Learn me: Pre-fab steel building as a house?

We're selling our traditional home and eventually building on the "family farm."

I'll need a shop, and will likely be using the place around the corner that sells and "installs" pre-fab metal buildings.

...which got my wheels turning. The wife and I are very much into modern/funky architecture, versus the "cookie-cutter vinyl-sided" home we're in now.

The idea of no wood (no rotting, no termites, etc,) is very appealing to me, as is a simple design, polished concrete floors, very little maintenance(?) etc. Also, I was shocked by how cheap these things are.

What concerns me: Would we be living in a giant oven that would cost a godzillion dollars to cool in the summer? Any other "unknown variables(?)"

What say you, hive mind? I'll post pics of the design I'm looking at when I have time.

There are not one but two of these scenarios not too far from me and each other. Both appear to be of the 60'x100' vintage, with living up front and shop out back......hmmmm kinda like a mullet...bidness up front party in the back, but I digress. I'm talking North Houston, Texas where it is 93 in the shade with 98% humidity. Insulation can be dealt with. The dealer here that I see a lot of is Mueller.. Google map dobbin hufsmith rd near hardin store rd north of Tomball Tx you should see em.

It would be no different than an office space. Partition off the living area and put in ceilings. That way you don't have to heat and cool a large volume of space, the air space between the ceiling and the underside of the roof acts as an insulator. Factories and commercial spaces use this type of building system all over. The only issue may be from your zoning or building department.

If bank financing is required to make this happen, it will not be easy or cheap. Banks don't like non-traditional dwellings.

Barndominiums, as they are called, can be cool, but there are some issues.

1) you always buy something with the eye towards having to sell it one day. Yeah, I know you intend to live there all your born days, but you know what? Things happen!

So you need to make some concessions in your building and exterior. When you sell it, and if you don't your heirs will have to, you would like there to be others like it semi close by so an appraiser can appraise it and give value plus.

You'd also like to build it so that your Buyer can get financing for it because without financing Buyers can't buy. Cash sales are so cyclic plus few and far between (only something like 2% of home are sold cash) that you can never count on that.

It also needs to appeal to the broadest spectrum of people so that you'll have more potential buyers.

To this end don't leave it just steel. Build you a wainscot of brick or stone and maybe give the front some covering with Hardiboard to look like clapboard. Not only will that help your utility bills, but it will also add to your curb appeal. None of that will be expensive.

If you are in Texas I can help you I've built 2 plus I am one of the few lenders that will finance them. And that ought to tell you something about the problems when it's time to sell. I've also got a gorgeous HUGE window that would good on one that I'd sell you dirt cheap. I bought it for one I was building for my friend and he died just before we got started.

They are trendy right now, but whether they stay trendy or become mainstream depends upon how many people build then wrong and lose tons of money and tarnish their reputation.

Allott plenty of room for wood interior walls and insulation. The spray foam they do on these is minimal and not nearly enough. Also make sure they know to caulk the steel sheets. All of these leak and when water soaks into foam insulation it gets messy over time. Plan on yearly trips up top to retighten screw & seal leaks. It's a lot more maintenance than a traditional roof, but you can put a traditional shingle roof on one and that stops a lot of your maintenance and future trouble spots

This is pertinent to my interests.

These responses have me absolutely giddy. Zoning should be a non-issue. Property, for whatever reason, is currently zoned "commercial," but I spoke with the "zone-master" a few weeks ago who basically told me "do whatever the berkeley you want."

Still interested in "dissenting votes." But the idea of "twin" shop next to house...or doing it all in one swat for way less than traditional construction has me super excited. The land lays nicely, and there are multiple potential building sites.

And yes. There will be indoor skating...and a disco ball...and a "fireman's pole."

If you do it right, I doubt it will he cheaper.

In order to insulate it well, you have to frame wood walls inside of the metal ones with insulation between. Basically building one building inside another (this is how most commercial spaces are built).

You have different thermal transfer issues and moisture control (condensation destroys metal buildings). It's much harder to heat and cool to standards that are normally acceptable in residences.

Standard residential insulation ratings are R13 in the walls, and R30 in the ceiling. Metal buildings are more like R8 in the walls, and R13 in the roof, but the ratings are significantly overstated because of deficiencies in the overall techniques. Here's an article that considers some of the deficiencies:

Metal building efficiency

Polished concrete is not cheaper than residential floor covering.

If you do it, do it because you love it, not because it's cheap. It is unlikely that it will be cheap.

BTW, you may have an opposite zoning issue. They may not want a residence in a commercial zone because of fire department response times.

On average, what's the building cost differences between such a structure and a stick built "small house attached to big garage" type of thing?

In reply to SVreX:

Thanks, Paul. That was my biggest concern (Living in an oven.) Cold, I can handle. Heat, not so much.

My thinking on the concrete floors was that regarless of whether it's a stick-home or metal building, it'll be on a slab. I hate crawl-spaces.

In reply to pheller:

It's a little hard to compare. It's dependent on region, but also building size, clear spans, etc.

In GA (where Poopy and I both live), metal buildings are common and cheap. About $10 per SF. A similar wood shell only would cost more like $20-25 per SF.

However, that's about 1/4 of the total costs. You still have to add electricity, plumbing, finishes, HVAC, etc to make it a residence.

