So this is all still hypothetical, I haven’t found the right land yet. But for the New England farm owners – did you put up metal or wood barns and/or buildings? Do you regret your choice? Pros and Cons?
Thanks!
Metal - much cleaner, more open looking with a low profile, no birds nests or cobwebs because there are not the numerous rafters.
The outside walls, however, have been changed to wood just because the metal was ‘wrinkling’ at the bottom from the snow/freeze/thaw and hubby did not like it. He ripped it all off and replaced it with T111 and greenhouse glass.
If you look at my farm link below, go to facilities and there are inside and outside pictures.
I don’t have my own place, but I leased a horse at a place with a metal indoor and wowza was that place cold in the winter. Hated listening to the rain hit the roof too.
Metal roof. Snow slides right off and with the number of barns collapsing lately during winter in New England I wouldn’t go any other way. The barn I board at has a metal roof and wood sides and it works great.
I have a two stall barn from Horizon with board and batten wood siding and a shingle roof – it just made it through the 9’ of snow we had last year :yes: I don’t have a hay loft, so the roofs kinda low angle – we did get up and shovel the snow off of it a few times. I love the way it looks and how it muffles the rain/snow/ice sounds. I also keep hay in a 10x12 ShelterLogic, and it did fine, but we also shoveled the snow off it, too.
My friend has a Morton barn – metal – and it’s got 4 stalls and a small riding area – about a 60’ round pen – and it is lovely, too. I find it cold, and prefer cozy. Good luck!
Hmmmm, wonder if I should do metal framework and roof with wooden siding from the start. The farm will be built in stages, starting with fencing and run in sheds and outdoor arena, then a barn with living quarters, then attaching an indoor. That’s the plan anyway! 
Will Morton (or similar metal building builder) just do the frame? My father is an experienced construction guy and would help me do the siding and finish the barn inside…
Have you tried insulating the metal roof to keep it from getting so cold?
We used an airplane hanger erection company. They built the shell. We used Lodden stalls, bought the pieces and built the inside ourselves. I have to say my husband is very handy. It took us only two days to assemble and attach the 24 stalls.
Wood walls and metal roof.
My current barn is metal all the way around and I hate it. Cold, damp… It’s got good high ceilings and big doors at each end, and wood lined walls, but the metal sweats. If I could wave a magic wand, I would side the whole thing with board and batten.
ETA: The one thing I do love about the barn is the ceiling is 2" thick foamboard. Think insulation board. Only made as ceiling tiles. It’s warmer and helps quiet the rain on the roof a bit.
Dotneko – I assume you did massive amounts of research to find the most cost effective way to build an enormous building! :lol: We are horse people after all! I love the layout of your place…I need to find the right piece of land to support that size barn/structure! :yes: Anything you would change about your barn? Hindsight being 20/20 and all. Also, if you were going to add living quarters to the structure, do you think that would work? My priority is the horses, barn and arena, so the farm house being separate is like stage 8 on the plan!
I do think I would insulate the roof somehow. But I do like the idea of a metal roof, I think it will be lower maintenance as well.
If you go metal, you may consider spray foam insulation, that many here have been using for years and are absolutely in love with it.
There are different kinds of that, one is shiny, some you can also paint if you want, someone used it on walls, left the top white and painted a darker hunter green as a visual accent wainscoting.
 It went up 2004 and has gone through a hurricane, ice storms and a few winters where it had a few feet of snow on the roof. One winter when there were barn collapses all over the state, we did have the roof shoveled off. The snow was 5’3" on the roof at that time. It’s had 4’ at a time on it and held up beautifully. Not a single crack or stress in any of the beams.
We finished the interior ourselves and did insulate the interior. This building has held up to some serious crap and done excellent. There’s been absolutely no shifting, settling, warping, nail pops, cracks, etc. The roof is still tight, it’s a 25 year shingle roof. Due to the weight of the building, it does have a solid foundation. It’s a 4’ frost wall foundation, with rebar that the building is attached to. Carefree was great to work with, I’d definitely use them again. They give you the specs required for the foundation and the timeline to have your building built. Once the foundation is done (you can do it or have someone else) they send someone right out to measure it to make sure it’s to specs and then the next day a flatbed truck shows up at your place with your barn walls and roof materials on it followed by a smaller truck loaded with guys and a skidsteer first thing in the morning. With ours they got here at 7:30 am or so, and when they pulled out at 6 pm my barn was done. Barn in a day! It has a really high snow-load and wind capacity, well over state minimum.
We’re not overly handy, so building our own barn was out of the question. We had quotes from A&B, Morton and Barn Masters, among others. This barn came in a LOT less than those for a larger barn. IIRC it was $17k for the barn with having added ventilation (ridge vent, 2 eave vents, cupola, 6 thermo-pane windows). We added stalls and interior kickwalls over insulation. We had someone else add electric and plumbing.
