Images

Video: Cornelius Apartment Barn Testimonial

For the team at DC Structures, building relationships is just as important as helping customers build their dream barn or barn-style home. We take pride in the quality of our product and service offerings, making client connections a priority both during and after completion of their projects.

One of the many benefits of maintaining an open and honest line of communication with our customers is that they are happy to share their thoughts about what it’s like to work with DC Structures. We can sing our own praises for days, but we know the most valuable insights will always come from clients themselves.

Sustainable Living at its Finest: Apartment Barn Testimonial

The apartment barn is an efficient structure that makes good use of space with its hybrid design. Combining home with hobby, our apartment barn kits offer the benefit of bringing you closer to the things you love the most. Not to mention a reduced carbon footprint!

This sustainable apartment barn in Cornelius, Oregon boasts two horse stalls and two dog kennels on the ground floor, and a cozy living space upstairs. Modified from an Oakridge 36’ apartment barn kit, this functional and attractive structure boasts an array of energy-efficient upgrades. Skylights optimize natural lighting for the upstairs living quarters while a solar panel and electric car charging station reduce energy consumption.

Hear what the owners of this sustainable apartment barn have to say about working with DC Structures in the apartment barn testimonial below!

Thinking about an apartment barn for your own property? Request our digital catalog and get started on your dreams today!

Barn Conversion Cons: Why Remodeling Might Be A Bad Idea

Thinking about a remodel for that old wooden barn sitting unused on your property? Here are a few things to consider when planning for a barn conversion.

The idea of restoring an old barn into a rustic barn house might sound great in theory, but most of the time it’s a lot more costly and painstaking in practice.

The biggest barrier to a barn remodel is without a doubt financial. Hidden expenses will crop up in the form of things like fumigation costs and re-engineering fees. In other words, it won’t take long for the cost of the barn conversion to exceed the cost of an entirely new barn-style home.

If you’ve got an endless cash flow and a zen-like capacity for headache-inducing regulatory hiccups, then maybe a barn conversion is for you. If you’re like most people, however, you’ll probably prefer the path of least resistance.

Barn Conversion Woes: The Rotten, the Infested and the Costly

Before you begin to plan a barn remodel, it’s important to identify whether your barn is even worth converting. If your structure is a pole barn, don’t even bother.

Pole barns have short life spans because they rely on treated wood posts in concrete in lieu of a proper foundation. This means that, regardless of what chemicals are used to protect the lumber from the concrete’s moisture, the posts will inevitably rot.

As such, appraisers, banks and lenders do not always recognize pole barns as permanent structures. This complicates financing requests for your already spendy barn conversion. Further, many pole barns are not properly engineered to meet the structural requirements necessary for a residence. And good luck getting permits for that kind of project!

To add insult to injury, you’ll likely need to hire an architect or structural engineer who can create blueprints of the existing barn. If you don’t have the old plans, you can’t get permits or accurate bids for the new plans.

Even if the barn you’d like to remodel has a proper foundation, existing blueprints and adequate structural integrity, there is yet another roadblock to make you wary. Six-legged pests such as powder post beetles will wreak havoc on the timbers that support your barn.

Fumigation is expensive enough, but costs will be astronomical if you delay the process until after your old barn has been remodeled. Would the financial burden and logistical nightmare of vacating your residence be worth that rustic barn conversion?

The Post and Beam Barn House Alternative

DC Structures offers a diverse and highly modifiable line of post-and-beam building kits that will stay standing for two-to-three times longer than their pole barn counterparts. Whether you’re looking for a barn-style home, hybrid apartment barn, or a workshop or garage with living quarters, DC Structures has a kit to suit your lifestyle needs.

Our pre-engineered barn home kits are both efficient and cost-effective. We offer our clients the benefit of a rustic barn aesthetic that is built to last—all without the headache.

Request our digital catalog for a better sense of how we can make your barn house dreams come true.

Project Preview: North Carolina Horse Barn

Oregon-based DC Structures partners with clients across the U.S., turning unique visions into pre-engineered materials packages. From apartment barns and barn-style homes to wineries and wedding and event venues, DC has several projects under construction at any given time.

Relationship building is the backbone of our operation, which is why DC Structures provides builder support to your chosen contractor throughout the duration of your build. We keep in contact with our customers long after the plans and materials package have been shipped—and even after construction is complete just to make sure you absolutely love your finished structure.

Learn more about our process here!

North Carolina Horse Barn in the Making

This past fall, construction finished for our client’s Tryon, North Carolina horse barn. Modified from a Columbia 72’ horse barn kit, this barn with caretaker’s quarters and upstairs viewing loft is an equestrian enthusiast’s dream.

