# building barns from scrap wood and wood pallets (40x48's)



## informative (Aug 24, 2012)

I started off collecting some pallets thinking I'd make some outdoor furniture and maybe milking stands, feeders and so on.

Then a thought occurred when I realized I was going to have a lot of pallets leftover and wanted to brainstorm other uses.

So has anyone here had any experience at building crude additional barn space from wood?

I have access to a good supply of scrap wood and pallets and some free time and thought I might give this a try building goat barn or smaller additional living habitat space for if I have to split them up and keep them partitioned at some point.

I was thinking also along the lines of what would be the smallest useful living space 12x12 foot with 7 foot roof would be three 48 inch pallets width each with two 40 inch pallets high 
Do they require good protection from drafts (outer plywood to make the barn more air tight) or would leaving some pallets ventilated be OK ya think?

Any links to plans or other knowledge on what goes into a typical barn that you can share - would be very much appreciated and thank you!


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## Qz Sioux (Feb 21, 2009)

Ray, pallets CAN be a great building material. Especially in a pinch. I had a chicken pen that was built out of "half pallets" and that sucker stood for over 10 years! They can actually look pretty nice if they are put together in an aesthetic way.

As far as leaving the spaces open, you need to think about your weather. How cold does it get where you are? I know you are in Texas, so am I, but I hardly ever see "snow" but Dallas on the other hand gets it more often that we do. Of course the humidity isn't the same there as it is where I live either. When I lived in Waco, I could get by with a heavy sweater (no coat) on some pretty frigid days. Here I would FREEZE! It is drier in Waco than it is here. 

So, it may not be a good idea to leave the sides open, but, you might be able to get away with using 2 or 3 spaced apart on the top for ventilation. Just make sure that your roof extends well past them so that rain doesn't blow in. One thing that I have noticed about my goats. They don't mind the cold much, but if there is the slightest hint of precipitation, they hide in the barn!

I say go for it. Be creative! Since you have it at your disposal, tinker with ideas and remodel what you aren't happy with until you are. I also find that if you use screws instead of nails, things are much easier to take apart if need be. Be sure to post some pictures of your creations as I'm sure that others will find them useful as well.


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## swgoats (May 21, 2010)

When I was in East Texas, the only shelter I ever had was A frames I made out of plywood. I had smaller shelters out of one piece of plywood cut in half - up to 3 standards would get under one, more minis. And I had larger shelters made of two pieces of plywood that could hold many goats. With range shelters more space is not necessarily better or utilized. When the goats wanted shelter, they tended to pile in together. I tried to keep a little extra shelter to make sure no body got edged out in the rain. These shelters worked just fine even in our little spells below freezing. I just stuffed hay into them so they could bed down and have something to munch without going out. Barns are convenient for people, but in many situations range shelter is adequate.


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## SANDQ (Dec 27, 2011)

I am in the process of doing exactly the same, as someone has given me what they class as " scrap " wood. I will post some pics later, In the mean time I have posted a link on where I got some information for simple goat housing
www.burundigoats.tripod.com/Project_Housing/housing.html
I would prefer to build with new wood, but hey there is a recession and needs must. Im not worried about how pretty it will look just that it conforms to what my kids need, eg dry, draught free etc
It would appear the link does not work.....if you google burundi goats rehabilitation project it will take you to the site


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## informative (Aug 24, 2012)

Thanks for all the replies. This link http://www.burundigoats.tripod.com/Project_Housing/housing.html is not working for me.

I've got a 12x12 shed nearly done. I may add some new wood for the A frame roof. The first shed just has a flat top with a slant to help rain runoff and I threw a tarp over it for now (because I plan to upgrade the roof). This one is for mower storage and such (has doors) and was for me to practice building with pallets since we had a lot of them and more available all the time.

I use nails (easier) to initially place a piece and just to hold it in position then drive screws for the rest of the solid construction for each pallet as it is added/leveled. I've found screws come in two kinds the really skinny type that don't require pre-drill (usually) and the slightly fatter ones that will split the wood more often than not if I don't pre-drill - I use both. Short skinny ones are great and quick when you can get away with using them like on the top thin pallet pieces. The pallets have cross bars that are oak or something really dense and sometimes can be hard to work with but should make for a very solid wall supports. Going through those thick dense oak pieces usually means pre-drilling and using fatter longer screws.

Since my intended goat areas are mostly not visible from the road we have multiple tree lines I don't really care if it isn't the most beautiful sheds/barns so long as they serve their purpose effectively and keep the goats happy. The initial plan is to put plywood around the top 40 inches of wall and leave the bottom 40 inches as vented pallet. this way angled wind-driven rainfall should not get inside very far and strong winds should not find the barn to be one solid enormous kite and can hopefully find their way around without damage ideally.

We are in Whitewright which is much closer to Sherman and Oklahoma than Dallas but snow and freezing rain is certainly very possible in January or February.

I read here somewhere that goats like lights on at night so I may lay a few of those walkway solar lights that turn on when it is sunset around the outer lower walls to make it seem less dark in the early evening. I know we get the occasional wild pig and caught a glimpse of a fox or small coyote (reddish) fast moving ninja last week as it ducked back into the woods so those are a concern for me as well in trying to build a safe haven and habitat for the goats.

