most cost effective building?

I know it's been asked on here before but what is the best bang for the buck in a farm type building. I don't need anything real big, maybe 30'x40' at the most but need some opinions on the best way to go. It won't have a concrete floor to start with and won't be heated. I was thinking of just a fabric building but might be able to build a garage type for about the same money. I've heard metal buildings rain on the inside which I don't want. When I priced out buildings from the farm store a couple years ago, the stick built was about the same cost as a pole barn. Now I've read that posts for a pole barn will rot a lot faster than the old better treated posts. I'd rather have a better built smaller shed than a larger shed that will give me problems. Any thoughts are appreciated.

With the right design, most of your concerns would be eliminated. Properly insulated. condensation won't be an issue. Use Chromated Copper Arsenate CCA posts. .40 or .60 and in decent soil, not prone to saturation, no concrete, 'cept at the base, they should last. Or you have precast pole bases. Lots of options out there. You don't want the ACQ or non ground contact lumber, you can get CCA for ag use.

With some thing like this, you can't do it all at once, always plan for future use, especially before you place a slab, water lines, drains, electrical, communication, an extra conduit for future use, etc.

You have the right philosophy, "better built", its all in the details of the design and material selection.

I would install concrete from the start. This way you can do a conventional built building. The cost of good 6x6 post is sky high. So just pour a slab to start with. If you can't do that cost wise then pour a footer and lay concrete blocks up to above grade and then build on that.

I have several pole barn type buildings. I have had to pour concrete to replace the poles on two of them. It is a hassle. anything new I build will not have wood in contact with the dirt.

They do make a metal anchor that you pour a concrete pier and attach the metal too then put the wooden post on top of that.

If it was me I would have a pole shed quoted by a professional crew that can do it very competitively. And also have a real plywood roof with asphalt shingles if you do not want the sweating.
2 years ago when the building trades were in the crapper I got a flyer from a crew and they gave prices (material and labor) for standard sizes. I was shocked at how low a price it was for a 24' x 30' x 10. (this was for all pole shed styles, with 1 roll up door and 1 entry door) It was tempting to call them, but, nope.

This is how sheds the size you are looking, are built in Ireland nowadays. Simply pour the slab and bolt the frames to the slab with anchor bolts. The tin is non drip and held on with speed screws. There is some clause here that if the shed has no foundation or walls built it is classed as a temporary shed, thus there is no tax/rates due to be paid to the authorities.
Sam

The fabric hoop buildings like you buy from farmtek sweat like crazy on the inside too.

Hello,
I had a 32x54 pole barn built 3 years ago. Tin siding and roof, no insulation with a concrete floor. It doesn"t drip, but the floor will sweat in the spring. What ever you build ,build it as big as you can afford, then borrow more money and make it bigger. They are never big enough.
Martin

To answer to the problem of sweating regardless of steel frame or pole or stick, a vapor barrier needs to present. I put up and sell steel frame. We use a tyvek product from eave to eave when laying roof panels. 10 foot rolls do the trick when sheets cover 3". Same applies with any wood frame.

I have a stick construction 40x50x17 with full foundation and floor. The thing that has really worked well for me is having an inner room 16x22x10 that is insulated and heated by a catalytic propane wall unit. With this set-up I have a warm area for a very low cost, and the rest is kept above forty by the heat that escapes the inner room, unless the temp out doors goes below 10 degrees.

The ABSOLUTE LAST thing you want in a farm building you want is a plywood with single roof.
Metal with SOMETHING under it will take care of the sweating and last forever.. Single roof 10 12 years at best.

40 by 64 built in 92 with the cheapest 3 in 1 shingles sold, still looks excellent! My house built in 93 with very expensive shake style 300 lb shingles, roof is shot! Its all in the shingle!

Well, can't fit much farm stuff in a 30 by 40 building.....

But, at that size the stick built might be worth looking at, it is easier to insulate, or add shelves to the walls, and so forth, and often don't cost much more than a pole type.

Pole type buildings end up using about the same amount of wood, they save on foundation costs and save on building time/costs. So they become much cheaper as the building gets bigger, the time savings and foundation savings mount up on bigger buildings.

