Inside a DIY Barndominium Build Finished with Trim-Tex

“I'm a doer,” says Keirsten Armstrong of Amery, Wisconsin. “[My husband] Justin is a planner, and I'm just a doer. I just started the planning process without him and getting in contact with the county and all that stuff. One thing led to another, and now I guess here we are — we were just sick of the housing market and not finding what we wanted, so we figured we would build it instead. We've never owned a home before, so it was a tricky thing to just jump into building your dream home on the first go-around. But we figured it out, I guess!”

And they did figure it out: Keirsten, Justin and their three children are now living in a barndominium of their own design.

Read on to find out why Keirsten and her family chose to construct their own barndo, and the Trim-Tex beads they chose to finish it, in this edition of our “Jobsite Journals” series!

The 'barndo' build

Keirsten always liked the look of old farmhouses — the large, open spaces, the charming wooden framing, the rustic aesthetic. After she and her family experienced frustrations trying to buy a home, with multiple sales falling through after failed inspections, they started exploring other, more DIY options. Then Keirsten learned about the concept of a barndominium, a growing trend in residential construction, and realized it could be a perfect fit for her family.

“Justin grew up farming, so the idea of putting up a post-frame structure seemed simple to him,” Keirsten tells us over a video call from her completed barndo. “If we could keep everything rectangular, square and simple, we could still have this big, beautiful house without it being extra difficult on our end since we were doing a DIY project. Obviously, it's still difficult, but doing one thing at a time and literally just taking it one step at a time made it easier.”

Keirsten and Justin served as their own GCs on the project, bringing in a series of pinch hitters for subcontracting work, like Chad Hesser of Hesser Drywall. The process wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t quick either. But eventually, their barndo came together beautifully.

“There's probably plenty of times where tears were shed, and we were questioning what the heck we were doing,” says Keirsten. “Yes, it's definitely been worth it, 100%. Now, looking back, it's easier to be like, oh, it wasn't that bad. In the middle of it, it seems like everything's falling apart. But it was 110% worth it and much better than buying a starter home that we were going to have to fix up anyway.”

The Trim-Tex products that helped build the barndo

Hesser Drywall was brought in to hang and finish all the drywall in the barndominium, and as a Trim-Tex superfan, Chad introduced Keirsten to a wide range of options from our diverse catalog to finish her home. (You can learn all about Chad and Hesser Drywall in his “Finisher Spotlight” here.)

Let’s dig into which drywall products Hesser Drywall and Keirsten’s family chose for their DIY home, and why they chose them!

Buttboard Drywall Backer

A barndominium like this one has sky-high ceilings and gigantic, open wall spaces. For this reason, many drywallers in Keirsten’s region refused to help with the project. But Chad, as a longtime Trim-Tex user, knew of an accessory that would help him tackle the many butt joints all this unbroken drywall would create: Buttboard Drywall Backer.

In many cases, Buttboard cuts the time it takes to finish a butt joint in half. This OSB solution is engineered to taper toward the middle so that, when it’s installed behind the drywall, it pulls back the ends of the boards. This makes each butt joint require far less time and material to finish, which proved instrumental on this project.

Buttboard was such a huge asset for the barndo build, in fact, that we’ve already published an entire case study on their experience using it. You can check out the full rundown on how Buttboard boosted efficiency for Chad’s crew here!

Fast Edge® Roll

Another hallmark of a farmhouse-style home is large, sloped ceilings with lots of long runs of off-angle inside corners. In these areas, paper tape simply won’t cut it; you need something stronger for nice, straight lines that won’t crack over time.

To solve this problem, Hesser Drywall recommended using Trim-Tex’s Fast Edge® Roll. Why? It’s quick, it’s powerful and, because it’s made of laminated paper over a durable vinyl core, it will look great for a long time to come. By running the roll over all the off-angle inside corners, Chad and his crew were able to rapidly finish these areas, and Keirsten will be able to enjoy clean, crack-free lines on her gorgeous vaulted ceilings.

Jumbo Corner Bead

Before starting this project, Keirsten had no idea just how many options there are for the look of drywall corners. After Chad guided her through a range of bead choices, from sharp angles to chamfered edges, they ultimately landed on our classic vinyl Jumbo Corner Bead for all her corners.

“I want something that's very timeless,” Keirsten tells us. “There's some really cool trends out there that are beautiful, and as much as I would love to do some of the trendy things, I wanted to pick things that we were going to love forever. That's where the square edges come into play for me. I just wanted to keep everything simple.”

Architectural Z Shadow

In other places, the crew decided to split the difference between minimalist simplicity and a dash of flair. A perfect example: along their flush base trim, they chose our popular Architectural Z Shadow Bead, leaving behind an elegant reveal detail between the wood and the drywall. The effect is eye-catching but not overpowering — a perfect complement to the rustic charm of the rest of the barndominium. Learn more about how to achieve this kind of look here.

Architectural Reveal Bead

Finally, on a ceiling in her walk-in closet, Hesser Drywall added an interesting ceiling design using our Architectural Reveal Bead. Of course, given its location, not everyone will notice this gorgeous ceiling design, but for those who do, they won’t soon forget it — almost like a small reward for their visitors’ patience.

“It just does this box around the perimeter, a foot out, and it looks so good,” says Keirsten. “I don't know what someone would charge to add that on a build, but I think it really elevated the space. Of course, it's my closet, and no one's going to see that, so I wish we would have done that in other areas [laughs].”

Thank you to Keirsten for taking the time to walk us through her barndo build, and to Chad Hesser and Hesser Drywall for recommending Trim-Tex for this project. If you are interested in building your own barndo, you’re in luck — Keirsten is now taking everything she learned during this project and offering resources to others who want to plan, budget and execute their own barndominiums. To check out more of Hesser Drywall’s work, you can follow them on Instagram here.

These products are just the tip of the iceberg of what Trim-Tex has to offer. To check out the full line of beads and accessories, get our comprehesive drywall catalog — you can get started by requesting your free copy using the button below.