Where Can I Buy Wood Timber Beams for My Barn?

Vermont Timber Works sells prefabricated wood and timber beams, post and beam frames and timber frames for for barns, houses, porte cocheres and pavilions for delivery nationwide and internationally. VTW has shipped beams all over the United States, Alaska, Canada and the Caribbean.

What is a Typical Size for a Timber Frame Horse Barn?

Most horse stalls are 12′-0″ x 12′-0″ on center, so the size of the barn is based on those size grids. In cross section, a twelve foot stall – a twelve food aisle – and a twelve foot stall – for a thirty six foot wide building is very common. The length can then be any multiple of twelve feet. Besides the stalls, most horse barns have a wash stall, a feed room and a tack room which takes up three sections. So a four horse barn could be 36′-0″ x 48′-0″ . Vermont Timber Works has build horse barns that are 120′-0″ long, but there is no limit. A popular option is to add covered loafing sheds on one or two sides just outside for the stalls. The Carolina Horse Barn has that look.

 

What is the Floor of a Horse Barn Made of?

The floor of the center aisle is usually broom swept rough concrete or brick, sometimes with rubber mats for grip. The stall floors can be clay, or concrete with rubber stall mats.

 

Should There be a Curb Around the Outsides and Under the Posts in  Post and Beam Horse Barn?

Yes! Hoses and water is plentiful in horse barns. Water is used for washing the horses, washing the floors and stalls and also for watering the horses. One of the unfortunate characteristics of wood is that it rots. Even treated wood rots eventually. Keeping wood dry makes it last, so we recommend having the posts raised up by about six inches or more. Read about rot in timber posts here.

 

Can I Store Hay Upstairs in a Hay Loft?

Yes you can. But remember, hay is heavy. When the upstairs of a post and barn is to be used for hay, we design the hayloft floor to support 100 pounds per square foot. Using regular joists in not good enough, they need to be bigger and closer together. 6×10’s 32″ on center is pretty common. the decking needs to be able to support the weight too. We will design and engineer all the beams and decking accordingly. Osprey Horse Barn  of a good example of a working post and beam horse barn with a hay loft.

 

What Species of Wood is Good for Horse Barns?

Definitely not White Pine! White Pine is a versatile wood for small post and beam barns, but horses eat it (crib on it) like candy. Hemlock and Douglas Fir are our woods of choice for barns. Hemlock is a wood local to the north east and is strong and rot resistant. Douglas Fir is is even stronger and can span long distances and finishes beautifully for fancy barns. Wood Species and Finishes.

 

Can Oak Timber be Used in an Equipment Barn?

Yes. Oak is a great wood for timber framing equipment barns. It is strong, hard and durable and many people love the look of oak. It is prone to checking and twisting though, so you have to like that look. One sad thing about oak is that all the nice oak is being bought up to make whisky barrels, which is great for people who love their cocktails, but not so good for timber framers.  Pennsylvania Equipment Barn.

 

Should My Indoor Riding Arena be Timber Framed Too?

Probably not. It can be if it is down south where the snow loads aren’t as great, but 60′-0 to 80′-0″ spans are prohibitively expensive to do in timber. Conventional trusses are steel frames are a more cost effective choice for riding arenas.

 

Can I fit a Large Tractor in a Post and Beam Equipment Barn?

Yes! Timber Framed and Post and Beam framed barns can be very tall and span long distances. We can easily design and manufacture Heavy Timber Trusses that span 40′-0″. We have spanned over sixty feet (although sixty foot trusses do get quite expensive).  Side wall heights can be twenty feet tall or more, so we can build a barn that almost any tractor can fit in.

 

How is a Party Barn Different From Other Barns You Build?

Party Barns and Wedding Barns are not that different from other barns that we build from a structural stand point. They may have bigger rooms, longer spans and fewer posts to make room for dance floors and tables. Balconies and stairways are popular for the bride and bridal parties to enjoy, and they make a great entrance! Most party barns will be insulated against the elements and have larger doors and windows than equipment and horse barns. Bathrooms are a must too in a wedding barn. Texas Party Barn

 

I saw a Barn on your website I like. Can you design and build something similar for me?

Yes! It is incredibly helpful when clients come to us with ideas and inspiration for what they want their barn to look like, especially when it’s similar to something we’ve already built. We never build the exact barn twice, but we will happily customize your barn to meet your exact requirements.

 

Will you install the timber frame barn on my site?

Yes. We do installations all over the country and will be happy to give you a price to erecting the frame. Sometimes our schedule is too busy, but don’t worry, we can send an onsite consultant to help with raising your frame and free technical support is only a phone call away.  Your local contractor will take it from there to install the decking, walls, roof, doors, windows, and finishes.

 

Can I Invite My Friends and Family to do the Barn Raising?

Absolutely, as long as you have a few friends that are carpenters. Raising a barn is not that difficult, but there is a learning curve and having a few skilled woodworkers around will make it possible and much more fun. We can also send an onsite consultant to help. You will need some tools: Click here to download a list of tools that we bring onsite to raise a timber frame.

 

I saw a Barn on your website I like. Will you sell me the plans?

