Pole building vs. block and stud garage

[craigerlitz]

Hey everyone. If you were to build a garage, would you build a pole building or a standard block and studded building? I will be starting to build a 32' x 32' garage soon and the price difference is making me wonder which way to go.

Thanks,
Craig

 

[805moparkid]

if by pole you mean stick built it will cost you around 75 a sqft... a steel building will be from the 15-25 a sqft range...

as for block i dont know...

i have been trying to get a 60x60 going but having a house on my name is killing me...

 

[inkjunkie]

Pole building......do you plan on insulating it?? I had a pole building, of sorts, put up as a house. Nightmare to insulate. Batt insulation just does not cut it. Has to be sprayed. Was quoted 10k for just the roof of a 1600 foot building. Pole buildings are popular in the PNW, most people build a structure inside of it to insulate......more or less. This is why my car has been shelved, going to put up a stick building to replace this nightmare.....

 

[Roadrunner4sure]

Hey everyone. If you were to build a garage, would you build a pole building or a standard block and studded building? I will be starting to build a 32' x 32' garage soon and the price difference is making me wonder which way to go.

Thanks,
Craig

I built a 60 x 100 pole with the intent of insulating and did so with xtra wide industrial insulation. I lined the inside walls and ceiling with the same metal as outside. Used blown insulation in attic. Used arch styled regular shingles on the roof out side. Inside height is 16 foot clear, price diff for 18 was not not much different. Laid plastic on earth before pouring cement. Acts as a great moisture barrier. 80 foot track drain. Two radiant heat tubes. 1,000 gallon propane pig. Insulated very well. Nice and crisp and dry. When not inside keep at 48 degrees, when goofing off in barn turn up to 68. Only takes minutes. Cost only 850 dollars to heat for this entire winter. Located in rust belt snow zone. Good luck.

 

[Bigredlid]

i say if your insulating it go with something studded out. someplaces build modular units off site and just drop them off in pieces. 4x8sheet insulation like you would use for a pole building is expensive compared to the roll out fiberglass stuff. i think im getting a 24x32 unit prefab wood built. i think the quote they gave me was somewhere around 11000. same price w/ or w/o wood floor. so you still would have excavation and cement if you wanted.

 

[Bigredlid]

of course i dont know why im chiming in i think i am trying to convince myself along with you. sice the quote for the pole building of the same size was around 8k.

 

[canary runner]

I put up 40x80 pole building, 1/2 is shop & 1/2 is cold storage. Roof has 2"insulated barrier under roof steel, side walls are 16' clearspan & insulated w/6"batt insulation. Inside shop part is all steel lined like the outside.Ceiling has 12-14in of blown in insulation. Wrapped total shop in plasic, put plastic under the cement for moisture barrier. Have LP furnace that I turn down to maintain 50* and a wood furnace that cooks us out when we're out there working. High,dry & toasty here in the cold,snow belt.
Insulation is probably the cheapest part of the whole building & will really pay back dividends.

 

[mullinax95]

You want something nice or just something to keep stuff in the dry?

Is it going to built using international building codes if so the pole barn is going to have some LVLs I bet.

 

[69crustydart]

keep in mind that it will have an unvented roof. the least bit of warm air getting by the insulation will cause the metal roof to condensate, unless of course you put osb & felt under the metal. this also applies to the sides, unless of course you osb & wrap it. you will be getting pretty close to the $$$ of a stick built building. not a big fan of a building being held up by todays pressure treated lumber stuck in concrete.......

 

[craigerlitz]

Either route the garage will be insulated, have vinyl siding, and a metal roof. I was planning on what seems like everyone here is calling a stick building, but the cost is a lot more than I had planned.

You want something nice or just something to keep stuff in the dry?

Is it going to built using international building codes if so the pole barn is going to have some LVLs I bet.

I would like it to be both nice and dry. The garage will be about 6 feet away from the house. There will also be a small breezeway connecting the two together.

I will have to guess no with the international building codes.


Thank you all,
Craig

 

[cosgig]

IMO, I would buck down and go with the stick built building. There are a lot of corners cut on a pole building that make it harder to finish off right. Insulation being the biggest challenge, but also horizontal purlins make vinyl siding harder, roof trusses are 4' on center and make attic storage harder, you need to jamb out all the windows and doors just to set them, the pennet board on the bottom courses and a 2' ratwall limit finishing to the floor. Yea, a pole building may be cheaper initially, but you will find that you will be making up that cost insulating, sheeting and jambing for siding and packing out corners and other areas just for nailing!!

