MUST-HAVE FEATURES FOR YOUR CENTER AISLE HORSE BARN
READ ABOUT IMPORTANT FEATURES TO HAVE ON YOUR CENTER AISLE BARN
NOTE: All of the features listed below are STANDARD on all of our Center Aisle Horse Barns.
Ridge Vent - It is very important to have a ridge vent on any center aisle horse barn, especially if the barn is built with a hay loft. Ridge vent helps the heat to escape from your barn through the roof, keeping the loft space cooler, barn safer and horses more comfortable. In our opinion, no barn should be built without a ridge vent, especially if the barn is built with a loft.
3/4" T&G Plywood for Hay Loft - When building a horse barn with the hay loft, it's important to use tongue & groove plywood for your loft floor. The reason we use T&G plywood, and why we think it's important, is because, T&G plywood will better stop the dust (created by hay) from falling through the cracks into the first floor. A regular plywood (no matter how well it's fastened) will still have small gaps between the sheets through which fine dust will penetrate and fall on lower floor creating more dust inside your barn and also might fall on electric wiring, lights, etc., creating a possible fire hazard.
2x10 Floor Joists for Hay Loft - A properly built hay loft should be able to hold at least 60 PSF of load. In order to achieve this, the loft must be constructed with 2x10 SPF floor joists spaced at 16" o.c. Do not settle for a hay loft built with 2x8 SPF floor joists since 2x8 floor joist when spaced 16" o.c. will only offer max of 40 PSF of live load over 12' span. See information below:
#2 2x8 SPF floor joists 16" o.c. = 40 PSF (max. span of 12'-3")
#1 2x8 Yellow Pine floor joists 16" o.c. = 50 PSF (max. span of 12'-2")
#2 2x10 SPF floor joists 16" o.c. = 70 PSF (max. span of 12'-2")
#1 2x10 Yellow Pine floor joists 16" o.c. = 100 PSF (max. span of 12'-1")
In order to build our barn loft with minimum of 60 PSF live load, we use #2 SPF 2x10 floor joists.
Felt Paper Underlayment - No matter what you are building - shed, barn or any other structure, if your roof is built with shingles, felt underlayment is a MUST. Role of the felt underlayment, is not only to protect the roof from the rain during construction, but also to protect the plywood from any condensation that might accumulate under shingles during certain temperature & humidity conditions. In addition, the felt paper will protect shingles from any sap that might be present in plywood sheathing.
30 Year Architectural Asphalt Shingles - This feature is not as important as any other listed above, since it does not affect the structural integrity or safety of the building, but, in our opinion, since 30 year shingles are heavier & thicker, they will provide a higher wind load (compared to regular 25 year shingles) and will slightly help to reduce the noise inside the barn from the rain or hail.
Sliding Hay Loft Door - If you ever tried to open or close an out-swing door in your hay loft, you know how frustrating it might be (especially without the use of ropes, weights, etc.). In fact, in our opinion, it simply does not make sense to use an out-swing door up in the loft. That's the reason why we use our own-design 4'x7' Interior Sliding Loft Door.
Believe it or not, some modular barn manufacturers offer all of these features as an option on their horse barns. In our opinion, all of these features MUST be STANDARD on any properly built horse barn.