Carpenters Love Wood: Saving Lumber & Reducing Construction Costs

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 05/24/2012
Carpenters Love Wood: Saving Lumber & Reducing Construction Costs

The smell of fresh sawdust on a crisp fall morning, the slap and ring of hammers on boards, the sturdy feel of new framing – what’s not to love? So it’s no surprise when builders set out to frame a pole building, sometimes they use a little more lumber than really needed. Sometimes a lot […]

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Post Frame vs. Tilt-up Concrete Construction

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 05/23/2012
Post Frame vs. Tilt-up Concrete Construction

Tilt-up concrete construction is a popular method of building which rivals steel covered post frame. According to the Tilt-up Concrete Association, at least 10,000 buildings are constructed annually which enclose more than 650 million square feet. Tilt-up concrete construction is not new; it has been in use for well over a century. Nationwide, more than […]

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A How To: Pouring a Concrete Slab

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 05/22/2012
A How To: Pouring a Concrete Slab

I was talking with one of our clients yesterday. His builder was concerned because constructing the new pole building first, and then pouring the concrete slab seemed backwards to him. Here is the information I shared with the client: While the preference is to have the building shell completed prior to pouring concrete slabs, at […]

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Steel Thickness: Just When I Think I Have Heard it All

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 05/21/2012
Steel Thickness: Just When I Think I Have Heard it All

Rachel is one of the Building Designers at Hansen Buildings. This afternoon she sends me an Instant Message.  Here is how it went: Rachel: “Want to hear a new one?” Me: “Always” Rachel: “This customer talked to a local builder about 29 gauge steel and the builder said… Me: “Drum roll please” Rachel: …..”Miller makes […]

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A New Pole Building: The World it be a Changing

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 05/18/2012
A New Pole Building: The World it be a Changing

You’ve shopped for a new pole building from several vendors, negotiated features and pricing and have finally ordered. Everything is clicking right along until…..you decide to change something. In the case of Hansen Buildings, we strive for quick deliveries, so we begin processing your order as soon as our client’s press the submit button on […]

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Fruit and Pole Building Comparisons

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 05/17/2012
Fruit and Pole Building Comparisons

Fruit…Comparing Apples to Bananas…. I received an Email this morning from a client I had been working with for some time, after he apparently did some “homework” on pole building comparisons: “First I want to thank you for your time, quotes and for clarifying several things for me. I ended up selecting xxx out of […]

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Tents are Temporary…Pole Buildings are Permanent

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 05/16/2012
Tents are Temporary…Pole Buildings are Permanent

I was recently researching fabric covered structures and came across an interesting article regarding tents. Now tents are expensive, not permanent and require a fair amount of maintenance. This story is from St. Louis, where officials are expected to more closely scrutinize the large tents commonly set up near downtown stadiums after one of the temporary […]

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Structural Building Design: I want….

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 05/15/2012
Structural Building Design: I want….

  Probably every day a client will request a specific structural feature or deviation, which is outside of what would be considered the most practical structural building design solution. These requests can range from larger poles, heavier gauge steel, to closer truss or column spacing. Today I actually had a client ask for ½” thick […]

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Building Plans: Why it Pays to Read Directions

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 05/14/2012
Building Plans: Why it Pays to Read Directions

One of our clients recently sent us the following by Email…. “The main issue we have is that the sidewall pieces and wainscot only add up to 8’7″, leaving almost 7″ of uncovered space between the top of the metal siding and the fascia all the way around.  We thought maybe it was a mistaken […]

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Fabric Buildings and Snow

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 05/11/2012
Fabric Buildings and Snow

The research for yesterday’s blog really got me searching on the ‘net for more information on fabric covered buildings. Having no real personal experience with them, it was time for me to be educated. Articles copyrighted by the Associated Press proved to be very informative. The company who had manufactured the collapsed Dallas Cowboy’s training […]

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Fabric Covered Building and Wind

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 05/10/2012
Fabric Covered Building and Wind

One of the Hansen Buildings designers recently asked me what I knew about fabric covered buildings. He was speaking with a client who was comparing one of our post frame buildings versus a fabric covered structure. My only up close and personal experience with a fabric structure was with the United States pavilion at the […]

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Materials List: Scary Disclaimer

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 05/09/2012
Materials List: Scary Disclaimer

From time-to-time our potential clients will send us a quote from another provider to compare.  Often it includes a materials list. Typically this happens when Brand X is “thousands” of dollars less expensive for what is supposed to be (but rarely is) the same building size, quality and features. One such company, provides only a […]

