The "ToolBox" Full of Resources, Information & Details on How to Build Barns and More
If you are getting ready to build a barn, we hope that our website will
assist you in becoming more knowledgeable of different barn types & styles,
building techniques, construction terms and much more!
If you are planning to build a barn yourself, on this site you will find
good information, tips & advice on proper barn construction. It is
also a good information source for purchasing barn materials and hardware.
If building a barn yourself is simply not an option and you are planning to
hire a contractor, we still recommend familiarizing yourself with construction
terms in order to better understand your quotes & contracts. It's also a
good idea to arm yourself with a knowledge of must-have features in a properly
constructed barn.
Let's be honest, building a barn is not a simple task and requires some
construction knowledge & experience. Our goal is to provide as much
information about barns as possible, so you can at least have some idea of how
barns are constructed.
Barn - is a structure, built with a main purpose of providing storage or to
house a livestock.
Some barns, especially Post & Beam and Timber Frame barns may also be
converted into living quarters, or used for a business purpose. Business
use for Timber Frame barns may include, but not limited to
restaurants, retail shops, inns and others.
In good old days, people used to build barns with materials they had at hand
and whatever was readily available to them. Most of the old barns were
built either out of wood or stone.
These days however, we have a significantly higher number of construction
materials available to build a barn. In addition to wood & stone, we now
have steel, vinyl and different composite materials that can be used for either
roofing or siding. Steel may also be used for framing as in a
steel building. Who knows, perhaps in
future, we'll have structural composite materials, or totally new material that
we've never heard of.
By now, you are probably wondering what's the best material to
use for a barn construction. The only thing we can say, is the use of
materials should be decided on an individual basis. Believe it or not,
there are some communities that may not even allow you to build a simple barn
with steel siding and might require to have something fancier such as wood,
stucco, vinyl, etc. When choosing the type of materials to use, consider
all the factors, such as your neighbors, local ordinances, cost (especially
now), wind loads, snow loads, average annual temperature, probability
of insect infestation and the intended use of the structure. For example,
in Florida state, a barn built of stone (or concrete with stone finish) will keep the
inside of your building cooler and will withstand significantly higher winds.
In northern states, wooden barns might be a better choice, since wooden siding
will keep your barn a little warmer in the winter.