Boat House (pencil pusher build a barn)
 

Most of you guys know a lot more about construction than I do. But I thought I'd share building my barn for those thinking about it.

We bot 20 acres about 4 yrs ago and while the house was going up I built the barn with my boys (teens)

After grading site & leveling with sand, had neighbor auger 18" holes and poured cement pad at bottom. The sepctic tank guy lifted the posts while we set. Then began wrapping w/ 2x4's

Same guy also lifted truss up a week or so later, did this one night after woork, my help showed up later.
Then started decking. All this was worked on over 3-4 wk period, every night after work & wk ends. Yes, could have hired out, but its kind of fun for me.

Brother-in-law is garage door man in Chicago and helped install.

Metal came cut to length, just took 3 hands to hold uo & screw in place. Shingles were set up on roof when delivered. Friend had roofing nailer, pop, pop, pop.

1st shot is interior, right afterwards. Its still clean, but much more full of "stuff' now. 2nd shoot is exterior last summer, and then from road.

Last spring, I put lean too addition on back for more storage. I just laid crushed concrete floor in this area, mostly for tractor & attachments.
When I built main building, lumber yard delivered posts 2' longer than I ordered. I have really appreciated the extra overhead clearance that gave me & allowed for this lean too.

I put dog pen on other end, with door into small pen inside of barn.

Nice. I bought a house with one similar to that. The only problem is they didn't use roof trusses like yours. So i have three separate bays because of the 4x6's in the middle of the shop holding the roof up. Though I do have an apartment or whatever i want above. Other problem was the only doors they put in were in the middle of the shop. So if anything big ie boat went in there it had to go in the middle and basically blocked off the other two sides of the shop. So i went and made another door on the side and now i have a boat side and a work area. I like yours because it is all usable and open. Nice work

very nice place. I never thought I would want a big storage barn on my property but now that Ian has turned our garage into a machine shop/paint room I am rethinking this:D

BL6 where about in SW MI are you.

Boathouse for my Ocean Liner. Trailering's a real b i o t c h...:D

http://www.dynalifter.com/Dynalifter...s/image007.jpg

nice job

Looks great, standard sized garages are tough. Larger ones are so much nicer.

You did a fantastic job. The whole compound looks great.

I had one built last year by Pioneer out of PA. I absolutely love having my 30x60x12. I should have gone bigger though. 30x75x14 would have been better. That way I could leave the boat and truck hooked up. I am also babysitting a Donzi cruiser with an arch for 2 years while my buddy is working overseas. I can't fit his boat inside due to the arch. I also went with the "bubble wrap" insulation on my whole building, and am very happy with it. The one thing that surprised me was the price of the garage doors. I have bought cars cheaper than what I paid for those two doors.

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/s...d.php?t=170427

Looks great and goes with the house well.

You thinking about insulating/running heat out there for the cold months?

We were floating off of St Joe last yr, listening to Cubs game in Chicago. A hell of a storm blew into Chicago, and we headed in immediately. Lots of boats were headed out of piers as St J skys still looked very clear. I tried to warn folks via VHF. Anyhow, we yanked drove home & tucked boat in barn, just as hailstorm hit. Truck does not fit, so I had to unhook & shoot over to garage.

Actually, we just swapped out small garage door to raise rails to rafters, so I can now fit the whole rig.

I never thought of that, but you are exactly right.

I find myself taking the boat out of the barn two or 3 days in a row; for one thing or another. Each trip means a hook up or a disconnect. Its not that big of a deal, but its still a bit more work.

that is sweet!! i want one.

That is an awesome setup.... Have just started exploring what it will mean to do something like this. Bouncing between sweat equity and jobing it out. If you don't mind, what was your total $$ for completion?

Nice Job!! That's my plan. Trying to find one already set up, but if I build my own I know it will be what I want.

Primo setup! :cool-smiley-011:

Nice setup............everything here in S FL has to be hurricane proof so it doesn't blow away in the next storm so the building would be built out of block down here.

When I started this project I looked around internet for plans etc. I came across this firm;
http://www.michianabuildingsupplies.com/

This basically worked as a package deal, he designed blueprints per my spec, which I used for permits. And then he provided all materials needed for whole project. Mat'ls came in 5 loads as I called for them. He sells all over country and contacts local lumber yards for special pricing, then sold to me for same price i would have paid anyway. Worked good and his advice was helpful. When I put addition on last spring I just used local sources.

Sewer line ran past barn, so I did stub in for restroom, but have not finished. (out in the country a guy can just step out back). I do have water.

I had electrician who was doing house run line out to barn w/ 100 amp sub panel. I've wired everything from there.

No plans at moment to insulate & heat. We actually run a woodstove fulltime in house which keeps things toasty. As soon as I get done messing with boat in a few weeks, I plan to build a 12 x 24 covered roof for my woodpile.