Hopefully you’ve been riding along with me here on my frost heave “horse” over the past two days, with background information provided by Harris Hyman, P.E.  If not, you can quickly click on the past two day’s blogs, and catch up.  Or…. skip ahead here if you want the “down and dirty” on what to […]

As I referenced yesterday, the information on frost heaving, it’s theory and possible solutions to the problem, are brought to you by Harris Hyman, P.E., as written in the July 1994 issue of Practical Engineering.  In finding solutions to a problem, it is often necessary to dig into why the problems occur in the first […]

I always give credit “where credit is due” and my next subject is supported by the online writings of a Professional Engineer, Mr. Harris Hyman.  He wrote about frost as far back as July 1994 in Practical Engineering,  Like Mr. Hyman, I too like to dig down deep into why some problem is caused, before […]

Metal connector plates are used to connect wood truss members and are considered the most important invention in the light frame wood construction industry. This is due to their versatility, cost effectiveness and ease of installation. Typically composed of galvanized steel they are mainly manufactured using one of three metal thicknesses: 20, 18 and 16 […]

But can it Pass a Missile Test? Many hurricane prone regions are following the state of Florida’s lead and are requiring all buildings and their components withstand a certain amount of wind pressure. Wind loaded overhead doors generally are design to withstand from 90 mph to 150 mph wind speeds. These design wind speeds are […]

  Most people with overhead style garage doors do not realize the doors they have are more than likely NOT “wind rated”. This means, in the event of winds over 50 or so miles per hour, they stand a good chance of collapsing. If the garage door fails, the wind forces inside your building increase […]

There is Always Someone Who Will Do It for Less! Over the past few days, one of the Building Designers for Hansen Buildings has been negotiating with a client on the design and materials for a building 80’ x 250’ x 20’ interior clear. This is a project with a price tag approaching $150,000 – […]

I once overheard my lovely bride responding to this question with – if you make the building large enough, short enough, take off the walls, doors, and roof insulation – it is almost free! While it doesn’t quite work this simply, she does have a point. Pole buildings come with an inherent economy of scale. […]

Green building is one of the most dynamic market forces in construction today. Pole buildings are considered sustainable, but until very recently little documentation existed on the energy efficiency and the reduced impact on the environment created by pole barns. “Green building” is based on producing more sustainable buildings and is the basis for green […]

Next thing you know…. One of our Building Designers, Bob, and I were sharing stories about our client’s favorite objections. You know, why they are procrastinating moving forward with their new building projects. Keep in mind, our clients usually contact us because they have a problem. Something like, “My wife/husband wants to be able to […]

Back in the day….over a decade ago, I had a good friend who had created a website and was making a good living selling one single aftermarket engine part for Dodge pickups. Now this was back when most people did not have internet service, and those who did, got it at the crawling speed of […]

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch… In yesterday’s blog, we found our hero (aka me), “The Pole Barn Guru” worked out of a job. But wait….turns out there was work to be done. Deep in the recesses of Hansen Buildings, works a mysterious character known only as ….. “Shoes”. Shoes isn’t actually her Secret Agent name. […]

I don’t think so…. Back in 2002, this was just a fledgling business. Sure, I had over 20 years of experience, but this new business meant starting over from nowhere.  I had never before sold buildings primarily through the internet. Our building plans – two pages (granted they were full blueprint size at 24” x […]

Private wood lots and portable sawmills exist in nearly every state in the United States. Over the years I have had more than one of the owners of these ask me about using rough sawn ungraded lumber in their pole barns. My recommendation, every time is…NO! If you are a private wood lot owner, I […]

Why isn’t a 2×4 truly 2” x 4”? When Hansen Pole Buildings first began in 2002, owner J.A. Hansen did all of the drafting. As a lifetime Registered Nurse, Judy had the attention to detail it took to be an excellent drafter. In her “nursing world” everything was measured in exact numbers. If a patient […]

How do Contractors Blow Budgets and Still Get Paid? Bid jobs are a miracle all in themselves. Usually they begin from an interested party at an organization realizing, “Hey, we need a new building”. Eventually they will get enough of their cohorts involved to reach a critical mass. One of them will then go forth […]

My mother used to have a saying, (watching my brother and I bandy about with many a sharp object), “it’s all fun until someone gets their eye poked out”.  In her stern voice, she was simply trying to make things safe for my bro’ and me. You might have a totally sweet concept for your […]

Considering using vinyl siding on your new pole building? Whether doing the work yourself, or hiring it done here are three helpful tips to keep in mind. Tip #1 Each piece of siding has nailing slots along the top edge. Every fastener needs to be placed in the center of a slot. Nailing on either […]

Bookshelf Girts aka Commercial  Girts: What are they? I do a lot of blogging, not because I enjoy it ( I do) but because I am always “listening” and learning.  And if there is anyone out there who I can help, my fun increases exponentially.  I recently came across this posting on a Farm Forum: […]

One of our Building Designers, Alan, is a former general contractor who, prior to becoming a Building Designer, had constructed about 200 Hansen Buildings in several Pacific Northwest states. This morning, he sent me an Instant Message as a client had asked if they, “could have eave lights in the roof of their building”? Traditional […]

When I saw this as a headline in my LinkedIn group for Building Products Professionals, I just had to laugh and share….sometimes a wee bit of humor is just as important as educating about buildings. Geoff Keifer posted: “Just for Fun… Why do we still use Fax Machines?  Fax Machines have been around a while… […]

Look like the Old West In the past week, we had two clients specifically request “rusted” steel roofing. If you have ever been to a theme park which had an “Old West” section (think Knott’s Berry Farm or portions of Disneyland), you’ve seen buildings and facades which have rusted steel roofs. Well – they did […]

There are few things which define American home ownership better than having a good backyard accessory pole building. Whether at your primary residence, or at the mountain or lake cabin, having the ideal space for your needs is what takes your home from “pretty good”…to ideal. While the weather is warm, having a barbeque under […]

Spending two weeks in TN in August gave me plenty of time on my daily morning run to see all kinds of damage from hail (in April) described by my son and daughter-in-law who live there, as “the biggest we’ve ever seen”.  I couldn’t help noticing the beat up siding, holes the size of baseballs […]

A couple weeks ago I posted about vinyl siding damage due to hail storms in the Knoxville, Tennessee area. Vinyl siding was not the only thing damaged – on my four mile running loop are numerous yard signs from roofers. The roofers are replacing shingles which were damaged by the same storm. When I first […]