Barndominiums Homes Guide - How To Build Your Own Barndominium (2024)

The Beginners Guide To Barndominium Homes

Barndominiums are a barn-type structure that has been converted into a residential home.

Most barndosare post-frame structures, which makes themvery differentfrom a conventional home.

While they look like traditional barns on the exterior, the majority are metal building structures with custom living space. The interior often looks just like any other open-layout home but that varies with your barn house plans.

Bedrooms and bathrooms offer privacy, but common spaces are open, allowing for greater versatility.

Rather than the 2×4 frames used in stick-built homes,barndominiumshave frames made from posts that are driven into the ground. This makes them quicker and easier to construct.

In most cases,barndosare also less expensive than their stick-built counterparts.

Barndosare typically built on top of a concrete slab, and this often becomes a feature of the home (although itdoesn’thave to be!).

While some owners ofbarndominiumsuse their structures for agricultural purposes, mostdo not. The barn design is part of the charm of this home style and a bigreason whyit’sbecome so popular with people looking for an alternative to a traditional home.

While they may not always be used for agriculture,barndominiumsarecommonly used as living/working spaces. Many owners use the “shop” area of thebarndoto run their home business.This led to the popular shop house trend.

Barndo Common Features & Options

Barn house planscan have a variety of features.Just about anythingyou could put in a traditional home, you can put inabarndominium. The advantage of abarndominium floor planis that the interior is open and free of the constraints of a traditional home.

Whileit’snot uncommonfor these homes to besingle-story, some can be up to three stories high.

Some common characteristics and features of these homes include:

• Exposed beams, especially in the living and kitchen areas
• Vaulted ceilings
• Wooden staircases
• Sliding barn doors
• Gabled roofs
• Metal siding and roofing
• Columns

Open living floor plans are standard withbarndominiums.

This helps make the home feel more spacious and welcoming.

Who StartedTheBarndo Trend?

Barndosare nothing new. In rural Texas, it was common for farmers to convert the upper level of a barn into a living space. While theyweren’tcalledbarndominiumsat the time, they were exactly that: working and living spaces – all under one roof.

The term “barndominium” first came about in the 1980s when realtor Karl Nilsen coined the term. The term referred to a community that was focused on equestrian activities in Connecticut. The building project focused on cost savings and consisted of homes that were built from metal barn shells.

While the concept of abarndominium has been around since this time, itwasn’tuntil 2016 that the trend started to take off. In an episode of the HGTVshowFixer Upper,Chip and Joanna Gaines renovated a barn into a home. Itwasn’tlong after thateveryonewanted adream barndominiumof their own.

Barndominiums Gallery

What are the Key Benefits of Barn Homes?

The construction industry is seeing prices soar. The market is almost unsustainable with today’s wages. Material costs are also rising, and a new build today is18%more expensive than a year ago.

Barndominiumsoffer an opportunity to build a home that meets the specific requirements of the buyer while beingcheaperin the process.

We are seeing more people gravitate towardsmetal building barndominiumsas acost-effectivesolution in a housing market where construction costs are increasing.

A few of the many benefits of choosing thebarndominiumlife over traditional homes include:

• Durability. Whether you buy abarndokit or have a metal building floor plan erected by a contractor, you can be sure that the building processmeets or exceedslocal construction codes. Your home benefits from steelbeingstronger, resistant torotting, termites, and fire-resistant. When compared to wood,there’sno comparison:steel building materials are far more durable.
• Low maintenance. Steel buildings are low maintenance, and while interior walls, countertops, doors and other materials will need the same maintenance seen in traditional homes, the structure of the home will require less maintenance.
• Faster construction.Barndominiumkits are your best bet if you need a building project to move alongquickly. A new build is faster because a lot of the components are made off-site and pre-drilled. The contractor will put the shell of the home together much faster and spendthe majority ofthe construction time on the interior of the home. Barn homes, if they’re using a complex floor plan, can go from working on thebarndoplans to completion in six months.
• Adaptable design. Steel buildings are more structurally sound, so you don’t need load-bearing walls inside of the space. You can maximize the space of your dreambarndowith awide-openfloor plan that has expansive views and reallyopens upspace. You’re less restricted with steel buildings than traditional homes, and you can maximize your space per square foot.Build an airplanehangar, horse stalls or even traditional homes with abarndominiumkit.
• Eco-friendly design. Did you know that steel buildings are more eco-friendly than their wood counterparts? Ametal barndominiumkit has a lower carbon footprint, reduces material waste and can offer long-term energy savings. In terms of beingeco-friendly, steel construction always beats wood. It’s a structure that lasts longer, requires less maintenance and wastes fewer materials.
• Fire-resistant design. The structure of a metal building is fire resistant, with steel having a melting point of 2,500°F. If the builder uses fire-resistant materials inside of the home and focuses on fireproofing, the structure will be even less susceptible to fire damage. The interior walls and wooden components can catch fire, but the shell of the home willnot.

Barndominiumshave a lot of benefits, but you’ll still have to pay the same price for plumbing, insulation, land and clearing the property.

The exterior of the building, or the shell, is going to provide you with the most cost-saving.

