Building a Farm

[Bluey]

@Texarkana

I’m curious, how many people actually have bathrooms in their barn?

Of all the barns I boarded at in my life, and that is A LOT (like I got to 15 and stopped counting), maybe 2 had bathrooms? I really only recall one with a bathroom, but I’m assuming another had one only because it was so posh. A couple others had port-a-potties.

Then if you throw in all the barns I’ve worked at, which ranges from backyard places to absolute top of horse sport, bathrooms are still hit or miss.

Insisting someone needs a bathroom for a single boarder or for the off chance the vet/farrier needs it seems like a pretty big luxury in my mind.

Most barns I worked in continental Europe and the US and our big barn now have some kind of toilet/sink somewhere, our current barn has a whole bathroom with shower.
Farm race horse barns, race tracks, state fair and dude ranches have one.

Porta potties are generally used for extra bathrooms for events with more people than daily users.
The few places that didn’t have one, the local house was used, which was a nuisance for barn users and whoever was living there,

Then, for just one person and one boarder, using the house’s facilities may be fine also.

[trubandloki]

@Simkie

@StormyDay

I have a 3ft overhang on the back of my stalls and it’s so worth it.

Is that supposed to be 30?

I have an 8 foot overhang on one side and reeeeaaaaaally wish it were 12. Or deeper! 8 is better than nothing but not nearly as useful as the deeper overhang at our previous barn.

I have a 10’ overhang on the side with the stalls/paddocks and I frequently wish it just a bit bigger.

Sun at the correct angle gets all the way to the stall, snow blows into the stall if the wind is just right, etc.

Love my overhang, but just like @Simkie said, more is better.

@Demerara_Stables

You can get sliding dutch doors - nothing to swing open or closed but the benefits of the windows.

Do you have photos of this? I am trying to picture how this will work.
More a whole door frame with a window in the top?

[Texarkana]

Major racetracks/training centers and show grounds always have bathrooms.

But private racing farms? The smaller ones around here or in other states where I’ve been involved with east of the Mississippi don’t always have toilets.

Same with show horse training barns. The largest usually have toilets but it’s really hit or miss when you’re talking about smaller ones, no matter the caliber of trainer. I’ve peed in Olympian’s stalls.

Maybe it’s a region thing. Around here most farms are on wells and septic. The land is often perced for a limited number of toilets.

[trubandloki]

Thank you, that is my experience too.

I am shocked at the insistence that the OP put in a toilet room. It is quite the added expense (with the waste requirements frequently needing a whole separate septic tank and leach field).

I have peed in many stalls in my life. Not very many places have an actual toilet, some have porta potties.
I have never had a vet or farrier ask if I have a bathroom.

[ghst13]

I have no position on whether OP should put a bathroom in their barn or not, but all barns I’ve boarded at have had a bathroom except one that had a porta-potty. All but one were private boarding barns, not show barns and ranged from about 12-30 horses in the mid-Atlantic. In my area in would be rare for a barn not to have a bathroom unless it was a small barn primarily for the owner (like OP is building).

[Texarkana]

@ghst13

I have no position on whether OP should put a bathroom in their barn or not, but all barns I’ve boarded at have had a bathroom except one that had a porta-potty. All but one were private boarding barns, not show barns and ranged from about 12-30 horses in the mid-Atlantic. In my area in would be rare for a barn not to have a bathroom unless it was a small barn primarily for the owner (like OP is building).

Really! I’m also mid-Atlantic and that has not been my experience at all. Bathrooms aren’t rare, but I would never assume a private 12-30 horse boarding barn would have one.

Different experiences for sure!

(Not being argumentative, I hope you don’t take it that way)

[ghst13]

@Texarkana

@ghst13

I have no position on whether OP should put a bathroom in their barn or not, but all barns I’ve boarded at have had a bathroom except one that had a porta-potty. All but one were private boarding barns, not show barns and ranged from about 12-30 horses in the mid-Atlantic. In my area in would be rare for a barn not to have a bathroom unless it was a small barn primarily for the owner (like OP is building).

Really! I’m also mid-Atlantic and that has not been my experience at all. Bathrooms aren’t rare, but I would never assume a private 12-30 horse boarding barn would have one.

