SWMBO thinks I am crazy. I own a farm & told her I was going to put up a
big metal building. Inside the building I was going to partion off 1/4
of the square footage & build a living quarters with all the amenities.
From the outside it would still look like a big metal building. Looks
mean nothing to me, I am not a 'keep up with the Jones ' person ( wife
likes to put on the dog) I am a white shirt & bib overall person. Has
anyone ever done this? I live in Tennessee & would use the rest of
building as a garage. My thinking is we will have nice living quarters
inside the building + I will have easy access to shop & it would be easy
to modify for any future living needs as I was going to use 4 ft wide
doors to make wheelchair accessibility down the line.

thanks in advance

Mike Lane

A friend of one of my coworkers did just that.

I guess it worked out fine.

It got me to thinking I'd like to do the same thing.

Good luck with it.

that's becoming somewhat popular around here in Kansas. I've seen several
VERY NICE places inside a basic post frame metal building. Makes your
interior wall options unlimited because none of them have to be load
bearing.

--
Steve Barker




"Michael Lane" wrote in message
...
SWMBO thinks I am crazy. I own a farm & told her I was going to put up a
big metal building. Inside the building I was going to partion off 1/4
of the square footage & build a living quarters with all the amenities.
From the outside it would still look like a big metal building. Looks
mean nothing to me, I am not a 'keep up with the Jones ' person ( wife
likes to put on the dog) I am a white shirt & bib overall person. Has
anyone ever done this? I live in Tennessee & would use the rest of
building as a garage. My thinking is we will have nice living quarters
inside the building + I will have easy access to shop & it would be easy
to modify for any future living needs as I was going to use 4 ft wide
doors to make wheelchair accessibility down the line.

thanks in advance

Mike Lane

Michael Lane wrote:
SWMBO thinks I am crazy. I own a farm & told her I was going to put up a
big metal building. Inside the building I was going to partion off 1/4
of the square footage & build a living quarters with all the amenities.
From the outside it would still look like a big metal building. Looks
mean nothing to me, I am not a 'keep up with the Jones ' person ( wife
likes to put on the dog) I am a white shirt & bib overall person. Has
anyone ever done this? I live in Tennessee & would use the rest of
building as a garage. My thinking is we will have nice living quarters
inside the building + I will have easy access to shop & it would be easy
to modify for any future living needs as I was going to use 4 ft wide
doors to make wheelchair accessibility down the line.

thanks in advance

Mike Lane


You need to be concerned about fire safety. The “garage” floor must be
lower than the “living” floor. Also there must be a fire partition
between the two.

That said, I know people who did this. They built and lived in the
garage while they built their house.

Regards,

"Michael Lane" wrote in message
...
SWMBO thinks I am crazy. I own a farm & told her I was going to put up a
big metal building. Inside the building I was going to partion off 1/4
of the square footage & build a living quarters with all the amenities.
From the outside it would still look like a big metal building. Looks
mean nothing to me, I am not a 'keep up with the Jones ' person ( wife
likes to put on the dog) I am a white shirt & bib overall person. Has
anyone ever done this? I live in Tennessee & would use the rest of
building as a garage. My thinking is we will have nice living quarters
inside the building + I will have easy access to shop & it would be easy
to modify for any future living needs as I was going to use 4 ft wide
doors to make wheelchair accessibility down the line.

Chuckle- a man who thinks like I do- that has been my plans for retirement
housing for several years. Have a commercial pole barn company throw up a
steel-frame barn with a good slab and utility stubs, and build a secret
hideout apartment in one end of it. Maybe have an extra overhead door I
could put a sitting porch and some sliders behind, so it wouldn't be totally
dark and dreary. That way I could still lock the place down when traveling,
and from the road or the air, it wouldn't look worth robbing or
investigating.

aem sends......

In article .com,
wrote:

A friend of one of my coworkers did just that.

I guess it worked out fine.

It got me to thinking I'd like to do the same thing.

Good luck with it.

Yes, enjoy it. please , consider solar .

--
If you believe that the only tool you have is a hammer,
No wonder you look at all your problems as Nails.

On Apr 22, 10:48 am, r truth wrote:
In article .com,

wrote:
A friend of one of my coworkers did just that.

I guess it worked out fine.

It got me to thinking I'd like to do the same thing.

Good luck with it.

Yes, enjoy it. please , consider solar .

--
If you believe that the only tool you have is a hammer,
No wonder you look at all your problems as Nails.

I've seen this recently in Weatherford, TX. Only difference was that
the man valued his (w/l)ife and made sure it looked good: he did the
inside up really nice (tile, hardwood, wide hallways, HUGE kitchen)
and also bricked up the outside. Turned out well: lofty ceilings,
sprawling layout and cheap.

C

"Lulu58e2" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Apr 22, 10:48 am, r truth wrote:
In article .com,

wrote:
A friend of one of my coworkers did just that.

I guess it worked out fine.

It got me to thinking I'd like to do the same thing.

Good luck with it.

