New Pole Barn is Up - Lighting Suggestions/Options Needed

Taylorman55 · Nov 6, 2019

johnr said:
Did you leave room for my boat?

Bring enough beer over and I think I can find some room!

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eyexer said:
I’m curious about the five foot spacing on posts and rafters. Never heard of that before.

This was the only builder out of nearly 35 quotes I got that does this setup. Almost every single other builder does a pole every 8 feet, and a rafter every 4 feet, and a few builders did a pole every 9 feet, with a rafter every 4.5 feet. There is zero weight of any rafters on the headers, making this thing extremely strong.

NDSportsman · Nov 6, 2019

No overhang? And sliding doors?? Those are mistakes IMO. Depends on what your gonna use it for but I would have spent a little more for at least a 1' overhang and overhead doors. If your gonna spend that kind of money on a building that size might as well go all in.

bronco · Nov 6, 2019

This may sound stupid but if I were you I would check on this. Will you be roping in the barn? LED lights have a weird light wave. They have a strobe light affect on fast moving objects like a rope swinging fast. I built a 36 X 50 man cave a couple year ago with 100 % LED lighting and like I said before it has some weird affects on fast moving objects. I first noticed it when my lab pup would play with his rope toy it was very hard to look at under LED.

eyexer · Nov 6, 2019

Taylorman55 said:
Bring enough beer over and I think I can find some room!

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This was the only builder out of nearly 35 quotes I got that does this setup. Almost every single other builder does a pole every 8 feet, and a rafter every 4 feet, and a few builders did a pole every 9 feet, with a rafter every 4.5 feet. There is zero weight of any rafters on the headers, making this thing extremely strong.

8 posts and rafters on each post is engineered to exceed code requirements so would have been more than enough structurally. I just have never heard anybody doing 5’ centers. 4,6,8 and 9 I have all done and those are pretty much the standard. My be a Canadian outfit lol. Boils down to how much you want to spend.

Taylorman55 · Nov 6, 2019

NDSportsman said:
No overhang? And sliding doors?? Those are mistakes IMO. Depends on what your gonna use it for but I would have spent a little more for at least a 1' overhang and overhead doors. If your gonna spend that kind of money on a building that size might as well go all in.

Not planning on insulating it so the overhang would be more for visual pleasure than anything. Yeah, it keeps moisture away a touch more but not that much more. Simple landscaping takes care of that issue. For a foot overhang on a building this size you can add another $10,000 or so. Roll up doors, the 24x14 up front would be in upwards of 5,000-6500. Add in just those items and that’s nearly 25% of the total building cost. No thanks. If some day I want roll up doors, I can always add them. If I need to keep moisture away I’ll add gutters later on.

This thing is for equipment that gets used once every few weeks if I’m lucky. Planting equipment that’s used once a week a year, and for the wife to get out of the weather for riding a horse. It was built for specific purposes, not to be a show queen.

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eyexer said:
8 posts and rafters on each post is engineered to exceed code requirements so would have been more than enough structurally. I just have never heard anybody doing 5’ centers. 4,6,8 and 9 I have all done and those are pretty much the standard. My be a Canadian outfit lol. Boils down to how much you want to spend.

Yes sir. The crew use to do some subcontracting for Goodon, a Canadian outfit, so that’s prob where it comes from. Even with this setup they blew everyone else out of the water for price.

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bronco said:
This may sound stupid but if I were you I would check on this. Will you be roping in the barn? LED lights have a weird light wave. They have a strobe light affect on fast moving objects like a rope swinging fast. I built a 36 X 50 man cave a couple year ago with 100 % LED lighting and like I said before it has some weird affects on fast moving objects. I first noticed it when my lab pup would play with his rope toy it was very hard to look at under LED.

That’s a good point. I don’t think there will be much roping in the barn, but def something to consider later on with the lights.

eyexer · Nov 6, 2019

You can’t beat Goodon

Taylorman55 · Dec 30, 2019

Got my final LED lights hung up in the barn. When the project started I thought 10 would be good enough, which it was just fine, but towards the ends it was a little dark. By the end of the project I put 2 rows of 8 in for a total of 16, 8 foot LED's. Extremely happy with how it turned out and I'd buy these again in a heartbeat. It's just roughed in right now, and once we trench power to it next summer it'll all be cleaned up a bit, spaced a little better, cords hidden better etc. Enjoy.