Different experiences for sure!

(Not being argumentative, I hope you don’t take it that way)

Nope, no worries! Just shows how differences and expectations can be specific to local areas vs. wider-geographic areas.

[GraceLikeRain]

@Texarkana

Of all the barns I boarded at in my life, and that is A LOT (like I got to 15 and stopped counting), maybe 2 had bathrooms?

Never boarded or even visited a formal boarding barn without a plumbed bathroom. I can think of a handful of small barns (under 6 horses) that were designed as private barns but ended up with 1-2 boarders that were without a bathroom that instead allowed access to a workshop bathroom or bathroom in a home.

Edit: I remembered one with a portapotty but they were in the middle of building out a bigger barn while I boarded there.

[LCDR]

Ten years ago when my 4 stall center aisle barn was built, I had the builder add a toilet and a sink in the tack room, which meant that a septic system needed to be added to the cost. The added cost for the septic system was $1,750 in 2015 dollars.

[Simkie]

@Texarkana

I’m curious, how many people actually have bathrooms in their barn?

Of all the barns I boarded at in my life, and that is A LOT (like I got to 15 and stopped counting), maybe 2 had bathrooms?

My boarding experience is limited to Colorado, but all but one of the boarding barns I was at had at least a toilet for boarders. One had a porta potty. One wasn’t in the barn, it was in the nearby house. All the others were in the barn. The experience at the one place with zero access was enough that I wouldn’t do that again

I sure WISH I had at least a toilet in my barn now! Letting people into the house to use the bathroom there is just a hassle, and that’s just one offs–vet or farrier. A boarder that’s there regularly would be more burdensome. I guess it would be easier with a bathroom with easy outside access in a fairly unused part of the house, but still–it’s inviting people into your home.

I’ve never been at a barn where the expectation was to go in a stall. It certainly happened (esp at the place with porta potties, they were COLD in the winter!) but that was a choice.

[LCDR]

Never thought I’d ever be posting a bathroom picture. This occupies one corner if my tack room. This is usually the first place my farrier and apprentice visit when they get to my barn. Maybe that indicates the scarcity of barn toilets in my community.

[Bluey]

Our big horse indoor has a bathroom between tack room and feed room that is handicapped accessible and tiled all around but the ceiling.
Was built around 7-8 years ago and cost $3800 at that time, with septic tank and field.
The septic field is 60’ x 50’ grass spot right outside and can be used for any but driving over it or parking big trailers. We have a 6’ chain link fence around it and use it for a dog pen so no one turn dogs loose.
We have a single sprinkler on it that covers it all and takes half a minute to mow. Very happy with it.
It has a shower as some use it for washing and changing before going to school or work.
When we had an agility match or 4H kid event, we added outside porta-potties and generally men use those, women the indoor bathroom, not by design, just the way they seem to use them.

In the old race horse training barn built in 1961 we had a tiny room with a toilet and sink accessible from the office between the tack room and office, the other part of that space had the water heather and small furnace. My guess is it was barely 5’ square.

This is the current one, up to ADA code and no, the OP doesn’t need that much bathroom, this one is for a possible commercial use of the barn, that we never really can do because of liability and the cost of insurance today:

[JumpWithPanache]

Thank you everyone for the thoughts! I’ll address the bathroom question first because I have DEFINITELY been back and forth on it. We are on septic, naturally, and had it designed to accomodate two additional bathrooms than what’s going in the house. At least one of these will be in the workshop/storage building nearly adjacent to the barn, so closer than the house for the emergency potty needs once the shop is built. ETA the shop will have a second floor to be finished out as an entertaining space or for long-stay guests. It’s certainly a fair point that a barn bathroom is more convenient for vet/farrier but I prefer to not add the additional permitting and cost that would likely be incurred. As for a boarder, the intent is to board an additional retiree to keep my old man company when young horse is off showing/lessoning/whatnot. So I don’t anticipate having heavy volume of foot traffic.

Overhang on the back - I didn’t think of adding a small overhang, will definitely add that to my list! The long side of the L will face east, so morning sun.

