buildingbarnsstudies

Mark Johnson

Sales manager, Green Design and Construction LLC

www.greendesignandconstruction.com

Mark Johnson started his building career in 1973 by building pole barns, and in 1976, he built his first home from a timber frame barn he salvaged, moved, and rebuilt. He now buys, restores, and builds pioneer farm log cabins and timber frame barns into homes and barns.

Johnson said the three most important design considerations when selecting a building plan are functionality, aesthetics, and cost. Before building a new structure, he recommends homeowners perform a comprehensive wants/needs analysis for the building’s function. He said to estimate the building’s basic cost in a way that puts a dollar amount on the elective options so builders can prioritize each option according to whether it fits within the budget. He also explained the size of the barn or shed will dictate the amount of time and skill, as well as the types of tools, required.

“Every job takes less time with some help, and if the help has experience it’s a plus,” he said.

Johnson said floating slabs are the most economical flooring option if a floor surface is necessary, but in general, barns and sheds do not require very complex foundations. Floating slabs can resist frost heave, but if the building does not require a floor, post and beam foundations are the most economical option. He suggests using steel siding and roofing on buildings because they not only provide a maintenance-free exterior finish, but they also replace the need for sheathing on a building.

One thing he has noticed from his experience building barns is many people prefer the look of the traditional barn. He recommends salvaging an existing barn or home as a great way to achieve the look of a traditional building.

“There are plenty [of barns] available in the Midwest, and most owners would be glad to see them salvaged and rebuilt instead of bulldozed and burned.”

Gen Sterenberg

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Gen Sterenberg and her husband built a 12-foot by 16-foot storage shed in her Michigan backyard that she uses to store items that just won’t fit in her garage. Sterenburg said she and her husband decided on that size for their shed because they wanted to keep the building small enough that it did not need a building permit. She and her husband originally planned to do the work themselves, but when their friend who is a licensed builder offered to build it for them, they took him up on his offer and worked alongside him.

“We were very happy with our building,” she said. “We wish we had made it larger, but then is it ever big enough? We really didn’t want to take up more yard space, and we didn’t want to deal with building permits.”

Sterenberg’s shed houses garden hoses, lawn sprinklers, shovels, rakes, a rototiller, boating equipment, large carpentry tools, beach toys, and other things that just don’t seem to have a proper place of their own. Although the shed currently only has four walls and a concrete slab foundation, she hopes to install freestanding shelves to offer more storage options. The shed isn’t wired for electricity, which is acceptable most of the time. In those instances where the Sterenbergs need a light source, they run an extension cord from the house.

The advice she offers to other homeowners looking to build a shed or other building on their property is to check the zoning and building codes for their area. She also suggests that homeowners opt to build a larger structure as opposed to a small one.

“Build large because whatever size it is, it’s not big enough!”

Thomas H. Kocourek

Two Rivers, Wisconsin

In 2009, Thomas Kocourek built a 25-foot by 25-foot two-car garage and workshop, which he attached to a heated workshop on his 5-acre hobby farm. Because of the work he does on his hobby farm, Kocourek said he is always repairing some piece of equipment or working on a small project and said he’d need a larger heated workspace. He hired a contractor to work on the structure, and Kocourek did the electrical work on the building himself. He said he is pleased with the results of his building, but wishes the space was larger. He is planning to build a 40-foot by 60-foot outbuilding in the next few years to store several big boats.

“I think the biggest mistake people make when building is they always wish it was bigger,” Kocourek said. “Often, limited funds are the reason for not building bigger or not using the most energy efficient designs.”

The first piece of advice Kocourek offers is to build large because he said homeowners will always wish they had more storage space. He also recommends that homeowners try to incorporate as many energy efficient designs as possible because energy costs will only continue to climb in the future.

In addition to the structure he built, Kocourek has a 105-year old barn on his property. He said he is always amazed at the engineering that went into building the structure and how well it has stood the test of time given the limited tools available when the building was constructed. He put on a new roof only five years ago and is replacing the weathered boards that have lasted more than 100 years.

“Old barns are a great piece of history. It is often cheaper in the long run to tear down those old barns and build new [structures], but preserving these great old historical buildings is worth the effort and added cost,” he said.

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