Pole building with living quarters

[Beendare]

County could shut it down. Point is make sure the county or whatever will allow it as a residence.

Yeah, no way that would fly around here with the stiffer building codes. My uncle built a house that was essentially a pole barn design 30 yrs ago...not going to happen now.....heck, around here we need to use steel posts for a solid roof shade structure now.

We are in earthquake country...and things have changed drastically over even the last 10 years.

 

[SW hunter]

Barndominium.

Ive seen alot of them built as lofts to leave usable space below it. Its a great mancave/party room/apartment. Ive helped build two but they were added after the pole building was completed to avoid zoning or code hastles. If you use contractors to build that living space- that sounds way more complicated. But maybe not.

 

[Oldffemt]

My dad did exactly what you’re describing. Now that the house is built he bitches about how much of his shop space is taken up by the living quarters. I think you’d be better off to build a bathroom/laundry area in a corner of the pole building that can be easily heated to keep pipes from freezing, then park a camper inside the building to live in. Once the house is done, sell the camper and you’re only out the space the bathroom takes up. Whatever you do, the shop space will end up being too small eventually. I had a 50’x60’ and could have made a decent living if I’d charged family members storage fees.

 

[kipper09]

The camper in the garage seems to be a good idea. Appreciate all the input guys. I’m not exactly sure what we are gonna do. We will have an attached garage to the house for cars. The pole building will be for boats and tractors and things like that. Seems like you can never have enough garage space haha


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[KJH]

I know of two people who have this... One of them has it as a cabin, and the other as a full time residence.

They are both very functional... but the one that is a full time residence is AMAZING! From the road side it's just a big metal building without any windows. From the backside its beautiful and the living quarters must be around 3,000sf and as nice as any multi-million dollar home's finish. Full of windows, and truly exceptional. You would never guess it from driving by....

Both have different purposes... but both are awesome in their own right.

 

[camelcluch]

I’m doing this right now. I have to move my in-laws out and the pole building was the best way to get a place for them. We are building a 40x70 building and it will have 1000sq ft of living space. The builder had no issues with the plans and said he does a lot of it.

 

[magtech]

Build your pole barn how you want it. Park a junky rv outside and have it look like it's used. Then you can say you live in the rv.

 

[Carrot Farmer]

Did this exact thing… 36x64(4-16’ bays)

1) Do not say anything to County about living quarters… it’s an office/bathroom/kitchenette. Mine was an ag-exempt building
2) Even if it’s a wish, install anything you may want at a later date as you build(water outlet, surround sound, etc).
3) I wished I would’ve made 40 min depth, and now 50 would be perfect(having 30’ 5th wheel inside makes it too tight)
4) wished I would’ve added another 2 ft to left side of shop. That end has shelving and make it a pain to open/close door on rv when inside

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[def90]

You have to look up the building regs in your area. Many jurisdictions will not allow running water in out buildings and so on. Until you know what structures are allowed to be built on your property going through the “what ifs” is a waste of time.

 

[Boarmaster]

My Cousin has a pole barn he had built with a kitchen, sitting area bar and full bathroom. It lacks a bedroom and a laundry but when I am up there they just put a bed in there. They use it like a clubhouse for gatherings and he has his built in cooler in one corner And game processing area. He designed it to be pretty open so he can use it for storage as well. He recently built a porch on one side for smoking and bbq as well as just sitting out. He built a small loft for storage of small items. In the kitchen he incorporated a ton on cabinets and counter space. It turned out great and they use the heck out of it.

 

[grfox92]

The cost to make the poke barn slightly larger would be negligible. The size you listed seems way too small.

I would go 24ft instead of 14. Then you can have a good rental to supplement your mortgage once you build your house. Sound dead the walls with Rockwool so you can use your shop without disturbing tenants.

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