not fancy but comfy.

-- john (natlivent@pcpros.net), March 02, 2002.

That's a good idea, John. I worked on a big barn like that for a rich vet. He had turned the loft into a swanky apartment. Barn lofts are great places to build because of the heavy floors and the wide clear span roof. In the place I mentioned they had left the apartment mostly open, just two big rooms; it was open and airy enough for a bird to fly around in.

-- Rags (nobody@nowhere.org), March 03, 2002.

WOW!!!! I want to live in a barn. I owned a double wide trailer which developed mold, was not tied down ..etc..... I had always wanted to live in a barn...soooooo... now the trailer is gone and we built at 30x80x12 red metal barn. It isn't a "barn" it is going to be a house. Of course now, I cant find a bank to help me finish it because they dont like the "barn" idea even though steel is so safe and their investment is secure. I am wanting to build in a 30x60 (minus the walls of course) area for living which would be 3br/2bath and have a little loft for my "office". Plumbing was run thru the floor for where we "thought" the bathroom and kitchen would be. Now, I have to frame in the inside and low and behold- those that said they would help are gone. I NEED HELP. I am a single disabled mother with two children, but I dont lack in stamina. I can do this myself if someone can lead me to a book that details framing inside and all that stuff. I will hire electrician and plumber, but I can do the rest. I need to be reading all this now, because I will get financing soon (fingers crossed) and as soon as i do.. I want to get started. I have lived in a dinky apartment without my animals for over a year and I want back out on my land in my barn NOW. lol. thanks for any help

-- SuzanneMcParker (icrazyru2@aol.com), July 06, 2004.

Suzanne, Yours is another one of those "open ended" questions. THere is just know way to even begin helping you without more details. Here is an idea....Take some good quality photos of this stucture you are working with. Inside,outside, and close ups of the current framing stucture. Take accurate mesurements....and I mean everything....how far apart are the studs,what are the angles of the ceiling or roof joists,etc,etc. Then post it all on a website. THEN you have something we can work with.I'm sure if you did that you would get more help then you know what to do with :) Some other things we need to know....where do you live? What is the water table on the land you want to live on. What is the slop of the land. (critical for your plumbing to work). Other wise at least tell us where you live...just the State and general area is fine. That way you might get some folks willing to come take a look. If nothing else people like me could forward some info to you about groups in your area that might be willing to help. Off the top of my head try contacting the Habitat for Humanity orginazation. They can probably point you in the right direction not only for builing ideas but financeing as well. I know there are several Federal programs that specifically give loans to disabled and "displaced" persons for the purpose of building rural homes. You might also search the Net for "Women in Trades" type groups where other women and single mothers get together to help each other.

I'll post more as I think of it or after I hear more from you. In the mean time hang onto your dream! It's a good one!

-- Lorraine (lorikay@cia-g.com), July 12, 2004.