Barndominium Builders in Jasper, GA

Barndominium builders in Jasper are working in the mountains, not just near them. Jasper calls itself The First Mountain City, and it is the county seat of Pickens County, which lies in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The county's high point, Mount Oglethorpe at 3,288 feet, is the southernmost peak in the Blue Ridge and was once the southern end of the Appalachian Trail. Jasper sits at about 1,463 feet, and the ground climbs fast from there. A Jasper barndo is a mountain build first and a metal building second.

How a mountain lot changes the plan

• Access: Steel packages and long trusses come on long trailers. A switchback gravel road that a pickup handles easily can stop a delivery truck. We check road grade, curves and turnaround room before the order is placed.
• Pad: Few mountain lots are flat. A level pad for a wide barndo generally means cutting into the slope and filling the low side, and the cut face needs a drainage plan.
• Foundation: Stepped stem walls or a post-frame structure can follow the grade with less earthwork than one large slab.
• Views and wind: Ridge-top sites are exposed. Roof fastening and overhead door ratings matter more where nothing breaks the wind.

The Pickens County permit office

Pickens County Planning and Development manages rezoning, special use permits and plat approvals, issues residential and commercial building permits, reviews erosion and sediment control plans, and runs building inspections. The county has zoning, with a published zoning map, a rezoning process, special use permits and variances. Chapter 38 of the county code covers land development standards. For a barndo, the zoning district of your parcel determines what the county will allow, so that is our first lookup.

Paperwork the county asks for

The county's residential packet includes a building permit application, an owner-builder affidavit and an authorized permit agent form when applicable, plus electrical, plumbing and HVAC, and insulation affidavits and a Georgia Energy Code blower door form. That blower door form matters for a metal home. Air leakage is tested, so sealing has to be done right the first time.

Environmental Health sign-off before power

Pickens County is specific about one step: final approval from Environmental Health must be on file before the power company will turn on permanent power. In-slab plumbing has to pass a water or air test, and the county notes the pipe can be sealed for testing at the cleanout between the house and the septic tank after the test is approved. On a mountain parcel, the septic site can be the hardest piece of flat-enough, deep-enough soil to find, so we locate it before we fix the building footprint.

Two watersheds in one county

The eastern half of Pickens County drains to the Etowah River sub-basin and the western half to the Coosawattee, both part of the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa basin. On steep ground, runoff from a large barndo roof concentrates quickly. We plan gutters, downspout discharge and swales so the water reaches the natural drainage without cutting a gully down the slope or across the driveway.

Marble underfoot

Marble was the county's first big industry. The Georgia Marble Company operates at Marble Hill near Tate, marble from Pickens County went into the Lincoln Memorial statue, and the county is one of the few places in the world with pink marble. In Jasper, the Tate House was built by marble baron Sam Tate in the 1920s, and the Georgia Marble Festival runs each October. For a builder, marble country is a hint that rock can turn up in excavation.

Growth, slower and steadier

Pickens County grew from 29,431 residents in 2010 to 33,216 in 2020, and Jasper from 3,684 to 4,084. Large-acreage mountain communities such as Big Canoe, Bent Tree and the Preserve at Sharp Mountain are nearby, and planned communities may have their own architectural rules. Acreage outside them generally leaves more room for a barndo with a full shop.

Getting here

GA 5 and GA 515 bypass the city to the west, GA 53 runs through downtown, and I-575 connects by way of GA 5/515, ending just south of the city. That is the route steel and concrete will travel, and it is a good one until the last few miles of mountain road.

The inspection line-up, step by step

Pickens County publishes its building inspection sequence, and a barndo moves through it like any house: footing before concrete; masonry and poured walls over 4 feet; foundation waterproofing and drainage before backfill; in-slab plumbing; slab; sheathing; housewrap with laps taped and windows in; rough-in after roofing, framing and trades; insulation and energy code before walls and ceilings are covered; temporary-to-permanent power; and final. The housewrap and insulation stops are where a metal-skinned home is won or lost, because those are the layers that keep moisture off the steel.

Erosion plans need state approval first

The county asks for three hard copies of an erosion, sedimentation and pollution control plan prepared by a design professional, and the state soil and water commission must approve it before a local land disturbance permit is issued. A rezoning, if one is needed, does not authorize development by itself either. We put those approvals at the front of the schedule.

History in the name

Jasper was founded in 1853 as the seat of the new Pickens County, created on December 5 of that year from parts of Cherokee and Gilmer counties. The town was incorporated in 1857 and became a city in 1957, and it is named for William Jasper, a Revolutionary War hero. The county covers about 233 square miles, nearly all land, which is a lot of ridge and hollow for about 33,000 people.

Own land around Jasper? Call (678) 501-7569 or

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and we will start with the road in and the septic site.