So wife and I have decided where we are going finally. Currently deciding property options in the area of west central Florida (yes, I will finally be able to fly my Florida man flag). I've wanted a barndominium for years. Wife has seen how nice they can be and how much space we can get compared to more traditional stick built.
anyone have a preferred builder or know people with good/bad experiences etc?
Been watching a guy on YouTube that builds a ton of cool stuff; looks like there are a lot of good builders out there
Facebook serves me some form of Barniminium every day. Some are cool.
I've been thinking I'll draw up a plan (like I did for our current home) based off of one of their basic sizes (50x80, 40x100 etc) and submit it to them for a price.
In reply to bobzilla :
Remember that Florida has a lot of rules for winds that you don't have up north. Make sure you get quotes from Florida builders who should be familiar with them.
I took a serious look at barndominiums and it is difficult to live in a metal building in Florida. It is hard to get the buildings built and almost impossible to get them insured as dwellings. I came away from my experience with the idea that a standard 1500 sqft concrete block over slab house with a metal garage would be easier and cheaper in the long run.
Have you looked at the laws for the specific county you are moving to? My info is a few years old so maybe things have changed.
Also realize that your homeowner's insurance will be multiple times higher than what you're used to paying, and will continue to increase at a higher rate yearly.
For example, when we moved to MS 8-years ago we were paying ~$1200 annually in IL vs. ~$2400 here(and this place is significantly smaller than our place in IL). Since that time it's gradually increased to ~$3600, but we received our renewal a couple weeks ago & now it's jumped to $6400. I've been shopping around but the quotes I've found so far are $8k and up.
Our house is 2200 sq-ft, and we're at 20' of elevation. Oh and that doesn't include flood insurance(which we have, just in case) that's another $800 annually.
Car insurance is significantly higher too, because people have no clue what the rules of the road are.
In reply to ojannen :
Looking into it with a realtor that specializes in this topic down there. Non-flood zones are the ONLY locations we are even considering at this time.
^I was going to bring up the insurance thing as well since many insurers are pulling out of Florida completely.
In reply to bobzilla :
Non-flood zones are the ONLY locations we are even considering at this time
**
Doesn't that leave out all of Florida? 
In reply to Noddaz :
you would be surprised. 15 miles inland in certain places can make a massive difference. Especially North of Weeki Wachee up past Inglis, its extremely shallow way out into the gulf, helps minimize surges from the hurricanes. And where we are looking is 100-150feet above sea level.
But yes, I get your joke.
I know Bob does his research and knows what he wants ... but like everyone said, I would reconsider Fl. I would look more towards Tennessee.
Insurance, both car and house suck down here. Just got my renewal for two cars, newest is 2014 ... as soon as I get back into town I need to revisit this bs
I mean thanks for everyone trying to talk us out of what we want. It's always so refreshing. We understand things can and are not the same as here. I do not want to live in Tennessee. Neither does the wife. All the humidity and still have winter. No thanks.
there's a reason why we haven't even bothered talking to builders up here. We have family down there as well as friends already. We understand that there are going to be challenges and differences. What I was asking was if anyone had experience or knew people with experience good or bad with these type of builders.
Stampie said:In reply to bobzilla :
Remember that Florida has a lot of rules for winds that you don't have up north. Make sure you get quotes from Florida builders who should be familiar with them.
I wouldn't even think about asking builders up here.
Slippery said:I know Bob does his research and knows what he wants ... but like everyone said, I would reconsider Fl. I would look more towards Tennessee.
Insurance, both car and house suck down here. Just got my renewal for two cars, newest is 2014 ... as soon as I get back into town I need to revisit this bs
At first I thought "Wait, that's not so bad." Then I noticed those aren't annual costs, those are monthly
I've built 2 of them.
Can't help you in FL. I own property there, but I'm not building there.
In reply to bobzilla :
It'll be a few days before I can double check all my sites but here's some I have on my tablet. No experience with them just stuff I found looking for similar.
