Plywood or OSB; OSB or Plywood? Oriented strand board (OSB) long ago became the market leader, in relationship to plywood. As much as 75% of all sheathing is now OSB, thanks mostly to cost conscious buyers. OSB versus Plywood Prices Prices for commodities like structural panels are notoriously volatile, and plywood can often be nearly […]

Author’s Note: This is part 10 of a series of blogs written from a 6500+ motorcycle trip from WA to Ohio and back.  See Blog from Oct. 15th for the beginning…and hang on for the ride! Nebraska on the Motorcycle: Classic Vehicle Storage Day ten, I was on the last leg of my motorcycle journey […]

Author’s Note: This is part 9 of a series of blogs written from a 6500+ motorcycle trip from WA to Ohio and back.  See Blog from Oct. 15th for the beginning…and hang on for the ride! It IS a Small World As my “Zen” motorcycle trip approached the home stretch, I was enjoying glorious beautiful […]

Welcome to Ask the Pole Barn Guru – where you can ask questions about building topics, with answers posted on Mondays.  With many questions to answer, please be patient to watch for yours to come up on a future Monday segment.  If you want a quick answer, please be sure to answer with a “reply-able” […]

The Rumors One Hears Author’s Note: This is part 8 of a series of blogs written from a 6500+ motorcycle trip from WA to Ohio and back.  See Blog from Oct. 15th for the beginning…and hang on for the ride! I suppose not every customer walks into a lumberyard fully dressed in leathers. I have […]

Finding Stuff on the Road Author’s Note: This is part 7 of a series of blogs written from a 6500+ motorcycle trip from WA to Ohio and back.  See Blog from Oct. 15th for the beginning…and hang on for the ride! There are many Building Departments who offer nifty little handouts to property owners who […]

Biking On Down the Highway Author’s Note: This is part 6 of a series of blogs written from a 6500+ motorcycle trip from WA to Ohio and back.  See Blog from Oct. 15th for the beginning…and hang on for the ride! Time for another lumber yard visit. They are in Michigan (I am really not […]

Author’s Note: This is part 5 of a series of blogs written from a 6500+ motorcycle trip from WA to Ohio and back.  See Blog from Oct. 15th for the beginning…and hang on for the ride! Still in Wisconsin and I get into a discussion with a former builder. He tries to tell me the […]

Welcome to Ask the Pole Barn Guru – where you can ask questions about building topics, with answers posted on Mondays.  With many questions to answer, please be patient to watch for yours to come up on a future Monday segment.  If you want a quick answer, please be sure to answer with a “reply-able” […]

Further Down the Highway Author’s Note: This is part 4 of a series of blogs written from a 6500+ motorcycle trip from WA to Ohio and back.  See Blog from Oct. 15th for the beginning…and hang on for the ride! I am the curious sort. I enjoy finding out how other people do things, as […]

Author’s Note: This is part 3 of a series of blogs written from a 6500+ motorcycle trip from WA to Ohio and back.  See Blog from Oct. 15th for the beginning…and hang on for the ride! The Browns Valley to Browns Valley part of my “Zen” ride (yes I made a loop) involved 9 days […]

On The Road Author’s Note: This is part 2 of a series of blogs written from a 6500+ motorcycle trip from WA to Ohio and back.  See Blog from Oct. 15th for the beginning…and hang on for the ride! In yesterday’s post, I had mentioned all of the old barns I saw falling down. Not […]

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance In my first year of architecture school at the University of Idaho, Robert M. Pirsig’s 1974 book “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” was required reading for one of my second year architecture classes. The book describes a 17-day motorcycle journey from Minnesota to California. Earlier this […]

Welcome to Ask the Pole Barn Guru – where you can ask questions about building topics, with answers posted on Mondays.  With many questions to answer, please be patient to watch for yours to come up on a future Monday segment.  If you want a quick answer, please be sure to answer with a “reply-able” […]

If you happen to be considering building a pole building in a part of the country where sidewall columns MUST (it is a mindset, not a structural requirement) be every eight feet and trusses MUST be every two or four feet, then it is time to take a leap of faith out of the very […]

We receive more and more requests from clients who want their pole building roofs designed to support the weight of solar panels. While solar panels are a favorite of those who are trying to “exit the grid” and the “green” folks, they pose never before found threats to fire fighters. Fire fighters may suffer electrical […]

When the construction industry imploded in 2008, pole barn builders and suppliers stripped their pole buildings down to the bare essentials (or, in some cases, to less than the bare essentials). This was done in an effort to make the pole buildings more affordable and to not be underpriced by another provider or builder. Even […]

Knowing the Competition Better Than They Know Themselves Hansen Pole Buildings provides post frame building kit packages. Lots of them and in all 50 states! As such, we have lots of clients provide quotes from our competitors, with the idea we will meet or beat the pricing – of lesser featured or poorer quality buildings. […]

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I have a question regarding truss loads, specifically ceiling loads, for a pole barn.  I know you have touched on this before, but I was hoping for a little more detail. I recently purchased a property that came with an existing pole barn, and other than a few material ratings I […]

The International Building Code (IBC) is the resultant of years of practical experience and sound engineering practice. The authors are a collective group of Building Officials and engineers, whose mission is to protect the safety of those who will be utilizing the structures built under the auspices of the Code. For practical purposes, every word, […]

Truss Bracing In The Way? Thirty three years ago, when I first dipped a toe into the post frame industry, roof truss bracing was pretty much an afterthought. Even though I came to pole buildings from the prefabricated metal plated truss business, bracing (especially of bottom chords) was pretty much a subject left up to […]

What Is The Price Per Square Foot? If one thinks about this question for very long, they might recognize the absurdity of this question. It would be about as practical as going to buy a new car….and asking the price per pound. Or shopping for a new computer….and asking the price per gigabyte of memory. […]

I grew up having to slide open hangar doors to get my Dad’s 182 Cessna in and out. I didn’t like sliding hangar doors as a design solution then, and I like them even less as an adult. Let’s start the discussion with simple….just “plain old” sliding hangar doors, mounted on the outside of the […]

Welcome to Ask the Pole Barn Guru – where you can ask questions about building topics, with answers posted on Mondays.  With many questions to answer, please be patient to watch for yours to come up on a future Monday segment.  If you want a quick answer, please be sure to answer with a “reply-able” […]

Personally, I am no fan of having buildings exempted from structural plan reviews. As most of the agricultural exemption buildings tend to be pole buildings, some of them are prone to being under designed, under built, and subsequently fall down – which does not cast a fair light on the providers of pole buildings (such […]