I don't have that large of a lot to build on; it would overwhelm the surroundings! Maybe it's best to buy some larger parcel....hmmm.
In my case there wasn't much difference because I was already buying a very large truss. My garage is 58x42 and 16' high block. truss' are 47' long and I think 5/12 pitch. My attic is 16'x 58'x 7' 8" and I was planning on 2' centers from the beginning due to size and snow load. I don't feel 4' center truss' are appropriate for central pa when you get the occasional 2' snow
Yeah my dad in northern NY was similar - snow load is so great there that wasn't much difference in price between standard and attic truss. In my case just the trusses alone would have been about 2.5 X more expensive. My garage is 40x40x14... thought instead of attic truss I could build a partial second level (just for storage and stuff) in a 'L' shape on one side and half way across the back. I haven't yet though, now wanting to move out of this place. During construction shot. Trusses are just 2x4 bottom chord, 4' oc. 6x6 posts with 2x4 purlins. Great info there Farmhand. I really hadn't looked into the finer details of building a pole-building for living use. I've never heard of 3 ply 2x6 columns, are you talking about laminating like 3 2x6s together to form one larger post instead of using a 6x6, and then building the framing into these (as opposed to onto).
Attic trusses in anything other than 2' on center trusses gets expensive... I've done it a few times. Your idea of loft area is the best bang for the buck. We use all glu-lam columns, solid 6x6's just don't have the strength needed these days, and finding straight 6x6 posts is very hard to do, let alone finding any 30'+ long! Here is the columns I use... Glulam (Laminated) Columns, Beams, Posts - Engineered Wood Products - Timber Technologies
Farmhand78, Thanks for the link to Timber Technologies. They were at the Builders Association Product Show a few years ago. I talked with them but misplaced their information so now I have it captured on the computer. I need to check out their finished look glu-lam beams for an addition I am talking to a client about.
