Plans for cinder block/concrete block barns?

[lauren38026]

Hey guys,
I’m in the process of getting quotes for a new barn on our property. We recently moved onto more land and have a better pasture with more trees & nicer grass but the old metal barn is leaky and not so great for my horse…or my tack… or my hay… We’ve done repairs and it will get us by for a while but we are starting to think about and save up for something new.

I’ve boarded my horse in cinder block barns and living in Oklahoma, I love that they tend to stay a lot cooler in the extremely hot summers. They also block a lot of our crazy wind. I really enjoyed having him there and he never had any issues with the concrete walls or kicking.

My question is: where can you find plans for cinder block and/or concrete barns? Do I need special plans for this type of barn or should I just choose a layout and then specify material? All I can find are either pole barn kits or highly customized, super fancy barns. I have one horse at the moment and hope to rescue another, so I don’t plan on needing a huge barn. My goal is to build something with 3 larger stalls (12’x14’ probably) on one side and a tack room, hay storage and a wash rack on the other side. I would also like to have the stalls all open up to a covered “run” area on that side. My horse prefers to stay outside and normally just goes in the stall when the weather is bad (snow, ice, tornados, extreme heat, etc…). Otherwise, he has a turnout and can go in and out as he pleases. So I really just want to keep it simple.

Anyway, if anyone could direct me to a website or a company or really anything I’d appreciate it! Thanks so much!

Lauren

[clanter]

You may want to expand your thoughts to include tilt wall which would be or maybe could provide a greater level of protection. Also tilt wall construction may be faster.

Block walls are labor intensive also concrete blocks are not all the same even if they may appear to be as the blocks are rated by compression strength

Have you consulted with a design build company ?

[showidaho]

Mpsbarnmanager has a LOVELY cinder block barn and would probably be a good resource. This is a link to her website and facilities: http://www.fentressfieldsequestriancenter.com

You can send her a PM if she doesn’t jump on this thread.

[Bluey]

I have worked in several concrete block barns and you are right, they are awesome.
Then, so is the cost to build one.

You could contact a regular builder in your location about this.
Here one that builds commercial buildings is the one that also will build anything with concrete block, barns included.
The fellow he contracted to do the concrete walls for our well house was great, made the walls look like it was a regular, high end house.
There is an art to doing that kind of work and have it look properly finished.

Several trainers here have built their horse barn out of metal, then used tilt concrete walls for the stalls and love it.

[IPEsq]

I found brick barns to stay cool, but cinder block/concrete to be an oven, personally.

[lauren38026]

Thank you all so much for your responses! I hadn’t thought of asking a regular contractor - don’t know why. I just went to the barn builders and only found one around here that will do concrete barns. They’re super nice…and super expensive! But if you want some eye candy check out their website: http://www.gh2.com/equestrian (May cause excessive drooling!! )

I will definitely ask about tilt walls. i admit I had to google what they were, but that seems like a perfect option. I’m not opposed to combining concrete tilt walls with the pole barn structure, but we are in tornado alley so I was originally thinking that entirely concrete may be stronger. I guess there are no guarantees really if they get that close.

Has anyone attempted to do part or all of the labor on a barn like this themselves? Electric and plumbing are out of my skill range completely, but I have volunteered with Habitat for years (did everything from siding, roofing, building wall frames, painting and landscaping) so I’m considering working with a contractor to do part of the labor myself (husband and bros-in-law included). I’m one of those crazy DIYers, but I can also recognize when something is beyond my capabilities. I’ve seen neighbors put up pole barns themselves, but I know concrete is a whole other process.

Anyway, this gives me a great start and I really do appreciate the help! I’m trying to get as organized as possible so that when the time comes to get started, I’ll have everything laid out. If anyone has any other tips, I’d love to read them.

Thanks again!

[Bluey]

One neighbor made his tilt walls himself.
We use all metal, so won’t do that, but could if we wanted to go that route.

He made the frame for the walls out of angle iron, filled in with the wire to reinforce the concrete and called the trucks.
He poured and finished whole sets of walls at once, added his brand on the walls and stood them up and the barn looks very nice.

