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Barndominium or Shopdominium Steel Building Experience?

Everyone likes what they like. I have always wanted a house with a oversized garage, which is really what this is.

Never seen a shed with 2x6 construction, a 8x6 no door rain/steam shower in the master, granite counter tops, high quality appliances, etc.

It should be worth about $200,000 more than what I will have into it the day it's finished. I got the land at a good time, I get discounts from all the subs because I give them steady work and this will be a cash job, and my contractor buddy is doing it for cost. I was going to do this as a owner builder and do a lot of it myself, but decided I have more money than time. I'm sixty, been dreaming of having my house on my chunk of land in the high desert my entire life, and want this done. I'm not rich, far from it, but I did plan for my retirement and it worked out for me. I also think it's a good time to get some cash out of the bank and into something physical before the government decides its their money.
 
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BDK said:
It wasn't cheap. I did get a big discount on the work. Dirt work guy gets a lot of business from me because I build houses on spec in Kingman, and I paid cash.

As far as living in a "shed", that's ridiculous. The shop is going to be finished, insulated and drywalled. No HVAC because I don't think I'll need it at that elevation. I'm a hobbiest, ShopSmith, welder, bunch of tools, like working with my hands. I'm not going to be tearing down cars for scrap in there. I've been working out of my finished 3-car garage for 20 years. Never smelled anything inside the house.
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I've lived in 4 houses with attached garages.

Would always get fumes in the house, even with ventilation the garage and not using the door between much. Usually wasn't knock you down bad, but still.

The worst one was forced air heat and the furnace in the garage.

Shed, garage, barn, shouse (shit house? :lmao:), whatever you want to call it. I call mind a shed.

Post asked for experience. I live in one, so gave my experience.
 
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AKnate said:
I promise, they don't generally bring the same $$ as a regular house and regular shop.
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Not true in the area I'm building. They are popular with retired refugees from other states. The spec houses we have been building with smaller square footage living areas (1200-1300 sq ft) and big double deep 3-car garages sell fast. It's what older retired empty-nesters seem to want. This house will be larger than those on a lot more land with a beautiful view and lots more privacy, which will push it out of the range of most cash buyers so it would take longer to sell, but that won't be my problem.

It will be 20 minutes from a small city with all the necessities (including a hospital) but you can't see or hear the city. UPS, Fed Ex, Amazon, etc., deliver to just north of there, land is zoned for agriculture, the property is at the end of a 3/4 mile long private road/valley with BLM and state trust land on 2.5 sides (I'm negotiating to purchase the attached "buildable" parcels). I can shoot from under the patio, and it's so quiet all I hear is my tinnitus and the occasional commercial jet flying over at 30,000' on its way to or from Vegas. Not that I'm anticipating this will ever be a issue, but I have had more than a few people comment that one person with a good rifle could stand off an army from there.
I have a 305' deep tested at 28 GPM well that has water at 43'. The well guys who tested it say it's probably more like 50 GPM. Apparently the county considers any well over 36 GPM to be a commercial well with yearly testing and registration. Ag and residential wells have registration only upon transfer. Well electrical box will have a corded plug for a generator. Main wiring comes into the shop, sub panel for the house. Main box will be pre wired for a propane generator and/or solar with several extra slots for add-ons. I looked for years at already built houses with shops and didn't find what I wanted. The houses were all way too big, and the shops way too small. Having the shop and house be the same building keeps the amount of dirt work less, the amount of damage to untouched land less, and part of the appeal of the property is the land. Its very scenic.

Selling it would be something my only child would have to deal with. I'm not selling it, and my kid will have her house on the same parcel a few acres away (I have a few spots picked) in a few years. She can move one house over and rent her place, or let her kids live there if she has any. I'll be dead, so who gives a shit?

To me, that house on that piece of land is ideal. It will be paid for free and clear. It's a legacy property.
 
AKnate said:
I've lived in 4 houses with attached garages.

Would always get fumes in the house, even with ventilation the garage and not using the door between much. Usually wasn't knock you down bad, but still.

The worst one was forced air heat and the furnace in the garage.

Shed, garage, barn, shouse (shit house? :lmao:), whatever you want to call it. I call mind a shed.

