The turn key cost of our Studio Barn is between $150-$185 per square foot, not including the cost of the land and site work. Please note that garage space square footage is counted at 25%; with living space counted at 100%. A 28 x 40 Studio Barn costs between $240,000-$275,000 fully finished.
Also, keep in mind that any construction project is practically guaranteed from the get-go to exceed the expected budget. BUT, if you watch HGTV, you probably already know that.
While I think it would be awesome to build my "dream home", I have this thing about building and new houses. At least, in my experience, everyone I know - all without exception - has had nightmares with contractors, building quality, deadlines, budgets, warranties, etc. etc. etc.
While I think it would be awesome to build my "dream home", I have this thing about building and new houses. At least, in my experience, everyone I know - all without exception - has had nightmares with contractors, building quality, deadlines, budgets, warranties, etc. etc. etc.
My parents have had 2 homes built in the last 7 years, and yes it was a nightmare. Last year when they told me they were having another house built, I responded "Are you crazy? You are going through THAT again???" Dad was sure it would be different. It wasn't.
I don't think I will ever have a home built for that reason.
If you take a trip up to NH, you might find some barn homes, and then go up to the door to see if you can ask questions. If you ask the company who is selling them, they will definitely give you their happiest customer as a reference. I know from working for a guy who sold steel buildings that it can be a nightmare. Parts didn't show up from the factory. The factory said they looked over the video tape and saw everything was loaded on the truck. I'm sure there are similar things to these. Do your homework before you buy.
Does this company put the building up for you? If so, you may not have to deal with the missing parts issue. But you will pay a higher price for that service than if you hire someone yourself to erect the building.
What do ya think GeoAar? Should you and I form a partnership and get these folks out of their building contractor miseries? I know many people speak of having trouble with their contractors keeping to a schedule, doing the work in a professional manner etc. etc., but in my 30 some years of doing this, it has never been an issue on my projects.
Those people I have met who have had problems, often have taken the near lowest bids, or hired the man/woman who says they can start at the earliest date. There is a reason this person is available so quickly..... they often do not have the reputation for doing quality work, and so they do not have much going for them. They often undercut reputable skilled companies in order to get work and put food on the table. I generally operate on at least a 6 week ahead schedule, and I aim for 8. I am worth the wait, believe me. I know what I am doing, and your project will go smoother. I use that time to arrange my subcontractors, order materials, confirm the plans, get the permits etc., while I am finishing someone else's project ON TIME. The key to an enjoyable construction project is planning ahead. When a client makes changes, it often translates into delays. I use the time before a project start date to help the client work through most possible changes before we actually get started.
When hiring a contractor for any remodel project, you should ask to see their work, and TALK to previous clients. At least 80% of my clients at the end of a job, offer on their own to be a reference. I do always confirm their willingness to "be bothered" prior to giving out their phone number however, so they are not inconvenienced during a family event or something.
I recently finished a major high end bathroom and master bedroom remodel. I emailed with the client each morning or the night before, and kept them informed of the plans for the day. The lady had such fun sharing these emails with her coworkers, and bragging about HER contractor actually communicated with her! At the end of the project, she mentioned she was sad to see me go, as she had not even gotten tired of me yet, or of the project, even though they had lived in their basement throught the construction. In addition to my final bill, which was exactly what I had quoted her, she also gave my wife and I a quite adequate gift certificate to her favorite fancy restaurant. I will invite her and her husband to join us that night.
Some homeowners try to save money by doing some of the work or providing some of the materials themself. "My brother is an electrician....we will do that part ourselves" type stuff. I have no problem if they want to do this, but it can cause delays. When that happens, often it means the contractor has to pull away from the job until someone for whom he/she is not responsible does their own stuff. If I had to pull off a job, I will NOT sit around waiting at my home until you get out of my way. I would go start another job, AND FINISH IT, before returning. If I can get my subs back into your home before I come back, I will try and do that, but once I start another job, you better believe they will be my new priority. Over the years, I have developed quite a network of tradespeople who I can count on to do the job right, and in a timely manner. Most of them I have used for over 15 years. This helps my projects flow seamlessly from one phase to another, and since my subs have worked with the others many times before, and will again in the future, we all try and "not make things difficult" on the others.
These are just SOME ideas to consider when hiring a contractor. As my byline says, it is worth what you paid for it. I take great pride in my work, and after all this time, there is no project I have ever done that I would hesitate to go back and enjoy conversation with the client again, whether it was sticking in a vanity for them or building their dream home.
I think that is the more finished, nicely insulated price.
The bare barn is much less ... but not cheap.
$46,033 for a 27 x 36 gambrel style
plus $1,300 shipping within 300 miles
Prices good through the end of the month.
Price includes the labor cost for a Barnmakers Certified Installation Supervisor for 10 days. Travel expenses additional. Standard barn is designed for fifty pound snow load, 9o mph (IRC) category C wind speed, and will be adjusted according to locations.
They have a drawing ... have they built any yet?
I should have mentioned ... I think that is just materials and that supervisor for 10 days ...
that is the only image of a finished house I saw ... yes heating all that air could be expensive ...
Rhino- I think they are a very established company...CHas lives not to far from this company and I will be moving an hr away..I have seen similiar programs related to this style of homes being built primarly in New England. The www.yankeebarnhome website has more contemporary barn style homes available to build. Of course the picture you have posted is a basic style that have been converted to a more modest style home. I particulary like the open floor plan of this home..New England is very pricey to start with..with some creativity this can be done very tastfully..I for one would change the windows and bring more in from the outside but you have to consider the cost of heating due high ceilings,etc...
The cool thing about the barn homes is that they are easy to establish a good floor layout and it saves an already existing building.
I live in an open concept home - it's about 2400 sq. feet. and we don't find it hard or expensive to heat at all. We have ceiling fans to move the air, so it all doesn't go up into the loft area. My only complaint about it is that if you have a mess in the kitchen, then it seems that you've got a mess in the living room and dining room too!
In the next town over from me there's a restaurant that opened a couple of years ago that is a restored barn. The old barn used to be just full of bats and run down. It looked like a wreck. The new owners fixed it up, decorated it, and it's so pleasant to go to now. I love the old hand-hewn beams throughout the place - it's just comfortable.
Id still do some shopping around even if you do decide on a barn. New England is loaded with excellent timber framers and craftsman, some of whom have gone into the prefab market. Ive seen many of these prefab home/logcabin/ barns/whatever that are OK, but it seems(generally speaking) when the contractors go large that the quality tends to slip a notch. sometimes a few notches and the details of fine craftsmanship can be missing.......
.Not to say that they are all that way but it does happen. I know some excellent Timber Framers, that are fine craftsman first and have no time, inclination or need for websites or mass marketing but due to the quality of their work alone stay in demand.
As I said New England is loaded with amazing Timber Framers, I wont discourage you from a kit barn, but you may want to check your area once you move, or perhaps start with The Timber Framers Guild before you decide to buy from the best marketer
The cool thing about the barn homes is that they are easy to establish a good floor layout and it saves an already existing building.
............................
I thought these were new prefab buildings, not moving into and remodeling an old barn. Perhaps I am wrong however.
The prices I saw quoted do not include foundation, or ceiling material -it says provided by contractor. (the walls are covered with what they call "blueboard". I assume no floor coverings, base or casing either. add appliances.
anyway, snow load is the design weight load that a building roof system is designed to take. Depending on your location, codes may be higher than that. check with the building department before ordering.
Snow load: A measurement of the weight of the heaviest snow load likely to occur in a two-month period in a certain region. In localized areas of some snow-belt regions, snow loads of 150 pounds per square foot are not uncommon.
That wind design which rhino quoted would not pass here in CO, but again, each building department sets their own, depending on their climate situations.
"A custom floor plan evolves from many ideas and a number of conversations, from doodling on the back of an envelope to more formal schematics and "blue-prints."
