Help Me Design a Texas Home

@ Crusader
I have 30 years exerience in design build energy efficient structures.. homes...
your basics are sound..  no time now but will later share my experience with you.
oh,  I live in the same tye of structure you want to build.. here in Texas.  
later ..
Thom

Crusader wrote:....................
Here is what I want.  I want to build an energy efficient home that will house myself and have an extra bedroom.  I plan to provide my own utilities.  I don't have to be off grid and the cheapest alternative is to use net metering and remain connected to the electrical grid, but I'll consider off grid if I can get land much cheaper because electrical service isn't available.  I'd like to provide my own water through a well or rainwater collection, but I'm not against having public water available as a backup.  I want to live on at least 5 acres and not be located within any city limit.  I want to be able to claim an agricultural exemption on my property taxes.

.................................... I have decided to build a "barndominium".  Basically, a barndo is a modern home built into a metal building.  There are "pole barns", where the skeleton of the building is made from wood and clad with metal siding, but I'm looking at a ready built shell of a metal building on a modern slab with all of the included plumbing for water service and draining to a septic system.  After the interior is framed and all plumbing, electrical, internet, AC, and all other "in wall" systems are installed and tested, I will spray foam insulate the entire inside of the metal shell of the home.  Then I can cover the internal walls and finish out all of the electrical and plumbing fixtures.  I plan to do as much of the work as possible by myself with the help of friends and my sons.
...................................
 Stained concrete floors are an option to carpet, wood, or tile.  I'm considering just painting the entire exposed ceiling a flat black and only finishing the walls in a traditional manner with siding or sheetrock.  Some metal roofs have ridges included so that I can mount solar panel brackets without drilling through the roof to mount them.  The expansive metal roof is also perfect for rainwater collection for drinking and plumbing needs.  Large porches are attractive and lend themselves well to the Texas heat and outdoor lifestyle.  Here are some examples of barndominiums.  I'd also like to include a large shop/garage in the building that is about the same size as the house.


I'm open to alternate ideas or any suggestion concerning heating/cooling, lighting, utility systems, home security, fencing, etc....

OKay...  lets start this barn dance ...

do you have any stand out concerns with what or how to achieve this .....
Or your energy utilization.....

My biggest concern is knowing the process of getting the plans made and hiring contractors to pour the slab to fit the metal building.  I understand that there are common sizes of metal buildings and if I stick to that building it will cost less.  The building will come with whatever doors I want (insulated), but I'd like to frame my internal walls and install my own windows after the fact.  Do the metal building manufacturers provide architect and slab construction services or would I be better off hiring a builder to get the blueprints, pour the slab with plumbing and have the metal building erected and dried in.  My dad can help me with this.  He is a retired framing contractor and understands the construction process and I will lean on him for a little help in this regard.  I also have a friend who is a builder and will give me good advice.

My plumbing skills are lacking, but I have a builder friend who will loan me his adult son (my son's best friend) to teach me how to do Pex and drainage is a matter of knowing the proper sizes and insuring proper slope and elevation.  Most of that will be done by the contractor who installs my septic system and "in slab" plumbing, but I'll do my own rainwater collection system.  I've installed sink fixtures, toilets, and water heaters before. Do you suggest a tankless water heater?  I'll have my own solar, so electric would be more affordable.  I'd like to avoid gas if possible.  Water pressure and filtering will be housed in the shop.

I may as well install home security wiring and security cameras while the walls will be open.  My best friend installs cameras and internet in hotels for a living and we'll get that done as well.

My home is for myself and maybe a son. I'm in the middle of a divorce, so I don't need a huge place. I'm planning 1200 sf of house and 1200 sf of shop in a 60x40 building.  I want a 10 or 12 foot porch along a 60 foot side and a 40 foot side will be the front of the house with a 10x12 foot porch.  I plan to put 2 roll up doors on opposite sides of the shop (one under the 60 foot porch) for air circulation.  I'd like to put an 8-10 ft ceiling fan in the middle of the shop eventually.  I'll wire for it and install it later off budget.

