The Internet can be an intimidating place to search for home building advice, house plans, or even financing options for purchasing a potential barndominium. This can especially be the case for individuals who don’t use computers on a daily basis. We tend to forget or overlook the fact that not everyone grew up on computers. Some older individuals, may have never used a computer at all. This is actually a very small portion of the overall population at only about 16% of Americans today being computer literate. Compared to an international average of 23%. However, attempting to navigate through treacherous minefields of half-truths and biased articles that are only intended to generate profits. As a new computer user, this can be confusing and it makes it even easier to simply get lost online looking at outdated websites and ultimately not really ever running across any content that is particularly valuable to your build. Hopefully, by the end of this article, you will have a better idea of where to look online for some inspiration for your barndominium build. Whether you’re in the market for some modern barndominium house plans, or you’re simply trying to get some ideas and haven’t taken any serious steps in regards to building. either way, the internet has absolutely no shortage of inspiration. Everyone wants to show off their build, most people are very proud of the barndominium that they created, especially if they had a hand in the design process from the beginning. This gives you more of an appreciation for everything that goes into building your own home. Most people on the street have no idea what it takes to build a barndominium from the ground up or where to even start with the process. I’m about to clue you in on where I start when it comes to my builds.
Instagram, Pinterest, & FB Groups are my top three social media resources that I like to steer my friends, customers, and even my family towards. I like how these platforms allow for powerful browsing of any topic you can imagine in terms of designing a barndominium and then options you to interact with real people ( in most cases) on their projects, designs, decor, instructions, schematics, valuable advice, as well as product reviews short and long term product reviews. This will save you money and time. You can find tips and tricks, and Life hacks for building your own barndominium. The main reason that I steer people towards these platforms is simple; you can draw and gather a tremendous amount of inspiration from any one of these platforms. If you are not 100% sure what you want to build as your forever barndominium, drawing inspiration from the success of others all across the united states and beyond can have a very positive impact and can light a fire inside you igniting a passion to build something that you will live with and love for years to come something that you can share with the people in your life that mean the most.
Finding and taking advantage of services online will open up the whole world as a marketplace for you. No longer are you limited to your local area’s resources. you can purchase goods and services online from anywhere in the world. Shipping costs are a factor and I always check shipping costs before buying anything online. Many times the shipping is calculated separately and added to a total within your online shopping cart. Services like house plan companies, general contractors in your area, foundation specialists, banking, and finance options, the resources are right at your fingertips. It just takes a little looking. Buildmax is a company that can take a set of existing barndominium floor plans of which they have plenty to choose from and modify them to meet your specific needs.
Buildmax can help you get a quote for the steel framing package and maybe even point you in the direction of someone to erect the framing to get your house underway as quickly as possible. It’s amazing what you can get done online these days. You can literally design your own barndominium floor plans or use stock Buildmax plans and order a strong rigid cold-formed steel barndominium kit tailor made for your family. Delivered in around about 6-8 weeks from order give or take, but nothing like the 6-12 months for a red iron steel frame to be manufactured and delivered. Red iron steel is much, much, much heavier, bulkier, uses more metal, and it takes much more equipment and manpower to erect. Where cold-formed steel could be erected by a few guys with hand tools if need be. Cold-formed steel takes significantly less time to manufacture, transport, and erect. With the war in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia forcing fuel prices up, this will ultimately have an effect on steel prices across the board. Russia is also a leading producer of aluminum which is used in the manufacturing of the specific alloy that is used in the cold form steel components, further affecting the cost of business. Compared to Lumber, you’re still getting a bargain. Steel will outlast wood in every category. However, any of the Buildmax house plans can be built with either traditional wood or cold form steel, whichever you decide.
There are plenty of sources of inspiration online to be found if you carefully look in the right corners of the web and use care not to get sucked down any far-flung rabbit holes or get misdirected by incorrect information. Generally speaking, people want to help others with accurate and correct information. I’ll be building a tiny home in the next year, so I’m in the process right now of gathering ideas and saving pictures to my computer of decor and designs that I may want to use in the future. I still haven’t decided on an interior layout, so I have a lot of inspiration yet to find. If you find yourself in a similar place, I wish you luck and patience. It’s not always easy designing your own barndominium or doing much of the work yourself, once it’s all built and you have turned an idea into a real home. You are now able to live in the benefits of your hard work and your detailed online research and inspiration to determine exactly what you wanted your forever barndominium to be. 
