Trend of making "pole barns" into single family homes

[GON]

Recently I read an article of people building "pole barns" to make into single family residences.

Looking for our retirement home came across this home in very far northwest TX. I love the home, my Wife will not support the exterior curb appeal.

The one thing I am not so thrilled with is the lack of windows. With a design like this, I think more natural light would of been easy to incorporate into the design.

1700 Country Club Rd, Dalhart, TX 79022 | realtor.com®

View detailed information about property 1700 Country Club Rd, Dalhart, TX 79022 including listing details, property photos, open house information, school and neighborhood data, and much more.

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[DwightFrye]

Curb appeal ? There is none. It looks like a $950k commercial building in an industrial park.

 

[JustN89]

Personally, I love these, but it can really all come down to execution. I've been in a couple of these "barndominiums" that were really well done and they are really cool. If cheaply done, they can feel really unfinished, though. The one linked in your post looks gorgeous. "Curb appeal" kinda defeats their purpose, however, as they're mostly placed on large plots of lands where neighbors are few and far between. I guess friends and family would come by, but once they're inside, they'll forget all about how the outside looks.

 

[GON]

Curb appeal ? There is none. It looks like a $950k commercial building in an industrial park.

My Wife will fully agree with you..........

 

[PF52]

Looks like a "McMansion" in a warehouse....

 

[JavierH19]

I have a friend who sold his suburb home and bought a barn smaller than this and converted it almost 2 years ago and its a nice home but it's rather silly in my opinion. But people sometimes just want something different and exciting in a stale life so i kind of get it.

 

[JohnnyG]

Vaulted cielings included for free!

 

[ripcord]

Imagine the property tax savings if the assessor doesn't figure out it's a residence.

 

[Nick1994]

I like the Barndominiums where half of them are a house and the other half is a giant garage.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I would love to live in something like this. NY's building code - at least near me - doesn't allow for you to live on a slab unfortunately, so that'd be a no-go.

Personally, there's way too many windows for me.

 

[Malo83]

I like em'

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

I love it. The garage is my favorite room anyway. Tough sell to the wife.

 

[Nick1994]

I would love to live in something like this. NY's building code - at least near me - doesn't allow for you to live on a slab unfortunately, so that'd be a no-go.

Personally, there's way too many windows for me.

What makes slabs so bad? Every single house here is on a concrete slab. And I mean every one of them.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

What makes slabs so bad? Every single house here is on a concrete slab. And I mean every one of them.

I don't know but I have some speculation ...

1. The plumbing under the slab generally isn't run far enough below the frost line, it will have issue eventually from the freeze/thaw cycles we have
2. Slabs tend to "sweat" during certain weather conditions, I can't imagine that would be pleaseant in a living space. The concrete floor of a foundation is low enough that it wouldn't have sweating isues

 

[PF52]

I don't know but I have some speculation ...

1. The plumbing under the slab generally isn't run far enough below the frost line, it will have issue eventually from the freeze/thaw cycles we have
2. Slabs tend to "sweat" during certain weather conditions, I can't imagine that would be pleaseant in a living space. The concrete floor of a foundation is low enough that it wouldn't have sweating isues

Not only that, but the foundation can heave in periods of extreme cold. Placing the footings below the frost line prevents this, but in areas which get really really cold it is usually preferable to just dig a full basement (since you'd have foundation walls nearly that deep anyway).

Unfinished homes under construction are particularly vulnerable to this issue as even a full basement can heave (or crack the walls) if it isn't heated yet.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

It's a @#$@# stupid idea. These homes almost basically always perform poorly in terms of occupant comfort and energy efficiency. Bad bad bad.

 

[Astro14]

What makes slabs so bad? Every single house here is on a concrete slab. And I mean every one of them.

They don’t work where it freezes. Period.

To have a stable foundation, you have to go below the frost line - which is five feet in Vermont.

That means you might as well have a basement.

If you put a slab on the ground - the frost will heave it up and down every winter. A house built on that wouldn’t survive.

You can do it for a barn, if the barn is actually supported by poles that go down five feet to the piers. Then the floor heaves and moves, and cracks, but the barn walls float above and stay steady and square.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

I don't know but I have some speculation ...

1. The plumbing under the slab generally isn't run far enough below the frost line, it will have issue eventually from the freeze/thaw cycles we have
2. Slabs tend to "sweat" during certain weather conditions, I can't imagine that would be pleaseant in a living space. The concrete floor of a foundation is low enough that it wouldn't have sweating isues

You can build on a slab in NYS you just need to have footers below the frost line. Insulate the interior side of the footer and the slab will remain warm enough.

Slab-on-grade is fairly popular in the SE/SW US. Obviously they don't have to worry about frost heaves.

 

[xgmad]

Would make a great place to work on cars with those garages.

workin on my truck in my home, in the middle of an industrial park.

 

[Davejam]

Yes but the frost line in the US south is 5" or less. So, a slab is reasonable no?

There are some very nice examples and some poor examples as there would be with any building type.
I am considering one for a garage/mother in law suite.