Be sure to make it tall enough, farm stuff isn't getting any shorter, even old collectible stuff has tall bits on it.

Paul

Post frame is hard to beat for cost effectiveness. Type of siding and roofing you choose depends more on appearance than any other factor; if you don't care what it looks like, then steel is a good choice. Shingle roof and wood or vinyl siding if you're trying to match the appearance of other buildings. If the building is ventilated it shouldn't sweat, even with steel roofing.

(quoted from post at 19:42:13 05/25/13) The ABSOLUTE LAST thing you want in a farm building you want is a plywood with single roof.
Metal with SOMETHING under it will take care of the sweating and last forever.. Single roof 10 12 years at best.

Click to expand...

My building with plywood and shingled roof went up in '89 and still looks good.

Insulating the roof will stop the sweating. The stuff in my building comes in a roll about 3' wide and contains a white outer layer, 2 layers of alum foil each side of center, and a bubble wrap core. Guarantee you it doesn't drip. Course part if that is to install roof vents to let the building breathe and allow the trapped moisture to exit. No vents, expect moisture problems in the colder/ seasonal changing conditions. I have 2 10' roof ridge vents on a 50' building. I have never had rain blow in using the ridge vent type of vent.....cupolas yes on other buildings. That's why I went with the ridge on this building.

I chose a wood pole barn frame over steel because I liked the wood strips every 2.5 ft allows for 29 ga. steel which is plenty for sides and roof. I like a pole barn because it is IN the ground. Mine is 90 mph wind resistant, guaranteed.

On the pole barn you can concrete after building, using the building forms for your floor as they are, or no concrete. Still have a tough building.

The steel sheets can be cut to order for quick assy and over the years I have found that the metal to wood screws, that the steel supplier usually carries are perfect. No nails backing out over the years. My barn is 30x50 with 12' sides and the roof and sides are made up of one sheet of steel. Goes up really easy and fast.

A 3/12 pitch works out great and allows for a shed on the side with adequate head room. I added a shed (roof) running the full 50' length x 15' wide. 15' seemed to be too much initially, but it is what you want. Room for your tractor or whatever and room to get around or by it to do other things.

HTH,
Mark

Try again to upload pic.

A friend built a building on the side of his barn about 20 years ago and costed all the options.He told me that poles were cheaper then.He used 1X12 with 1X4 battens for siding and claimed it didn"t cost anymore than steel but breathed a little for moisture control.This was a calf barn so humidity was a concern.I have noticed a couple of new hay barns go up since for square bales to sell to horse owners that have wood siding.

You could build a building with wood framing and cover it with R-panel so it would look like a regular metal building. If you use the vinyl faced insulation on the roof it won't rain on the inside. I normally use 4x6 treated posts. That way you have a consistant size square post to get a dimension for more accurate placement. If at some time in the future you wanted a concrete floor there is no reason the concrete couldn't be poured after the building was built.

Well - A friend of mine, and myself just finished putting up a shed a couple of weeks ago (he did most of it). It's about 95% finished - 30x40, with a 30x13 "lean-to" on the back. Got it up in 5 days, with stoppage for SNOW, electric outage, and cold. Dirt floor (so far), pole shed. I used new tin on the roof, but found some used tin the right color for the sides. Most of the roof nailers are white oak. I collected the materials for about 3 months, and spent less then $3700 total.

If pouring a concrete floor in a post frame building bend some flat iron into an L shape and attach one side to post and insert other in concrete. will not keep post from decaying, but will hold post in place. Not a solution if they all decay, but works fine for a few. It is not likely all will fail, at least that has been my experience. I put up a 48'x108' Morton post frame building with a 48'x36' shop area, with 6x6 post 32 years ago and post are all still good.

Mine is made from 5" square treated posts. When I bought it I included 5x5 x3' plastic socks that the poles sit in. They do not touch the ground. They were $25 each.

Mark

You can buy a 30X40 X10 here put up, with 5 inches of concrete for $13,000.00 That is a pretty cheap shop, just add a grand for insulation.