Steel roofing has many benefits, some obvious, some not so obvious – until faced with a potential disaster! Besides the ease of installation, it is durable, attractive, energy efficient, lightweight, recyclable and versatile. It will withstand deep snows, high winds and…it is fire resistant. The relevance and importance of fire resistance was recently spotlighted on […]

Hansen Pole Buildings is currently designing a building for a golf course in Washington. While basically a two story storage building, it also includes a meeting room area which can be utilized for gatherings (I believe throwing darts was mentioned). Anyhow – I digress….the real reason behind this article is a discussion of the solution […]

Not all, but many post frame buildings have steel siding. The reality is, steel is going to be the most durable and cost effective siding available. Hands down. When I was first constructing pole buildings, we used standard vinyl windows like those stocked and sold at major lumber retailers and big box stores. In order […]

It isn’t often I come right out and hammer on someone or something by name – but today I am naming names, it just has to be. One of our prospective clients asked us to compare with a building quote provided to them from Bens Do It Best Lumber, in Wisconsin. Their quote was prepared […]

Pole Buildings: Buy Local? My friend Janine recently posted this on Facebook: “I have always been big on shopping local, and when I recently was in the market for a new Garmin 910X, and intended to buy it at xxxxxx, I had several friends tell me “You can get it cheaper online”. Maybe so, but […]

Most of the steel roofed pole buildings supplied by Hansen Buildings include a reflective radiant barrier between the roof purlins and the roof steel to prevent condensation issues. Interested in more information on this product? Visit our page on the reflective radiant barrier difference. Surprisingly (or not surprisingly) very few DIY building owners ever run short of […]

A fair number of Building Officials are readers of my blog. This is not meant to offend any, but is an example of what pole building providers are faced with on a regular basis.  The following is a letter to one of our clients: “Mr. Fxxxxxx, This is the list items that need to be […]

Garage Door Maintenance The garage door is designed to last for years, but routine maintenance is required from time to time to catch minor issues before they develop into a larger problem that could result in a costly repair or even complete replacement of the garage door. In particular the moving parts such as the […]

A client posed this question: “We are planning to build a horse riding arena. We’ve talked with several all steel building companies. They say their buildings are going to be far less expensive than a pole building. Is this true?” Maybe, but probably not. If a very large clearspan (say 100 feet or wider) is […]

Hansen Pole Buildings Designer Bob always is keeping me on my toes. He loves to propose topics for blog discussion. Today it started with: “Real rough blog topic idea… What’s the difference between this pole barn with side sheds and a B2 Bomber?” “In this case… not much. After a couple laughs, the client seems […]

When it comes to low rise structures (loosely defined as having sidewall heights of 50 feet or less), most people consider one of three options – pole buildings, stud wall framed, or all steel. Stud framed (or stick built) structures are how most homes are typically built. Generally they require a great deal of excavation […]

Just like Olympic boxing, in one corner is “pole barn” and in the other “post frame building”. Nothing too amazing about this….until one delves in and finds out they are actually two terms commonly used for the same thing. The original pole barns, utilized round posts – basically trees, old power poles or similar. As […]

Over the years we have provided, to clients, several post frame buildings in a county in California which will remain unnamed in this blog. This particular county has an actual registered building engineer who does the structural plan reviews.  Sometimes this can be a good thing, sometimes a challenge. One of our clients recently submitted […]

Just in case I have never mentioned how much I appreciate the questions posed to me by Bob, one of the Hansen Pole Buildings’ Designers, I will do so here. Bob writes, “I got into a discussion with a gentleman in Kansas that liked our design approach (post spacing, double interior trusses, purlins on edge, […]

When planning the administrative offices of Hansen Pole Buildings, we looked at the most efficient method to heat and cool a building which would have 8000 square feet of finished space. After weighing all of the options, it was determined the answer would be hydronic radiant floor heating, poured within the concrete floor. Our particular […]

So many considerations go into the proper design of horse stall barns. Having a family expert (my professional horse trainer daughter Bailey) keeps me on my toes when it comes to giving advice. One crucial component of good horse health is air-flow and circulation. Besides designing stall barns for good ventilation with air intakes (such […]

Once again, we hop in the “Way Back Machine” and visit what to some might be viewed as ancient history. Sometimes in life – to know where we are, it is important to know where we came from. After selling my first post frame building business, M & W Building Supply, to Jim Betonte in […]

I’ve decided I rather like the sound of the word “lobular”. Say it a few times and it rather rolls of one’s tongue! As a prolific pole building contractor in the 1990’s (yeah, way back in the pre-Y2K days), I ran as many as 35 pole building crews in six states. We built a LOT […]

As always, I enjoy finding real life solutions to client’s challenges. One of the Building Designers, Rick, of Hansen Pole Buildings posed this to me today: “Another thing came up yesterday, got a guy that wants everything, and is on a cost crunch, nothing new there, but one item that he wants is parallel chord […]

Glulam Columns Recently one of the clients of Hansen Pole Buildings asked us to compare our building, to one being quoted by another supplier. One of the “features” of the other providers building was building glulam columns which were built out of three 2×6’s which were both glued and nailed. Whilst our client believed these […]

Before any of my readers drop their teeth due to me saying something I don’t exactly extol… is easy….read on! I’ve spent the last few days in Michigan – where I am being told no Building Official would EVER approve of a pole building designed with double trusses spaced 10 or 12 feet on center […]

Client to Hansen Pole Buildings Designer, Jim; “I talked to a local lumber yard and received a quote from them for a similar 40×60 with attic truss at 40#/sq and they were about 20K lower than your quote.  The 54K that you quoted seemed a little high when I received it.  The other quote did […]

Many of you are by now familiar with Jim, one of the senior Building Designers at Hansen Pole Buildings. Jim is great – he has an investigative mind, so poses many marvelous questions to me, many of which are incorporated into this blog. Today Jim asked me what I knew about a particular building system […]

For my step-son Kevin, this one word pretty much covers everything. He and his identical twin brother Josh have always gone by the premise of – if it moves- kill it, and if it doesn’t move, prod it until it moves, then kill it. Kevin loves to hunt, and if he isn’t hunting, he is […]

I know none of us has ever experienced this condition, but we all know of someone who has had the hurling issue, often after a period of personal discussion with some of the friends of George Thorogood. In this instance, I’m not thinking either of the example above, or the tasty oatmeal raisin cookies my […]