Wash stall - noted on moving the drain, I hadn’t even considered putting it towards the back but it’s super logical. I also like the idea of insetting rubber pavers or mat into the concrete.

Windows - I’d been debating to the window from office to wash stall and leaning more towards switching to two windows on that back wall. Or maybe add a window to the side wall, but the sliding door would almost always be in the way unless I also have windows on the sliding door… which isn’t a terrible idea either. Sorry for the stream of consciousness!

Dutch doors - I’m planning the runs for more of a lay-up sort of situation than constant use. The magnets are a super cool idea, will have to google that!

Keep the ideas coming!

[frugalannie]

When we bought our farm, there was a bathroom in the tack room. It dates back a ways, and it wallpapered in old COTH magazine covers. One has Mike Plumb’s pic on it and he signed it!

There’s an apartment in the barn so the septic has adequate size. We have 11 stalls, but it’s amazing how many people use the facilities. It’s great for workmen who might be doing something here. A former tenant is a cop, and if he’s nearby he’s been known to stop in and use it!

[trubandloki]

@JumpWithPanache

Windows - I’d been debating to the window from office to wash stall and leaning more towards switching to two windows on that back wall. Or maybe add a window to the side wall, but the sliding door would almost always be in the way unless I also have windows on the sliding door… which isn’t a terrible idea either. Sorry for the stream of consciousness!

I think you will find a window on the wall of your wash stall (that second window in your tack room) to be a problem for catching water, suds, etc. and getting gross, a nuisance to keep clean.

[frugalannie]

@JumpWithPanache

and had it designed to accomodate two additional bathrooms than what’s going in the house

That’s interesting. Around here, the septic size is determined by the number of bedrooms in a residential building, not the number of bathrooms.

And just a general note: do everything you can to keep plumbing off exterior walls. An unexpected cold snap can raise hell with plumbing. At least you have a chance with pipes in/on interior walls.

A friend suggested that we use drain boxes down the sides of our wash stall, all leading to one exterior drain. I only listened halfway: did it on two sides. I wish I’d done all four! They are narrow modular rectangles that have a pitch to them and fairly narrow grillwork on top. They run down the edge where floor meets wall. The outlet pipe has a dryer vent cover on it, so water can push out but critters and bees can’t get in. Also closes out the really cold air in the winter. Same friend suggested that we put tin roofing on the ceiling of the stable area. It’s brilliant. It’s tan which reflects light keeping the barn brighter and we power wash it once a year to keep it nice and shiny. In 20 years it hasn’t needed more maintenance than that.

[trubandloki]

@frugalannie

That’s interesting. Around here, the septic size is determined by the number of bedrooms in a residential building, not the number of bathrooms.

Yes, the expected number of occupants here too.

@frugalannie

And just a general note: do everything you can to keep plumbing off exterior walls. An unexpected cold snap can raise hell with plumbing. At least you have a chance with pipes in/on interior walls.

I 100% agree with this.
Since this is going to be a shedrow barn, it is all exterior walls. Nothing will be interior walls.

[LCDR]

Does your wireless internet service reach the barn site and the shop site from your house?

Having wifi in a barn or shop might be considered a luxury for some, but I absolutely need it. I have an office in my barn and spend hours in the shop. I live in an area with very iffy cellular signals (as in the 1980’s, can you hear me now? era) and wifi gives me reliable access for my iphone and barn office computer.

It was not until after I built my barn and shop that I discovered this problem. Burying ethernet cable from house to shop and barn would have been a snap during construction while electrical lines and water lines were being run from my house and well to the shop and barn.

[JumpWithPanache]

I think it was designed on bedrooms now that you say that… the original design was done 2+ years ago… building has been a verrrrrrrry long process. But I do know we had them design it for two more than in the house.

So would the wash stall be highest in the center and slope to those drain boxes? Really intriguing concept

[JB]

You can make a space for a composting toilet if you really want one at the barn

For the wash area - one option is a full length sliding door, at least 4’ wide like a stall, or even wider if you want the option of having the back fully open This would serve to allow all the airflow you could ever want in the Summer, or close it off when needed. When we had a hay storage extension built on the back of the barn, the wall with the wash rack, I had them take the back wall out and do just that, and it’s been SO much better in the Summer.