Searching for a Contractor in All the Wrong Places Plenty of experts predict the Angie’s List business model — relying on consumers to pay for information they could get for free — is not sustainable. But Angie’s probably has a way to go before it runs out of steam. Yet even free review sites may […]

Roof Replacement – Steel Roofing Insured thunderstorm losses are much higher than they have ever been, and there is no sign they will return to lower levels any time soon.  Moreover, the current state of the insurance industry—from the focus on heavy marketing to standard replacement cost coverage on roofs—exacerbates these losses, creating a real […]

Pole Buildings and Insulation When designing a high-performance pole building – whether it be residential or commercial, the heating and cooling loads need to be shaved everywhere they can be. Thermal bridging creates hot spots or cold spots in the building envelope, and this makes a difference for heating and cooling costs—as well as for […]

Can I replace Gable with Gambrel Trusses? Welcome to our newest feature: 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.  Email all questions to: […]

While splicing two pieces of wood together end-to-end might on the surface seem to be not such a big deal, the reality is that it has always been challenging and at times difficult. If you missed yesterday’s blog – I encourage you to go back and read it.  Will take you but a few minutes. […]

The first time I was exposed to finger joints in wood and actually noticed them, was when I was working for Lucas Plywood and Lumber of Salem, Oregon in 1979 (yep, back in the Dark Ages). I will digress momentarily…. My son recently turned 18, but when he was younger he had some interesting questions […]

The questions, comments and concerns never seem to end in my profession. Part of what helps to keep things interesting for me after more than three decades. Today a client asks: “I would like to see what the credit would be to omit the steel siding. the red rust really bothers me so I am […]

Pole Barn Contractors I recently read this posting on an internet forum: “Who can build a good pole barn in this area? Looking to build a building and need someone that can build a sturdy pole barn.”  In my mind, this is a reasonable question. And (most importantly) the person posting the question is looking […]

What is Wainscot? Welcome to our newest feature: 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.  Email all questions to: PoleBarnGuru@HansenPoleBuildings.com DEAR POLE BARN […]

Hansen Pole Buildings’ Designer Rachel asked me today what the best solar panel roof slope? There are three main factors which go in to the calculation of how much sun a roof receives. Roof angle or pitch, roof orientation (how south-facing a roof is) and location. Since Rachel asked about roof slope, I will focus […]

For the most part, Building Department Plans Examiners are really good people. Most of them are just trying very hard to do a job which gets little or no appreciation. The primary responsibilities of plans examiners are to review building plans and specifications and double-check all calculations to ensure they comply with currently adopted codes. […]

While I have used metal plate connected pre-fabricated wood floor trusses in pole buildings (including one of my own buildings at home), they are not the norm. In the construction industry, much debate has been ongoing in regards to Section R501.3 of the International Building Code/International Residential Code: “R501.3 Fire protection of floors. Floor assemblies, not […]

In prior posts, I’ve mentioned phenol-resorcinol glues. When it comes to putting two or more pieces of wood together (like a glu-laminated column), this combination just can’t be beat for both performance and cost effectiveness. For those who want to be “in the know”, here is the straight scoop! WARNING: Failure to have aced high […]

Welcome to our newest feature: 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.  Email all questions to: PoleBarnGuru@HansenPoleBuildings.com   DEAR POLE BARN GURU:  Will […]

Glu-laminated columns are a laminated composite product manufactured from high-strength lumber. By using multiple plies of materials, natural defects are randomized creating greater column strength and a higher degree of reliability. Hansen Pole Buildings provides glulam columns manufactured by several different companies, so there are some slight variations. This article will speak more to the […]

Largely excerpted from an article in “Metal Roofing” on March 13, 2013 by Jim Austin Roofing battles Mother Nature’s most physical and visual weapon    Metal roofing stands up to the forces of nature as well as or better than any type of roofing material. When it comes to roofing, Mother Nature doesn’t play favorites when she unleashes […]

Most people who have ever considered construction of  any type of building in the United States have had to deal with their local jurisdiction’s Planning Department. Most of those same people may report this as being less than a fun experience. We Americans are fiercely independent, we value the ability to have the freedom to […]

Pole Building Construction We’ve spent the last few days in the capitol city of Quito, Ecuador. If it wasn’t for our daughter having spent her sophomore year of high school here as a Rotary Exchange Student, we probably never would have visited Ecuador.  Once we were here, we were hooked however. The scenery is breathtaking and amazingly […]

DEAR POLE BARN GURU:  Can these pole barn kits be placed on a basement foundation? MOTIVATED IN MEXICO MISSOURI DEAR MOTIVATED: I happen to live on a lake, which is nestled into a mountain valley. For the most part, the parcels of land around the lake tend to be very narrow and very steep (only […]

In Robert J. Hoyle, Jr. and Frank Woeste’s 1989 textbook “Wood Technology in the Design of Structures”, in Chapter 21 (Post-Frame Building Design) on Page 336 is the following: “Concrete encasement of the post in the ground contact area enlarges the friction surface and can generally be credit with a wood-to-concrete bond strength of 30 […]

And he huffed and he puffed and… Ok – couldn’t help myself when I thought about writing about straw houses! For years I’ve been fielding inquiries from people who are interested in integrating basic pole barn design, with straw bale infills, to use as residential structures. During a recent visit to a Home Depot in […]

Got Wood? While very few consumers visit retail lumberyards or big box home improvement centers nearly as often as I do, if it has been over a year since your last visit, prepare for some serious sticker shock. The sheet of 7/16” osb (oriented strand board) which retailed for a five spot and change last […]

This is Why Pole Barns Should be Engineered A line of strong thunderstorms moved through North Central Florida Saturday March 23, prompting severe thunderstorm warnings and a tornado warning. The photograph is of the remains of a pole barn, which is suspected to have been hit by a tornado. No other structures in the area […]

DEAR POLE BARN GURU:  I’m using 6″ x 6″ treated posts, do I need to use galvanized nails to attach my girts to the posts, do you recommend 20d galv  ringshanks driven w a palm-nailer vs 3-1/4″ 16d non galv ringshanks  I can shoot with gun? James in Golden, CO DEAR GOLDEN: Any time nails […]

March 3-9 was National Severe Weather Preparedness week, which inspired me to outline some ways to prepare your existing pole building to withstand hurricanes. The ASHRAE Guide for Buildings in Hot and Humid Climates recommends designing and constructing buildings in hurricane-prone areas using the following steps in order of priority: keep the building from blowing […]