For a lot of Minnesota families, the appeal of a barndominium isn't just the house, it's the shop attached to it. A heated workspace for vehicles, tools, or a home business, right off the kitchen, with no separate trip out to a detached building in January. Combining living space and shop space under one roof is one of the biggest advantages of post-frame construction, but it only works when the layout, insulation, and mechanicals are planned together from the start. The key is choosing an experienced, local barndominium builder who designs the house and the shop as one integrated project.
An attached shop changes more than the floor plan — it changes how the whole building is engineered and finished, including:
- Separate HVAC zoning: so shop temperatures don't affect the living space
- Reinforced shop flooring: sized for vehicles, equipment, or heavy tools
- Oversized doors: sized for the vehicles or equipment you actually own
- Sound & dust separation: walls and doors that keep shop noise out of the house
- Shared utilities: plumbing, electrical, and heating routed efficiently between both spaces
Getting all of that right takes more coordination than building the house and the shop as two separate projects — which is exactly why they shouldn't be planned that way.
Experienced Barndominium & Shop Builder
A builder experienced with combined house-and-shop projects brings:
- Integrated design: house and shop planned as one building, not two
- Engineered designs: through an authorized Wick Buildings dealer
- Foundation planning: sized for both living space and heavy shop use
- Custom door & bay sizing: based on your vehicles, trailers, or equipment
- References from past combined projects: that prove the layout works in practice
Wick Buildings has been engineering post-frame structures for the Upper Midwest for over 100 years, and Allan Dorney Construction partners with Wick because the systems hold up to exactly this kind of combined use — heated living space and a working shop under the same clear-span roof. Every project is handled by one team from design through final finishes.
One Building, Two Purposes, Zero Compromises
Done right, an attached shop doesn't feel like an afterthought bolted onto a house — it feels like it was always part of the plan, because it was. That's the difference between a barndominium that just has a shop, and one that was actually designed around having one.
Custom barndominiums with attached shops from Allan Dorney Construction are built throughout Minnesota by an experienced local contractor with the references and follow-through to back every project.