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Small Yards, Big Building Design

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 05/08/2012
Small Yards, Big Building Design

As new homes have shrunk in size, so have the lots the homes are constructed on. With this the space available for detached accessory buildings (primarily garages and workshops) has shrunk with them.  When you have a 40-foot wide lot, there’s only so much room for another building. But this doesn’t mean homeowners are willing […]

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The Late Steve Jobs on Design

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 05/07/2012
The Late Steve Jobs on Design

“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” – Steve Jobs When it comes to creating breakthrough products and services, corporate innovators can be great at designing ideas because in many ways, the creation process is the more exciting part of innovation. But a lot of hard […]

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Building Design: Best Client Line Ever

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 05/04/2012
Building Design: Best Client Line Ever

Sometimes a client will put forth a statement which says more than anything I could ever write. Bob, one of the Hansen Pole Buildings Building Designers, was talking on the phone with one of his clients this morning. Bob shared this with me: “Competitor was trying to tell my client that more posts and trusses […]

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Hiring a Necessary Evil: Wetlands Part III

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 05/03/2012
Hiring a Necessary Evil: Wetlands Part III

If you are knee deep in water with wetlands issues, there is one more avenue to explore before you give up your building plans, or move to dryer land.  My blogs of the past two days explore the background of wetlands, which might be good to review before reading my final thoughts on wetlands, and […]

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Help! I Have Wetlands! Part II

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 05/02/2012
Help!  I Have Wetlands! Part II

I know of some who have taken some drastic measures to avoid having their property classified as wetlands. This includes those who have done things such as soaking up mud puddles, after a heavy rainstorm, with towels so as to not have an inspection adversely affect how their property was used. If you have not […]

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Why Wetlands are Important

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 05/01/2012
Why Wetlands are Important

In the past year I have written about some fairly diverse construction issues. Today I will be discussing one which frankly, my prior knowledge of, was limited. Having provided thousands of buildings in Western Washington, I have listened to decades of prospective clients singing the blues about “wetlands” issues. Washington seems to be extremely sensitive […]

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Building Foundation Problems

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 04/30/2012
Building Foundation Problems

The NAHB (National Association of Home Builders) recently published an article to provide advice on the causes of structural issues. The article, “Lessons Learned From 10,000 Structural Claims”, was developed from a presentation given to the NAHB Building Product Issues Committee last September by its author, Walt Keaveny. There was some information in the article which […]

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Verifying Design Wind Speed

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 04/27/2012
Verifying Design Wind Speed

A client from Florida and I have been discussing wind speeds. The data we show in our system for his county was for the design wind speed to be 120 mph. Now where do we get our data? In many cases, direct from Building Departments. In other cases, we use the wind speed maps published […]

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Do You Need a General Contractor?

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 04/26/2012
Do You Need a General Contractor?

The goal of post frame (pole building) construction is to be able to get the most building, for the dollars invested. When a general contractor is hired to provide a constructed building, normally about 25% of the cost is going to the general contractor, who never lifts a tool or picks up a board at […]

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Building Plans: Plans, What Plans?

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 04/25/2012
Building Plans: Plans, What Plans?

During the first year Hansen Buildings was providing pole building kit packages, we provided the building plans and materials for a significantly large horse riding arena in western Washington. One evening, the builder called (I could be mistaken and hate to make assumptions, but I believe he may have been significantly lubricated when he dialed) […]

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Construction Time: How Long Will it Take to Build?

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 04/24/2012
Construction Time: How Long Will it Take to Build?

This is a popular question posed not only by many potential building owners who are considering doing the work themselves, but also by contractors who are considering erecting a building for others. Before the question of construction time can be addressed, let’s eliminate the one crucial variable – the dirt. The amount of time it […]

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Your DIY Pole Building Kit: Does it Come Pre-Cut?

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 04/23/2012
Your DIY Pole Building Kit: Does it Come Pre-Cut?

Winter before last, a large Midwest post frame building construction company invited us to visit their offices. This was an opportunity too good to pass up, especially as one of their offerings (at the time) was a precut DIY pole building kit package. Having spent three decades involved in the design and sales of over […]

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Rigid Insulation Boards Part II: Foam Board

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 04/20/2012
Rigid Insulation Boards Part II: Foam Board

 Yesterday’s blog featured a discussion of the various foam board products with application for your new pole building.  Used correctly, they provide good thermal resistance. Applied incorrectly can create a huge structural problem with pole buildings, along with safety issues. Protect all types of foam  insulation from direct sunlight. Over time, the sun’s ultraviolet rays […]

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