2 Story Barndominium Floor Plans in Oklahoma

A second storey doubles the living space on the same slab and roof, which is why it appeals on a tight lot or a costly foundation. It also changes three things a single-storey plan never has to think about: a stair that takes real floor area, upstairs bedrooms that each need a way out through a window, and a family that has to get downstairs to shelter when a warning sounds in the middle of the night.

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What actually changes with this feature

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

The stair takes more floor than you expect

The 2024 International Residential Code sets a stair at least 36 inches wide, risers no more than 7-3/4 inches and treads at least 10 inches deep, with at least 6 feet 8 inches of headroom. Oklahoma's amendments add that the top and bottom riser in a flight may vary by 3/4 inch. At a 9-foot floor-to-floor height that is a stair of roughly 14 risers and a run of about 11 feet, plus landings, on both floors.

Every bedroom upstairs needs a window out

The model code requires an emergency escape and rescue opening in every sleeping room, with a net clear opening of at least 5.7 square feet and the bottom of the opening no more than 44 inches above the floor. In a steel or post-frame building, window placement upstairs is set by the frame spacing, so the bedroom layout and the frame layout have to be drawn together.

Guards on the landing and any balcony

Any open-sided floor, stair or landing more than 30 inches above the floor below needs a guard at least 36 inches high, with no opening that passes a 4-inch sphere. An open landing that overlooks the great room is a guard; so is an upstairs porch or balcony. Horizontal cable or rail designs need care to meet the opening rule.

A ground-floor safe room near the stair

FEMA's guidance allows a residential safe room inside the house, and sets 3 square feet per occupant as the minimum for a tornado safe room in a one- or two-family dwelling. A reinforced room under the stair landing or beside it, used as a pantry or coat closet day to day, puts the shelter on the path everyone already takes.

Plan the trip downstairs

With bedrooms upstairs, the shelter belongs at the foot of the stair

The National Weather Service office in Norman keeps Oklahoma's tornado record from 1950 onward. Its monthly table averages 59.4 tornadoes a year statewide, with May alone averaging 24.4 and April 12.5. FEMA's safe room guidance points out that an interior safe room offers the benefit of quicker access, and in a two-storey house that means placing it on the ground floor within a few steps of the stair, never at the far end of a garage or across a yard. Oklahoma does not require a shelter; if you add one, the State's adopted code requires it to be built to ICC 500.

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.

Bedrooms up, living down

1,500 sq ft ground floor / 1,100 sq ft upper floor

Kitchen, living, a guest room and the laundry on the ground floor, three bedrooms and two baths upstairs. The safe room sits beside the stair and doubles as the pantry. A covered porch runs the long south side.

Main-floor primary suite

1,800 sq ft ground floor / 800 sq ft upper floor

The primary suite stays downstairs for later years, with two bedrooms and a bath upstairs for children or guests. The upstairs landing looks over a double-height living room behind a guard.

Shop below, house above

1,200 sq ft shop / 1,200 sq ft living above

A full-width shop on the slab with living quarters over it, reached by an enclosed stair with its own entry. The floor between is the fire separation, so it carries 5/8-inch Type X gypsum on the shop side under the model code's garage rules. The shelter goes in the shop slab near the stair foot.

Ways to build this

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

Custom Plans

Custom barndominium plans for Oklahoma parcels: floor plan, shop layout, safe room spot and septic field drawn to your land and your local code office.

Turnkey Builds

Turnkey barndominiums in Oklahoma: land check, plans, septic, shell and finished interior under one contract, from raw acreage to move-in.

Steel Frame Homes

Steel frame homes in Oklahoma: red-iron barndominium frames with wide clear spans, bolted to a slab designed for the clay and wind on your land.

2-Story Barndominium: common questions

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

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Is a two-story barndominium harder to build than a single story?

It adds a floor system, a stair and more complex framing, and in a clear-span steel building the upper floor needs its own structure inside the shell. In exchange you get twice the living space over the same slab and roof. Which comes out ahead depends on the site and the foundation, so price both.

How much space does the staircase take?

More than people expect. A straight run at the 2024 IRC's maximum 7-3/4-inch riser and minimum 10-inch tread needs roughly 11 feet of length for a 9-foot floor-to-floor height, at least 36 inches of width, and a landing at top and bottom, and it takes that footprint on both floors.

Do upstairs bedrooms need egress windows?

Yes. The model code requires an emergency escape and rescue opening in every sleeping room, with at least 5.7 square feet of net clear opening and a sill no more than 44 inches above the floor. Plan window positions with the frame layout.

Where should the storm shelter go in a two-story plan?

On the ground floor, as close to the stair as the plan allows. FEMA notes that an interior safe room offers quicker access. Oklahoma does not require a shelter, but if you add one the State's code requires ICC 500 construction and a 250 mph design wind speed.

Can the upstairs be a loft instead of full rooms?

Yes, and a loft is often the cheaper route to extra space. An open loft is treated differently from an enclosed floor, and a loft used for sleeping has rules of its own. See the loft plans for the details.

Does Oklahoma have a height limit for houses?

There is no single statewide figure to quote; building height limits come from city and county zoning, and they vary. Ask the local zoning office for the limit on your parcel before the eave height is fixed.

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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