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Which is cheaper, pole barn or garage?

Geo-TH,In

Geo-TH,In

Well-known Member
I went to menards estimator for garage and pole barn.

I was surprised there is little difference in material costs.

I'm looking at a building a pole 30x48x10, 35 year shingles, Trusses 2 ft, 1 ft eves one 16x8 overhead, and one 36 inch door.

Well menards pole barn estimator wouldn't allow me to have eves, trusses on 2 ft. So I used column poles and spaced trusses on 4 ft with vapor barrier, metal roof.

Then I went to Menards garage estimator, put metal siding on garage package and one row of block.

I was surprised the cost of materials were almost the same.

So what's the big advantage of a pole barn instead of a garage the same size? Is the labor cost for a stick built garage that much more? < I built a new house around my old house, doubled the size of house and added a 2 car garage. Totally rebuilt my house. So if I were younger it wouldn't be that hard to build a garage.

Please try using a cost estimator and see how much difference you find in the cost of a pole barn vs garage.

I do plan to have 6 inch concrete floor.
menards garage estimator
 
I'm in western Washington, and all pole buildings are built with poles and trusses on 12 foot centers, because we don't need much of a snow load, so it is cheaper than garage style. But I agree that you need poles closer due to snow loads, which makes the difference. Garages in both places would be about the same- studs on 2 foot centers. If you want to insulate the building, garage style will be easier.
 
For him I think it is. The tallest thing he has is the small Farmal tractor, I don't think his teramite is any taller
 
I would not put up a building without an overhang, "eve". I have 2ft on my shed and wouldnt have it any other way. It helps keep rain and snow away from the walls. Less erosion and snow against the wall.
 
George, I dont know if they go far enough north for you but Grabers post buildings in Montgomery is hard to beat on price.
 
(quoted from post at 18:52:16 11/08/18) For him I think it is. The tallest thing he has is the small Farmal tractor, I don't think his teramite is any taller
Click to expand...
But what's he going to have next year?
 
The major cost savings of a pole barn is that it avoids the cost of continuous perimeter foundation. I doubt that the Menards prices you are seeing include the cost of a proper foundation for a stick built garage.

I had a 36' x 48' x 10' pole barn built in NE Sullivan County, Indiana about a decade ago. I looked at the available options and opted for a pole building with PermaColumn post bases built by Daviess County Metal. The primary reason I went with a pole barn was that the Amish could complete a quality building in just a few days. Local builders seemed to have a reputation for projects that ran on for months with inconsistent levels of quality (particularly in the concrete work.)
 
Tarheel Metal Products will furnish all materials and erect a 40 X 45 X 10 all metal building for $13,955 and supply a concrete floor for $18,180 total. Won't catch fire either.
2 roll up doors,1 walk in door,2 windows and with a heater and full insulation package.
 
Hi, I also think the 8 ft door is too low. 9 ft wouldn't cost much more but would be way better in my view. Ed Will Oliver BC
 
You are right, I can get everything in a 7 ft door. My 30x40 pole barn has a 10x8.

I don't know if I can get a 16x9 ft overhead. So I used what the estimator had, a 16x8.

I may want to get door as tall as possible just incase I get a tractor with a cab. A stick built with 10 ft walls could be taller if I use more rows of block.

I still don't get why the cost of materials for a barn and garage are similar. A 6 inch floor will be the same cost. Can't see how adding a footer will increase cost of materials that much. I've dug footers before. I've did all the excavating work when I built my 30x40. A self leveling rotating laser came in very handy.
 
If this is just a shed, I would use metal roofing and nailer strips instead of sheeting the whole roof.
 
I already have an 8 ft door on my pole barn.
Not sure if a 9 ft door will work with 10 ft walls. That is a build code question only my building inspector can answer. I was required to have a 2x12 header for a 10 x 8 ft door when I built my pole barn. The door was on the gable end of the barn, which isn't a load bearing wall.

I have to do this by the book. I have to with area planning and building inspectors.
 
About 10 years ago I had a 30x40x10 pole barn built with 35 year shingles and a 1 ft vented eve. 1 ft eve keeps water off the sides.
 
I used menards building estimator and put metal on a stick built garage. Very little difference in price. I hate vinyl siding. Don't want metal on roof. The metal on the garage walls will go over 7/16 osb.

The materials for a stick built garage with metal siding is a little cheaper than a pole barn. Why?
 
(quoted from post at 19:02:32 11/08/18) I used menards building estimator and put metal on a stick built garage. Very little difference in price. I hate vinyl siding. Don't want metal on roof. The metal on the garage walls will go over 7/16 osb.

The materials for a stick built garage with metal siding is a little cheaper than a pole barn. Why?
Click to expand...

Heck man, don't ask us. We don't know why. Ask Menards, they should have an answer.

Rick
 


the estimator tool on the Graber Post site gives $12,500 for a 30x48x10. Daviess County Metal Sales was cheaper all around last winter when I built a shed, but they dont have an on line estimator.

The trusses on 2 ft centers with solid decking as well as wall sheathing is going to cost you more that a simple pole frame. Have you considered building on a slab foundation where the concrete is thicker around the edge instead of a traditional footer? Then the stud frame wall is just anchored to the concrete floor.
 
Why do you want a 6 inch floor? Your equipment isn't that big or heavy. My shop was built in 1975 with a 4 (3 1/2) inch floor. Not a crack in it yet today & I used to do the maintenance on the township road grader with the snow plow & wing on it. Go a little stronger on the mix if you need to.
 