Next project - moving on to thinking about guardian animals - donkeys, geese, llamas, dogs etc now.


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## swgoats (May 21, 2010)

Keeping the shelters painted will really help lengthen their life. When they are all painted the same color, it has a nice effect.


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## Horsehair Braider (Mar 11, 2011)

You asked about ventilation: barns *need* ventilation. Yes, they should be providing a good wind break, but there needs to be ventilation. When I was building my barn about 20 or so people stopped over (at various times) and tried to get me to fill up the gaps that had been purposely designed into the building. Ammonia fumes are very bad for any animal's lungs... so don't seal your new shelters up real tight, leave some space at least on the top and even better along the bottom as well where air can circulate.


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## Tim Pruitt (Oct 26, 2007)

I would think about the future with anything I build. 7ft ceilings are too low for almost any kind of tractor to clean it out with


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## Goat Town (Nov 20, 2010)

Amen, Tim.


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## informative (Aug 24, 2012)

Tim Pruitt said:


> I would think about the future with anything I build. 7ft ceilings are too low for almost any kind of tractor to clean it out with


My two starter tractors are a Craftsman mower and a Toro sand pro they are maybe 3 foot tall each. I dont have any PTO larger tractors yet figure I'll use my current low cost used tractors to discover all the rocks and stuff and once I break those get something bigger. The ceiling is actually closer to 7.5 feet because I used tires to anchor each corner post with sledged 300 pounds of dirt to fill each corner tire post. Good point though will need to think that through. Need to get you folks some pics of my ugly shed Next trip out.


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## funnyfarmtexas.com (Oct 3, 2012)

I haven't been on here in several days because i have been very busy building a pallet palace. not sure i can post picts yet, but i will take some pictures tomorrow and try to post them.


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## dragonlair (Mar 24, 2009)

I LOVE pallets. I use them as fencing, floors in the chicken areas, shade for the sled dogs in the summer, flooring in the dog barn for winter with tons of straw heaped on top, my chicken coop has palleted walls with a truck cap roof, and with legs on 4 corners raised decks for the goats and dogs to lounge on! I even have a window in my house blocked off from the dogs with a pallet screwed to the frame. Everything else he tore down.

I was on my way to the local feed store to buy pallets today to make 2 small buck sheds to keep them protected until winter really hits. They need to leave the barn quickly. Boy, do they stink and they are driving the already bred girls bonkers.


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## funnyfarmtexas.com (Oct 3, 2012)

I added our latest pallet project on my web page at www.funnyfarmtexas.com
it is under the construction tab. The pallets we used are solid oak. I had to predrill holes for the screws because the wood was so hard. after we move the does to the barn in december, we will add all the fun kiddy stuff to this area. We will put solid floors on the bottom pallets so they dont get caught up in it.


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## informative (Aug 24, 2012)

Nice work on www.funnyfarmtexas.com - yes the oak is super hard to push screws through - I've broken off more than a couple of drill bits trying to pre-drill them also. Tough to find bits thin enough to let the screws still get a good grip and yet not so thin that the drill bits break off easily.

How do you sink those support posts into the ground? concrete to anchor?


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## funnyfarmtexas.com (Oct 3, 2012)

We set them 3ft in the ground, put in some crushed concrete and quick set. we dug all of the holes first then went to set the lumber. the guard donkey kept covering up the holes. it was funny. she didn't want anyone to get hurt by tripping in the holes.


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## funnyfarmtexas.com (Oct 3, 2012)

For whoever may be interested, we just finished our buck run to and i posted a pict of it on my web page.

As in everything I do, pallets were used.

www.funnyfarmtexas.com

Next week we start the B - A - R - N!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Whoot Whoot!


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## smithurmonds (Jan 20, 2011)

That is really cute Brenda!


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## Polopony (Dec 24, 2011)

My next barn is going to be one of those car ports and then I will put sides on it. That why I can have a great roof and put the sides up as I go.


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## funnyfarmtexas.com (Oct 3, 2012)

Thank you Nicki. 

My friend has a carport barn. It works really really well for her. She added cattle pannels to the inside that she could use the feeders that you clip on. I have to many goats and need a big ol barn. the one we are building will be 30 x 55 - i gave a sad face when my husband told me that. i said i thought it would be 80 foot long. he just shook his head and said, it will be plenty.


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## informative (Aug 24, 2012)

Yeah I got a quote on a 40x30 barn and it was over $10K for a basic steel barn with a couple of doors and windows.


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## funnyfarmtexas.com (Oct 3, 2012)

ya barns are insanely expensive. I also have to build a milk room adjoining the barn. Think we can get it all done before Jan? LOL - we shall see.


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

Really nice, Brenda. You did a really nice job using those pallets. Orderly and aesthetically pleasing. I love it.


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## funnyfarmtexas.com (Oct 3, 2012)

Thank you Cindy. Honestly, I am blessed with a sweet, talented and very accommodating husband. He totally absorbs my visions. I love it.


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## lorit (May 10, 2010)

Brenda - very nice.  Do they sleep in their individual stalls or sorta hang together in the common area? Do you find it helps with cleaning? Looks great - had to show it to my hubs cuz he makes fun of my pallet building ideas.


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