The turn key cost of our Studio Barn is between $150-$185 per square foot, not including the cost of the land and site work. Please note that garage space square footage is counted at 25%; with living space counted at 100%. A 28 x 40 Studio Barn costs between $240,000-$275,000 fully finished. On this page, our planners have put together information that can help you create your initial floor plan. The information is general but comes from over thirty years of designing and building Yankee Barn homes.
Let's see here? 28X40 is only 1120 sq ft. My last home had 2576 sq./ft and cost $156,000.00 to build. I don't get the cost difference.
Sounds too expensive all around. Granted, you'll have up stairs and down stairs available to bring the total to 2280 sq./ft. But it sounds too pricy for me. Especially in Texas.
We bought our modest home (2200 sq. ft.) six years ago - 3 bedroom, 1.75 baths, 0.33 acres, above ground pool, decks, etc. We've added a sunroom - that's about it for home improvements. Well, we refinanced last month and found that it had increased in value by well more than twice what we paid for it. The market value on it now is around $250K!
I'm sure by TX standards that's pretty high for this little nest we have but there's been a big housing boom up here in the past five years. I'm sure that $250K could get me a nice piece of real estate in TX but up here, it will get you a very modest, single family home.... and that's about it.
Those barns are pretty reasonable, when you compare them to the local economy here....
We bought our modest home (2200 sq. ft.) six years ago - 3 bedroom, 1.75 baths, 0.33 acres, above ground pool, decks, etc. We've added a sunroom - that's about it for home improvements. Well, we refinanced last month and found that it had increased in value by well more than twice what we paid for it. The market value on it now is around $250K!
I'm sure by TX standards that's pretty high for this little nest we have but there's been a big housing boom up here in the past five years. I'm sure that $250K could get me a nice piece of real estate in TX but up here, it will get you a very modest, single family home.... and that's about it.
Those barns are pretty reasonable, when you compare them to the local economy here....
Exactly CHas-
My daughter and son n law just bought a home in Manchester, built in the 60's,brick,new gourmet kitchen,and a basement and its a plain rach or rambler as the south calls it.town lot for 250.000- that is not much for the buck..plus taxes are high..but, there is no state or personal tax..
We bought our modest home (2200 sq. ft.) six years ago - 3 bedroom, 1.75 baths, 0.33 acres, above ground pool, decks, etc. We've added a sunroom - that's about it for home improvements. Well, we refinanced last month and found that it had increased in value by well more than twice what we paid for it. The market value on it now is around $250K!
I'm sure by TX standards that's pretty high for this little nest we have but there's been a big housing boom up here in the past five years. I'm sure that $250K could get me a nice piece of real estate in TX but up here, it will get you a very modest, single family home.... and that's about it.
Those barns are pretty reasonable, when you compare them to the local economy here....
Exactly CHas-
My daughter and son n law just bought a home in Manchester, built in the 60's,brick,new gourmet kitchen,and a basement and its a plain ranch or rambler as the south calls it.town lot for 250.000- that is not much for the buck..plus taxes are high..but, there is no state or personal tax..this area is 45 min from Boston..this is a given
If you're gonna buy, I always tell people to download the property tax list that's on nh.gov and see what the tax rates are per town. That's how we chose our town - we were looking at two very similar homes, just 15 miles apart from each other, but both in close proximity to our work places. Both had similar specs but one was going to be about $250 more per month than the other!!! It was all due to TAXES!
We've got it good now, as we happen to have the owner of the New Hampshire International Speedway (a NASCAR affiliated race track!) move into town. The taxes on his mansion on the lake PAID for the new high school we just built here. We pay just 9% - the lowest in the state!
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rhino
It said $145 to $175 /sq ft and up finished to the appliances. That doesn't include land prep work.
That sounds high to me ... The idea looks interesting ... I like all the foam in the walls.
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Belle
LAE, this is what it says on their site:
Also, keep in mind that any construction project is practically guaranteed from the get-go to exceed the expected budget.