The ground floor boasts eight horse stalls, a double-size tack room, a wash bay, and a full bathroom with shower and laundry. Upstairs, a 72’ center-aisle loft with heavy timber framing and fir tongue-and-groove decking offers a wonderful vantage point to check up on the horses.

The horse stalls are complemented by Classic Equine Legend Series stall fronts, and include such necessary amenities as stall dividers, rubber stall mats and chew protection. Black powder-coated steel-framed Dutch doors enhance the aesthetic, while also meeting DC Structures’ high standards for barn animal safety.

Additional upgrades to this Columbia horse barn kit include custom 12’ timber trusses, powder-coated breezeway doors with windows, and a steel-framed hayloft door. Natural lighting is optimized by the windows of two Nantucket shed dormers, as well as those of the iconic cupola.

Stay tuned for photos of the finished project this spring!

Thinking about a horse barn for your own property? Request our digital catalog to learn more about our top-quality post-and-beam barn kits.

The Oakridge: One Kit, Limitless Potential

DC Structures designs apartment barns for the dedicated hobbyists; the people who put as much energy into their passions as they do their livelihoods. Much like our clientele, we prefer an original approach. Our innovative line of post-and-beam barn kits offers flexible utility to meet our customers’ unique lifestyle needs.

The Oakridge apartment barn is our best-selling kit, as it is easily our most versatile design. Making efficient use of one structure for two purposes, the Oakridge brings our clients closer to their favorite personal pursuits. Whether you’re looking for an apartment barn to call home for you and your horses or a workshop with upstairs living quarters to hone your craft at all hours, the Oakridge can work for you.

The Swiss Army Knife of Apartment Barns

Below are three different ways the Oakridge apartment barn kit has been repurposed by our creative clients. We’ve seen the Oakridge evolve into a garage with sweeping upstairs living quarters, an energy-efficient apartment barn, and a hunting cabin with equipment storage and workspace. Of course, we know that’s just the tip of the iceberg for this functional structure’s potential.

Bend

This massive garage with elegant upstairs living quarters was adapted from an Oakridge 60’. With ample storage and workspace on the ground floor, this beautiful Central Oregon barn home is as functional as it is attractive. On the top floor, a sweeping open-concept kitchen, living and dining area is complemented by a large 600 sq. ft. covered deck.

Cornelius

This efficient apartment barn was modified from the Oakridge 36’ kit design. Featuring a host of sustainable upgrades, this hybrid home houses two horses and two dogs. Skylights optimize natural lighting while a solar panel lessens energy dependence. The addition of an electric car charging station minimizes the burning of fossil fuels.

Daggett

Designed from an Oakridge 60’ apartment barn kit, this workshop with cabin quarters serves as home base during hunting season. The attractive and functional structure boasts plenty of storage for heavy outdoor equipment, as well as fun additions to the living areas like a gaming space and wet bar.

Scheming about what you would do with your own Oakridge apartment barn kit? Request our digital catalog for more inspiration!

No Horsing Around: Pro Tips for Horse Barn Safety

Horse barn safety is DC Structures’ top priority when it comes to designing our top-of-the-line barn kits. Injuries pose a real threat to horses, as the road to recovery can be especially arduous for them. There are a number of preventative measures you can take to ensure the safety of your four-legged equine friends. Read on for our recommendations for best practices.

DC Structures’ top-8 horse barn safety tips

  • All barn materials should be free of chemical treatments as they present health risks to horses that chew on them. DC Structures uses top-grade untreated lumbers for its post-and-beam kit designs.
  • The areas within and around a barn should always be free of clutter. Loose items scattered about the aisles are a safety hazard.
  • Walkways should be no less than 12’ wide to allow horses to pass freely and turn around with ease. DC Structures’ barn kits all include plans that meet this requirement.
  • The aisle ways should have an even and well-tractioned surface. Textured concrete or dirt without rocks are both great options.
  • Stall fronts should have smoothed edges to avoid injury to the horse. All DC Structures horse barn packages include Classic Equine’s powder-coated, pre-galvanized steel stall fronts, designed specifically to protect your horse from scratches.
  • The only direction a stall door should swing is outward, as inward-swinging doors can create potentially dangerous situations for caretakers if the horse is anxious to get out.
  • Barn lighting should be mounted high away from a horse’s reach, or otherwise secured within strong wire casing.
  • Floor-to-ceiling height should be adequate for rearing horses. DC Structures designs its barn kits with a minimum of 9’ from the floor to the ceiling.

To learn more about DC Structures’ top-of-the-line horse barn kits, request our digital catalog.