Get matched with top carpenters in Sioux City, IA

Building a barndominium means converting a barn into a house. Barndominiums are becoming popular as spacious and stylish alternatives to typical housing structures. Old barns that become houses traditionally consist of wooden construction. However, newer structures, such as pole barns, often contain metal exteriors and roofs. Converting a metal outbuilding into a house presents an excellent opportunity to create a barndominium from metal.

The best way to calculate framing costs is by basing your costs on the square footage of your home. On average, framing your home could cost anywhere between $7 and $16 per square foot. 

To ensure you don’t go over budget, base your estimates on the higher end of the price range. If you know you’re going to use high-end materials or require a custom or complex build, you might even want to tack on an additional 5% of your budget.

Using a steel frame may raise the value of your home. Steel is more heat resistant, has better longevity, and doesn’t need any upkeep compared to traditional wood. You can also customize a steel build a little easier than other materials like brick, concrete, and vinyl—which have trouble bending and adapting to renovations.

The easiest way to tell if a wall is load bearing is to check if it’s an exterior wall or if it runs perpendicular to the joists above and below it (or parallel to beams). Exterior walls are almost always load-bearing, and walls that run under beams or parallel to them are also usually load-bearing. There are exceptions to these rules, and walls that don’t fit into these categories can still be load-bearing. If you’re unsure, hire a structural engineer to look at your home to assess whether or not the wall is structural.