BUT, if you watch HGTV, you probably already know that.
While I think it would be awesome to build my "dream home", I have this thing about building and new houses. At least, in my experience, everyone I know - all without exception - has had nightmares with contractors, building quality, deadlines, budgets, warranties, etc. etc. etc.
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likeaneagle
I have seen prices on finished square feet of existing homes to range from 60- 100 per sq ft..
I know after 911 building supplies sky rocketed because of the demand in the sand..
I aslo have talked to dealers of prefab modulars and the cost fell much lower, and they where custom..
Maybe labor and material is higher in New England..this company is near to where i am moving to.
Insulation is major to this type of stucture..I thought a couple of Corn Pellet stoves would heat it well.
Septic systems cost in the midwest are around 6-8000 for a 3bed...not sure what type of soil they have..
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Nottawayfer
My parents have had 2 homes built in the last 7 years, and yes it was a nightmare. Last year when they told me they were having another house built, I responded "Are you crazy? You are going through THAT again???" Dad was sure it would be different. It wasn't.
I don't think I will ever have a home built for that reason.
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Nottawayfer
LEA,
If you take a trip up to NH, you might find some barn homes, and then go up to the door to see if you can ask questions. If you ask the company who is selling them, they will definitely give you their happiest customer as a reference. I know from working for a guy who sold steel buildings that it can be a nightmare. Parts didn't show up from the factory. The factory said they looked over the video tape and saw everything was loaded on the truck. I'm sure there are similar things to these. Do your homework before you buy.
Does this company put the building up for you? If so, you may not have to deal with the missing parts issue. But you will pay a higher price for that service than if you hire someone yourself to erect the building.
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ChasUFarley
There is a company in NH - they do awesome work!
http://www.yankeebarnhomes.com/photos/index.php
We drive by their showroom on the way to VT - they're about an hour west of Manchester.
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likeaneagle
:D Chas- Look at my post..we added the same link..THeir in Grafton,right..
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ChasUFarley
whoopsie! I didn't see it was hyperlinked, so I didn't see it....
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polar bear
Farm livin' is the life for me.
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HAPe4me
What do ya think GeoAar? Should you and I form a partnership and get these folks out of their building contractor miseries? I know many people speak of having trouble with their contractors keeping to a schedule, doing the work in a professional manner etc. etc., but in my 30 some years of doing this, it has never been an issue on my projects.
Those people I have met who have had problems, often have taken the near lowest bids, or hired the man/woman who says they can start at the earliest date. There is a reason this person is available so quickly..... they often do not have the reputation for doing quality work, and so they do not have much going for them. They often undercut reputable skilled companies in order to get work and put food on the table. I generally operate on at least a 6 week ahead schedule, and I aim for 8. I am worth the wait, believe me. I know what I am doing, and your project will go smoother. I use that time to arrange my subcontractors, order materials, confirm the plans, get the permits etc., while I am finishing someone else's project ON TIME. The key to an enjoyable construction project is planning ahead. When a client makes changes, it often translates into delays. I use the time before a project start date to help the client work through most possible changes before we actually get started.
When hiring a contractor for any remodel project, you should ask to see their work, and TALK to previous clients. At least 80% of my clients at the end of a job, offer on their own to be a reference. I do always confirm their willingness to "be bothered" prior to giving out their phone number however, so they are not inconvenienced during a family event or something.
I recently finished a major high end bathroom and master bedroom remodel. I emailed with the client each morning or the night before, and kept them informed of the plans for the day. The lady had such fun sharing these emails with her coworkers, and bragging about HER contractor actually communicated with her! At the end of the project, she mentioned she was sad to see me go, as she had not even gotten tired of me yet, or of the project, even though they had lived in their basement throught the construction. In addition to my final bill, which was exactly what I had quoted her, she also gave my wife and I a quite adequate gift certificate to her favorite fancy restaurant. I will invite her and her husband to join us that night.