You’ll alsobenefitfrom a shorter construction time with a barndo or any metal barn floor plancompared to traditional homes, which means significant labor cost savings.

But even with the benefits of a metal building structure and building abarndominum, there are some disadvantages, too. Consider corrosion, loan financing challenges and zoning considerations as the three key potential disadvantages.

While we’ve talked a lot about the money and project costs, let’s take a deeper look at what most contractors will charge. This breakdown will be just an example of cost, and you’ll want to talk to the builder and contractor for more information on the cost of your dreambarn home.

How Much DoBarndominiumsCost?

You’ve heard thatbarndominiumscost less than a stick-built home, buthow muchless? How much can you expect to spend on your ownbarndominium floor plan?

Costs – as you may have guessed – largely depend on:

• The size of the home
• Your location
• How much site work needs to becompleted
• How difficult it will be to hook up utilities

Many of these costs are highly variable need on the option(s) selected, but we can estimate the cost of just thebarndominiumitself.

According to data fromHomeAdvisor, abarndominiumcosts, on average, $35-$48 per square foot to build. This figure assumes that thebarndois basic (nothing custom) just a shell with exterior walls as a metal building.

When compared to a stick-built home, the savings can be significant.

Building a stick-built home costs $160 to $275 per square foot, and the building process is muchlonger. Even modular homes are experiencing a rise in cost persquare foot due to higher lumber costs.

The same floor plan for a modular home is over $40,000moretoday due to lumber pushing the final costhigher. We’re not seeing steel building kits experiencing these same price increases, makingbarndominiumcosts evenmore attractive.

Market conditions can change, but it’s cheaper to construct abarndominiumtodaydue to the rising prices of wood and other materials.

Keep in mind that there will still be comparable costs for the following whether youchoosea metal building kitorwood-frame home:

• Granite countertops – orany material
• Roofing
• Siding
• HVAC
• Sewer / septic
• Well
• Etc.

Interior options and materials will cost the same whether you’re opting for a metal or wood construction. House plans are not that different in terms of finishing out the interior.

Additional Costs to Consider

Abarndominiumhas a lot of costs that often aren’t considered by the owner when building. You might find a kit for abarndominiumwith a low cost of $40,000, but this isn’t the only cost you need to consider.

Whether you build abarndominiumor another house, you’ll need to consider the following costs before breaking ground on your barndominium:

• Land costs
• Foundation
• Clearing and grading
• Finish work
• Interior options
• Permits
• Inspection
• Removal ofpreviousstructure(if applicable)

If you’re like a lot of people who are following thebarndominiumtrend, you may be living in a rural area far from town and utilities. Internet may or may not be available, and it may not be possible to have Internet run to yourbarndominium.

Electric, water, and sewer hook-up (if available) will also add to your overallbarndominiumcost. Do you have a road to yourbarndominium? If not, how much will it cost to rough in a road? There is a lot to consider when building abarndominium, but these same costs exist with any home you build.

BarndominiumKits

We’ve used the term “barndominiumkit or metal building kit” quite a lot already, but what arebarndominiumkits?

UnderstandingMetal Building Kits

Abarndominiumkit isexactlywhat it sounds like: a kit to put your metal building together. The components needed to complete the outer shell of the structure are included.Barndominiumkitsprovidethe “shell” of the steel building.

The components will be delivered to the job site so that you or your builder can erect the barndominium.

What’s Included in aBarndoKit?

With that said, most kits offer these basic staples.

You can be confident that the construction will be faster with a kit because your kit will include:

• Prime framing (metal or wood options)
• Secondary framing
• Flashing
• Trim
• Plans and drawings
• Fasteners
• Roofing material
• Wall sheeting

But depending on the barndominium floor plan that you create with the design company, there may beadditionalitems included. Interior items are notincluded withbarndominiumkits. You may be able to have “additions” added to your kit, which is a popular choice.

A few of the additions may be:

• Insulation
• Windows
• Doors
• Gutters

What you can be confident about is that you’ll haveall ofthe materials to erect the steel building shell. You can then continue the interior of the project with materials of your choice.

You can choose the same interior options of a traditional home whilebenefitingfrom thecost-effectivedesign that a steel barn house offers.

How Are These Barndo Kits Erected?

Steel building kits are designed much in the same way that a traditional home is designed.

Pre-engineered designs are made to match the code requirements for your location. For example, if you’re building your structure in Texas, thelandmatters because the area is known for high tornado activity.

In this case, the designer may need to create a barndominiumfloor plan that accounts for high wind loads.

When the materials arrive at your construction site, it’s time for the structure to be erected. The build is very similar to most construction but with metal rather than wood for the framing of the interior of the structure.

The contractors, or yourself, will haveall ofthe plans and drawings provided by the designer to know how to piece together everycomponentof the structure. Contractors will need to:

• Obtain permits
• Prep the land
• Meet local building codes
• Erect the building

Once you have a floor plan that you like and know that you want to begin construction on your dreambarndominium, it’s time to decide who you want to construct thebuilding. You have two main options to consider:

• DIY
• Contractor

You can opt to choose a contractor who specializes in metal building construction, or you may be able to take the DIY approach with your barndominium.