Metal Buildings into homes? (San Antonio, New Braunfels: leases, how much, living)

[Joe Pires]

Thanks for your interest and kind words. On a side note it appears that the home will be extremely efficient. The metal building is insulated with a material intended to minimize solar gain. A layer of highly reflective silver foil, a thin layer of fiberglass, and a vinyl face. Then there is an airspace, and 6 inch stud walls that are insulated. As a by product its a very quiet home. The airboats that go up and down the river dont even make a whisper in the house.

[jacksonj64]

I have seen one in Pleasanton, TX on 3006 that is on the right hand side right off of I37 going south. My parents are talking about doing the same. I would love to see one that is finished.

[1svengali]

I live in one. When we moved in we put up a type of radiant barrier or spray insulation in the garage. The floor plan is very open, the garage is huge and from in there you can come in the "back" of the apartment. its a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom with one of each upstairs. Very roomy, very comfortable. the floor is treated concrete downstairs and nice carpet on and up the stairs w/ tile in that bathroom. The walls are wood (well designed particle board actually) on the inside so it has a very warm cabin feel. not sure what you were wanting to know about it exactly but i like it. since the garage/barn is insulated it stays cool in the house easily.

[bkmorgan]

I have a 2400sf metal Mueller building which I built into a beautiful home, complete with brick fireplace, huge living room, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, spacious kitchen, game room, vaulted wood ceilings and ceramic tile thru out. 10' wrap around porches.. Just love it. Getting ready to sell and move to another property and plan on building another one but this time 2 story.

[wahmom]

Hi All,

I know this thread is a little out of date but I found this site by searching for some information about converting a metal building into a home. All of the replies were so good I thought I'd post my question in hopes that someone can help me.

We have a 30X40 existing metal building, on a concrete slab with sewage and water lines and electricity in one corner of the building already, on our land along with a very small cottage type house. We are currently living in the house but would like to convert the metal shop into our home.

I've read all of the wonderful advice about how to insulate it. Currently there is rolled insulation in the ceiling and that's all. The problem is that there are 2 large roll up doors, one on each end of the building.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what to do with the doors if we convert it? Is it even possible?

If I've done it correctly, I've attached a picture of the building below.

[Lee W.]

If you have some really good construction background and enough time to work on it, a modified metal building might be doable with a little expert help (could make some BIG mistakes if you don't know what you're doing). But if you just pay some people to do this....it's probably going to get kind of expensive and might be better to just to have a regular house built.

[gwrober]

wahmom - I wonder if it's possible to remove the garage doors altogether and add "wall" there instead?

There's a great gym in Castroville, made from a metal building. It is awesome! They have very nice features and fixtures installed. I've seen a couple of metal building/homes in Arkansas, they ranged from 'very nice' to 'barely standing'!

When I looked into it, there were several companies that specialized in building metal homes, maybe they can help you with converting one?

[BornInTheAppleCapital]

Would be great to see pics. We are doing the same thing you described to our 40 x 60 except we will have two second story lofts on either side of the open living/dining/kitchen combo. The building is up and we will be finishing the inside ourselves. It's going to take a bit of time, but in the end it will be well worth it!

[trainman2]

I have a friend who built this home in Austin, Texas, it's a 50x80 metal building, all steel building, insulated inside with metal walls, home part is approx. 1600 sq.ft., shop takes up the rest of the space, covered in Austin Stone, stained concrete floors, nice wood treatments, shop has everything you would want, drag racing is his hobby, OK, it's a guy place, but would take much to add the womens touch. I would have extended the roof 2-3 feet all around the edges and went with a higher pitch for the look, just what I like. Here are some pics I took last year when visiting. He spent $200,000 on the building, but used the best products avaible, some overkill.

John

[gwrober]

Not a home, but a nice use of a metal building! IronHaus Gym in Castroville: Construction