This Wednesday the Pole Barn Guru answers reader questions about best time to fill in uneven grade, best method to insulate walls with no housewrap, and addition of gable vents to help with condensation.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Maybe you can give some advice on our pole barn build. Our rat board is 6ft above ground, we were told the leveling would be after structure was erected. Should we build wall with cinder blocks or just fill fill fill? CATHY in ST. LOUIS

DEAR CATHY: It would have been so much easier to fill before construction started as it is now going to be a challenge to properly compact your fill whether you have a block wall between columns or not. If you do use a block wall, it will need to have a poured footing at or below frost line and be engineered to withstand the weight of the fill being placed against it. Ultimately it is probably most economical to fill, fill, fill (make sure to have it properly compacted no less often than every six inches.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I just built a pole barn garage. The builder used double bubble under the steel roof and also blew in R38 above the steel ceiling. I will be insulating the walls myself. Unfortunately I did not add house wrap under the steel siding. Would it be an issue if I used a thin foam board between the girts properly sealed and taped to act as my WRB, installed directly against the steel. Then use R-19 fiberglass batts over the foam board for the main insulation. I already have 14 rolls of the fiberglass insulation, so I would prefer to use it vs going in a different direction. Also, should I or should I not add a 6mil vapor barrier over the fiberglass? Any help would be appreciated! GREG in SLATINGTON

DEAR GREG:  if you place properly sealed insulation boards between your wall girts, then you need to use unfaced batts with no internal vapor barrier (ideally Rockwool). Otherwise, you will be trapping moisture between two vapor barriers. If doing as you propose, it may be necessary to mechanically dehumidify your interior.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I have a 50×100 cold storage building that condensates like crazy on the ceiling. It currently has ridge vents, but no soffit vents as it does not have an overhang. I was wondering if gable vents would help to alleviate the issue and what size would be needed? JACOB in LESTER PRAIRIE

DEAR JACOB: Adding air intakes may help, but are not a guarantee of being a fix. You would need to add 1200 square inches of NFVA (Net Free Ventilating Area) in air intake, in order for your exhaust (ridge) vents to adequately function.

You should look at your source of moisture. Assuming you have a concrete slab on grade, if it does not have a vapor barrier underneath, it needs to be sealed. Make sure gutter downspouts discharge water at least 10 feet away from building. Exterior needs to be graded away from building at least 5% for this same 10 feet.