This one is in TN but I have them on one of my tabs for some reason.
Unable to help with the question but following out of interest.
Are you looking for metal building or pole building? I suspect metal would be better for strength/less combustible thus lower insurance cost but wood/pole building easier to insulate. Genuinely curious because I like the concept. I'm also a big fan of large covered spaces without walls - because shade is cool and a lot less expensive that heated or cooled.
I live between Tallahassee and the state line with Georgia, in rural Gadsden County. Barndominiums are as common as rain around here. I get the pleasure of coming in and finishing them after the home owners get started. Each county in these here parts has multiple companies building pole barns. I have found that most actually do a good job of building them square and straight. no complaints there.
So, the deal is to research the particular area/counties where you want to build, and get references for the "barn builder".
I just finished one in Bay county that passed all the windload requirements, etc. We did the outside walls of that one in hardi board and batten and from the road it appears "stick built". Another project was more high end with over $40K in just interior millwork (recovered 150 year old cypress trees out of the Apalachicola River). That one has metal exterior walls and from a satelite looks like a maintenance building on the farm. So, the sky can be the limit in terms of square foot costs.
All the ones I've done in the past 7 years have used sprayfoam insulation. A word of caution... some Florida counties are now not allowing the sprayfoam to be applied to the underside of the metal roof. They are requiring sheathing under the metal, and the foam then applied to the underside of the sheathing. Sheathing is hard to put on trusses that are 10 feet apart. That causes a major retrofit., or redesigning a roof under a roof. It is "gotchas" such as that causing most barndominiums that I have been part of to cost more in the end than a stick built home. Just saying.
It takes a lot of framing material to frame up a polebarn into a residence, especially in matching up to the metal trusses and 8x8 poles. Also, retrofitting facia and soffets and gutters on a polebarn is not as easy as on a roof with trusses 24" o.c. All things to consider.
One family member went first class with a 7,000 sf Morton Building (top quality) letting Morton put in the exterior doors and windows n the corner where he planned to later build out a residence. We then built a 1500 sf home in that corner of it. Lots of ways to skin the cat.
I don't tell any of my customers not to do it, but I do tell them that in the last decade we have not finished out a livable home inside a metal building for less than what it would have cost to just build it as a conventional home. YMMV
Also, many of the reputable barn builders in my area are telling me they are booked out 5 to 6 months.
An example of a reputable barn builder is Better Built Barns in Hosford Florida.
In reply to Purple Frog (Forum Supporter) :
Appreciate that. We aren't high end finishes type people. I more want the 40x40 garage with tall ceilings attached to the 40x60 house with false ceilings and covered porches. Our current house is two squares. This would be just one long one.
exterior of a 40 x 40 with sheds on all 4 sides. CAme back after the picture and concreted all under sheds...
Inside before we put up plywood interior walls
Putting facia on exterior of one last month on a cold day... been there, done that, didn't get the t-shirt. This on has bonus room upstairs, above residence with 8' ceilings. Boat storage on right for expensive 35' hole in water. (note: i did not approve of small front windows, homeowner went cheap on me 
)
One other note of caution. Just like toterhomes. Sometimes when you build a serious shop under same roof as wife's home, she later complains of the shop smells and dirt that infiltrate her home. Many customers tell me they wish they had been separate buildings. OK for a bachelor pad, not always good for a couple in long run. YMMV
In reply to Purple Frog (Forum Supporter) :
Our house has had the garage attached to the home for the last 19 years. HVAC in that house is in the garage. Never been an issue. I'm planning to double wall or at least 2x6 and insulate/drywall the seperation between the garage area and the house.
Biggest problem we noticed when we built our current is we did not insulate the interior wall between the kitchen and bedroom. Even a light cabinet door shut sounded like you slammed it in the bedroom. The hollow walls seemed to echo and magnify the sounds. Not making that mistake again lol. This is a small update from what we have after all these years of living here. The little things that we made a mistake on.
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