I am planning on putting up a 40' x 64' clear span pole barn with apartment trusses, and did the design work myself. Then I took it to an architect, and what he did saved me his fees and then some in just material costs.
For instance, here's what I learned with just the trusses:
Menards wanted over 14K for the trusses, then I stopped at two local truss builders. One quoted 12K and the other one quoted $8500.00 All built to the same spec.
Search around, in these tough times there are deals out there! The local truss builder can build and deliver trusses for buildings up to 80' clear span!
Here in Indiana, garage areas and living quarters need to be separated by firebreak, and we cannot have any cold air returns for the heating system in any area that has a vehicle. So, I was going to have radiant geo. for the shop floor, and geo forced air in the rest of the building/house.
Last edited by esshup; 02/05/09 04:00 PM. Reason: added info.