Air conditioning - I have a friend and former coworker who owns his own AC business on the side.  He has volunteered to help me install my AC system for his cost of the equipment.  Since my floorplan will be pretty open, I'm thinking I will go with multiple minisplit systems.  They are simple, more efficient, and I will have redundancy if one should fail.  Will I need to install vents with fans in some walls to spread the conditioned air to bedrooms?  Will they need temperature sensitive automated switches, switched on by aux contacts from the minisplit, or just a manual switch?

I work on solid state industrial emergency power supplies for a living.  Several of my friends and coworkers are also licensed electricians.  Wiring a house and installing solar panels and inverters will be no problem.  I do need to get an NEC code book.  There won't be a permit process for anything but the septic tank, but I want the house to be safe and sellable some day.  I'd like to use net metering to avoid the hassle and safety issues of keeping batteries in the house.  Inverters and electrical panels will be located in the shop. I will need to run a conduit line in the slab to get power to the kitchen island from below.  A friend is building his barndo right now and he found some programmable LED lights that work through your wifi.  He can change the color of the outdoor lighting with his phone.  They only require the power wiring.  The big plus for me is that you can change the light color to not attract as many mosquitos and maybe help with seeing beyond the porch at night.  We can make them bright white if we are outside playing 42 on the porch.  

Carpentry won't be a problem, even though I don't know enough to cut a roof.  The roof is already made.  I only need to frame the walls and install doors and frame in for appliance installation.  I may even be able to get my dad's old crew to frame it on a weekend.  My dad used to frame the high profile homes for the rich and famous and he'll make sure I do good work.  On the design side, I don't want a second story, but should I have 12 foot walls and a pitched roof to allow for a loft and high ceilings in places?  I could put water tanks, air conditioning, and storage up there.  I do plan on having a 40 ft storage container out back.  I may insulate it and wire it for power and light eventually.

I know I'm throwing a lot at you.  Take your time and address at your own pace.  Let me know if I'm missing something or making mistakes.

Crusader wrote:My biggest concern is knowing the process of getting the plans made and hiring ..........................................................................

I know I'm throwing a lot at you.  Take your time and address at your own pace.  Let me know if I'm missing something or making mistakes.

Back with you in a coule days with some info.
Will you share the area of Texas you reside.

Later
Thom

Seems concrete would stay cooler.

your walls need to be 2x6, with a styrofoam exterior board, over laid with a finished plywood. lay in the johnsons white 5 1/2" bats then 5/8" sheetrock. anything else youre building crap.

jirqoadai wrote:your walls need to be 2x6, with a styrofoam exterior board, over laid with a finished plywood. lay in the johnsons white 5 1/2" bats then 5/8" sheetrock. anything else youre building crap.

And a partridge in a pear treeeeee lalalalal

jirqoadai wrote:your walls need to be 2x6, with a styrofoam exterior board, over laid with a finished plywood. lay in the johnsons white 5 1/2" bats then 5/8" sheetrock. anything else youre building crap.

My plan is to frame 2x6 exterior walls and to then spray foam the entire inside of the metal building with either 3" of open cell foam or closed cell foam.  It's a solid layer of insulation with no gaps and is very effective.  The internal walls will also have some insulation, but mainly for sound deadening, except for the wall between the living quarters and the shop.  That will need good insulation in case I don't want to air condition the shop.  I may spray that also.  The living quarters will be 5/8 sheetrock and most of the shop will have plywood on the walls for durability and mounting things on the walls.

My favorite youtube channel is Texas Barndominiums.  I'm getting most of my ideas from them.

whats this " metal building " thingy? fire departments dont enter them. they only enter wooden structures, so keep that in mind when stacking your one weeks worth of wood inside.

jirqoadai wrote:whats this " metal building " thingy? fire departments dont enter them. they only enter wooden structures, so keep that in mind when stacking your one weeks worth of wood inside.

This is Texas. We don't burn enough wood to warrant stacking it inside. If anything, I'll have 600 sf of covered porch to stack wood on and I may have masonry on the external wall under the covered roof porch. I'm thinking lime stone. We keep our wood away from the house to minimize termite infestations and only keep wood for a day or two on the porch as needed.