There is some article floating around of a tornado safe barn for horses on OK.
Here it is:

http://www.pleasurehorse.com/latest-news/safe-rooms-for-horses-preparing-for-the-worst/#.VUzZbWBRrPA

You may get ideas from that.

[PeteyPie]

Here’s what I would do.

1. Get a plan with construction drawings. This is not rocket science, but cinderblock design has certain structural requirements, such as an appropriately-sized concrete footing with rebar, sufficient bond beams, and lateral reinforcement if any wall is very long or very tall. Here is an interesting site to familiarize yourself with the vocabulary and some design issues:
   http://www.huduser.org/publications/pdf/masonry.pdf

2. Price varies by region, so you might want to evaluate the relative costs of the materials and the labor in your region. Home Depot will make up a materials list for you if you show them your plans – at least they have done that for me so I assume it would be the same thing in your state. In my area, cinderblock was much less expensive than poured concrete. FWIW, Coth member The Crone of Cottonmouth County has a beautiful concrete barn she built. I think it was concrete.

3. I would sub out the footing to a professional concrete contractor. The footings need to be done very well, on good well-compacted non-organic soils. They need to be square and level. Again, this is how I would do it.

4. Then I would hire an experienced mason/block layer who would start the corners and supervise us in laying the block ourselves. My whole plan would hinge on this. If I could not find such an individual, I would completely forget about doing part of the labor ourselves, and just have a contractor do the whole thing. If you choose to do this, just remember that it will take you much more time than an experienced crew of masons and it is heavy work.

Then there is the roof. After that will be the interior and finish work including doors and windows and fittings which may (probably will) cost more than the structure. Oh, and electrical, plumbing, insulation, etc. Of course all of this stuff will need to be done no matter which style of structure you build.

Now that I’ve typed all this out, it seems utterly pointless information but I will hit “Submit” just because. Hope there is something helpful here.

[lauren38026]

Bluey & Petey Pie - thanks for the additional information. That was all really helpful!

[re-runs]

Love, Love LOVE!!! my cinderblock barn. If ever I had to move from this place I would build another one. I have owned it for the last 35 years. It has 6 stalls and a large tack/feed room. It faces east and west with a cement aisle. I took a tip from the dairy farmers around here and put in glassblock windows with smaller vent type windows in the center, they are horse proof but let in a lot of light. It has a full hayloft above with round trusses, that will hold two thousand small squares. No matter how deep the snow gets, the round type roof sheds the snow so no worry of collapse. Also if there is at least one layer of hay in the hayloft, it makes for even more insulation. It is cool in the summer with the wind whipping down the aisle and the horses in their stalls with their stall guards up. A great refuge from the flies and mossies because it is darker and cooler than outside and the bugs dont like that. It is also warm in the winter and with 6 horse bodies in there, I keep the front of the barns screen door in year round and only in the lowest temps does their water freeze solid. (We are talking northern midwest and the coldest getting to -28o F.) It needs little maintenance, we painted the cinderblock with a good quality outdoor latex for water proofing and good looks.

I would say it is the ideal barn. I worry little about it blowing down and we have had some epic storms here in the last couple of years.

The horses do not mess with the cinderblock in any way.

[rennyben]

This thread is interesting… Right now my horse is retired and shares an old cinderblock dairy building turned into a shed with some goats. It’s surprises me how much more he uses this shed than he did the standard run-in shelter at his last barn. There are some clear blocks for light, the floor is mats and shavings for comfort. It stayed warm and draft free in the Chicago winter and stays cool on hot days. It’s downright pleasant to work inside it when cleaning it or doing other chores. Honestly, the cinderblock “goat shed” was supposed to be a temporary fix until I could afford to put up a standard run-in. But now, I think what we have is the greatest design ever for horses.

[Dune]

Do you guys line the walls with rubber mats to prevent injuries from kicking/getting cast?

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

My friend’s giant two story block barn was picked up (whole) off the foundation by a tornado and moved a few feet–far enough to kill her horse inside. Not trying to be Debby Downer, but it did happen. The only good news was the barn was able to be fixed because it held together and didn’t fall apart in the storm.

It was built a long time ago (originally the classic cattle barn) so maybe new construction is better in tornados. It is very well built however.

My horse was a boarder and kicked through the block freaking out once. I would line the wall with plywood at a minimum if it were mine. YMMV.