"What Is a Barndominium?"

By Mark Phoenix posted June 6, 2023

Here are two questions I pose to you:  If you felt that you were leading a hectic, frenzied life, would you consider moving to a place that offered a less frantic lifestyle?  Would you move into a barn - or - a converted barn?

The barndominium (a contraction of the words “Barn” and “Condominium”) is the latest fashionable concept for residential rural living. 

A “barndo” can be either an existing barn renovated into a combination of residential living space and storage space for farm tractors, workshop, storage and various accessories or a newly constructed structure, frequently constructed with metal walls and a metal roof.  I'm told that barndominiums typically have a lower overall construction, labor and materials costs compared with traditionally built modern homes.    

Some of the costs involved in developing a barndominium can be lower compared with building a traditional “stick-built” home.  The price of land on which to build the barndominium can be comparatively lower, depending upon location, proximity to urban amenities, the nearness to utility hook-ups and how much land needs to be cleared to construct the dwelling. 

Some of the other costs associated with building a barndominium will be the similar to a traditionally built home such as obtaining various permits from governmental authorities, the cost of connecting to water and sewer systems or drilling water wells and designing and constructing septic systems, plumbing, electrical, lighting, flooring, HVAC, windows, and doors, etc. 

Of course, the cost of furnishing the dwelling will be equal to constructing a stick-built home or structure. 

One of the things to be aware of when constructing a barndominium is the fact that newly created structures with metal walls and roofs create a temperature challenge year-round.  Newly constructed barndominiums have steel frames with metals walls and roofs.  These materials inherently do not hold a steady temperature value and can quickly accumulate heat during the warm months of the year and can lose heat during the cold months of the year. To remedy this problem, the use of foam board insulation, insulated panels and spray foam insulation are added to the list of materials used to construct the dwelling.

A less apparent area of concern associated with existing barns that are considered for conversion to living space is the paint and other coatings of interior and exterior surfaces which have been used in the past.  For barns which pre-date 1978, it is probable that any paint which was used to cover interior and exterior surfaces contain lead.  According to the Environmental Protection Agency, “In 1978, the federal government banned consumer uses of lead-based paint, but some states banned lead paint even earlier.  Lead-based paint is still present in millions of homes, normally under layers of newer paint”.  Painting over lead-based paint with latex paint is called “encapsulation”.

Due to the wide-open spaces that barns typically exhibit, they become easily customizable to suit individual tastes with relative ease.  Frequently, barndominiums can be either one or two stories and are available in customizable kits from online purveyors. 

If you are familiar with homes or buildings that have a metal roof, you can understand how barndominiums can be a little noisier during rainstorms (or a hailstorm) or a period of high wind compared with a stick-built home or other structure.  Again, insulation can help mitigate these challenges. 

You will frequently find a “safe room” incorporated into the floor plan design of a barndominium since they generally do not contain basements.  For this reason and for those unfamiliar with the term “safe room”, it is a reinforced room that is found in a private residence or a business to provide a safe shelter or hiding place.  This space is designed to resist wind pressures and wind-borne debris from impacts experienced during a threatening weather event such as a tornado or a hurricane.

For some people, a barndominium satisfies the longing to relinquish the modern lifestyle that has become hurried and chaotic in favor of a simpler life found in a rural setting. 

It sounds good to me.

Image supplied by AdvancedHousePlans.com