We do not sell the plans from past projects, often because of the structural variables in the design. A barn that is designed to resist hurricane winds in South Carolina won’t be able to support the snow loads in Vermont. However, if you see a past project that you like we can use that as inspiration to design and fabricate a custom Barn for you.

 

Do you sell Barn plans?

Because of how full our workload is, we rarely take on projects that only involve design work. We like to build what we design, so unfortunately, we do not sell the plans. Because everything we do it custom, we don’t have predesigned plans for sale.

 

Do you sell Barn Kits?

We sell Timber Packages that include the fabricated timber frame for your barn. We may also sell the decking for the roof and walls, and rough sawn hemlock boards for stall dividers. We have found that it is more economical for our clients to buy doors, windows, siding, roofing, and general building materials locally, so we don’t supply those items.

 

If I Buy the Barn From You can I Put it Up Myself?

Yes! We can make sure the barn design is exactly what you imagined, we can fabricate the timber frame, ship it to you, and then you can erect yourself with technical assistance from our team.

 

How Much Does a Barn Cost?

Because every Barn we build is custom and unique, this is a difficult question to answer without knowing exactly what barn you have in mind. Things like size, wood species, location, etc will all determine the price of your barn. If you call and speak to a Sales Rep about a quote, it helps to have some of these details in mind so that we can accurately give you an estimate.

 

Why is the price Vermont Timber Works quoted for my Barn different than other companies?

It can be hard to compare two different companies that will consider a range of variables when determining the price of your Barn frame. It is important to remember that our frames are the real thing, using traditional timber frame joinery with mortises, tenons, and dovetails.  Our interpretation of the Barn you have in mind might be different from our competitors due to the high quality of the timbers we use, that we fabricate everything from scratch with hand tools in our shop, and still practice the old artisan style of cutting each piece with precision without the use of high tech machinery. Our high quality speaks for itself and sets us apart from the others.

 

How Long will it take to get my Barn Built? What’s the Time Frame?

It will take a few weeks to customize and approve the design, assemble the quote, and order the materials. After that, you can expect your barn to be delivered in 10-14 weeks from the time we receive approved shop drawings back from you.

 

I Bought a Barn Kit from another Company. Can I hire Your Crew to Assemble my Barn?

The crew that cuts our timber frames is the same crew that erects the frames. While that’s great for clients who buy their barns from us and then have those same skilled craftspeople assemble the frame at the building site, it means that due to our workload our crew isn’t available to assemble any barns they didn’t also fabricate.

 

Will you Build the Entire Barn from Start to Finish?

Vermont Timber Works will work through the design and engineering of the barn, we will fabricate and deliver/erect the Timber Frame. You will need to hire a contractor or builder to complete the Barn by adding siding, windows, doors, roofing, etc. We are happy to work with the local contractor to provide technical assistance.

 

I saw a Barn Design I liked on another Company’s Website. Can you Replicate the Design?

We accept inspiration from everywhere, but we believe that it isn’t ethical to copy another company’s design. While we are happy to incorporate elements from other designs into your custom Barn design, we are unable to copy or replicate other company’s designs.

 

Can I just buy Steel Brackets/Plates/Tie Rods I see on your Barns?

We don’t keep any steel plates/brackets/tie rods on hand or “in stock.” And unfortunately, due to our workload, we don’t have the capacity to provide any custom steel fabrication unless we will also be fabricating your Barn as well. If you’re only looking for steel work, contacting a local steel fabricator near you would be a good place to start.

 

I Have An Old Barn I’m Going to Tear Down. Will you buy the wood from me?

We only order wood for barns that we are fabricating as we need it. If you have barn wood to sell you might try contacting reclaimed wood suppliers or wood dealers directly.

 

I’d Like to Use Wood I already Have For my Barn. Is this possible?

It is possible, and it is fun to use the timber from your land in your barn. Some things to consider would be the current condition of the wood. If it’s still in tree form you’ll need to have someone cut down those trees, and then send the wood to a lumber mill. If it’s already milled, you’ll have to consider its condition and the size of the timbers you have. Once it’s been milled, you would ship it to us and we would fabricate the timbers into your Barn frame. Often there is extra labor and shipping on your end, so it is not always less expensive to use your own wood, but it does make a great story.

 

Can you design a Barn with Living Quarters?

Yes! This is a common request and we are happy to accommodate to ensure that your barn meets your exact specifications. Sometimes the living quarters are upstairs or attached as an addition to the barn. Sometimes we use barn style frames for houses. Just let us know what you like, and we will custom design a frame that fits your needs.

 

Can you build a Pole Barn?

We can build a pole barn. Pole barns are simple and rustic, often built without a foundation. They use treated poles that are sunk into the ground for support. See our Pole Barn page for more details.

 

Can you build a Post and Beam Barn?

Yes. Because there is so much crossover in styles and design between Timber Frame and Post and Beam Barns that the words are often used as synonyms. Post and beam barns tend to use more simple joinery than timber frame barns, but there is a lot of overlap. We can easily accommodate this type of design in your Barn.

 

Are there any Barns or Barn Designs you keep in Stock?

Every Barn we design and build at Vermont Timber Works is custom designed for our individual clients and what they have envisioned. We don’t have any barns or designs that we keep on hand but would be happy to design you exactly what you have in mind using past designs as inspiration.