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Krich

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I'm going to be working with a local metal building company that makes many of their own products to build metal buildings (they have a really large building where they do fabricating), and for those building barndominiums they also offer framing, electrical, plumbing, sheet rock, etc, etc.

So, I'm going to be having a lot of questions on how to best do certain things... I thought I'd just make one thread and ask questions as they come up

To start off, my wife is wanting a gas stove to cook in in the kitchen... is this a good idea seeing the gubment appears to be attacking gas appliances? In light of this, wouldn't going all electric be the safer bet?

And, if one did go with gas... are there flexible gas lines that can be run thru the walls kinda like they are doing these days with water lines?
 
I would wire for electric and go with gas for now. I doubt gas appliances will go away anytime soon, depending on your state. NY and parts of CA are trying to get rid of them in new construction. Flex stainless steel gas lines are a thing. Not sure about something like PEX.
 
Yep, I was leaning towards wiring for electric and installing gas lines as well.

So flexible gas line meets common building codes?

Seems like they would have a high performance version by now... guaranteed not to leak or squeak

I'll have to put in a tank and run a line from it to the house... so what is commonly used for gas lines that are underground?

And, it using steel should it be wrapped in something to help prevent corrosion?
 
I wonder if this stuff comes in really long sections so it doesn't have to be spliced.

Can this be used under ground? Maybe it can if it's inside PCP pipe?
 
Krich, that's really cool you're building a barndominium that way. To me barndominiums always looked like all pros and no cons but I never talked to someone going through the process to find out the reality.

I'm curious to know when you were evaluating different build methods how you arrived on this one, what other options you considered, what were the pros and cons of each when you got up close?

Also, what kind of site will you be building on?

And then I'm also curious about the architectural options you had to choose from, and what you settled on.

Will your building have a huge garage/shop occupying about half the space like a lot of the ones I've seen?
 
I wonder if this stuff comes in really long sections so it doesn't have to be spliced.

Can this be used under ground? Maybe it can if it's inside PCP pipe?
I'm not sure if it could be used underground, I'm skeptical. It would need to be buried 2' down for protection from accidental cuts. It could easily be damaged by a rock in the back-fill operation. The gas utility here uses a flexible plastic pipe for the supply lines to the house. The connection from my meter to the main is in steel/iron pipe. I'm not sure where the change happens from the PVC from the curb to the metal pipe to the meter.
 
when you were evaluating different build methods how you arrived on this one

Since I'm doing this cash out of pocket, I'm needing to keep the price down so I originally assumed buying a mobile home would be the most cost effective way to go but a nice double wide runs at least $150k for a cheap one and goes up from there.

Note sure where I originally heard of bardos, but there's plenty of info on the net about these and they are very cost efficient and much stronger than a mobile home not to mention I can design my own floor plan so the bardo seemed to be the way to go for the most bang for the buck

what kind of site will you be building on?

I recently purchased a few acres that had a double wide mobile home on it that the previous owner removed. It won't take too much dirt work to have a nice flat area to build the slab on.


I'm also curious about the architectural options you had to choose from, and what you settled on

I'm still working on that. The company I'll be working with makes metal building parts, sell supplies and they also put up metal buildings.

The guy gave me the phone number of a retired engineer that many of their customer use to have CAD drawings done to be used as building plans.

So I'm now working on drawing the floor plan I want with basic measurements of each room sie to give to this guy so he can make the building plans. Once that is done, the metal building company can start making all the parts needed to do the building.

Once they get that done, it's time to do the dirt work, put in drainage pipes and then do the slab.

They also have contractors they work with the finish the inside out so I'll be comparing their prices with other contractors in the area to make sure I'm not over paying.

Will your building have a huge garage/shop occupying about half the space like a lot of the ones I've seen?

I'm probably going to have the shop separate from the house. I was thinking of having a car port in between the house and the shop

These first 2 pics are kinda what I'm thinking of for the house with no large door on the end
The last pic is what I'[m thinking of for the shop, but it won't be that tall

Pic1__JPEG.jpg

Pic1__JPEG.jpeg

Pic2__JPEG.jpg
 
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It could easily be damaged by a rock in the back-fill operation

That's why I was thinking it could be run inside of PCP pipe to protect the flexible line.

But, it may be cheaper to use steel pipe and then wrap the steel pipe with something to help prevent rust and corrosion.
 
a nice flat area to build the slab on
I think I asked this before here in a different thread, where I sorta lumped buildings like this in with post frame construction, and asked whether they have to be built on flat slabs or can they be built on grades, can they have dug-out basements, etc. I'm still not clear on this and would love to know. All the ones I've seen seem to be built on flat slabs. Obviously a basement would be more costly which I'm guessing is driving your decision, but are there any engineering/structural reasons why you couldn't have one?
 
I think I asked this before here in a different thread, where I sorta lumped buildings like this in with post frame construction, and asked whether they have to be built on flat slabs or can they be built on grades, can they have dug-out basements, etc. I'm still not clear on this and would love to know. All the ones I've seen seem to be built on flat slabs. Obviously a basement would be more costly which I'm guessing is driving your decision, but are there any engineering/structural reasons why you couldn't have one?
With a post and beam you'd have a lot more point loads instead of spreading the weight over the full length of the basement wall or footer. So I'd think you'd need to engineer the point load locations to support the weight of the building. I'd think that would be possible to accomplish fairly easily. The footers at those points would be bearing a load similar to a post under the beam supporting upper floors in a multi-story building. Disclaimer - I am not engineer and do not play one on TV.
 
