Are “Amish-Built” Horse Barns Truly Offer the Best Construction and the Best Quality?

Many people associate “Amish-Built” with the quality and automatically assume that if they purchase, or hire Amish carpenters to build their horse barn or any other structure, they will get one of the best-built barns.  Perhaps, that used to be the case – NOT ANY MORE.  These days, “Amish-Built” phrase is being used & abused by many builders and dealers that carry Amish product, mostly for advertising purposes.  Reality is, Amish people do not build better barns and do not offer better quality.  Amish, are just like any other builders trying to compete with different Non-Amish companies and with each other for customers.
It’s not hard to notice that the trend of Amish owned companies is to offer the better price, not necessary the better product.  Why sweat and worry about quality, when you can just say “Amish Built”?  Yes, we do have to give credit to Amish people for brining different styles of sheds, barns and other nice looking product into the market, but to automatically assume that their product is better constructed, is simply false.  I’ve seen good quality Amish barns & sheds, but I have also seen some barns built by the Amish that would not pass any construction codes.  It’s good to offer a better price for a certain barn, but to cut corners & to use cheaper materials in order to offer the better price, is simply not acceptable.  The bottom line – No matter where you buy your horse barn from (Amish or Non-Amish) – get all the details about this barn (construction specifications, materials used, inside heights, etc.), compare, and go for the Best!

Modular Horse Barn is probably the most affordable way to build the center aisle barn for horses.  There are many styles and types of Modular Barns available.  Some known styles built by horse barn builders and manufacturers in Pennsylvania (Lancaster County) are: “Loft Barns”, “Economy Barns” (also known as Low Profile) and “Monitor Barns”.  Most of these barn styles are built with wooden siding and oak framing.

When shopping for a modular horse barn, we strongly recommend to look at the construction specifications and details.  One of the most important aspects in modular barn construction is the wall height and the height clearance inside of stalls and under loft in the center aisle.  As far as we know, only Loft Barns offer good height inside of stalls and center aisle.  If you take a Monitor Barn or Low Profile Barn, both of these barns have only 7’5 high walls and Monitor Barn only has 8′ of headroom under loft in the center aisle.  Such barns are OK to use for small horses and ponies, but what about larger horses?  For any large horse, we recommend at least 10′ headroom inside of stall and at least that much inside of the aisle.

It’s interesting to note, that despite inferior construction and lower wall height, a Monitor Barn costs approximately the same as a Loft Barn.  Therefore, for the same money, it only makes sense to go with the barn that gives you more headroom inside of stalls, aisle and the loft.  Happy Shopping!

Horse barns built on site are generally a little bit more expensive when comparing with modular barns and prefabricated barns, but the biggest advantage of a barn built completely on site, is the ability to have it built any size, any height and almost with unlimited options.

Unlike a modular barn, a horse barn built on site can have 12′ or even higher walls, that are so much needed for large 17-18 hand horses.  The modular barn is definitely more affordable and is a great option for any horse owner that has a smaller budget and good site access.  The disadvantage of a modular barn, is a requirement of a good site access in order to bring oversize modular barn sections.  On the other hand, a barn built completely on site only requires a limited access to bring lumber and perhaps a skid loader.  The other difference is the time spent on site.  A normal 36′x36′ modular barn will take 1 week to complete on site (after delivery of sections).  The same barn built completely on site, will require at least 3 weeks to build.

So, which barn is better, a modular barn or on-site stick built barn?  The answer to this question really depends on different aspects, such as site access, budget and height requirements.  If you have a good site access, can get a way with lower walls and are tight on budget, by all means, go ahead with a modular barn.  If 12′ walls are required, or no good access is available your only choice is the barn built on site.

As for quality of construction, that you have to see and compare for yourself.  You’ll find some quality built modular barns and poorly built modular barns, but, same can be said about any barn built on-site.  So, the only thing I’ll say – IF YOU CARE THAN COMPARE!