JMO of course, but I have been in the industry for 30 years now and built a bunch of both styles and would go with a stick built unit, they are dryer in the end and finish easier!! I stick built mine and wouldn't have it any other way!! Geof

 

[mullinax95]

I would like it to be both nice and dry. The garage will be about 6 feet away from the house. There will also be a small breezeway connecting the two together.

I will have to guess no with the international building codes.


Thank you all,
Craig

I know money isn't in everyones pocket like used to be but I would not go the pole route. Instead build it to match your house as much as possible since it will be that close.

If you're lucky you might can get it built without a permit. In my area as well across the nation if you build anything the county requires you to purchase a permit. Therefore it HAS to built by international building codes or they will turn you down. Anyone (neighbors) can call the housing authority on you or housing authority might just see something new going up and want to see permit, whose doing the wiring, plumbing etc...

When you go down to get a permit give them least amount of info as necessary . If you say "shop" they will want to know if you're going to do fix peoples cars...make money another words. Remember it's all about the money. When I had my shop built I told the it was a storage building. lol

 

[nwdart]

Been building 33 years and would suggest stick build . better in every aspect. If you go pole bld. and want to heat, finish off you will have more money invested than stick built. Also the return on your investment will be less with pole barn. If you want any advice along the build feel free to pm me glad to help fellow fabo member. nw dart

 

[craigerlitz]

The garage does need a building permit, but will only need to be inspected for plumbing and electricity. I told them that that was going to be installed this year.

What doesn't make since to me is if we were to build a shed larger than 10x12', an inspector would have to look at it and not a 32x32' garage.

Thanks,
Craig

 

[YY1]

Down here "pole barn" means no main concrete floor.
Might have a couple small areas poured, but usually done after the main structure is erected.

I enclosed the ends of my Carolina Carport, to make it a "pole garage", and I am having some serious regrets.

I did save about $10K by not grading, filling and pouring, but I now sure wish I had at least graded and filled. As it is now, pouring a slab will put the slab right on the standing water line, and adding fill will make my ceilings too short by just a bit and cause my bottom plate to be below grade. I'm sure they won't last long in that state.

With that $10K, I did manage to get started on my project car and keep it from rusting any worse by keeping it in the "pole garage", although everything in there gets REALLY dirty from the dirt floor.

 

[lugnut1962]

Pole buildings in the PNW are east to insulate. Just finish the framing with some 2x4's yourself. Then use a regular batt insulation. Just don't be like me......thinking I will finish the framing but start moving stuff in first. You'll never get it done then. But for the price....you get alot for your money.

And I'm sure i'll get to the framing some day....when I have room....and can move everything out...and ....sigh....

 

[12valve]

My vote is for stick built for many of the same reasons mentioned above. Most importantly, I have no desire for my structural posts to be buried in the ground in concrete. For your electrical and plumbing installations, if you are not drywalling the interior walls, do the bare minimum to get the inspections and once they are all done looking at it add what you need. Last thing that you want is the tax assesor to see that your storage building has a 200 amp service, a welder, air compressor, and a full bathroom and start asking too many questions. It happened to a friend of mine and it wasn't pretty.

 

[4404spd]

Check into precast basement walls, I have a friend that built his this way and it was affordable. The walls are studded and pre drilled for wiring and insulated plus you can insulate them more. The companys that install them are in and out in 1 day all that is left is to do pour the floor and do the roof. You can put doorways and windows were you want them.

 

[mullinax95]

My vote is for stick built for many of the same reasons mentioned above. Most importantly, I have no desire for my structural posts to be buried in the ground in concrete. For your electrical and plumbing installations, if you are not drywalling the interior walls, do the bare minimum to get the inspections and once they are all done looking at it add what you need. Last thing that you want is the tax assesor to see that your storage building has a 200 amp service, a welder, air compressor, and a full bathroom and start asking too many questions. It happened to a friend of mine and it wasn't pretty.

Agreed!

It can get pretty nasty with higher ups in a hurry.

 

[Lonewolf3165]

Check into precast basement walls, I have a friend that built his this way and it was affordable. The walls are studded and pre drilled for wiring and insulated plus you can insulate them more. The companys that install them are in and out in 1 day all that is left is to do pour the floor and do the roof. You can put doorways and windows were you want them.

