The 3 Hour Firewall for Pole Buildings
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 03/14/2012Guest blog by J.A.Hansen, owner of Hansen Buildings… There were several concurrent conferences with great speakers at the NFBA expo Mike the Pole Barn Guru, Eric (my business partner and President of Hansen Buildings) and myself recently attended in St. Louis, MO. The National Frame Builders’ Association website: www.nfba.org gives this description: “NFBA is the […]
Read moreMyth Busters: Wood Only Pole Buildings
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 03/13/2012Recently, while ‘net surfing, I stumbled across some interesting reading on a website for a hybrid steel frame (posts and roof framework) – but with wood girts and purlins building. I’ll present their information and then either agree or debunk it. This list was for the benefits and/or disadvantages of wood only pole buildings. My […]
Read morePole Building Price: It’s $8000 Less!
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 03/12/2012Saturday night….nearly 9 p.m. I know what you are thinking, it is after beer:30 and if anything I should be out listening to my step-son Adam’s band Skyline from Fargo (yes….a blatant plug for his band) play. Nope – we’re working! And the office phone rings. Now I am not certain who is playing with […]
Read morePost Holes: How do I get the Bottoms Even?
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 03/08/2012In construction of a typical standard stick frame (stud wall), masonry, all steel, or probably just about any other type of building, it is essential for the footings and foundation walls to be level. In layman’s terms – all at the same height. Pole buildings are much more forgiving than other types of construction, and […]
Read more- Categories: Constructing a Pole Building
- Tags: Columns Holes, Pole Building Foundation
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Pole Barn Post Spacing Revisited
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 03/07/2012Pole Barn Post Spacing Revisited By far, my most read blog has been on, “Pole Barn Truss Spacing”. With nearly 50% more reads than any other blog I have written, it clearly is a fan favorite. I’ve had it referenced by clients, building contractors and code officials. So when one of our clients wrote: “After […]
Read moreHutyaharapast Szorevel: Overhangs, yes!
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 03/06/2012Had you going with the title, didn’t I? Kutyaharapást szőrével is Hungarian for “The hair of the dog”. The English saying “the hair of the dog” dates back to the days of Shakespeare, and deals with curing a hangover with even more alcohol! Similarly, I want to cure the lack of building overhangs, with information […]
Read moreOverhangs, not Hung-over
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 03/05/2012Just my personal opinion, but I feel every building should have overhangs. How important are they in my book? I would rather do without doors, than without overhangs. Doors can be added in later on; with overhangs there is only one opportunity to do it right, or wrong. Here is a place where size matters. […]
Read moreInterior Walls: Not in My Inside
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 03/02/2012Pole buildings afford one of the great luxuries of buildings, without a premium price – large, open clearspan spaces. Without the need for interior walls to support roof systems, walls, if needed, can be placed anywhere. In stick frame (stud wall) construction, interior walls often become load bearing points to carry roof loads to the […]
Read more- Categories: Pole Barn Structure
- Tags: Post Frame Buildings, Non-structural Interior Walls, Partition Walls
- 1 comments
Stairway to Heaven
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 03/01/2012Stair design and location seems to be fairly baffling. There are some general rules which, if followed, make things much easier. These are based upon the International Building Codes and there do exist some localized code exceptions (always check with your Building Official prior to building stairs). In order to keep things simple, spiral stairs […]
Read moreGrade Change: Part of the Building is Underground
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 02/29/2012I have a pole building in my backyard. Now I live on a lake, in the mountains. My lot is a parallelogram – 60’ x 225’ and 14 degrees out of square. From the lake, the back of my lot is probably 150 feet higher in elevation. Hmmmm….grade change? Yes indeed, there is grade change […]
Read more- Categories: Pole Barn Structure
- Tags: Concrete Foundation, Concrete Walls, EPS Foam, Foam Blocks
- 2 comments
Building Code: It’s Just a Pole Building…Who Cares?
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 02/28/2012For the most part, obtaining a building permit for a pole barn, or a waiver of the need to obtain one, is very easy. In my humble opinion, far too easy. The reality is… code enforcement agencies generally do NOT require engineering design documents for pole buildings. Pole buildings are highly stressed, structurally indeterminate structures […]
Read more- Categories: Building Department, Pole Barn Structure
- Tags: Ag Exempt, Pole Building Compliance, Pole Building Permit
- 7 comments
Spray Foam Insulation: What’s the Stink?
