Cows love them.

Have you done a search here on Houzz?

Why are you considering a pole barn home?

Do you understand that pole structures were orginated as a means of cheap construction to house cattle and/or horses? They have no continuous concrete perimeter foundations, and often the poles are simply inserted into drilled holes in the ground and backfilled.

One cannot use the same type of construction (or lack of construction) to house human beings. You will need a continuous concrete perimeter foundation, plus independent concrete foundations for any load-bearing columns. To enclose the exterior of the house, and keep weather out, you will need some sort of insulated, weather-tight, continuous load-bearing wall which sits on top of the perimeter foundations, and supports the second floor (if any), and the roof.

All of these make poles unnecessary and poles simply add unnecessary additional expense.

There is minimal/no savings to building a "barndominium". You can do standard platform/stick construction and use all steel siding/roof if you'd like to make it look like you live in a shed.

Houses are built on concrete slabs... Barndomimiums are finished off inside the same as any other house... The entire fad is kind of a misconception because yes it's cool (ignoring loans/comparables/resale) but people seem to think it's half the cost

The only way that they are half the price of a standard inexpensive conventionally built home is if it's built as a barn and not a house. No foundation. A dirt floor. Token electrical. No HVAC. The worlds worst $20 windows. No real plumbing. Just the outhouse in the back yard. Which obviously is not allowed anymore anywhere where there are building and health codes.

If you want to live in a real barn, illegally built, you'd better not have neighbors. Or the smart codes guys who use drones these days.

If you want a "cool' house that looks like a barn, a pole barn conversion will still cost you more than designing a conventionally framed home with a gambrel shape.

I think there may be some misunderstanding of how a pole barn is constructed when you want to have finished living space.

All poles are set and the entire structure is constructed (usually with metal siding and roof) with just a gravel floor inside. At that point you can dig out and install plumbing (if needed), and install wiring. If all you want is a farm building, then you may be nearly finished at that point. All your cows will be walking around on a dirt floor.

If you want living space, you then have to install boards/forms between each pole at ground level, which will serve as a form for the edge of the concrete slab. You will then install crushed rock and insulation under the slab, run wiring and plumbing under the slab, and then pour the concrete. Now you have a farm building with a slab floor inside. If you want living space you have much more to install.

After installing all the electrical wiring and plumbing you then have to insulate the walls and ceiling, and install wall covering. Since the poles may be six feet apart, and only have a board across at the floor and ceiling level (and maybe one in the middle), you have to figure out how to support your wall covering (there are no studs on a 16" or 24" center). You will also have to frame in wood supports for your ceiling. If you use a rigid material like thick tongue and groove wood, you might be able to screw it down only at the top, bottom and middle and have it strong enough to span from floor to ceiling, but drywall will need more support. You also have to consider where you are going to install electrical boxes and other things that attach to the wall, since you only have a pole about every six feet. The solution many folks choose is to just frame a standard exterior wall with studs between the poles, although the wall isn't really holding anything up.

The interior walls are not load bearing, so they can be framed right on the cement floor and finished with standard methods. Most moderate size pole buildings are designed so that they do not need interior columns, although there may be other reasons to pour a deeper footing in some areas (for a two post car lift, etc.).

I think the attraction of a pole building is that it initially goes up very quickly and looks like you have a functional structure. However, there is a lot more work after that to turn it from a farm building into a home.

Bruce

In addition to Bruce’s comments, in the area of my cabin, there are also property tax advantages. Assessed as a pole barn, then converted, without permits, to a residential place. I saw two places; built as pole barns, with a travel trailer inside. After a few years, the conversion began. A neighbor commented, they are able to pay lower property taxes.

You have to do what you have to do.

This YouTube channel does a good job of showing the post frame construction techniques. He does show a home. R R Building. Some examples include a foundation.

But still, what is the intention/point? Is customer trying to cut costs, or do they want to live in a structure that looks "rustic" like a barn?

The photo above clearly illustrates one of the major issues with "pole" structures.

Do you see the continuous gap between the bottom of the wall structure and the ground? And that the structure has a dirt floor? For a barn for horses or cattle, the gap and the dirt floor may not be significant.

For buildings for human habitation, a concrete floor slab is needed and the gap along the base of the wall must be made air, water and rhodent tight. Then stud walls and blocking is needed for fastening of siding, paneling and anchoring of fixtures, plumbing fittings and the like.

When all of that is done, the construction is virtually identical with light frame construction stud walls, which do not need poles for support.

We don't even use pole barns on the farm, they just don't last as long.

I don't see the appeal, but if you want the look and feel of a barn then start with a traditional foundation and do some type of timber frame construction.

As for cost savings, when you want to save money do what everyone else is doing. Do the words special order trigger thoughts of big savings to you? While you could argue this is a real problem in the construction industry, the key to good quality at a good price is to do the same thing everyone else in your area is doing.

Furthermore, stick framing is cheap, when you look at the cost of the entire house, stick framing is simply not that expensive. The entire industry is built around 2x4 and 2x6 studs, and they are cheap. When viewed in the scope of an entire home, stick framing simply isn't that much money.

Just my opinion anyway.

The picture for that video doesn't show the concrete floor to be supplied by the owner. Other buildings in different videos start with a foundation. Stuff can be specified as you want it.

The pricing markup on pole barn construction isn't at the regularly accepted level the industry uses for stick frame home construction. Maybe closer if you hire your own rough crew and supply the lumber package.

The pricing markup on pole barn construction isn't at the regularly accepted level the industry uses for stick frame home construction.

As an economist I am going to ask for some support for this statement.

It seems very unlikely that the above statement will be true for long. Most of the costs are the same as only the exterior shell of the house is different. An efficient market is not going to allow similar quality for lower per project profit to exist without some economies of scale kicking in.

Essentially anyone who could build pole barns for less profit could build houses for more profit and those people would switch.

I could keep going on this, but I actually have a bit of work to do.

There is a farm/butcher down the road from me that turned one of their old barns into a restaurant. After visiting the restaurant, My take away's where it felt very lofty, no pun intended. It just didn't feel cozy with all that air above my ( BALD) head and they used large boards for a "shiplap effect" which kind of made me want rethink and update my houzz ideabook. The other customers there seemed to love the "shiplap" but seeing in person really makes you think could I really wake up everyday to this.

Although, this is just an opinion by me and should never influence your decisions but I highly recommend navigating this site and seeing all that is out there. My tastes have changed and evolved a lot because of this website, for better or worse!

Susan Canfield, I don't believe anyone answered your question. Houzz may not be the best place to ask. If you go to countryplans.com there's all sorts of discussions about pole barns and whether one should build a house using a pole barn as its structure.

Actually, this thread is full of advice about (not) using a pole barn for a house.