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Whatever the area of uXNUMXbuXNUMXbthe house can not do without a barn on the site. Not everything can and should be brought into the house, even if there is a place, and even if there is not, then all the more so – outbuildings are necessary. This, by the way, may be the first experience in self-construction: you can build a barn with your own hands without skills. The main thing is that the hands grow from the right place.
What materials are they built from?
If the barn is located close to the house and you are concerned about its appearance, it makes sense to use the same material as when building the house. If you don’t want to spend a large amount on a household building, you can choose the finish so that you can’t tell from afar. In most cases, this is not very difficult: there are many technologies and many materials very accurately reproduce the appearance of expensive finishing materials. A prime example of this is siding. It is under a log, timber, brick, stone with different textures. So it is not necessary to use expensive materials to build a barn. It is more practical to use inexpensive construction technology, and then sheathe it with a material with a texture similar to the decoration of the main building.
How to quickly and cheaply build a barn
The fastest and at the same time inexpensive option for building a barn is using frame technology. The frame can be wooden or metal, it is sheathed on the outside with a finish, a roof is put on and that’s it, the barn is ready. If the barn is planned to be wooden, it is assembled from timber and boards. A metal barn can be more conveniently made from a profiled pipe: a square section and welding and joining are much easier. There is also a special metal frame. It is assembled on self-tapping screws, and the entire structure is ordered and manufactured at the factory. Such houses are considered the cheapest, barns are unlikely to be expensive. The assembly of both a metal and a wooden shed takes several days: it has been checked more than once.
The frame building is light, so the foundation for the barn needs to be lightweight. In most cases, columns, concrete blocks are sufficient, sometimes screw piles are installed or bored piles are made. On more complex soils and for those who love reliability, you can build a monolithic or prefabricated (from foundation blocks) shallow strip foundation.
On a reinforced strip foundation, you can even put a shed of building blocks or bricks. In this case, even on heaving soils, the building will stand normally. If it moves, then it will move along with the foundation, so the risk of cracks is minimal.
A frame barn can be built without a foundation. Then the racks (treated from decay) will need to be deepened by 60-80 cm, concreted, and then the lower trim is attached to them, but which the floor logs will rely on. But in this way you cannot build a large structure. Maximum – a small closet and a woodshed nearby.
Another option. It is suitable for soils from which water drains well, and subsoil waters are located deep. Then they mark out a plot that is 50 cm larger than the planned barn in each direction, remove the sod and make sand and gravel bedding. A strapping beam is laid on the compacted rubble and floor logs are attached to them (treated with an anti-separator for direct contact of the wood with the ground). That’s all. No complications.
This is far from the best option: even with a low level of groundwater and careful processing of wood, the barn will not last long. If that suits you, then you can do that.
How to build a toilet in the country, read here (diagrams and drawings).
Foundation for a frame shed
All types of pile or columnar foundations involve the location of single supports along the perimeter: always at the corners of the building and at the junction of lintels (partitions), if any. The installation step of the supports depends on the size of the shed and on which logs you plan to use. The larger the span, the larger the cross section required.
For example, for a barn width of 2 meters, you can put only two rows of posts and the logs will be 150 * 50 mm (in extreme cases, 150 * 40 mm). If the width of the barn is 3 meters, then either put intermediate supports (posts, piles), or take a board 150 * 70 mm. Calculate what will be cheaper in your region, and choose.
With a board width of 100 mm, the floor sags noticeably underfoot. So you have to make a lag installation step of about 30 cm. Then there is no deflection at all, or it is insignificant (it depends on the weight).
The fastest way to make a foundation is on ready-made blocks: you can buy them or make them yourself. Under them, pits are dug a little larger than the blocks. Sand is poured at the bottom, rammed, then gravel, it is also rammed. The thickness of the bedding in a compacted form is 20-30 cm. Blocks are installed on it, and the lower harness is already mounted on the blocks.
If we are talking about a shallow strip foundation, then the trench is dug 40-60 cm deep relative to the ground level, the width of the tape is about 25 cm, and the trench itself should be at least half a meter or more wider: formwork is installed in it. The bottom is leveled, rammed. Crushed stone is poured at the bottom and rammed again.
