Building A Barndominium: Foundation options

Building a barndominium is a lifestyle. Some people live in their barndominiums year-round, while others use them as vacation homes or rental properties. When deciding to build a barndo, you have lots of questions. This article will answer all your questions and help you decide what’s best for you.

Why live in a barndominium?

Barndominiums have many benefits. In a barndominium, you have a larger plot of land and basement than if you purchased a single home or condo unit. You can also live in your barndominium year-round, as long as you have winter access. You also have much more space than you would in a typical single home. You can choose from one to eight units to live in. You can add additional units to your barndominium in the future. You can have a private master bedroom with a large bathroom and a larger living room or recreation room. If you have children, you can have a separate, larger bedroom and bathroom. You can add lots of fun amenities like a water slide or a lofted bedroom. You can choose the unit you want and have it built.

Foundation Types

Not all barndominiums are built on the ground. Some are built above ground on stilts with concrete slabs. If your barndominium is built above ground, you have two different options for the foundation. You can have a traditional solid foundation with steel beams, or you can build a floating foundation. Let’s break them down and explore each option.

Floating Foundation:

Floating foundations are basically a thin layer of concrete, concrete blocks, or compacted earth laid on top of a permanent foundation. Most floating foundations are used for under homes. If your barndominium is under the slab, you can install an earthquake, water intrusion, or climate-changing (ice dam) mitigation system on the underlying foundation. In addition, you can install a concrete pad for added utility connections.

Living Options

What do you want your barndominium to be? For example, do you want a guest room? Are you looking for a place to put your RV? Do you just want to know how much the total space will cost to build so you can budget?

Do you want a dance space? Do you want a home theater? Do you want to rent out your barndominium to a traveler? Maybe you want a garage? Many options are possible depending on your situation.

Building a Barndominium Plumbing Options

If you decide that you’ll be building your own barndominium, what kinds of plumbing, in floor heating, and cooling options do you want? If you decide you’re only looking for a place to park your RV, you can probably do without an actual foundation.

Initial Costs

Some of the biggest questions a prospective barndominium builder will ask you are: How much do I want to build this barndominium? Is it safe? Where should I put it? Should I do an off-site or on-site pre-finished product?

The initial cost of a barndominium will vary depending on the size, location, and pre-finished options you choose. If you are looking to build a big complex with several units, you will need to put in an initial payment of $50,000. If you are looking to build a small complex with fewer units and more potential income, the construction cost of a pre-finished barndominium will be much less. You will need to put in only $5,000.

What are the maintenance and repairs to my barndominium going to cost me?

The main maintenance items are maintaining your gutters, pouring new concrete, washing and waxing your gutters, putting down new sealant, repairing your deck, replacing a section of your tile, putting in new carpeting, and replacing any worn out or broken fixtures or appliances. Also, you will need to pay for the utility bills that you receive from your utility providers such as water, electric, natural gas, and HVAC.

Conclusion

In this article, we discussed some of the building principles of barndominiums. Hopefully, you can now determine the building features and which features are necessary for your project. Our next article will discuss barndominium units and units, or home types, that you can build. As always, feel free to contact us if you have any questions. We would love to help you!