Lycanthrope · Dec 30, 2019

Add a few more lights and you can grow sunflowers inside!

BrokenBackJack · Dec 30, 2019

That looks really good T.
Congrats.

Kentucky Windage · Dec 30, 2019

Lycanthrope said:
Add a few more lights and you can grow sunflowers inside!

or weed

SLE · Dec 30, 2019

5k-6k LMs isn’t very bright. I have some 8ft single row LED strip lights that are 8,560 lumens and they aren’t anything spectacular. Keep in mind a dual bulb 8ft HO florescent fixture is almost 18k LMs per fixture. It’s the reason I haven’t switched them out of my garage yet, the LED Strip lights I’ve found haven’t provided any benefit as far as actual brightness goes. Also, be careful about the color, 4K is nice and white, some of the 5k seem to be inconsistent and you start getting into a blue tint.

Something

Rut2much · Dec 30, 2019

SLE said:
5k-6k LMs isn’t very bright. I have some 8ft single row LED strip lights that are 8,560 lumens and they aren’t anything spectacular. Keep in mind a dual bulb 8ft HO florescent fixture is almost 18k LMs per fixture. It’s the reason I haven’t switched them out of my garage yet, the LED Strip lights I’ve found haven’t provided any benefit as far as actual brightness goes. Also, be careful about the color, 4K is nice and white, some of the 5k seem to be inconsistent and you start getting into a blue tint.

Something

Call me crazy but I think it's all finished and that he's happy with the end result so I say, "It's a beaut Clark!"

SLE · Dec 30, 2019

Yeh, I see that now...........think I only read the first page and must’ve stopped not realizing the posts were from a couple months ago and there were two more pages of posts, so it goes as I get older, less techy, and yet do more on my phone, lol

SLE · Dec 31, 2019

I will note my pole barn is basically built the same way. 6' pole spacing, rafter spacing at 6' toed directly into the poles, and 2"x6" for all all girters and purlins. I believe the guy that built mine used to work for Goodon also. Putting the rafters on the poles eliminates any roof sag that you often times see on pole buildings when rafters rest on header.

shorthairsrus · Dec 31, 2019

I just did my garage over the holidays ---- ordered from amazon a box of 12 for like $16-17 bucks a light - - 5k 4 footers. The only hassle is the wires -- they are plug in and i hid them best i could.

Zogman · Dec 31, 2019

I assume you will add rails on the inside so the horse riders do not bang their leg on the posts.

Taylorman55 · Dec 31, 2019

Zogman said:
I assume you will add rails on the inside so the horse riders do not bang their leg on the posts.

Yes sir. Was actually planning on getting some 4x10 or 5x10 OSB or plywood this week, but just looked, and Lowe's, Home Depot and Menards it's a special order size for about any length other than 8. Ordering later today and will probably be installing next week sometime. Bringing in around 75-100 yards of sand shortly after.

Zogman · Dec 31, 2019

:;:thumbsup Gotta look out for them cute cowgirls!

Taylorman55 · Apr 17, 2020

Pic heavy updates with OSB and lumber ran, along with bringing in 65ish tons of sand.

I ordered in some 4x10 sheets of OSB from Menards. Since the poles were every 5 feet there was no cutting. Ran a chalk line and then put them up. Took about 2 hours to do the entire building. The end walls (west and east) are spaced 6 foot between poles. Still have some final screws to put in to get them all to lay flat, some of them look bowed out, but they are older pics and don't have screws in throughout yet.

On the west end we ran the OSB, along with 2x12s. This is where we tie the horses. I drilled some holes and used some big Eyebolts with some large washers on the back. I reinforced the 2x12s with some "L" brackets that are attached directly to the poles and 2x12s.

2 weeks ago we had some sand delivered, right around 65 tons. I leveled as good as I could with the skid steer, but there is some spots that are 5 inches to 6 inches and some that are 2-3 inches. The wife rides the horses nightly, so I level a little here and a little there. The last pic is from one load of sand and somewhat leveled.

On the east end of the riding area I am in the process of getting holes drilled for poles, getting the equipment storage area and riding area separated. Making an endwall with some gates in the middle. After some bickering back and forth, I ended up "receiving" a 60 wide, by 30 foot deep area for my tractor, skidder and pickup. I'll take it as a win.