# Anybody live in a metal home?



## TxHorseMom

DH and I have basically decided we would like some type of shell home. I am considering all options. We are about a year or so away from building. I have seen some metal buildings used as houses in our area, and found a builder online that I was reading aobut. Anyway, has anyone here lived in a metal building? Are they harder to keep cool? (we live in Tx) Do they keep their value if we wanted to sell in the future? How hard is it to mortgage? (If we were to sell in the future?) Pros? Cons?


----------



## mplatt4

As a builder I will give you my take , first they are almost maintenance free and faster to build the shell and cheaper for the basic structure. But in some areas they are not approved as a home so check the zoning to see if it can be deeded as a home or not. Also some loan companies will not loan money to build it as a house but most will loan you the amount to build the shell as a barn or shop. You must insulate them well or they will get condensation on the roof and rain inside and ruin the sheetrock and rot the inside wood. The expensive part of any home is not the shell it is the doors windows and cabinets and plumbing fixtures and in a polebarn type building you have to remember you still have to fir the walls out between the post and build the inside walls and unless you build on a slab you have to put in the floor and if it is 2 story you have to build that floor. My personal experience is why you get the basic outside structure faster and cheaper in the end you spend about the same and a traditional home will be worth more in 5 or 10 years than a metal building. Now I am all for metal roofs they are cheaper and attractive and more durable but if you use any dark color at all on the side walls you better have shade or they can be hard to cool similar to a mobile home. I am sure there will be alot who will disagree with me but over the last 35 years this is what I have come to believe. Build a straight ranch style home gable to gable roof and if you plan to be living in it after your 40th birthday make sure the master bedroom is on the main floor. Put a metal roof on it shop around for close outs or misordered double pain windows and make them work in your home this can save you thousands for sure hundreds and dont build more than you need you can always add on later I also like a walkout basement with a 4 concrete walled room on the non walk out side of the basement as a storm shelter root cellar combination those 2 short walls will not cost all that much more and if you ever need a shelter you will be glad you have it


----------



## gobug

Give serious consideration to the suggestions by mplatt4. They are good.

I gave serious consideration to buying a large metal building (MB) and then building a house inside.

My thought was to make the house an entirely separate structure inside a much larger MB. I was thinking 40x100(MB) and about 25x40 for the house.

The utilities (heating, plumbing, electrical) would occupy some of the space outside the home and inside the MB. There would be parking for my tractor, little trailer, and pickup. There would be pallet shelving storage for the stuff that usually occupies my garage and basement. Some of the roofing on the MB would be clear plastic. There would be a workshop inside the MB.

This dream won't occur, partly due to some of the comments made by mplatt4 above.

Good luck


----------



## TxHorseMom

Thanks for your input. I didnt know about some of that. I'm thinking that metal might not be the way to go. We're already over 40 so our plan is to do a single story. Lol. We're in Tx so no basements for us. I would like a metal roof though.


----------



## kudzuvine

my parents built one. Actually cost them less than traditional home. It is maintenance free. When the had their walls studded up - they allowed about 6" from the main wall beams and in this space is insulation. They also put the walls out in case of possible shifting, etc in a major storm. Utilities are unbelievably low, summer and winter. She does have to run a dehumidifer oftein. It is airtight and sound proof. They love it and have lived in it 10 years. No nothing about resale/mortgage.


----------



## giddy

I live in a metal house with metal roof and in southern Oklahoma. I've got as much as a regular house would cost in it because I have tall ceilings with 6" red oak crown molding and pretty fancy trim all the way thru with 6" baseboards with a rope (wood) trim on top of that. I also have granite and tile all the way through, no carpet. I built a one bedroom one bath 2000' house, all rooms are large. My walls are stone colored outside and dark brown roof. My highest bill last year with many, many days of well over 100 degrees was $250.00. After my stud walls were in we sprayed insulation-attic roof and walls to close up any cracks or holes from utilities, then batts of insulation to finish it out. My house is harder to heat than cool. The tile stays around 60 degrees year round. In the summer, it is great, in the winter-it is cold. Plus I have the high ceilings which doesn't help with cooling. I have a 10 x 50 porch on the south and one on the north. As far as upkeep, its great. There is no maintenance on them except for cleaning the gutters. There are quite a few people who have built much larger metal buildings, then took part of it as their home and the rest was usually tax deductible as either shops or barns or businesses. My attic has no vents in it, my inside unit is up there and I've never had any problems. I've lived here 3 years.


----------



## TxHorseMom

I would LOVE to see some pics if any of you have any.


----------



## Joe.G

I don't know anyone that lives in a metal building, but I do know someone that framed there house out with steel instead of Lumber,Not quite sure why but it was cool looking going together.