A frame is knitted from a 12-14 mm rod. Four ribbed longitudinal rods are connected using frames made of a smooth rod 6-8 mm. The dimensions of the frames should be such that all reinforcement is at least 5 cm from the edges of the tape. For example, if the foundation is 40 * 25 cm, then the bars are tied into a structure with a rectangular section of 30 * 15 cm.
Read more about the frame for the strip foundation read here.
Do-it-yourself wooden frame barn: step by step with a photo
A frame shed measuring 6 * 3 meters was built. The roof is shed, covered with ondulin. The height of the front wall is 3 meters, the rear wall is 2,4 m. Operation has shown that with such a difference in heights, snow does not accumulate much (Len. region).
Standard blocks FBS 600 * 300 * 200 were used as the foundation for the barn. They are laid on a sand and gravel bedding 25 cm thick. Cut-off waterproofing is laid on top of the blocks – a layer of roofing material, on bituminous mastic. A layer of “hydrotex” is still glued on top of the same mastic. Such a cake was made because the groundwater level is high, it was necessary to protect the building from dampness.
A beam with a section of 150 * 150 mm was laid on the waterproofing (all lumber processed). It was connected in half a tree, beaten with nails – 100 * 4 mm. For those who are unfamiliar with carpentry, you can join the bars end-to-end, nail reinforced corners to the joints from the inside, and a mounting plate from the outside.
In this embodiment, the frame was not attached to the blocks. In regions with high wind loads, this is unjustified. You can fasten it with the help of studs: through them, through the timber, into the block, a hole of the same diameter is drilled (12-14 mm). A pin is driven into it, the bolt is then tightened with a key. To hide the hat, you can drill a hole under it.
The next step is fixing the floor lag. Installed on the edge of the board 150 * 60 mm. They are attached to the harness with special brackets of the appropriate size. Fastened on nails 100 * 4 mm.
The logs were aligned along the upper edge of the strapping beam. Everything must be even, otherwise the floor will be hard to lay. You may have to level with a planer or redo it.
The frame was assembled using the “platform” technology: first, the floor was laid, and the walls were mounted on it. The wall frame or part of it is assembled on the floor. In some cases, they are immediately sheathed from the outside, if slab material is chosen for sheathing. And already in this form (with or without sheathing) they rise, stand vertically and are fixed.
There is a second technology “balloon”. According to it, the frame is mounted gradually: corner posts of the frame are mounted on the strapping or even immediately on the blocks. They are level in all planes. A rope is pulled between them, along which the rest of the racks are then put up. They are also nailed one at a time, fastened together with slopes and temporary crossbars.
You may be interested in the article “We make firewood and woodpile with our own hands”
In this case, the “platform” technology was chosen and OSB 18 mm thick was laid on the logs. In general, the floor can be made from boards, plywood (moisture resistant), OSB, etc. The board will need 20, plywood – 13-15 mm, but moisture resistant is needed (OSB is moisture resistant by default).
Next, the assembly of the walls began. The frame is completely knocked down: the lower harness, racks, upper harness. In this form, it is installed exactly along the edge of the strapping beam, exposed, strengthened with safety struts, stops, and slopes. It is nailed through the flooring to the strapping beam. Nails were taken 200 * 4 mm.
To assemble the frame, boards 100 * 50 mm were used, the distance between the racks was 600 mm, the rafters were installed with the same step. The rafter system was assembled from 150 * 40 mm.
Window and door openings are reinforced – two boards are nailed, which are nailed together in a checkerboard pattern every 20 cm. The load here is greater, therefore reinforcement is required. Gates are provided in one of the ends – for loading / unloading bulky items. Therefore, in this wall (shown in the photo) there are only corner posts and reinforced ones for fastening the wings.
Since the roof is shed, the rafter system is simple: they are laid on the edge of the boards that are selected for the rafters. Their length is greater, since a roof overhang is required. It is usually 30-50 cm on each side. In this embodiment, with a barn width of 3 meters, the length of the rafter legs (taking into account the slope) was 3840 mm.
