WHAT OTHER BUILDERS DON'T TELL YOU ABOUT THEIR MODULAR HORSE BARNS
Having your own Horse Barn is a dream for many horse owners. You might have wished for many years to build yourself a center aisle horse barn, and finally you decided to do this. Now what?
As a loving & caring horse owner you want your barn to be built Just Right. You probably want your barn to be: Good Looking, Horse Friendly, Quality Built, Properly Constructed, and most of all Very Affordable. The mistake you want to avoid is going after the most affordable "cheap" barn and not paying much attention to construction and other aspects of a properly built center aisle horse barn (whether it's a modular or built completely on site). As a modular barn manufacturer we'll talk about Modular Horse Barns on this page.
Since there are hundreds of different barn builders, the first step people take is start shopping around for the best deal they can get. It's no secret that most of the people want to find the BEST constructed horse barn for the BEST price. These days, when you look through different equine magazines, websites, etc. you'll notice that there are some companies offering Modular Horse Barns in different configurations. Different companies have different names for their modular horse barns. We have two names for our modular center aisle barns: "Economy Style Barns" & "Loft Barns". Most other modular barn builders call the same barns as "Low Profile" & "High Profile" barns. Some builders also offer "Monitor Barns".
If you do decide to purchase a Modular Horse Barn, how do you pick the right modular barn out of so many different styles and configurations? And how do you pick the Right modular barn builder?
If you want to know the difference between different modular barn styles see Compare Styles
HERE IS WHAT OTHER COMPANIES THAT SELL MODULAR BARNS AVOID TELLING YOU:
1. Modular Barns with Low Roof Pitch & Side Walls - "Low Profile" & "Monitor Barns" offered by some companies (as well as our "Economy Style Barns") only have 7'-6" to 8' side walls (eave sides). After you finish the floor & put rubber mats inside the horse stalls of these barns, you will only have 7' to 7'-6" clearance at the side wall & around 10' clearance at stall front side. The very minimum recommended headroom inside of horse stall in the center aisle barn has to be at least 8' at any point (measuring from finished floor to the bottom of truss or rafter). In our opinion, these barns are OK to use for ponies and small horses (under 16 hands), but most of companies do not disclose this information in order to sell more of these bans. The advantage of these barns (especially "Low Profile" or what we call ours - "Economy Style") is their affordability. The big disadvantage, is low headroom inside of stalls, which makes these barns simply unacceptable to house bigger than 16 hand horses. The other disadvantage is, if you ever decide to sell your property, it will be harder to find the buyer, since these kind of barns will turn away any buyer with large horses.
Our Recommendation - Spend a little more and get the barn with higher walls.
2. Barn Loft - When we say a "Full Loft", it's exactly what we mean - a loft that covers the whole barn (from side to side & from end to end). For example, a 36'x36' barn with a full loft will have a 36'x36' loft size. Believe it or not, some companies call a loft being a "Full Loft" when it's only over the center aisle (especially in "Monitor Style" barns) and bans built with "Attic Type" trusses. The right description for such a loft should be rather "Loft Over the Center Aisle" or "Center Aisle Loft". The real Full Loft can only be achieved using rafters. If your barn is built with trusses, you will only get loft over the center aisle.
Our Recommendation - When comparing barns, ask for the size of the loft.
3. Other Misleading Information - Most companies that sell modular barns do not actually built these barns. Most of these companies act as dealers or resellers and most likely hire sub-contractors to do barn assembly, foundations, etc.
Our Recommendation - It's always best to buy the barn direct from the builder and have the same builder do all the work for you, such as site excavation, foundation, barn assembly, etc. When talking to a salesperson, ask if their own company manufactures these barns and provides other work without the use of sub-contractors. Experience shows - having the same company do all, or most of the work is always a better idea.
4. Low Advertised Prices - Again, do not be misled by low prices that you'll see in different ads. In most cases these "Low Prices" are shown to make people call the company. As a rule, these advertised prices Do Not include: Delivery, sales tax, equipment rental, out-of-state assembly, site excavation, foundation, etc. Also, be aware of builders that give you a low price and then start adding options that should have been standard on any center aisle barn. Such options, might be as simple as a ridge vent, better grade shingles, gable overhangs, etc. See Must Have Features
Our Recommendation - Get the detailed price quote from the company showing what is included & is not included in the price.
5. Rafters Verses Trusses - To have your barn built with rafters is far Better compared to the same barn built with trusses. The reason - Horse Barn built with rafters is able to accommodate full loft, will give a lot more headroom inside of stalls (if loft is not needed or in cases when center aisle loft is used) and simply will look much better on inside. That's the reason most of our barns (95%) are built with rafters.
Our Recommendation - Ask the salesperson if the barn they are offering is built with trusses or rafters. Most companies will charge significantly more to build the barn with rafters, especially if most of their barns are built with trusses. All of our Loft Barns come standard with rafters.
Why we believe our company will be the Best choice for you:
1. We build simply the Most Beautiful Modular Horse Barns.
2. We offer the Best Constructed Modular Barns in the industry
3. We do all of the work using our own employees (site excavation, concrete work, barn assembly, painting, etc.)
4. We've been building center aisle barns since 2003 and have many satisfied customers
5. We can provide a "Turn-Key" construction for you and save an you extra hassle
6. Since we are the actual manufacturer & builder, we can SAVE you money
See also Barn Building Process