Post asked for experience. I live in one, so gave my experience.
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Dude STFU already. You're a resident moron here, doing opposite of whatever advice you give would probably lead to a pretty decent life.
 
"AKnate said:
I promise, they don't generally bring the same $$ as a regular house and regular shop."

Where did I even write that?
 
BDK said:
I took it out of your now edited post. JFC dude, keep digging.
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Huh?

I edited it ~10 mins after writing it to fix spelling.

You posted almost an hour later. Digging?

The post asks for opinions and then random people get ass chapped over exactly that. Oh well 🤣
 
Sceep said:
Badass! Love the super wide overhangs.
:smokin: Congrats.
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Most of the residence walls and windows should be in the shade year-round. The sun comes over the low mountain to the southeast, then goes behind the higher mountains to the northwest. There is about 1.5-2 hours of time as the shadows work their way across Red Lake to the Music Mountains about 20 miles away. It's my favorite time of day there, watching the scenery change by the minute. Also a good time to walk the dog when it's warm out. The last thing the sun hits are the rock features on the Music Mountains.
Penetrode Offroad said:
He should work for your dirt work guys :laughing:
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It's the internet. People can be full of shit all they want. It's fine, nobody cares. I find it amusing.
 
BDK said:
Hates houses with attached shops, lived in four of them, currently lives in one, WTF?
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"Don't listen to what women say they want. Look at what they actually go for" seems relevant right about now. :laughing:
 
Not sure if I missed if anyone talk about the concrete finish, but definitely seal it with a clear epoxy of some sort. I had mine polished, densified, and sealed. Any oil will soak in and be there pretty permanently. A dropped french fry will leave a mark, and around the stove will be darker than the other parts of the floor.
 
The residence floors will be tile. No carpet. I'm leaning towards the fake wood looking tile in a medium tone because I have lots of stained wood furniture that is dark or light, for everything but the master bathroom. That will probably be a tile that looks like slate. I want to be able to get a robot vacuum/mop and hardly ever have to deal with cleaning the floors.

Shop floor will be very smooth and sealed. Patio concrete will be rock salt treated and sealed. I like the look, and it adds traction, and its not very expensive.
 
dumb question - why is the shop bathroom so far away from all the rest of the plumbing?

are there any drains in the shop?
 
Some of the rocks they pulled out of the cut
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mobil1syn said:
dumb question - why is the shop bathroom so far away from all the rest of the plumbing?

are there any drains in the shop?
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Not dumb at all. We spent months trying to fit it into the wall with most of the other plumbing. I originally had it in the mud/laundry room but it took too much space out of the kitchen or the spare bedroom. Put it into the wall behind the kitchen, took up way too much space and was very narrow. Moved it over into that corner because the RV will be parked along that wall and it's only a few hundred buck worth of material. My coach is 36' long but there will be enough length to get any coach made in there and have the bathroom in front of it. There will be a plumbing cleanout on the back outside wall, adjacent to the bathroom. That's the drain for an outdoor beer keg urinal my buddy is making. RV dump station will be outside the RV garage door on the opposite side of the shop. We talked about putting the RV dump by the bathroom, but again, its only a few hundred bucks worth of material to have it much more conveniently located.

Drain in the bathroom floor. We talked about drains in the shop floor, but decided against them because the shop floor will have a slight slope out towards the roll up doors from center as required by code. We are calling it an RV garage so it won't count as part of the square footage of the house for property tax assessment purposes, so it has to comply with garage code.

Also going to install a RV park pedestal type RV hookups at the north edge of the pad towards the back. Electrical and water only. Could have two RV's plugged in there, and one water only spot we are calling the auxiliary RV spot a few hundred feet down the driveway where a old road used to cross the big wash.
 
Nice build with a great looking location!
The site work pics remind me of the scene in the movie Deathwish where Paul Kersey and developer Ames Jainchill are looking over the build site.
 
Dethmachinefab said:
Not sure if I missed if anyone talk about the concrete finish, but definitely seal it with a clear epoxy of some sort. I had mine polished, densified, and sealed. Any oil will soak in and be there pretty permanently. A dropped french fry will leave a mark, and around the stove will be darker than the other parts of the floor.
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Do they make a sealer that doesn't turn the floor into a ice rink when it's wet? The sealed floor in my current garage is crazy slippery when it's wet.
 
