Ask A Barngeek

Cut plans for saw mill

I asked a few months back with no response. So I will try again Do your plans come with a cut list I could take to the Sawmill to get a bid on materials ?

Old red barn paint safety

Hello, We recently bought a rustic house that is finished with beautiful barn siding on the walls. They have quite a bit of remnant red paint. They are from an old barn in Iowa, and I have no idea how old they are. In much of the area, the red color seems to have...

How To Build Barn on Old Barn Foundation

Hi everyone, We live on a property with an old barn foundation (previous owners tore down the barn...assuming for structural reasons). We want to re-build a barn here and are unsure how to proceed. Here are the big questions: 1) There is existing concrete slab, but it...

Increase Snow Load

Hello I plan on building a 40x50 horse barn in the mountains but I need a roof snow load of 97psf. How do I increase this from the current plans?

Piers

Good Morning! We have your 20x30 gambrel with 10ft shed plans. I’m trying to locate a calculation for size of piers. Can you please advise? Thanks and Happy Easter!

Insulating an OLD barn

We recently bought a historic ranch with beautiful 100 year old barns! They are structurally sound but very drafty, to the point snow drifts in. We're in Colorado near a mountain peak at 8500ft elevation, so we get blizzards and a lot of wind. We would like to...

I have a lot of oak trees. Is it cost effective to use this lumber, to build a barn?

Hi, I have several oak trees over a couple of acres that I need to take down. Some of them are too close to the house. Others are too close to the driveway. Some are 16-18" diameter at the base. Many are 12-14". I can drop them and split them for firewood, but we...

Timber Species, Bugs, and Insulation

In this video we discuss if different timber species options, Jack Pine and White Spruce, will work in a barn project. Structural data at the link below. https://www.wood-database.com/eastern-white-pine/ https://www.wood-database.com/jack-pine/...

Finishing the eves

As I was looking through my plans I had a couple questions. It’s looking like the material is actual dimensions , am I correct on that ? Just wondering so I have the beams sized for the metal brackets . The other thing I noticed by looking way ahead as I often do , is...

Your Barn Stories

Bellweather Historic Barn Frame dated 1864 – Wakeman, Ohio

Story by Randy Smith in Clare Mt. Gilead We just completed the barn raising on the Bellweather Historic Barn Frame dated 1864. This barn measures 40'x62' and is located in Wakeman Ohio.The crew from Ohio Valley Barn Salvage just completed resetting the frame on an 8"...

Colvin Quarter Circle A ranch, State Road 62 outside of Parrish, FL

Story by Michael Taylor in Gulfport, FL From the 10th chapter of Growing Up Floridian The barn Built during the first year we came to the Quarter Circle A Ranch in 1958, the barn dwarfed all the other structures on the ranch. The ranch's owners, the Colvin family,...

Barn Frame Conversion Project by *Ohio Valley Barn Salvage* Mt. Gilead, Ohio

Story by Randy Smith in Mt. Gilead, OH This 1850's 30'x50' all handhewn frame was saved by the crew at Ohio Valley Barn Salvage and has been reset on its new foundation. The barn conversion will be used as a showroom for an upcoming barn frame conversion company....

Rebirth of an Old Gambrel Barn

Story by BarnGeek in Michigan The owner of the place where this old barn used to live invited me out to see if we could resurrect her. She had disappeared long ago and all that remained was an old stone foundation. There were trees, vines. and bushes, growing around...

Thanks for the great design and detailed plans!!

Project in TN We did cheat and used a large crane to set our bents as you will see 🙂 Thanks for the great design and detailed plans!! You guys are very helpful. I learned its tricky to drill holes perfectly straight through the 6" posts with my drill onsite 🙂 I know...

Dairy Farm-Monongahela, Pa

Story by Marie Necciai in Monongahela Pa I had my barn reclaimed this past spring of 2015. This beautiful structure was in my family for over 5 generations. My father was born here as long with all 6 of his brothers and sisters. These old walls could tell wonderful...

