Barndominium Builders in Cartersville, GA

As barndominium builders serving Cartersville, we like Bartow County's permitting because it is laid out in a clear order. Cartersville is the county seat, about 42 miles northwest of downtown Atlanta on I-75, and much of the county is rural land where a barndo with a shop makes a lot of sense. Here is how a project typically moves, based on the county's own instructions for obtaining a building permit.

1. Confirm the zoning. Bartow County tells owners to verify that the lot is zoned for a house before anything else. A Zoning Verification Form and a survey plat go into the permit package later.

2. Check the covenants. The county also says to verify that the planned structure complies with any restrictive covenants, which are recorded with the Clerk of Superior Court. Some subdivisions limit metal siding or outbuildings, so we read these before designing the exterior.

3. Get an address and a driveway permit. A driveway permit must be issued if you are installing one, and a lot on a state road involves the Georgia Department of Transportation.

4. Sewer tap or septic permit. If the property has public sewer, you apply for a tap. If not, you apply for a septic tank permit with the Bartow County Environmental Department. Reusing an old tank requires a letter from the Health Department confirming it works.

5. Erosion and sedimentation permit. Land disturbance needs an E&S permit, and the county requires an approved E&S permit, meaning you have passed the first two erosion inspections, before the building permit is issued. That puts silt fence and site stabilization ahead of the slab.

6. Water. The package includes a water user agreement from the public provider unless the home will use a well.

Only then does the building permit application go in. Our schedule follows that same order, which keeps steel deliveries from showing up before the site is legal to build on.

Valley, lake and ridges

The Etowah River flows through a broad valley south of downtown on its way west to Rome, where it forms the Coosa. Lake Allatoona, a large U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoir formed by Allatoona Dam near Cartersville, covers most of the Etowah in the southeast part of the county, with Red Top Mountain State Park on a peninsula between its arms. Lots near the river or the lake need flood maps checked and, near the lake, any Corps boundary confirmed before planning a building pad.

Weather numbers from the Cartersville airport

Normals from the Cartersville Airport show about 48.06 inches of precipitation and only 0.6 inches of snow a year. Records run from 108 F in summer down to minus 9 F. A metal building has to handle that full swing, which is why we pay attention to thermal breaks, insulation continuity and condensation control at doors and eaves.

Room to build

Cartersville counted 23,187 residents in 2020, and Bartow County had 108,901. Employers like Anheuser-Busch, Georgia Power, Komatsu and Shaw Industries keep the area busy, while the county outside town still has the kind of acreage that suits a barndominium with a large shop. The Etowah Indian Mounds south of town and the county's history as Cass County before its 1861 renaming give the area a long story of its own.

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