March 11, 2022

By Nicole Pierce, Prime Metal Buildings & Components

Step One: Start with a plan 

As Prime’s Inside Sales Manager, Logan Synatzske, often says, “Nothing begins without a set of plans.” Every day, we field calls from people who are ready to get started on their barndominium journey and our first question is always the same: do you have a set of plans?  While we at Prime can help guide you to someone who can help draw your house plans for your barndominium, plans are not something that Prime provides. An architect (or even some general contractors) can draw a custom design for your home or, these days, there are thousands of plans available to purchase online.  

Step Two: Assemble your team 

Once you’ve got a set of plans, the next step is to assemble your team. Every team needs a captain, or in your case, a general contractor. Your general contractor will take your plans from start to finish.  This is the person responsible for your timeline, helping manage your budget, and hiring and scheduling subcontractors.   

You’ll want to interview several reputable contractors before choosing the one who you think is the best fit for the job. Remember, you’ll be working closely with this person throughout the duration of your build so you want to choose someone you feel comfortable with.  

“I would highly suggest that people fully vet their contractors before agreeing to do anything with them,” said Nicole Pierce who recently went through the barndominium build process. “These barndominiums are typically one of our biggest investments, so you want to make sure you’re investing with a general contractor that you can trust.” 

If you are planning on securing financing for your project through a bank, your general contractor will provide you with a quote for your barndominium that you will need to get your loan approved. 

Unless your general contractor is planning to erect your metal building themselves, one of the first subcontractors they will hire is a metal building erector. This person is responsible for the fabrication and erection of your metal building on your jobsite.  

Step Three: Put together a material list with Prime 

Your general contractor will prep your build site and when the site is ready, you or your contractor will provide a material list to Prime that has all of the building components they will need to erect your building. If you don’t have a material list, Prime can help you and/or your contractor or erector come up with a material list. Once Prime has your material list, you can place your order.  Prime fills your order promptly with a 24-hour turnaround on custom sheets and trim. 

Step Four: Special delivery 

Once the order is filled, it can either be picked up or delivered to your job site.  

“Prime delivered the red iron first for the frame. Once the frame was erected, they delivered the sheets and trim,” explained Pierce. “I really appreciated them keeping the sheets and trim until we were ready so we didn’t have to worry about them getting damaged or wet on our job site.” 

Step Five: The general contractor will erect your metal building on site 

Your dream barndominium is now in the process of being built. The general contractor or the metal building erector is now responsible for erecting the metal building frame and shell.  

Prime is a metal building and metal building component manufacturer. Prime designs, engineers, and supplies metal buildings and manufactures everything that goes into a metal building including roof panels, trim, wall panels, purlins, rafters, and columns. Prime does not erect metal buildings. 

Step Six: The general contractor finishes out your house  

Finally, the general contractor will finish out your house and will schedule subcontractors to complete each further step.  

*All projects and builds are unique and there may be exceptions to the outlined process 

**Please contact Prime at anytime before or during the process for answers to any questions you may have