Laverty South of Farwell

Story by Ron in Indianapolis IN This is the last round roof barn my grandfather build, I believe in 1931. The year is on the side, but but has been covered with steel siding. I remember going into this barn as a kid in the ' 60's then in the 70's and being fascinated...

Balsam Farm

Story of  Balsam Farm in Clare County Michigan by Wayne Jaynes I just purchased a small farm with a 40 by 80 barn in fairly good shape, I plan to repair it and keep it in great shape. I've been told that it is best to keep hay in it or it will crumble, is this true? I...

The Barn at Shiloh Ridge ranch, Quinlan, TX

Story by Andy Yates in Texas I found Barngeek web site in the midst of my research to find "the barn" . After retiring in December 2013 I ordered plans for the 30 x 40 gable barn. It took me a while to really commit to getting started as I continued to toy with other...

Jolleybell horse barn OTOE Co Nebraska

Story by Dane in Unadilla NE This Horse barn was built in 1900 and sit atop a 160 acres of crop and pasture land. No longer used by my family cattle business it has now become my project for a residence. I am amazed at how calming it is while working on the site and...

Barn Wood Projects

Timber Frame Conservatory

Project by Ian Searcy in Vevay IN Timber Frame Conservatory I built out of hand hewn beams.

Cajun Bar

Project by Cody Coco in Bordelonville, LA Barn built in 1907.. = old!!!

Chicken Coop Projects

Plush house for the girls

Project by Karen in Suffolk, england I found your plans and decided to use them for my new chicken house, as they seemed so simple. I changed the width and used old scrap wood for most of the build, mainly an old shed and some fencing I had sitting around. The only...

Chicken coop in Virginia

Project by Dan in Virginia  I followed these plans and the coop turned out great. I made a few modifications. I skipped the windows, and made the legs about another half foot taller so the chickens would have plenty of room underneath. went with the metal roof. Really...

Plans were Great! Love our Coup.

Project by Owain Elliott-Sowaal in Pacifica, CA, USA The Plans were great. I started it with my 3 year old daughter, trying to involve her. It was quite a fun project, but I pretty much did it alone. I did modify the plans a bit. I wanted the coop to be taller. I...

Tim’s Coop

Project by Tim in Tracy, CA I have 8 four week old chicks and needed a coop I could build on a weekend. I used the plans and made some minor adjustments. Thank you for having these plans on the net. It was perfect and exactly what I was looking for. Tim racy, CA

Cedar chicken cabin

Project by John Davis in Goodyear, Arizona, USA Built with cedar lap siding and rough sawn cedar trim. This will house our 6 buff orpingtons in a few more weeks. They will have a fairly large area to run free in and coop up at night. Thank you Barn Geek for the plans.

Chicken Chateau

Project by Trevor Roth in Rutland, ND My wife decided we need some chickens for our little farm so I told her I'd build her a coop. After looking at multiple designs I fell in love with the functionality of these coops so I put together one based on the main design...

Our First Coop

Project by Thomas Corn in Middletown, NY Five years ago we decided to raise chickens for eggs. So I had my wife find a picture of a coop she liked and I was to copy it. When I was finished the coop looked nothing like the picture, basically I took the idea of having...

Chicken Fortress part 2

Project by Tom Brawley in Exeter, R.I. U.S.A. I am sending some additional pictures of my progress with building the Chicken Fortress. I call it a Chicken Fortress because the majority if the wood is 2"x 8"s and 2"x 10"s that is what I had salvaged. It is one heavy...

Chicken Fortress

Project by Tom Brawley in Exeter, R.I. In the middle of building this coop as I type this. I have made several changes to this plan and I'm just using the basic design. I have a large stack of salvaged lumber I have been stock piling for years for projects like this...

First Timer Gomer Style

Project by Evan in Gomer, OH I stared at plans on here and looked at everyones coops trying to figure out what direction I wanted to go. I am a woodworker but not a carpenter some of this was new to me but I had lots of barn siding, and rough cut maple so i planned...