This week the Pole Barn Guru tackles the subjects of building a shouse with RV storage, how to add tin to block siding, and truss carriers vs notched posts. DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Good morning! My wife and are currently going to market with our home in Lakeville and are considering our next steps.  We […]

How to Have a Fair Relationship With Your Barndominium Contractor I have been a contractor and I have hired contractors. As much as you might wish to believe it will not be so, contractors can be a source of stress and anxiety. They can be masters at squeezing out profits, while putting in minimal efforts. […]

An Architect’s Guide to Drawing Your Own Barndominium Plans Architect David Ludwig (www.LudwigDesign.com) has over 50 years of construction and design experience. A frequent contributor to assisting those interested in barndominiums, but without knowledge to create their own plans, David has offered his sage advice: 1. Draw to scale. Use 1/4” graph paper. Make each […]

Folks who are contemplating building a barndominium come in a variety of shapes and sizes, as well as financial positions. Some are at or near an end to their working careers and are downsizing, selling or have sold a long term family home and have equity to be used for their last home. Others are […]

Let us face it – I am among those greying in America. According to United States demographic statistics 14.7% of us (over 41 million) have reached a 62 year-old milestone! What are we looking forward to in our probably final home of our own? We want to be able to spend our time enjoying life, […]

This week the Pole Barn Guru answers questions about a possible roof steel replacement, planning a post frame house, and assistance finding a contractor to complete fire restoration of a post frame building. DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Good day PBG, I have a huge old wooden beam barn currently covered with standing seam tin roofing. I […]

How to Install Bookshelf Girts for Insulation Reader SEAN in CAMAS writes: “Please help! I have plans for a 48x60x16 pole barn here in the NW. I helped build a pole barn when I was in my teens and I think mostly for my young back and ability to swing a hammer. However I am […]

Just a Little Nip Here, Tuck There As so many of us have entered an age of Covid-19 binge television watching, I can imagine there are more than a few who have consumed calories while watching 100 episodes of Nip/Tuck (originally aired on FX from 2003-2010). While nipping and tucking can solve many human cosmetic […]

Not Your Average Kitchen in a Barndominium When my lovely bride Judy first came up with an idea to construct our now shouse (shop/house) gambrel building 15 years ago, it was not with a thought as to it becoming a barndominium. Indeed, it was to be a place to have offices along one side and […]

Cool roofs are roofing systems creating higher solar reflectance and thermal emittance than standard roofing products. Solar reflectance is a process where a roof reflects the sun’s UV and infrared rays, reducing the total amount of heat transferred to a building or home. Thermal emittance is a roof’s ability to radiate absorbed and non-reflected solar […]

This Monday the Pole Barn Guru answers reader questions about building on a slab or with a crawl space, insulation for a shop, and if a person is able to build near a leach field. DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I appreciate the building technology used when building a residential pole barn. I am not yet […]

Isolating Heated and Unheated Barndominium Concrete Floors Loyal reader MIKE in COUPEVILLE writes: “I see you recently posted a detailed drawing on insulating the perimeter of a pole barn, very helpful.  https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2020/03/meeting-barndominium-slab-requirements/ I’m currently looking at purchasing a large pole barn, it will be 84’x42′ with posts 12′ apart.  I plan to make 2 of […]

“One-pour” Post Frame Concrete Footings and Bottom Collars As originally engineered Hansen Pole Buildings’ column encasement design, had pressure preservative columns placed to the bottom of an augured hole. Pre-mix concrete was then poured around each column’s lower 16-18 inches to form a bottom collar. Concrete to wood’s bond strength was sufficient to enable this […]

How Tall Should My Eave Height Be for Two Stories? I have learned a couple of things in 40 years of post frame building construction. One amongst these is – most people are dimensionally challenged (no offense intended). As much as some folks would like to believe, you cannot legitimately put two full height finished […]

Adding to a Floating Slab Building Most buildings need foundations to transfer the structure’s weight as well as roof and floor loads into the ground. Small sheds and backyard structures like gazebos and pergolas may not need elaborate foundations because they are so light. But, for any building over about 150 square feet, a strong […]

This week’s Pole Barn Guru answers reader questions about where to stop metal in relation to concrete, installing a sliding door to a repurposed building, and the proper depth of footings. DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Where do I stop my metal in relation to my grade board/ bottom stringer. I’ve set the bottom of my […]

Labor Costs for a Post Frame Barndominium In my humble opinion, an average physically capable person who can and will read instructions can successfully erect his or her post frame barndominium. This is a great place to save money (provided time is available) and most people frankly will end up with a better finished home! […]

Do You Own the Land Your Barndominium Will Be Built On? Barndominiums, shouses and post frame homes are not only a current rage, they may be America’s future home of choice. Pinterest has literally hundreds of photos of barndominiums. DIY network’s “Texas Flip-n-Move” feature a rusty old barn made into a beautiful home in Episode […]

Is This Floor Plan Doable as a Post Frame Barndominium Kit? This question was posed by Reader TIFFANY in HOPKINSVILLE. My answer is yes. Whether an existing floor plan or a custom design – virtually anything you can imagine, can be converted to a post frame barndominium kit, provided it is possible to do structurally […]

Whole House Barndominium Fans Apparently when it comes to barndominiums, there is a limitless number of subjects to cover! Reader CAROLYN in CLEVELAND writes: “We would like to build a post frame home but I would like to have a whole house fan to cut down on cooling costs. Most barndos we see under construction […]

Today the Pole Barn Guru answers reader questions about a requirement for “continuous footings” in South Carolina, lump sim or payments for a building purchase, and finance options. DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Are continuous footings required for a pole barn in Dorchester County South Carolina. Size is 24 x 32 M KELLY in SUMMERVILLE DEAR […]

If you are one of many looking to install steel roofing and/or siding on your new barndominium, shouse (shop/house) or post frame home, understanding differences between galvanized and galvalume is essential to getting top performance you expect from your new steel roofing or siding.. In most residential steel roofing applications including near-coastal areas — beach […]

In 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 their Building Department’s door and wants to construct a post frame building, as long as the building owner (or builder) agrees to build to match […]

Many builders believe if they have a building correct in width and length at ground, diagonals at ground are equal (footprint is square) and columns are plumb, then when they get ready to run roof steel everything will be perfectly ready to go. This might be close to true for a small footprint building with […]

Hansen Pole Buildings’ client (and quickly becoming our good friend) Brett and his lovely bride are self-building their new barndominium at Cumberland Furnace, Tennessee.  For those who are like me and rely upon front seat navigator with a GPS on her phone to get anywhere – Brett is mostly West and slightly North of Nashville, […]