Barndominium Floor Plans with Loft in Wisconsin

A loft is the Wisconsin barndominium's way of getting something back from a steep roof. A steeper pitch sheds snow sooner, and the tall space under it is either empty air that has to be heated or a loft that uses it. Over a great room it becomes a reading loft or office; in a cabin it becomes the bunk room for the grandkids or the deer camp. Because warm air rises, a loft is often the warmest room in the house in January and the warmest in July, which is the main thing to plan around. The other decisions are the stair, the guard along the open edge, and whether the loft is a sleeping room.

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What actually changes with this feature

The look is the easy part. These are the decisions that follow from it.

Plan for rising heat

In winter a loft over a great room with a wood stove can run several degrees warmer than the floor below. Ceiling fans on low, a high return-air grille and an operable window or skylight let you use that warmth or get rid of it. In summer the same space needs shade and ventilation.

Stair, not ladder

A ladder is fine for a storage loft; a loft people use every day needs a real stair, and the stair takes floor area below. A compact stair along a gable wall is common. Ask the plan reviewer early how your stair, guard and any sleeping use in the loft will be treated under the Uniform Dwelling Code.

Bunk loft or bedroom

A loft used for sleeping raises questions an office loft does not: how someone gets out in an emergency, and whether there is enough headroom. Decide early whether the loft will ever be a bedroom, because a sleeping room has its own exit and window requirements.

Truss choice sets the loft

Standard trusses leave little usable space. Attic or storage trusses, scissor trusses or a steel frame with purlins create the open volume a loft needs, and the roof pitch sets how much of the loft floor has standing headroom. That is decided with the frame package.

Using the space under the roof

A steep roof sheds snow; a loft stops the space under it going to waste

Roofs in Wisconsin are designed for the snow load on the Uniform Dwelling Code's zone map, 40 pounds per square foot in the northern zone and 30 in the southern (SPS 321.02). A steeper roof sheds snow sooner, makes drifts and ice dams less of a problem, and creates volume. A loft turns that volume into floor area without adding footprint, which means no extra foundation perimeter at the code's 48-inch minimum depth (SPS 321.16) and no extra roof. The trade is heat: warm air collects at the top of the house, so a loft overheats unless the plan moves that air back down or uses it on purpose, for sleeping in winter and with a window or a fan for summer.

Common ways to build this

Three common ways to lay this out. Yours does not have to match one exactly — this is a starting point for the conversation, not a catalog.

Great room with a reading loft

1,800 sq ft main floor / 400 sq ft open loft

A vaulted great room with a loft along one gable end overlooking it, used as a reading nook, an office or a play space. Open to the room, so it shares the stove's heat and the view through the gable glass.

Cabin with a bunk loft

900 sq ft main floor / 350 sq ft sleeping loft

A one-bedroom cabin with a bunk loft under a steep roof for guests, kids or the hunting party. A stair from the living room, a gable window for light and air, and storage in the low knee-wall space under the eaves.

Shop house with a loft office

1,400 sq ft living / 1,200 sq ft shop / 500 sq ft loft over the shop

A loft over the shop end holds an office, a gym or storage, reached by a stair from the mudroom. The floor between the shop and the loft is detailed for sound and for separation from the shop below.

Ways to build this

This layout can go together several ways. These are the service lines most relevant to it.

Custom Plans

Custom barndominium floor plans for your Wisconsin parcel: drawn around the lake setback, the septic site, the slope and the plan review ahead.

Pole Barn Homes

Pole barn homes in Wisconsin built as real houses: post-frame posts below frost, trusses sized for your snow zone, and walls built for heating season.

Steel Construction

Steel frame homes and barndominiums in Wisconsin: red-iron frames for wide shop bays and tall doors, sized for roof snow, on footings below frost.

Barndominium with a Loft: common questions

7 questions worth settling before this plan is drawn. If yours is not on the list, put it in the survey.

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Can a post-frame barndominium have a loft?

Yes. Attic trusses, scissor trusses or a loft floor framed between the posts all work in a post-frame building, and a steel frame can carry a mezzanine. The frame is designed with the loft in mind, including the Uniform Dwelling Code snow load for your county (SPS 321.02), so the loft is decided before the frame package is ordered.

Is a loft cheaper than adding floor area?

Usually. A loft uses volume the roof already encloses, so it adds no foundation perimeter at the Uniform Dwelling Code's 48-inch minimum depth (SPS 321.16) and no extra roof. It does add a stair, a floor structure and taller walls or trusses, so it is not free.

Can a loft be a bedroom?

It can. The Uniform Dwelling Code requires two exits from a second floor, and an egress window in each bedroom may serve as the second (SPS 321.03). Under the Uniform Dwelling Code an egress window needs a net clear opening of at least 20 by 24 inches with the sill no more than 60 inches above the floor, a platform if the sill is over 46 inches (SPS 321.03). Headroom matters for everyday use too. Tell the plan reviewer at the start if the loft will be slept in, so the window, stair and guard are drawn to suit.

How warm does a loft get in winter?

Often warmer than anywhere else in the house, because warm air rises into it. That makes it a good winter sleeping space and a hot one in summer. Ceiling fans, a high return-air grille and a window or skylight that opens are the usual fixes.

What roof pitch gives a usable loft?

Steeper pitches give more standing headroom across more of the loft floor; very low pitches leave only a crawl space. A steeper pitch also sheds snow sooner; the roof design starts from the Uniform Dwelling Code snow zone for your county (SPS 321.02). Pick the pitch with the loft layout in front of you.

Should the loft be open or enclosed?

Open lofts share heat and light with the room below and feel larger; enclosed lofts give privacy and quiet for an office or a bedroom. An open loft needs a guard along the edge; an enclosed one needs its own heat and ventilation.

How do I start?

Start the survey with your county and what you want the loft for. That sets the roof pitch, the truss type and the stair, which are the three decisions that make or break a loft.

Want this drawn for your program and your parcel? That is where a build actually starts.

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Sources

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Tell us what you want to build and we will draw this for your program, then confirm what it looks like on your parcel, which office permits it, and a realistic budget range. That conversation costs nothing.

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