BDK said:
The residence floors will be tile. No carpet. I'm leaning towards the fake wood looking tile in a medium tone because I have lots of stained wood furniture that is dark or light, for everything but the master bathroom. That will probably be a tile that looks like slate. I want to be able to get a robot vacuum/mop and hardly ever have to deal with cleaning the floors.
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Might I suggest the fake wood vinyl plank stuff? We've had it 5 years now and it's the most indestructible home floor I've ever seen.

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Thinking of doing something similar here within the next 10 years or so. I could make double what I'm making now and buying a house anywhere near here without going into ultra trashy areas I have zero desire to be in would be a hell of a stretch.

But, I can buy 5+ acres or so at ~10k an acre about an hour north of here outright in a couple years. Put a well, septic, and a camper out there then build a sizeable metal building on it and an apartment in it later for well under what I could buy even a shitty old rancher in central VA for anymore. Much rather have that setup anyway and build exactly what I want than buy some old house that I'll probably die before I ever pay off. Of course all of this is assuming the dollar hasn't crashed, WWIII hasn't broken out, and we're still allowed to buy stuff. :laughing:
 
Motorcharge said:
Thinking of doing something similar here within the next 10 years or so. I could make double what I'm making now and buying a house anywhere near here without going into ultra trashy areas I have zero desire to be in would be a hell of a stretch.

But, I can buy 5+ acres or so at ~10k an acre about an hour north of here outright in a couple years. Put a well, septic, and a camper out there then build a sizeable metal building on it and an apartment in it later for well under what I could buy even a shitty old rancher in central VA for anymore. Much rather have that setup anyway and build exactly what I want than buy some old house that I'll probably die before I ever pay off. Of course all of this is assuming the dollar hasn't crashed, WWIII hasn't broken out, and we're still allowed to buy stuff. :laughing:
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Get after that plan. We did similar. It's been one of the best decisions ever to avoid the debt system and build some real wealth. Don't worry if it seems somewhat out of reach, once your committed your going to find money to get things done. Ramen and rebar buddy.
 
BDK said:
Do they make a sealer that doesn't turn the floor into a ice rink when it's wet? The sealed floor in my current garage is crazy slippery when it's wet.
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Look up "Shark Grip" or something similar.

It's a super fine traction additive that goes in the sealer - basically super super fine sand. doesn't trap shit, but gives you some gription walking across wet shit.
 
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Dethmachinefab said:
Get after that plan. We did similar. It's been one of the best decisions ever to avoid the debt system and build some real wealth. Don't worry if it seems somewhat out of reach, once your committed your going to find money to get things done. Ramen and rebar buddy.
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Working on it, but it's very doable for me as long as the economy doesn't completely shit the bed or land prices in the last couple of areas left between here and NoVA don't go completely off the rails.

Got it loosely priced out based on a company we're working with doing something similar for a storage building at work. It's not anywhere near as much of a financial stretch as trying to buy a house around here would be.
 
BDK said:
Most of the residence walls and windows should be in the shade year-round. The sun comes over the low mountain to the southeast, then goes behind the higher mountains to the northwest. There is about 1.5-2 hours of time as the shadows work their way across Red Lake to the Music Mountains about 20 miles away. It's my favorite time of day there, watching the scenery change by the minute. Also a good time to walk the dog when it's warm out. The last thing the sun hits are the rock features on the Music Mountains.

It's the internet. People can be full of shit all they want. It's fine, nobody cares. I find it amusing.
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Don't recall what you're doing for insulation but, spray 2" of closed cell foam under your overhangs and then finish them out. It will stop the heat radiating through them, we do lots of them and its money well spent. You don't need more than 2", theres a point of diminishing returns after that.

Love the build.
 
These are good suggestions. I'm going back and forth between fale wood ceramic tile and fake wood vinyl planks for flooring. Have big dogs so real wood is out.

Shark Grip is going on my list.

We were talking about finishing the patio ceilings, insulation is a great idea.
 
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