Yes, enjoy it. please , consider solar .

--
If you believe that the only tool you have is a hammer,
No wonder you look at all your problems as Nails.

I've seen this recently in Weatherford, TX. Only difference was that
the man valued his (w/l)ife and made sure it looked good: he did the
inside up really nice (tile, hardwood, wide hallways, HUGE kitchen)
and also bricked up the outside. Turned out well: lofty ceilings,
sprawling layout and cheap.

Chuckle. Wise man. That wouldn't be a consideration for me, since the days
of my having any chance to convince a woman to live with me are long past.
Cheap and easy to clean and maintain would be all I worried about. I mean, I
wouldn't be a damn fool about it- I'd spot things on the lot, and set up the
septic and utilities and such, so a 'real' house could easily be added- the
barn apartment could be for guests, boomerang kids, etc. Or just hubby's
secret clubhouse. That should cover resale consideration, although that
would likely be the problem of my shirt-tail relatives, since if I built a
place like that, it would be the Last Home.

aem sends....



aem sends...

Right after world war two, I'm remembering hearing. A company was
selling auto garages, at a rapid rate. Turns out people were
living in them. Much cheaper than regular homes.

I think it's a terrific idea.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"GeorgeD" wrote in message
news:HFKWh.4573$_u2.4025@trnddc04...
: Michael Lane wrote:
: SWMBO thinks I am crazy. I own a farm & told her I was going
to put up a
: big metal building. Inside the building I was going to
partion off 1/4
: of the square footage & build a living quarters with all the
amenities.
: From the outside it would still look like a big metal
building. Looks
: mean nothing to me, I am not a 'keep up with the Jones '
person ( wife
: likes to put on the dog) I am a white shirt & bib overall
person. Has
: anyone ever done this? I live in Tennessee & would use the
rest of
: building as a garage. My thinking is we will have nice living
quarters
: inside the building + I will have easy access to shop & it
would be easy
: to modify for any future living needs as I was going to use 4
ft wide
: doors to make wheelchair accessibility down the line.
:
: thanks in advance
:
: Mike Lane
:
:
: You need to be concerned about fire safety. The “garage” floor
must be
: lower than the “living” floor. Also there must be a fire
partition
: between the two.
:
: That said, I know people who did this. They built and lived in
the
: garage while they built their house.
:
: Regards,
:

On Apr 22, 8:17 am, (Michael Lane) wrote:
SWMBO thinks I am crazy. I own a farm & told her I was going to put up a
big metal building. Inside the building I was going to partion off 1/4
of the square footage & build a living quarters with all the amenities.

double check your building codes, our state has had people doing this
without getting the proper permits to get away from paying proper fees
is guess.

OTOH, a freind of mine is planning on doing this, sounds good. he
currently lives in a run down trailer house.

Tater wrote:

double check your building codes, our
state has had people doing this without
getting the proper permits to get away
from paying proper fees is guess.


OTOH, a freind of mine is planning on
doing this, sounds good. he currently
lives in a run down trailer house.
-------------------------------------------
I have a lot of planning to do. Septic, electricty, water other. My
biggest obstacle is my uncle, we both own 1/2
of the farm & he + SWMBO are not to happy with my idea. He won't buy me
out or sell me his half but I am going to persvere.

thanks for all the replies

Michael Lane

that's becoming somewhat popular around here in Kansas. I've seen several
VERY NICE places inside a basic post frame metal building. Makes your
interior wall options unlimited because none of them have to be load
bearing.


"Michael Lane" wrote in message
...
SWMBO thinks I am crazy. I own a farm & told her I was going to put up a
big metal building. Inside the building I was going to partion off 1/4
of the square footage & build a living quarters with all the amenities.
From the outside it would still look like a big metal building. Looks


While it's not totally insane, it may not be as good an idea
as it looks like at first glance.

If you compare it to a stoutly built conventional house
with an attached shed leading to a big (metal or not)
barn, you may find that you can accomplish the latter
at not much more expense, and with far better results.

For instance, if you build the entire thing as one structure,
you're going to want that structure build to the highest wind
load you can manage, whereas you might be willing to
let a barn rattle a bit. ALso, you're going to need
to upgrade the insulation quite a bit from a normal
metal building, and the separation between the living
space and the shop/barn is going to need to be substantial.

The physical separation of the barn/shop space from
the living space also gets you a reduction in noise,
oder, dirt, and some protection from fire.

Also, if you build the house a bit smaller than
you normally would, you may find that you can afford
to use higher-end products, (whether that means
stouter/more durable, or shinier/more wife-pleasing)
Because you don't have to buy as MUCH of it. And you
won't be paying as much in operating costs and
maintenance.

And if you design the house carefully, you can still
expand into the barn or into other additions when
find you need the cubage.

So my recomendation is that you sit down and do some detailed
plans showing what you plan start with, what you plan
to do, and what you expect to end up with, and
make sure that the big-top is really the cheapest/most
versitile way to go. DOn't guess. Use real numbers.


--Goedjn