Hello! Anyone good with estimating barn costs? I really like this design: http://bioengr.ag.utk.edu/extension/extpubs/Plans/6024.pdf Can anyone tell me how much they think the materials will cost? Looking to build 3 stall barn with a hay loft.
Cost of a barn like this will vary greatly with your region, what materials you’re interested in, site prep work, interior finishes, etc.
I would expect to be quoted $30,000-50,000 from a builder. Maybe even more.
I paid $15,000 in excavating and materials alone for my 24x36 pole barn with no loft, and that was 10 years ago. I built the entire barn myself with help from my dad and some very good friends.
I would think you are easily $40,000 plus. Not including excavation, permit costs, electrical and plumbing etc. Just the structure.
A quick Google search turned up this: http://www.buildingsguide.com/faq/how-much-does-storage-horse-barn-cost
A very quick and dirty review suggests it’s a place to start, but might not be the place to finish.
I put up a 72’ x 45’ shed barn for machinery and hay storage 5 years ago. The cost ran just about $45,000. It’s metal, I had minimal dirt work to do (mostly just re-graveling an old apron area), and did not do a full electrical hookup due to a contractor error (long story, that). A more traditional barn structure of similar size would have been a similar cost.
The design shown is very nice but looks labor intensive. Even hiring minimum wage labor gets pricy when a lot of hours are involved and if the carpentry is at all challenging then you don’t want minimum wage labor. People who know what they are doing around here start at $15/hr. and go up. If you want to add electricity you’ll have to meet code and that means a certified electrician.* You could do without commercial electric and go with a generator or solar or the the like but you likely can’t do without plumbing. No inspections around here for that, but it’s an expensive process.
While I don’t really like their appearance all that much a simple, well built, metal structure is probably the most economical way to go. Plan the building and the foundation to have wooden stalls built inside the structure.
G.
*In our area an owner can be their own electrician but the job must still meet code. Our local electrical inspector is really hard on DIY jobs; I’ve never known one that he passed no matter how well it was done. He will not pass it until you hire a certified electrician to “fix” the “mistakes.” And even then he’ll like fail that job at least once.
IIRC, my barn that is almost the exact same (no loft, the feed/tack room is one combined room, and the aisle is open so it’s more of a fancy shed row than an enclosed barn), and I paid $20,000 for everything below ground (site work, foundation, etc) and $30,000 for everything above ground. BUT I got ALL of the above ground building materials at cost, or free; we borrowed a lot of equipment for fencing and the finish site work; and DH and friends did all of the work. That being said, we did go a little fancier on some of it, such as using douglas fir instead of pine for all of the lumber, and bought some bells and whistles for inside the barn (2 insulated water buckets, an industrial fan, and a camera for each stall, for example). So you could do it for a little less, but perhaps not a lot because of how much we got for free (ex: our entire roof was free - it helps to be friends with the manager of the lumber company who has spare material kicking around).
So I’d say it’s around $50,000, but you can certainly do it a little cheaper, or a whole lot more expensive.