Some homeowners try to save money by doing some of the work or providing some of the materials themself. "My brother is an electrician....we will do that part ourselves" type stuff. I have no problem if they want to do this, but it can cause delays. When that happens, often it means the contractor has to pull away from the job until someone for whom he/she is not responsible does their own stuff. If I had to pull off a job, I will NOT sit around waiting at my home until you get out of my way. I would go start another job, AND FINISH IT, before returning. If I can get my subs back into your home before I come back, I will try and do that, but once I start another job, you better believe they will be my new priority. Over the years, I have developed quite a network of tradespeople who I can count on to do the job right, and in a timely manner. Most of them I have used for over 15 years. This helps my projects flow seamlessly from one phase to another, and since my subs have worked with the others many times before, and will again in the future, we all try and "not make things difficult" on the others.
These are just SOME ideas to consider when hiring a contractor. As my byline says, it is worth what you paid for it. I take great pride in my work, and after all this time, there is no project I have ever done that I would hesitate to go back and enjoy conversation with the client again, whether it was sticking in a vanity for them or building their dream home.
~HAP
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George Aar
I dunno, Hap,
I'm still trying to figure out the appeal of living in a freaking BARN.
I,I,.... I just don't get it.
Wouldn't it be much more pleasant to live in a building that was scaled and laid out with HUMAN dimensions and needs in mind?
And at 170/ft. you can still build a nicely-appointed home with upper-grade finishes and custom features.
And why would you want to heat and maintain all the space that you won't be using for anything?
But, whaddu I know?
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HAPe4me
maybe they are going to build an ark inside of it.
Yikes, that price is just for the shell? NO finish work on the inside? We are underpaid Geo.
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likeaneagle
THis is a link for Service Providers that will respond to inquiries...
www.servicemagic.com
You can find local electrians, plumbers, house inspectors, piano movers, etc...
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rhino
I think that is the more finished, nicely insulated price.
The bare barn is much less ... but not cheap.
$46,033 for a 27 x 36 gambrel style
plus $1,300 shipping within 300 miles
Prices good through the end of the month.
Price includes the labor cost for a Barnmakers Certified Installation Supervisor for 10 days. Travel expenses additional. Standard barn is designed for fifty pound snow load, 9o mph (IRC) category C wind speed, and will be adjusted according to locations.
I should have mentioned ... I think that is just materials and that supervisor for 10 days ...
that is the only image of a finished house I saw ... yes heating all that air could be expensive ...
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likeaneagle
Rhino- I think they are a very established company...CHas lives not to far from this company and I will be moving an hr away..I have seen similiar programs related to this style of homes being built primarly in New England. The www.yankeebarnhome website has more contemporary barn style homes available to build. Of course the picture you have posted is a basic style that have been converted to a more modest style home. I particulary like the open floor plan of this home..New England is very pricey to start with..with some creativity this can be done very tastfully..I for one would change the windows and bring more in from the outside but you have to consider the cost of heating due high ceilings,etc...
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ChasUFarley
The cool thing about the barn homes is that they are easy to establish a good floor layout and it saves an already existing building.
I live in an open concept home - it's about 2400 sq. feet. and we don't find it hard or expensive to heat at all. We have ceiling fans to move the air, so it all doesn't go up into the loft area. My only complaint about it is that if you have a mess in the kitchen, then it seems that you've got a mess in the living room and dining room too!
In the next town over from me there's a restaurant that opened a couple of years ago that is a restored barn. The old barn used to be just full of bats and run down. It looked like a wreck. The new owners fixed it up, decorated it, and it's so pleasant to go to now. I love the old hand-hewn beams throughout the place - it's just comfortable.
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krys
I kind of like them - especcially if you have a small business and have a workshop you want to enclose!
Help me out, though. What is a 50 pound snow load? is that per sq foot?/ and how deep is it?
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mstar1
Id still do some shopping around even if you do decide on a barn. New England is loaded with excellent timber framers and craftsman, some of whom have gone into the prefab market. Ive seen many of these prefab home/logcabin/ barns/whatever that are OK, but it seems(generally speaking) when the contractors go large that the quality tends to slip a notch. sometimes a few notches and the details of fine craftsmanship can be missing.......
