Cost Advantages of a Hoop Barn

There are so many potential cost savings with a hoop shed over most conventional buildings that it’s hard to know where to start.

Starting at the beginning, your purchase, you may save $20 or more per square foot over some other types of barns. When you are talking about a livestock or storage building, you are probably considering hundreds of square feet. That can add up fast!

As far as construction costs of hoop buildings, it varies widely and depends largely on the size of the hoop barn. At smaller sizes, just a few hand tools are required and many people are able to do their own labor. When you get into the very largest buildings, the cost of a crane may come into play. On an average, however, a hoop building will be built in one-third to one-half the time it takes to erect other styles of buildings, at a similar cost savings.

When it comes to maintenance, most farmers know the heavy load, both in labor and in money, that the old wooden barn and its shingles can be. Way on the other end of the spectrum we have an all steel building with quality doors and windows that might not require any work at all for some years.

Fabric tension buildings are much closer to the latter than the former. There is maintenance, but it is minimal. A couple of times a year, you should go around your building and tighten the cover by moving the ratchet handle. That’s it! Zero cost and darn little labor. In 15 or 20 years, at least in our Upper Midwestern climate, the cover will likely wear out. A new cover will cost approximately half of what shingles would on a similar sized building and it should take about half a day’s labor to replace it.

We are not tax experts here and where you build your hoop barn and how you intend to use it dictates what your tax and depreciation advantages may or may not be. This article by a law professor may help you to understand your particular situation.