So are you saying they can use the pre-cast basement walls above grade as the acutal walls of the gar..ehem storage unit?

 

[Roadrunner4sure]

So are you saying they can use the pre-cast basement walls above grade as the acutal walls of the gar..ehem storage unit?

Keep it simple till inspectors are gone. 12 Valve is correct.

 

[Old Moparz]

Hey everyone. If you were to build a garage, would you build a pole building or a standard block and studded building? I will be starting to build a 32' x 32' garage soon and the price difference is making me wonder which way to go.

Thanks,
Craig

I was in a similar position as yourself about 15 years ago when I was in the planning stages of my garage. I can't give you current costs or square foot pricing, but I can tell you that the difference in the overall cost between a "stick-built" (typical framed building with vertical studded & sheathed walls) or a "pole building" (posts set into the ground with horizontal framing & sheathed walls) is going to be about 30% less for a pole building just for materials. I put the building up myself with some help from my wife & only sub contracted the concrete floor & the augering of the 20 holes for the posts.

With a stick built structure, you have the expense of the excavation for the foundation with the footings. A pole building only has the individual posts going below the frost line. I know some people that have slabs only, maybe 4 to 6 inches with the edges thickened (haunched) at 18 to 24 inches. Depending on whether the location of the proposed building is flat or sloped, you're going to possibly need the area leveled to where you can build it.

In my case, the land where the left side of the building was, was 4 feet lower than the right over a 36 foot length. I built a pressure treated retaining wall because I had access to free gravel fill to level off my yard. The prices I got for a conventional footing & foundation along with excavation was from $7000 to $16,000 in 1997. Instead, I only spent $2000 for 16 CY of concrete with the labor for a 6" thick floor. That was a savings of $5000 minimum.

If you look at my garage from the front you would never know it was a pole building. There's cedar siding on the front & vinyl on the sides & back. The second floor is "stick built" on top of 2 steel I-Beams & 2x10 floor joists. Insulating the first floor will be slightly different from a stud wall, but not drastically different to where it's a problem. There are other things to consider before you choose which type of building, like the size of the span, trusses or rafters, but the advantages & disadvantages for either are about the same. Mine has been up now for 15 years & other than two hairline cracks in the floor there is nothing wrong with it.

 

[Darter6]

I built my 30x40 pole building 30 years ago...Still standing in SW PA.

 

[tick]

I went with a steel truss structure and wood purlins on the outside, foam insulation between the wood and tin. Kind of a hybrid pole barn. Eventually it will have a lot more insulation but for now the r 7.5 foam works great all by itself.

 

[C130 Chief]

Decide first if you want a nice garage, or a barn. Second, decide whether or not you want to heat it, and how you plan to do so. Sheet metal and "pole" buildings are designed as barns. Yes, they can be finished out and insulated, but they lend themselves better to LARGE spaces, and large spaces are harder to heat.

32 x32 isn't that large, so the cost differential between traditional frame or "stick" construction, and some sort of a sheet metal or pole barn building will be smaller. Note that typically pole barns are just that, large poles are sunk into holes in the ground like fence posts and the roof and skin are attached. Great for keeping the tractor dry, but not the best workshop space. Traditional frame construction will also easily allow you to finish the outside of the shop to look like your house. Siding, roofing, windows and architectural details can easily be made to match. This will increase your property value if you ever chose to sell. a "barn" may not.

If it were me, I would frame with 10' 2x6 walls and set attic trusses to give storage space above. It will be easy to insulate and drywall the inside which means it will be tight and easy to heat. Consider a heated slab too, cheap to do BEFORE you place the concrete, and a great way to heat. Also make sure you make a couple thick spots in the slab in case you ever decide to install a 2-post lift down the road.

As for permits, I don't know why anybody would suggest doing a project this large without one, or not building to code. Sounds like they don't have any construction experience. This will be a substantial investment, and I'm assuming you'll expect your homeowner's insurance policy to cover it (the bank certainly will if you finance the shop or have a mortgage on the property it sits on). Insurance will not cover a non-permitted building, anything inside it, or any damage caused by substandard construction. No licensed contractor worth a sh*t will touch a project this large without a permit, and you run a risk of the city/county/whoever telling you to remove it if not permitted. Permits are a good thing, they protect the owner.