----------



## Classof66

We have quite a few Lustre homes in my area. They are no longer being made, but for being around 60 years old, they seem to have functioned well. The colors are dated, which would seem to be a drawback. I would think this technology would fly well today. Lustre, I believe, went bankrupt. They seem to have been well built homes.


----------



## francismilker

I lived in a 30x30 metal framed shop building on a slab foundation for a couple years about 10 years ago. It was built with the intention of living in while we built our home so we took extra pains to make it comfortable while still not overbuilding and losing investment when we turned it back into a shop building. 

Here's my take: -
It was extremely hard to heat and cool. Mind you, I didn't insulate well. I just used the rolled insulation on the outside of the frame before putting on the metal skin. 

-It is still in as good looking shape appearance wise as the day I built it. There's no faded color, no cracks in the brick (don't have any), and no settling of doors or windows.

-It was very noisy during down pours of rain. 

-cellular service wasn't as good inside it.

-I spent extra money building studwalls inside the metal posts so I could have sheetrocked walls. 

-If I done it again, I wouldn't spend the money on a metal frame. I would simply frame out of wood and sheath with metal siding.


----------



## blooba

ok, not to really hijack this thread but those that have experience with metal buildings, would you prefer a metal building or block/concrete with a metal roof?


----------



## lamoncha lover

We are working on a "metal house" pole barn style and am hoping to be in it sometime this winter. What I liked about it so far is..we had someone put it up and it was very reasonable and dried in quick. we have been paying as you go and it has been a really good way to do this. The big expense of course was the shell. I got all doors and windows at restore. We had them do a concrete floor with radiant tubes in it. Total cost for a 30X64 with a concreted 10X64 porch..and rough plumbing, doors windows, and building shell was right about 32,000. 
It was pretty easy to stud in the walls. 
Our wiring is almost done, then it will be on to insulation. We haven't lived there yet, but so far I am quite impressed.


----------



## lamoncha lover

been trying to do a few pictures..giving it up soon:>/


----------



## old school

lamoncha lover said:


> We are working on a "metal house" pole barn style and am hoping to be in it sometime this winter. What I liked about it so far is..we had someone put it up and it was very reasonable and dried in quick. we have been paying as you go and it has been a really good way to do this. The big expense of course was the shell. I got all doors and windows at restore. We had them do a concrete floor with radiant tubes in it. Total cost for a 30X64 with a concreted 10X64 porch..and rough plumbing, doors windows, and building shell was right about 32,000.
> It was pretty easy to stud in the walls.
> Our wiring is almost done, then it will be on to insulation. We haven't lived there yet, but so far I am quite impressed.


Do you have any pictures to share sound neat.:whistlin:


----------



## lamoncha lover




----------



## Joe.G

How did you do your roof? Purlins or sheathing? how did you insulate? Thanks


----------



## tytglovett

We built inside our metal barn. We have 6 inch thick walls and it is easy to heat and cool. We did all of the work ourselves and it was very cheap. On the inside it looks like a normal house. We insulated well and can't hardly even hear when it rains. It will not however qualify for a traditional mortgage, but our banker found a way around that. Cell phones didn't work well so we bought a cell amplifier and installed it. It worked so well we cancelled our landline recovering the cost of the amplifier in 3 months. I don't know about resell because we don't ever intend to leave.


----------



## tgisinger

I have just finished building a metal building home. It is a standard bolt up building that is framed out completely on the inside. It is insulated with spray foam in the framed walls 11" thick from the sheet metal to the inside surface of the studs, the ceiling is 24" of blown fiberglass. It is 2450 sq ft living area with a 750 sq ft garage. It has one covered patio that is 10'x60' and a covered porch that is 8'x30', total under the roof is 3500 sq ft. The hvac is a 4 ton geothermal system, it is total electric and cost about $200.00 per month for electricity. The cost ended up being higher than a stick built home but is worth the extra cost to me.


----------



## jhambley

Here's mine. Standard framing on slab.

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/country-living-forums/homestead-construction/474172-almost-dry.html


----------



## Joe.G

Tgisinger, Any Pic's?


----------



## tgisinger

A few interior


----------



## tgisinger

Just a metal building on the outside


----------



## tgisinger

I paid for the concrete work, the drywall, the wall insulation. Hired help for putting up the building the rest was done by family. My favorite part is the concrete counters, they are poured in place using the Z-Form. They were a real pain in the butt but turned out better than I ever thought they would.


----------



## Joe.G

I like the inside a lot, Outside it looks like a metal shop. I wonder what the price diff is between stick built or this, similar set up of course.


----------



## tgisinger

That means I did good, that is the look I was going for. When people come out they see it as a metal building then walk in and do a double take. You cant tell from that pic but there is an offset to the building where the trucks are sitting.


----------



## Joe.G

Some Landscaping and the place will be good to go.


----------



## tgisinger

A LOT of landscaping. But that is the wife's department. She is the exterior maintenance engineer.


----------

