32×36 Barn Built with Rough Cut Lumber

2009-08-02 written by: Brad



Three stall barn with second level loft built with sawmill lumber

I built my 32×36 barn with rough cut lumber cut with my dad’s sawmill. The lumber is long leaf yellow pine which is one of the best framing lumbers available other than various types of hardwood.


Unloading rough cut lumber with a trackhoe

Here is a shot of my dad helping me unload the first load of lumber that we cut.


support poles for barn loosley placed

I guess the barn would be considered a pole barn because all of the weight is on the poles, not the foundation.

The poles were treated at a local treatment plant to prevent rot and decay.


cement floor with fiber reinforcement

I poured a cement floor 4 inches thick with no footer and used the fiber treated cement for extra strength. I formed the foundation, but paid a contractor to come in a pour and smooth the cement. This was the only part of the barn I paid someone else to do.


The design of the barn gives you three stalls and an upper loft 16 x 32 feet long. Two stalls are 10 x 32 and the center stall is 16 x 32. I left one 10 foot and 16 foot stall open with the intention of eventually building doors. I haven’t figured out a good way to make the doors yet so if someone has an idea, feel free to post a comment.

The loft is held up by two beams made up of 2 2×12 boards sandwiching 3/4 inch thick plywood. The beams are bolted to the main poles with ½ inch all-thread bolts. Currently the only thing I use the loft for is my homemade ping pong table and storage. I had planed on putting my musical equipment up there and using it as a studio, but the environment is not suitable for electronic items.

I plan to use the barn for a mixture of things including woodworking general maintenance of my tractor, other vehicles, and whatever else comes up. I am constantly doing anything from working on my lawn mower to cutting out a spur of the moment skim board for the kids. The latest thing I used the barn for was to build the base for my wife’s WALL-E cake.

To bring electricity to the barn, I chose to run a separate electrical service. It was about 150 feet away from my homes service entrance. I believe that was the best thing I could have done. It only cost me $35 charge from the electric company and the added cost of the service entrance material to power up the barn. That sure beats $350 dollars worth of heavy gauge wire. I put 8 foot florescent fixtures throughout the barn to bring in plenty of light. It seems like most of the work I do in the barn is after the sun goes down. Down here where I live that is just about the only time you can work without being totally drenched with your own sweat.

It has taken me quite a while to cut the lumber and build the barn, but it has been was worth every minute. Would I ever do it again…probably not. Cutting the lumber was quite a bit of work and seemed to be the reason it took me almost two years to build the barn. I have recently started building a lean to addition to my barn to store my tractor implements and some rough cut lumber I have. I guess you can never build your barn too big.

pole barn
rough cut lumber
sawmill
32 x 36 Barn

Category: Miscellaneous Projects