Yes, you could have a basement... you'd just have to plan for it and since it's a metal building it'll have steel columns rather that wood framing.

Barndos have a metal building frame and then inside of that you have wood frame walls that are not load bearing since the metal frame of the metal building shell carries all the load.

All one needs is imagination andf money to pay for whatever you dream up!
 
Thanks, Sparky and Krich. I ask because I have this dream to build a house on a slope, with a walkout lower level, and I like the barndo idea because I also want a huge garage/shop adjoined to the house on the upslope side. I like barndos because of the affordability, the customizability, and how they offer long unsupported spans because of the metal frame.

Krich, when you were looking at architectural design options, did you see any with shed roofs? In my dream house one of my goals is to minimize the number of roof facets. But all the barndos I've seen use gable or even gambrel designs, at a minimum of complexity.
 
They can do pretty much anything you want regarding roofing.

If you start searching the net for pics of barndos you'll see all types of roofing designs made out of metal.

And, building on a slope wouldn't be an issue cause you can dig a deep round hole, throw in some rebar and pour concrete to mount the steal beam on.

The thing I liked about the whole barndo thing is that you can do whatever you want as long as it's strong enough to hold their weight of the load.

An experienced metal building company will be able to design the metal part to accommodate the load and the concrete company should have an engineer on staff to verify their concrete job is strong enough to accommodate the load

Basically what I'm doing is drawing out what I want and then relying on the metal building folks and concrete folks to do what they do in determining if their parts can handle the load.
 
Good info on the gas piping, thanks!

Here's another question that came to mind... when framing out the inside, what would be the cost difference between using regular lumber verse treated lumber?

I heard treated lumber is of no interested to carpenter ants and termites and of course if there was any water leakage treated lumber would fare much better than non-treated lumber
 
As far as Gas, it will never go away, nor will the appliances unless the individual manufacturers choose to. It's just another Blah Blah Blah talking point.

Are you running water in for a kitchen or at least a drop sink as well as a Bathroom and piping that to existing septic? I ask that because I was allowed to tie into my house septic without a permit as long as I didn't punch a new hole in the tank. You might need a permit though.

Are you running radiant heating in the floor or do you even need it?

Are you pouring reinforced concrete in a section to install a car lift? If you want a car lift, I suggest lining up an installer in your area and calling them to get all the details. I suggest contacting the lift manufacturer as well for the specs they have, how they need you to pour the concrete etc.

If you decide on a car lift, you will probably need an overhead rail JUST to get the lift installed with a rolling hoist (I'm going off weight, haven't done it yet)... The rail will require an extra sturdy building, say triple board 24 on center or 4x4's or whatever, you would need to run that by the builder.
 
As an aside, about the car lift, I wonder if they make ones that get the vehicle just high enough off the ground that you can crawl underneath and turn over, maybe just a couple feet rather than so high you can walk under them without having to duck. Scotty Kilmer, the car repair Youtuber, refuses to get a car lift because he says getting down on the ground on his back and then scrambling up again each time keeps him fit, or maybe that having to do this provides an incentive to stay fit. I like that philosophy but I also find floor jacks annoying.

Also, do these home car lifts tend to be ones where you drive onto it, or do they have hooks that grab lift points on the chassis? Or both?
 
As far as Gas, it will never go away, nor will the appliances unless the individual manufacturers choose to. It's just another Blah Blah Blah talking point.

Are you running water in for a kitchen or at least a drop sink as well as a Bathroom and piping that to existing septic? I ask that because I was allowed to tie into my house septic without a permit as long as I didn't punch a new hole in the tank. You might need a permit though.

Are you running radiant heating in the floor or do you even need it?

Are you pouring reinforced concrete in a section to install a car lift? If you want a car lift, I suggest lining up an installer in your area and calling them to get all the details. I suggest contacting the lift manufacturer as well for the specs they have, how they need you to pour the concrete etc.

If you decide on a car lift, you will probably need an overhead rail JUST to get the lift installed with a rolling hoist (I'm going off weight, haven't done it yet)... The rail will require an extra sturdy building, say triple board 24 on center or 4x4's or whatever, you would need to run that by the builder.
Parts of CA have outlawed new gas connections. It isn't just a blah, blah, blah talking point. CA All Electric Appliances - gas ban
Gov. Kathy Hochul has proposed a ban - NYS Proposes Natural Gas Ban

Bad ideas tend to come from both states and spread across the fruited plains.
 
As an aside, about the car lift, I wonder if they make ones that get the vehicle just high enough off the ground that you can crawl underneath and turn over, maybe just a couple feet rather than so high you can walk under them without having to duck. Scotty Kilmer, the car repair Youtuber, refuses to get a car lift because he says getting down on the ground on his back and then scrambling up again each time keeps him fit, or maybe that having to do this provides an incentive to stay fit. I like that philosophy but I also find floor jacks annoying.

Also, do these home car lifts tend to be ones where you drive onto it, or do they have hooks that grab lift points on the chassis? Or both?
There's all kinds. There's the ones that are small and just lift the car barely above the ground like you say, (Or riding lawnmower) then there are two post lifts that go all the way up to 16K lbs or so, and 4 post lifts in which you can lift one vehicle and park another under it...
 
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