A Bus Barn For Us!

DKO · December 02, 2014, 10:23:46 PM

We finally bought a place to park on our rare times at home and a place to put "stuff" we have stuffed every where. We closed on Tuesday. We should be there in about 10 days to pull the bus in the first time. It is two lots (about 1.6 acres) with a 64x30 pole barn built in 1982 with a concrete floor and a 14' door. I have posted a few pictures below. If you are interested in reading the whole convoluted story about how we arrived here and viewing more pictures you can do that http://www.boggsblogs.com/2014/12/introducing-lazy-od-ranch.html.

Davy

Through the years we have parked at a church when we are home. The barn we are buying is right next to the church. You can see it all in the Google shot below. The bus and tent trailer were parked at the church when the bird snapped this picture this summer.

Dave5Cs · December 03, 2014, 06:47:02 AM

Awsome

Nice to have your own place again...

Dawgs · December 03, 2014, 01:34:58 PM

Looks great, I still need to raise my header on my barn to get the bus in.

DKO · December 03, 2014, 02:01:03 PM

Every barn we looked at needed the header raised or the whole roof raised. If the door was tall enough then it was usually too much barn for us. This header is right at 14' and as you can see in this blurry picture the rafters in the center are 12-18 inches taller.

I have not been home to measure them yet. I should be able to raise the bus at least 10 inches to work underneath, properly blocked of course.

Davy

Dawgs · December 03, 2014, 05:37:12 PM

That is going to be a great bus barn!! Plenty of room all around.

B_K · December 03, 2014, 06:09:03 PM

Awesome!
I love a "good barn find!"

BK

DKO · February 07, 2015, 08:02:59 PM

I just realized that I did not post here when we arrived "home" to our new barn with the bus in December. We were home 10-12 days and it was so nice to be parked inside and away from the wind.

My wife backed in the barn as I guided her in. The door is a full 14' tall. It also has an 11' 8" tall by nearly 15' wide sliding door on the side at the back of the barn. The rafters in the center are 17'.

Looking closely it is easy to see it is a 33 year old pole barn but it was built pretty well in the beginning. It was built without a concrete floor and the floor was poured at different times by different tenants. Some of it is not the best and will probably be replaced eventually but where the bus sets is very good. The electric is in pretty good order. I tackled several projects in the few days that I was home including trimming trees and hauling gravel outside, lots of shelving, a work bench and two 50 amp RV plugs, one inside and one out.

We left December 26th and we only plan to be home one week in May, one week in August and then back in December, so not much time for improvements.

It is great that the barn is close to my parents and my brothers. Some one is out there nearly every day using the barn so that is great. The roof is probably original and will have to be replaced this year. I was hoping to get a few years out of it but it rained while we were home and I was enlightened. I was hoping for overhead doors as my first project but that can wait on the new roof.

Davy

Hard Headed Ken · February 08, 2015, 05:56:39 AM

Davy,
I was reading your story and looking at the pictures. You probably already know this. When you replace the roofing metal be sure to put some type of insulation under it. I made the mistake of not insulating when I had my shop built. (thought I would do it later) When it frosts and the temperature warms up quickly the frost under the roof melts and it rains inside.

Ken

Utahclaimjumper · February 08, 2015, 06:49:19 AM

It appears to be partially insulated, my first job would be to fully insulate. My 1800 SF garage is insulated well enough to enable me to ignore having to "winterize" during cold times in Utah and allows me to work on the coach when I wish.>>>Dan

digesterman · February 08, 2015, 06:57:36 AM

Nice coach and barn

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

DKO · February 08, 2015, 12:02:25 PM

Thanks guys. The roof is currently shingle but I do intend to replace with metal. I am sure the friend doing it will know, since he does metal for a living, but I will make sure to mention the insulation under it. I was not aware of that.

There is quite a bit of insulation stuffed here and there in the walls but it is haphazard and not near complete. I plan to finish that eventually. It is on the long, long list.

Davy

belfert · February 08, 2015, 01:42:31 PM

Congrats on such a find! I had to give up on finding a building for my bus and just bought a house in a city that will allow me to build a large garage for my bus. The bus garage I really want to build will cost about $55,000. No pole barns allowed because I don't have five acres. I was unwilling to drive another twenty miles a day to a city that allow pole barns.

lvmci · February 08, 2015, 04:59:53 PM

Congrats Davy, there should be such a thing as a bus barn celebration, when a bus nut gets a barn! Lvmci...

DKO · February 08, 2015, 07:56:46 PM

Quote from: belfert on February 08, 2015, 01:42:31 PM
Congrats on such a find! I had to give up on finding a building for my bus and just bought a house in a city that will allow me to build a large garage for my bus. The bus garage I really want to build will cost about $55,000. No pole barns allowed because I don't have five acres. I was unwilling to drive another twenty miles a day to a city that allow pole barns.

The problem I was running into was that I was not allowed to build a barn any where in our area without building a house first. We found great pieces of property but we do not need a house right now. Once this is paid for we want to build a small fully handicap accessible house for my daughter that travels with us. This property with the old barn already on it was tailor made for me.

QuoteCongrats Davy, there should be such a thing as a bus barn celebration, when a bus nut gets a barn! Lvmci...

That is a great idea. We are going to set our tent up in conjunction with the church next door and have revival in May while the metal roof is going on the barn. Y'all come!

Davy

bevans6 · February 09, 2015, 04:39:28 AM

I'm just going through removing all the ceiling insulation in my large shed. It is around 3500 square feet, 12 foot ceiling with a thick poured concrete floor. My problem is condensation - the floor stays so cold that the building will have an internal temp of 70 degrees in July, when the outside temp is in the 80's and high humidity. That means it can literally rain inside from condensation on the vapor barrier under the insulation, and anything stored inside is permanently wet. I'm removing all the ceiling insulation (the building was heated all winter when it was a working boat building enterprise) and putting some large vents in the roof to encourage air flow inside that should help reduce the condensation and warm the floor up quicker.

Brian