Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Barn and Stall Kits
You can buy packaged kits for an entire barn or for a specific number of stalls. But before
you consider buying a kit, check with your local building department to see if the kit you
are considering meets the standards and codes required. You might be required to obtain
blueprints or engineering calculations from the kit manufacturer for the structure before it
can be approved. If you erect a kit that does not meet local building codes, it becomes your
responsibility, not the manufacturer's, to bring it up to code. Also, check with your insur-
ance company to be sure the building can be insured.
Generally available in wood and metal, kits are priced according to the size, style, quant-
ity, and quality of materials, and the amount of prefabrication completed by the manufac-
turer. Barn kits are available for post-and-beam, free-span, and modular construction.
Post-and-beam
barn kits are wood. Vertical posts are anchored to concrete piers or foot-
ings. Horizontal beams connect the posts and provide support for the roof. Kits contain
marked, precut lumber plus some or all of the following: siding, flooring for the loft, roof-
ing, doors, windows, fasteners, and hardware. To assemble a wooden post-and-beam barn,
you need to be able to handle a 50-pound sheet of plywood and have some means of raising
heavy beams.
Free-span
barn kits can be made of wood or steel framing. They have no interior weight-
bearing posts, so they provide the most flexible layout plan. However, after the construction
of the trusses, it requires three or four people or two people and a crane to hoist the trusses
into place. Usually the exterior wall panels are laminated wood-core encased in steel that
are assembled with bolts.
Modular
barn kits are steel-framed panels that are erected in modules. You can link to-
gether as many of these modules as you want. The panels are often a steel laminate over a
plywood core. These are the fastest kits to set up and require only two people.
Stall kits are available in steel and wood and come in several designs, from the tradition-
al box stall to something that looks like a panel pen with solid lower walls. Stall kits can
range in difficulty, from prefabricated components that go up quickly (such as panel stalls)
to very labor-intensive kits. Some kits require you to handle up to 100 pounds and work
with saws and power tools, so they might not be as quick and easy as you would expect.
Kit essentials
If you are considering purchasing a barn or stall kit, get the following information in
writing:
