O/T Barn Question

I'm finally getting a barn built, 42'x72'x16'. 20' and 22' sliding doors, 20' split doors facing west and 22' single door facing north. (I wanted a 25' door, but my builder (Pioneer pole buildings for those familiar) recommended 22' for cost reasons. I'm excited, I've needed a barn for a while, and this should meet my needs for years to come. I live here in SE Michigan and I have a question for the northerners.

1. While talking about my new barn at work, one guy was telling me about the problems he has with a north facing sliding door freezing down. I don't remember having many problems like this with my cousin's barn when I kept things there. I'm going to have a 22' sliding door facing north, am I asking for trouble?

If you guys have any other advice for me before they build (which may be later this week) or after they build I'd appreciate it. I've been around this stuff, but Dad didn't farm and this will be the first Barn I or Dad will have owned. I'll have to post some pictures of the barn and my fleet of equipment when I'm done for everybody to enjoy.

Thanks, Andy

90% of the machine sheds built here in SD are built on an east west line (the long side, your 72') with one door on the south and the other on the east. We have prevailing winds from west, NW and North in the winter.
Get your tree belt planted northwest of the building this spring also.

We use this flat metal thing called a shovel on our doors They never freeze down if you use it. If you try and work the doors without shoveling you will have problems all winter.

[quote="FC Andy; First off, I got excited about 'O/T Barn Question' thinking you were revitalizing an old barn. I recall as a youngster my grandma saying a big storm was coming if it was an east wind involved and snow would pile up against the buildings. If your long side faces south, would this be an advantage for the winter sun to soften snow for removal near the door? OR this same sun could cause the roof snow/ice pack to slide off and the resulting pile could backslide against the door, thus pushing it inward. Wish I had a good spot for a bldg. to be pondering your ?'s myself. A good topic that should bring many opinions. And YES, we would appreciate you sharing photos. Good luck on this project.

Any sliding door is a pita in the winter. South side is best cause you have direct sunlight to help thaw it out. Any door under the eve is bad due to snow falling off the roof. A 2 foot overhang may be helpful but more expensive. Doors on the gable end are better but be prepared to do a lot of ice chipping and shoveling in the winter.

Have you considered a roll up door?

Doors in cold country can also be affected by frost heaving. Be sure you have adequate underground drainage.

My Barn will be built in an East to West fashion. Doors to the south and east aren't an option for me. And, Thankfully, I do have a pine tree windbreak along the west side of the property. I can thank the previous owner for that, and my trees are now of size to be helpful. Our winds are typically in a western fashion, Northwest or due west typically. Although, I've noticed far more east winds in the last few years than I did before.

In MA where we get alot of Nor'easters in the winter, it seems like most of the older barns are built with the ridge running north/south. The wind will sweep the snow off both sides as the wind will shift around to the northwest at the end of the storm. My post and beam barn has been up for 200 years.

This area saw alot of roof collapses during February of this year. A neighbor lost his barn even though his ridge was oriented the same as mine. The difference was his site was surrounded with alot of trees and the wind velocity must have been low.

Picture below is after a southerly storm.

<a href="http://s140.photobucket.com/albums/r16/Wardner/?action=view&amp;current=Oldphotos010.jpg" target="_blank"> </a>

I forgot. May as well have them put up the lean to one side while they are there. Just ten more poles, a few rafters, and a little more tin.

You will be better off with overhead (rollup) doors, much easier to open and close. Biggest one I have is 15 ft, with 22 ft, you will probably want openers. I had sliding doors on one building I had, now have overhead. Not because of freezing, but because sliding doors are always getting hung up on something. If you insist on sliding, be sure there is concrete under the open position. To me barns house animals and hay. Depends on where you are as to what to call them I guess. I prefer the term shop, because that's what mine is.

North and west facing doors sounds cold in the winter. They are going to take a lot of wind when they are closed, and let a lot of cold wind in when they are open (in winter or course). If you can do it, south and east doors would be better. Also, a south breeze in the summer with the doors open would be nice.

Put the sliding doors on the inside of the opening so that the doors slide open on the inside of the barn. You won't have to worry about any buildup keeping the doors from opening.

Noah W

Our machine shed doors face the east and south, i would never have a door that faces north! The sun will never hit the rollers and if you get an ice storm which has been happening here quite a bit in Iowa your door may freez shut and stay frozen cause the sun will never hit it on the north side of your shed. just my 2 cents worth also if your thinking of putting in a water hydrant don't put it on the north side for the same reason, we have one on the north side of our barn (cattle and hay) and the dang thing freezes up when it gets cold outside during winter, never have a problem with the hydrant at the chicken house, it faces south

I live in Michigans thumb, I was having problems with my North facing sliding doors. The main problem I was having was the frost would lift the concrete and the door bottom could not slide, after three years of fighting with them I cut about 6 inches off the bottom and use a peice of 1x8 across the bottom when I close the door. Personally I would never recomend putting doors on the North side unless you have no other choice.

First put the put the finish floor at least one foot above grade to insure drainage away from building!! I did this on the last building I did and would never do otherwise! Also as the wind blows over time dirt blows against building and water will find its way into the building if you don"t build it one foot above grade. Do not have a west facing door if your shop is on that end because it will be super hot in the sumer. Inside sliding doors are a good idea. First when you slide them open or close they will not scratch the outside of the wall. Second less snow and ice to move to open and close. If you want the wall space for storage build a second wall to form a pocket for the doors to in. I have one inside slider and one outside slider and much prefer the inside slider! Armand

Common sense tells you any door on the north in Mi cant be a good idea wont thaw out till may. How long have you lived in MI.

Common sense tells me that The 3 or so barns I've been in with north facing doors haven't had major issues with snow building up or ice freezing the doors down and I'd like to know if it is a problem that more people have than not. I have noticed more wind related issues than anything else and have witnessed some reasonable to good solutions. If I had wanted ridicule I would have asked for it.

Respectfully yours, Andy

I live in SE WI. The climate here is probably a hair worse temperature wise, but a hair better snow wise than our OP.
I have 9 outbuildings. I am with whoever said barns only hold animals and hay. If we go with this theory I have:
one garage - upgraded to W facing overhead
one shed - 3 large short sliders facing west
one grainery - 2 small tall sliders facing west
one cow barn - 2 sliders facing E and W
one chicken coop - just a service door facing E
one pen barn - 2 sliders facing N and S
one pig barn - 2 sliding service doors facing N and S
one corn crib - 2 small tall sliders facing E and W
one tool shed - 2 service doors facing N and E
I really don't care what way the doors are facing. If you own a shovel you are fine. If you are too fricking lazy and just use the skid loader to get close and call it good your are going to have problems. I have to shovel out my pen barn, pig barn, and machine shed doors a few times per week, snow or not. I also have to chip away ice and crap sometimes. (AMS works really nice to help break it up :roll: Dosn't bind the door like rock salt) So in conclusing, I don't care what way a door faces you have to take care of it in the winter. Also, you build the shed so you can get in the fricking thing. A door on the south side won't do a bit of good if you can't get in it. Try and put a shed up meeting your exacting standards on my 3 acres with 9 existing buildings. I bet you don't get everything you hope for in placement and size!

HEY Wardner, YOUR BARN DOORS OPEN!!

Well now you asked about doors on the north side and got answers and you dont like them so just dont ask questions if you are afraid of the answers.

I would not worry to much about a door facing the north. I have lived in Michigan all of my life and have never seen that this causes big issues. A sliding door will always give a little more trouble than an overhead, but just keep it shoveled and should be no big deal.

No, I just asked for expirence and advice and suggestions. Unless I read your post with a different tone than you intended, which is possible, I didn't ask to be told how dumb I am for building a barn In the location and orientation that suit my property best.

Now, let's end the arguement here and get along. Sound good?

="FC Andy; I was going to suggest this - tongue in cheek - you should build a round barn 'cept if you have Scandinavian heritage you won't find a corner to pee in. 8^)


I have been thinkin' and lookin' at buildings again and thought the inside doors would be a good idea reference wind and someone mentioned the snow element.

Unless you built about five of them, there will be things you would, in hindsight, have done differently.

Personally, I think of a barn as housing livestock of some kind. 'Course I mentioned me thinking you were reusing a 'vintage' barn...so pole barn, pole building, pole shed, the vernacular varies by locale. I wish you good luck in your bldg. project.

Now of course a barn MUST BE RED.

Better duck, cause here come some more [u:32da8da77f]opinions[/u:32da8da77f]

I have two corncribs both without concrete floors. Doors are on north and southsides. The old corncrib built in 1916 has issues with ground heaving, concrete settling and poor drainage. The settling seems to have slowed down and have alleviated the drainage issues but still have problems with the heaving every winter. The crib is not long for the world so not going to do much with this. The other crib was built in 1949 56"x80",40" wide driveway, 20" wide doors South end is 15" high. Recently put new steel on outside, and new doors installed. Contractor put posts centered between for the doors to slide into, but the posts are not deep enough in the ground and heave up and can't open the doors. Going to install footings and approach under the doors this spring. Otherwise probably wouldn't have problems opening the doors.

Hi, I m Your neighbor in NE IN (Auburn) and I would strongly recommend South facing doors for the main door at least. I have doors facing all ways and the South is a far, far better winter door.

Guess I'd design the doors to meet the traffic flow and how equipment, hay, stalls, and so on are going to be situated. To load and unload hay from racks or a semi, they need to probably have a drive through on both ends. A series of animal stalls will need an alley way to the outside wide enough to drive through to haul feed, manure, and the like with vehicles. For storing equipment like tractors and combines, you need to do a traffic plan so you can get them in and out without wasting much space. You didn't really tell us what you are using it for.

I think Armand is right about the floor. Most build them around ground level to save on the pad and the have drainage issues. Make sure the floor is sloped right so it drains when you wash it down and when snow and ice drops off tires after you park a tractor. Make sure your workshop is located in such a way that you can pull a vehicle in and work on it without moving a bunch of stuff or blocking the door.

Then you have the usual stuff with a building such as plumb in a toilet drain, wash basin drains, and floor drains before they pour the concrete. Same for any electrical conduit and an empty conduit so you can lay phone/computer cables later. Do the plumbing and conduit even though you may not be ready to tie it to the sewer yet which can be done later. Typically in a building of that size, one walk in door will go into or next to a closed in little office/break room with stud walls so you can add a window a/c. Part of that would include a bathroom. Backside wall of this office and store room would have a shop wash basin. Nearby would be a floor drain for your repair and wash down area. Think about stalls and equipment at the other end of the building where you need water and drains for washing equipment, the floor, and washing down the animals. Gots to have a floor plan in advance. Good luck.

Good observation, Al.

That door malfunction occurred when the southerly wind buffeted the interior cross bar and knocked it out of its pockets. I made some changes after that.

I had to take the picture. That's the only time in 50 years I have seen the front plastered with all that sticky stuff. I should have moved that Ford van on the right for a better picture.

...Now of course a barn MUST BE RED...[u:9bea581344]opinions[/u:9bea581344]

Click to expand...

Please scratch two of my barns. The garage and tool shed are both white. I appologize. :lol:

BTW, don't have the door to the bathroom go into the office. That will clear out the office in a hurry!

Our 50 by 60 machine shed has north facing sliding doors,the door opening is 24 ft wide and 14 ft tall. The hardware(roller track) is located inside the building, means you lose some wall space but it sure protects the doors from the wind while they're open. Haven't had any problem with them freezing or being snowed in here in central Wisconsin. I wouldn't be scared to build another shed with a north door. Just my 2 cents, Pat