They were nailed obliquely – two on each side. It can be strengthened by installing corners: this way it will withstand even significant wind and snow loads.
Next – a crate (100 * 25 mm) is mounted on the roof. The step of its installation – according to the recommendations of the manufacturer of “ondulin” – 40 cm. And the roofing material is laid (nails were bought together with the coating).
The walls outside were sewn up with OSB 9,5 mm thick.
Installed doors, made small steps.
The final touches were the wind board. Then the barn was sheathed with clapboard and painted to match the rest of the buildings on the site. A do-it-yourself barn on a finished foundation was built in two days off. Clapboard lining and painting were much later – almost a month later.
The unattractive foundation is sewn up with cut-to-size asbestos sheets. The shed turned out beautiful.
Read more about the principles of timber frame construction here.
Barn with a gable roof made of metal
This barn was built alone. The building is also framed: the cheapest way. In this case, the assembly method – “balloon” – the gradual setting of the racks. It all starts the same way: first they made columns for the foundation. Only this time brick.
As you can see, studs are mounted in the corner posts. Holes are drilled in the strapping beam and it is put on studs. They can be made not only in the corners, but also on intermediate pillars too: it will hold on tighter.
This barn has a small veranda porch, so a cross beam is installed at the required distance. And it will be supported by a wall. Under it, columns are also pre-made.
Logs can also be attached with a notch. Then a notch is cut out in the strapping beam in the form of a log. In depth, it should not exceed 30% of the thickness of the beam, because the log is cut so that it stands flush with the strapping. This method is more labor intensive.
Next, the frame was assembled: corner posts 100 * 100 mm, intermediate – 50 * 100 mm, the upper trim and rafter system were assembled from the same board. The triangles at the top are reinforced with overhead metal plates. Smaller plates were also attached at the junction of the upper strapping bar and racks. They were joined end-to-end without a cut, nailed on top and obliquely. The plates have reduced the likelihood of folding under side loads.
Next, a rafter system was assembled – a board 150 * 50 mm, on it – a crate for a metal tile. It was chosen because the dacha is covered with the same material.
The frame was sheathed with OSB sheets – the most convenient size for construction. Subsequently, the walls will be finished with wood siding.
Sheathing, by the way, does not have to be plywood or OSB. You can fasten the lining or board immediately and the racks. But then, when assembling the frame, you need to put slopes: without the rigidity of the plate material, the building will be flimsy. If mowing is not set, you can swing by hand.
After installing the braces, you can stuff a board, lining, block house, imitation timber, siding – the choice is yours.
Similar frame sheds can be made from a profile pipe. For strapping and corner posts, a section of 60 * 60 mm or 60 * 40 mm is sufficient, for intermediate ones even less – 20 * 40 will be fine. Only for fastening the outer skin, it will be necessary to assemble and fasten the crate. Read more about the construction of a barn from pipes and metal profiles here..
For those who care about the appearance of the building, a few ideas on how to make the barn beautiful in video format.
You can read about site planning and the basics of landscape design here.
Video about the construction of wooden sheds
The barn turned out beautiful, but not cheap. But decent in size, strong and in appearance does not differ from the house – it fits into the composition. Everything is shown / painted in detail, there is one violation: the waterproofing under the metal tile is laid vertically. Even with good gluing of the strips, sooner or later the water will make a path for itself. The rest is all right.
In this case, the do-it-yourself barn was built on the cheapest, probably, foundation: concrete was poured into the old tires. On these “pillars” the frame stands. Naturally, you need to put them on a flat, reliable surface and they themselves must be on the same level. In terms of strength, the tacon base will not yield to the best concrete blocks, and maybe even surpass them. The tires protruding from under the structure can be closed by making a step and subsequently placing flowers on it or using it for other needs. Even more practical.
Another video with a step-by-step illustration of the construction of a frame barn from a bar.
Dimensional Drawings
A few drawings to help you navigate the dimensions of the building. Adjust as necessary to suit your site or needs.