Here’s the exterior:
[IMG]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y172/MistyBlue5105/Pit1.jpg)
Here’s an old interior shot:
[IMG]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y172/MistyBlue5105/Barn.jpg)
The barn I lease a mare at is a Morton building, barn and indoor. It is heated to 40 degrees, so fine in the winter. I was really happy to be there this past winter, with the huge amount of snow and barns and arenas around the area collapsing. The snow slides off the metal roof, so you don’t have to climb up there and shovel it and Mortons are guaranteed for snow load, with no upper limit. Provided much peace of mind. Of course when a load of snow slides off when you are riding a winter silly horse in the indoor, it can be a bit too much fun and excitement ;).
[QUOTE=fizzyfuzzybuzzy;8253187]
Hmmmm, wonder if I should do metal framework and roof with wooden siding from the start. The farm will be built in stages, starting with fencing and run in sheds and outdoor arena, then a barn with living quarters, then attaching an indoor. That’s the plan anyway!
Will Morton (or similar metal building builder) just do the frame? My father is an experienced construction guy and would help me do the siding and finish the barn inside…
Have you tried insulating the metal roof to keep it from getting so cold?[/QUOTE]
Not sure if Morton will, but Circle B/Iron Horse does what you want all the time - metal framework with wood kickwall … sometimes they do Fabric roof w/ metal frame, etc.
www.circleb.com is their website, it has pictures of some of the “hybrid” arenas they’ve done.
I have a metal roof on our barn and it does not shed snow. Even on the steepest pitch. I know they are supposed to shed snow and I am probably the only person in New England to have this problem, but I do. I spent a ton of money having my roof shoveled last winter by the roofer who did our house roof (he did not install barn roof.). He does not know why it does this but he is happy as I made his crew rich:-)
I would rip it off and go back to shingle if it was in the budget.
I just thought I’d throw that out there FWIW. Everybody else loves them.
What is everyone’s opinion on the hybrids with cloth (ie Coverall or clearspan type)? I like the light aspect, but I really don’t like the aesthetics of them. I think the noise is an issue with snow coming off the roof with any indoor…unless I put the apartment over the indoor? Is that even possible? The flooring would need to be crazy sound dampening, otherwise walking over the horses’ heads would also be an issue. :sigh: Has anyone found the perfect solution to winter?
[QUOTE=fizzyfuzzybuzzy;8253811]
What is everyone’s opinion on the hybrids with cloth (ie Coverall or clearspan type)? I like the light aspect, but I really don’t like the aesthetics of them. I think the noise is an issue with snow coming off the roof with any indoor…unless I put the apartment over the indoor? Is that even possible? The flooring would need to be crazy sound dampening, otherwise walking over the horses’ heads would also be an issue. :sigh: Has anyone found the perfect solution to winter?[/QUOTE]
depends on where you are… I’m in and about the NE region, MA now… lots of clearspan type buildings.
I find they hold heat wonderfully, are much warmer than their all metal/wooden counterparts, and obviously, have much more light. Rain can be loud but not a deal breaker… but there is a real concern for snow/roof collapse in the NE and unlike a metal or wooden structure one cannot simply walk up on them and shovel the snow off. However, due to their insulation I do find they accrue less snow than just wood/metal.
Don’t know if you could place an apartment over the indoor with a fabric structure… Seen it done with metal though.
The are a couple of changes I would make to my barn - a grooming stall or two, not just a wash stall that could have heat lamps.
The second change (that took us almost 20 years to accomplish) was the addition of 175 solar panels. Take THAT Unitil
We have insulated the barn roof with the foam panels. We were full to the brim last winter and between the insulation, number of horses (24 in that barn), greenhouse glass on the barn front above the stalls we never turned the heat on all winter nor did any of the auto waterers freeze.
We did not insulate the indoor - again, the footing never froze with the insulating factor from the windows.
I would not put the living quarters anywhere within 200 feet of the barn. You may think you like your boarders, but sometimes you just want to sit on the deck with a beverage and not be bothered with all the million little things that come up.
We did have it engineered for the next northern snow load requirement to us. It gives us that added bit of protection. We have never shoveled the snow off our roof. I have used the snow rake if there is a large icicle build up on the barn front just from falling ice standpoint.
![[IMG]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y172/MistyBlue5105/Pit1.jpg)](http://s5.photobucket.com/user/MistyBlue5105/media/Pit1.jpg.html){kind=link}
![[IMG]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y172/MistyBlue5105/Barn.jpg)](http://s5.photobucket.com/user/MistyBlue5105/media/Barn.jpg.html){kind=link}