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 02/27/2012What’s the Stink? One popular, although expensive, method of insulating pole buildings is with spray foam insulation. Besides cost, spray foam can also bring with it problems in the form of lingering odors. These odors are coming from a catalyst in the foam, or from foam which is off-ratio, not mixed well or sprayed too […]
Read more- Categories: Pole Barn Planning, Building Contractor
- Tags: Insulating Pole Buildings, Odor From Spray Foam, Spray Foam
- 1 comments
Fastest Building Retains Construction Quality
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 02/24/2012And I Thought I Was Fast Sunday, October 27, 1996 was a special day for my pole building construction company. Bob Vila’s Home Again was airing at 10 a.m. Pacific. Beginning at 9:30, live on the same network, we set a world record for a “fastest building”, the fastest site-constructed two car garage, completing the […]
Read moreThe 3 Largest Non-Construction Mistakes: Pole Barn Planning
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 02/23/2012Many people have literally built their own pole buildings – from digging the holes, until the last screw is driven. Some do portions of the work themselves and hire a builder to drive the nails, while others employ a general contractor to do everything for them. Most adore their new buildings. Some are deeply disillusioned. […]
Read moreDial 9-1-1 for Pole Building Contractor!
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 02/22/2012When I opened my first business, back in 1981 (yes, I am dating myself), my first regular repeat client was a fireman from Woodburn, Oregon. He was a great person to deal with, always paid his bills on time, and never complained. I’d nearly forgotten about him, until I heard the following saga from a […]
Read moreLove, It Includes the Pole Barn
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 02/21/2012It may not be possible to put a price on love, but the square footage and location of where the love story takes place is a different story. Many couples take their potential partner’s “digs” (which includes the garage/shop and any other pole building) into account before entering into a relationship, according to a new study, […]
Read more- Categories: Pole Barn Planning
- Tags: Pole Barn, Dream Building, Man Cave, Real Estate And Love
- 1 comments
Wood vs All Steel Buildings and Fire
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 02/20/2012Wood. It Doesn’t Melt The steel/wood steel/wood debate, as far as building structure, seems never ending. The “all steel” building manufacturers highly tout the resistance of their heavy steel frames against fire. But just maybe, the all steel buildings are not everything they are promoted to be. I’m a member of several discussion groups on […]
Read morePole Building Footings and Frost Depth
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 02/17/2012“Except where erected on solid rock or otherwise protected from frost, foundation walls, piers and other permanent supports of buildings and structures larger than 400 square feet in area or 10 feet in height shall extend below the frost line of the locality, and spread footings of adequate size shall be provided where necessary to […]
Read morePole Building Prescriptive Requirements
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 02/16/2012In a misguided effort to make things “easier” for potential building owners and builders, some Building Departments have prescriptive requirements for non-engineered pole buildings. This means if someone walks in the Building Department door and wants to construct a pole building, as long as the building owner (or builder) agrees to build to match the […]
Read moreShould You Invest in Pole Building Engineering…or Not?
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 02/15/2012Clients ask me, “What is the difference between your engineered and non-engineered buildings”? In the case of Hansen Buildings, the only difference is the engineered buildings have been reviewed by a professional engineer, who is registered in the state where the building is to be constructed. This review is for structural adequacy. And, following the […]
Read moreSnow Brakes Help Keep the Snow on Your Roof
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 02/14/2012I live in a lake side home, in the mountains. Typically it snows here in the winter. We are not talking a few flakes or a few inches….we are talking about feet of snow. My garage is adjacent to the stairs leading down to the house, from our parking lot. The garage has a 7/12 […]
Read more- Categories: Uncategorized
- Tags: Snow Guards, Steel Snow Brakes, Slick Roof
- 2 comments
Rigid Foam Plastic Insulation
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 02/13/2012One of the joys of what I do is I get to learn new things every day. I’ve often thought to myself, the day I stop learning, is the day I am dead. In today’s lesson….one of our clients has taken his engineer sealed plans to his Building Department to obtain a building permit. The […]
Read moreConcrete Slab Calculations
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 02/10/2012One of our Building Designers asked me the other day if a 10% “shrink factor” should be used when advising how much concrete it takes to pour a concrete slab on grade. This particular Building Designer “in a previous life” had been a building contractor. It had been his practice to always order 10% more […]
Read moreFiberglass Insulation is Boring
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 02/09/2012Fiberglass insulation is difficult to write about. In my opinion just about everyone knows about this topic or how the product works. There just isn’t much sizzle to the topic. I would hate to work for an advertising agency or public relations firm having to write about this stuff on a weekly or monthly basis! […]
Read moreConcrete Collars Keep Columns in the Ground
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 02/08/2012Wind forces acting on relatively lightweight buildings can apply significant uplift forces to the foundation system. Post-frame (pole) buildings are relatively light buildings which typically feature several large wall openings. When I ask folks what they think the greatest pressure on their building is, invariably they answer with either “snow” or “wind trying to push […]
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