Geo-TH,In - Ever give any thought to pouring your concrete slab floor , then installing two High Cube (10 ft tall) Shipping Containers for your sides and placing your Trusses across the tops . The containers come in all different configurations , you can even get them with the large doors on the sides . Added benefit , you would have two "secure" storage areas in your structure . Closing in the Ends would be no problem , you could even use another Shipping Container for one of the ends . - Gotta be cheaper than the alternative .
 
I used R-panel on the walls and roof of my shop. It took very little framing and I just put roll metal building insulation on under the tin and it was done. I used painted panels on the wall and galvalume on the roof. The only regrets is I used fiberglass panels on the roof for skylights and in the winter there is a lot of condensation which drips inside the building.
 
I?d say you are not taking advantage of how a pole barn can be built to save you money.

Really you need nearly the same amount of wood, stick built 2x or a pole building.

The pole building concentrates the wood into poles spaced much farther apart, so there is much less labor in construction, and some savings on the size (not amount) of the wood.

You appear to be intentionally choosing every size, spec, and material that discourages a least cost, most efficient pole building.

That is perhaps the downfall of an online do it yourself program, it lets you configure anything you want; it doesn?t suggest the best route to a most efficient, cheapest per square foot layout.

For example, why on earth would you want a 2 foot, or even 4 foot truss spacing on a pole building? Silly. Make it 8 feet (maybe 6 feet works on your small building too) so you get the savings a pole building will save you! You aren?t planning right to make a good economical pole building......

Paul
 
Most of a pole building savings are in less labor. Putting together all the little sticks will cost more than putting up the bigger, fewer pole pieces. You aren?t factoring in labor.

A wall and a roof need nearly the same amount of wood support behind them either way. The pole building is more efficient if you design it properly and would be cheaper. You are creating a poorly designed (inefficient) pole building because you are familiar with and like stick built, and aren?t using good pole building design. You are skewing your results.

Paul
 
I threw together a quick building about like you describe for my location, a 4 foot spacing was over $500 more than an 8 foot normal spacing. Don?t know why you would want a 4 foot spacing.

Could do other adjustments to be more efficient too, this is just one item.

Got to play with the options and find the logical specs that make a pole barn shine.

Paul
 
I had a car shed access poured 12 years ago that was somewhat on a slope, the guy that did it had about 40 years experience, it was the driest pour Ive ever seen and it cracked in several places in the first 3-4 months but has never gotten any worse. I always thought it cracked because it was too dry but maybe the site was not properly prepared, they added dirt but did not roll it or mechanically tamp it, just tractor and blade.
 
Paul,
I put trusses on 4 ft because a stick built the trusses will be on 2 ft, osb decking, and shingles.

The guy who built my pole barn said metal roof and shingle roof same price. My pole barn was built for snow load.

The blizzard of 1978 flattened many pole barns.
 
Trusses on 2 ft for snow load.

Use estimator and crunch numbers. You will find there isn't a big difference in price.
 
At home depot right now.
Shingles is $27.00
OSB is $11.00

27 + 11 = 38
38 / 32 = $1.1875
1.1875 x 3 (because metal is sold in 1 foot by 3 foot sections) = $3.56
Your metal roof would have to be #3.56 a foot to be the same price.

The trouble with your program is it forces you to deck the roof with OSB no matter if you put shingles or metal.
Poles barns are not usually decked with OSB on the roof.
 
No such animal as a 35 year shingle. Oh sure , they call them 35 year shingles, but they call you Geo, and me Bruce. Just a name really. Only steel, slate , tile, or copper will still be of any use in 35 years.
 
Hard to pour concrete too dry but I guess it could be done.If the dirt wasn't packed down hard under the slab most likely that was the problem.Did you put rebar under the slab and
fiber in the concrete? Best to add Super Plastizer to the concrete when its poured makes the concrete easy to place and gives a good job.
 
You might want to check with your tax man. I'll bet the stick built will cost you more tax dollars than the pole barn.
 
The biggest reason is that Menards probably has one truss design for the building of your dimensions, and they are not customized to the building and location, rather they just look up in a table and it tells them the maximum spacing for a "Menards" truss. So whether the walls are stick built (garage) or poles, you need the same truss spacing for the snow loads in your area. And since your truss spacing is so close, the difference in vertical lumber (3 pieces per pole or spacing every 16" for stick built) probably is not saving any lumber.

On a pole barn you would span 2x4s horizontally for the metal sheating support, but you mentioned sheathing on the garage with OSB, so probably a wash there.

You mentioned you want a shingled roof, so decking and shingles so the roof is basically the same cost (Metal roof would probably be alot cheaper and the biggest cost differential between a normal metal roof pole barn and a shingle roof "garage")

However if you go to a pole barn manufacture, and specify that you want them to be conservative on the snow load, they would most likely custom design the trusses (and spacing) for your application and location and optimize the design further, which would probably save material, but they might charge more for the design than the generic menards version.

In theory if you wanted 20' spacing on the poles, it can still hold the snow load, IF the trusses are specifically design and engineered for your area and the proper snow load. 20' may not be the most efficient or cheapest either but it can be done.

bjb PE
Structural Engineer
 
I do not know if 8' trusses are code anymore. But back in the day, 1969, we had a pole barn built at the farm, 40 x 48, on 8' truss centers. The barn stands tall and proud to this day, and looks good.
 
One other thing to consider especially if in or on the edge of a town is building code or zoning it might require you to build the "garage" verses a pole building which might be considered an eye sore by a city slickers standard. If you're out in the country this is probably not a concern.
As for the concrete I agree with the others all you need is 3.5 inches with a thick edge around the outside and a little rebar so that when it cracks and it will the rebar holds it together and it can't move up and down either
 
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