.Not to say that they are all that way but it does happen. I know some excellent Timber Framers, that are fine craftsman first and have no time, inclination or need for websites or mass marketing but due to the quality of their work alone stay in demand.
As I said New England is loaded with amazing Timber Framers, I wont discourage you from a kit barn, but you may want to check your area once you move, or perhaps start with The Timber Framers Guild before you decide to buy from the best marketer
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HAPe4me
I thought these were new prefab buildings, not moving into and remodeling an old barn. Perhaps I am wrong however.
The prices I saw quoted do not include foundation, or ceiling material -it says provided by contractor. (the walls are covered with what they call "blueboard". I assume no floor coverings, base or casing either. add appliances.
anyway, snow load is the design weight load that a building roof system is designed to take. Depending on your location, codes may be higher than that. check with the building department before ordering.
Snow load: A measurement of the weight of the heaviest snow load likely to occur in a two-month period in a certain region. In localized areas of some snow-belt regions, snow loads of 150 pounds per square foot are not uncommon.
That wind design which rhino quoted would not pass here in CO, but again, each building department sets their own, depending on their climate situations.
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YIdon'tgotochurch
On their site they said,
"A custom floor plan evolves from many ideas and a number of conversations, from doodling on the back of an envelope to more formal schematics and "blue-prints."
The turn key cost of our Studio Barn is between $150-$185 per square foot, not including the cost of the land and site work. Please note that garage space square footage is counted at 25%; with living space counted at 100%. A 28 x 40 Studio Barn costs between $240,000-$275,000 fully finished. On this page, our planners have put together information that can help you create your initial floor plan. The information is general but comes from over thirty years of designing and building Yankee Barn homes.
Let's see here? 28X40 is only 1120 sq ft. My last home had 2576 sq./ft and cost $156,000.00 to build. I don't get the cost difference.
Sounds too expensive all around. Granted, you'll have up stairs and down stairs available to bring the total to 2280 sq./ft. But it sounds too pricy for me. Especially in Texas.
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ChasUFarley
That would be decent rates here in New England...
We bought our modest home (2200 sq. ft.) six years ago - 3 bedroom, 1.75 baths, 0.33 acres, above ground pool, decks, etc. We've added a sunroom - that's about it for home improvements. Well, we refinanced last month and found that it had increased in value by well more than twice what we paid for it. The market value on it now is around $250K!
I'm sure by TX standards that's pretty high for this little nest we have but there's been a big housing boom up here in the past five years. I'm sure that $250K could get me a nice piece of real estate in TX but up here, it will get you a very modest, single family home.... and that's about it.
Those barns are pretty reasonable, when you compare them to the local economy here....
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likeaneagle
Exactly CHas-
My daughter and son n law just bought a home in Manchester, built in the 60's,brick,new gourmet kitchen,and a basement and its a plain rach or rambler as the south calls it.town lot for 250.000- that is not much for the buck..plus taxes are high..but, there is no state or personal tax..
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likeaneagle
Exactly CHas-
My daughter and son n law just bought a home in Manchester, built in the 60's,brick,new gourmet kitchen,and a basement and its a plain ranch or rambler as the south calls it.town lot for 250.000- that is not much for the buck..plus taxes are high..but, there is no state or personal tax..this area is 45 min from Boston..this is a given
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ChasUFarley
If you're gonna buy, I always tell people to download the property tax list that's on nh.gov and see what the tax rates are per town. That's how we chose our town - we were looking at two very similar homes, just 15 miles apart from each other, but both in close proximity to our work places. Both had similar specs but one was going to be about $250 more per month than the other!!! It was all due to TAXES!
We've got it good now, as we happen to have the owner of the New Hampshire International Speedway (a NASCAR affiliated race track!) move into town. The taxes on his mansion on the lake PAID for the new high school we just built here. We pay just 9% - the lowest in the state!
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