Those items will cost more in a metal building. At least 25% each. So, you save money in the shell, but spend it in the finishes. You will also spend more to heat and cool a metal building over time.

Wood buildings lend themselves to DIY labor better.

If you want a building with 12' eaves, metal is easier. If you want large clear spans, metal is easier until you get very large and need an engineered foundation. Then metal is much more expensive.

A metal shell building will generally have only a couple crappy windows included in the price. A wood shell building will generally have more windows of better quality. Same for the doors.

A wood frame building will have superior insulation- it is designed with cavities that enable proper insulation. A metal building will generally include a roof, but it will be exposed screws. These are prone to leakage. A standing seam metal roof will double the cost of the building. A wood building will generally have asphalt shingles.

A later addition to a metal building is a big no-no. They are engineered to very close tolerances- you can't add load to them.

The recent tornadoes in my town flattened a lot of metal buildings. The wind pushes through the large roll-up doors and pressurized the building, and it blows out from the inside. Wood frame buildings are more wind resistant.

Everything varies. I'm talking basic normal stuff here.

In reply to poopshovel again:

You CAN make a metal building thermally efficient. You can't do it cheaply.

To answer some of your questions: We're in the North Georgia mountains.

We're also totally into the Florida "Cracker Style" home; sans-stilts, but with (probably "faux/hardi-plank") cedar & tin roof, but modern interior.

IDFK. I suppose I need to shop around, and do tons more research.

The shop will definitely need to happen, and will probably go up before we put the existing house on the market.

I can attest to the fact that they are really taking off down here in Texas. We've put some very expensive Stone in several in the last year or so.

This is the "housebarn" that my sister had built a few years ago. She spent around 100K doing it and it's very nice. As you look at it the garage in the middle is two vehicles deep. Everything left of that is "barn" with truss ceiling (would be a good 4 bay shop). Everything right of the garage is the kitchen/bathroom/living room, and upstairs is the huge bedroom. It really is cool. On the far side from the pic is full length lean-too covered parking where she keeps a 4 horse gooseneck trailer and a 18' catamaran.

I've always romanticized this very idea. Having moved from the Siberian plains to the outer circles of hell in terms of heat has me thinking metal might no longer be a good plan, amd mother nature performs a significantly stronger blowie down here should she feel the need. However, I still like the idea of living Steve McQueen style, who did so in fine fashion in an airplane hangar

KyAllroad wrote: This is the "housebarn" that my sister had built a few years ago. She spent around 100K doing it and it's very nice. As you look at it the garage in the middle is two vehicles deep. Everything left of that is "barn" with truss ceiling (would be a good 4 bay shop). Everything right of the garage is the kitchen/bathroom/living room, and upstairs is the huge bedroom. It really is cool. On the far side from the pic is full length lean-too covered parking where she keeps a 4 horse gooseneck trailer and a 18' catamaran.

That would make a great clubhouse... or a retirement house for a car guy.

In reply to fasted58: well, it's currently vacant as she lives in the real house (the porch of which I shot the picture from). If anyone wanted to rent it (and live precisely in the middle of nowhere) she might make them a deal. Bonus points if you could umm....disable the neighbors air cannon!

Was trolling through my watchlist. 

I know of a few people who build pole barns as the first shelter on their land and park an rv inside, that way ypouy can use the RV as a kitchen, bedroom and bathroom and expand into the pole barn for more living space.

Concrete floors are a good idea almost always, if you want it to be a finished floor acid etch it. 

In reply to KyAllroad :

...define middle of nowhere 

759NRNG said:

There are not one but two of these scenarios not too far from me and each other. Both appear to be of the 60'x100' vintage, with living up front and shop out back......hmmmm kinda like a mullet...bidness up front party in the back, but I digress. I'm talking North Houston, Texas where it is 93 in the shade with 98% humidity. Insulation can be dealt with. The dealer here that I see a lot of is Mueller.. Google map dobbin hufsmith rd near hardin store rd north of Tomball Tx you should see em.

Indiana has some of these too. My indirect understanding is it’s a tax break for the owners, because it’s not considered a “house”.

another term is barndominium. they seem to be popular in texas. 

Antihero said:

I know of a few people who build pole barns as the first shelter on their land and park an rv inside, that way ypouy can use the RV as a kitchen, bedroom and bathroom and expand into the pole barn for more living space.

 

Concrete floors are a good idea almost always, if you want it to be a finished floor acid etch it. 

That is one of my pet retirement dreams: a big pole barn with RV hook-ups and then a small stand-alone rental house so the property isn't vacant during the majority of the year when I want to be out of town traveling. 

Pete Gossett said:

759NRNG said:

There are not one but two of these scenarios not too far from me and each other. Both appear to be of the 60'x100' vintage, with living up front and shop out back......hmmmm kinda like a mullet...bidness up front party in the back, but I digress. I'm talking North Houston, Texas where it is 93 in the shade with 98% humidity. Insulation can be dealt with. The dealer here that I see a lot of is Mueller.. Google map dobbin hufsmith rd near hardin store rd north of Tomball Tx you should see em.

Indiana has some of these too. My indirect understanding is it’s a tax break for the owners, because it’s not considered a “house”.

It definitely started that way, but most municipalities around here wised up to that fairly quickly. From what I've heard that tax advantage is mostly gone these days. When you consider the potential difficulty of financing/selling something like this, I'm not sure the tax advantage was ever worth it to begin with.