Neat idea for cabin or other building.

[painterswife]

Every so often I have seen pictures of grain bins(silo) coverted into living space. It has always been something I wanted to do.

We are planning a new home and my husband has been against round homes but I have now told him that my office will be a coverted grain silo!

I saw a picture of one in this months Fine Homebuilding and I am off and running. It will take alot of planning for things but I think I have found how I will insulate. Straw bales!

I am attaching a couple of websites for examples. I would love to here suggestions and ideas. We will buy a new silo and do all the work ourselves.

http://www.dancingrabbit.org/building/GrainBin.php
http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/...50053044RGVZcx
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:...s&ct=clnk&cd=1

[3SistersFarm]

We have the same grain bin and right now it's just a lawn ornament. If I did rehab it I would attach metal studs and get that insulation that you spray on then I could attach drywall or even metal flashing. I don't have a good plan on what to do with the bin once this was done either. I have a friend that rehabbed an airstream, this seems like the same principle. Then I have many many projects that I need to get done before I could get to this but it's still on my mind
I've heard some have made their bin into a swimming pool but that doesn't seem like a good use of space to me. A good recommendation was to make it a garage for the tractor but that doesn't seem worth the effort. An aviary might be a good idea for them but I don't want one of those right now.
Rumor has it there is a grain bin restaurant close to me but I haven't seen it yet but the idea is interesting.
Love this thread BTW.
TEE

[painterswife]

Another couple of links
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/14/re...rssnyt&emc=rss

http://www.onlineathens.com/1998/121...4.a2house.html

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0817/p16s01-lihc.html

Here is one that just used the roof and the rest is strawbale.
http://flanaganandsun.com/Flanaganan...n-straw-bale-2

[visionary]

My funky little neighborhood is being gentrified. Actually it was designated blighted in order to do a lot of this. The people in the neighborhood aren't pleased. None of us could afford this places anyway.


Here is a link to plans for the silos in the mill district:

http://www.bozemanmilldistrict.com/silos/

[danoon]

Nice idea, I'd live in it, though the one with the straw walls would worry me if a fire broke out.

[freegal]

Well, I was thinking that if you lived closer to me I'd sell you my grain bin for a lot cheaper than $15,000 - you haul it. But on second thought, maybe my teens would like to play around with this idea and build themselves apartments!

Kind of neat, but I like living in my farmhouse!

[painterswife]

The picture of the one in Fine Homebuilding states that he paid 5500.00 for his. No size listed, but it has two floors and houses his office.

Mine would be for an office, so a smaller diameter would be fine.

I think that you could easily take your time and scavenge alot of materials to finish it off.

I really want a round room and this would give you a closed in structure with fire resistant siding and roofing.

Jill

[ET1 SS]

$5500 ?

For how many square foot?

I bought a regular steel warehouse, 40 ft by 60 ft so 2,400sq ft and it cost me $16,000.

[mtman]

do you have pics of that and the co. name we are looking for a barn thank you

[Macybaby]

I've got three grain bins and two silos.

DH and I plan on some day putting stairs and decks in the tallest silo and putting an observatory at the top. Since it's so flat here, we could see a long way off. We do have a decent sized town about 12 miles away, so hopefully that would not lighten up the night sky too much for star gazing.

But I sure like the idea of converting a grain bin to living quarters. Our biggest problem would be plumbing, so I think we'd make it as three season guest quarters. We could do a compost toilet for middle of the night use, with expectations that the guests would use the main house for anything more.

But that will be a few years in the future project . . . Today we will open up the laundry room floor.

Cathy

[Mid Tn Mama]

Here is the most important information I got from reading the material:

"Working with the bins can be a challenge, he said. When Mr. Smail cut holes in the steel for windows in his home, he said, the structure lost its tension. “It’s like Jell-O, so you have to build metal window frames and weld them in to get the strength back,” he said. The lack of 90-degree corners and flat walls also adds to the work. Most of the steps in his four-story home, for example, are different sizes."

[ET1 SS]

Originally Posted by mtman

do you have pics of that and the co. name we are looking for a barn thank you

http://freedomsteel.com/

[mtman]

thank you

[Highground]

Also check out the homes they are making out of used shipping containers.

[Quinton]

Originally Posted by danoon

Nice idea, I'd live in it, though the one with the straw walls would worry me if a fire broke out.

If it were loose straw I would agree.

But if it were a BALE of straw, it wont burn! It will smoke quite a bit, but it won't burn!

Usually the bales of straw are covered (concrete, mortar, stucco) so that they won't burn either..

[fantasymaker]

3 sisters farm this place is just down the road(51) from you unfortunatly it hasnt been finished to the pictured level yet. and may never be.

[NELSELGNE]

Saw this on HGTV channel. see picture at:
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/shows_hoba/..._48440,00.html

He cut silos in half vertically and placed them on their sides... like a quonset hut. He built three sections; side-by-side. Total cost, including new appliances was $23,000.