Reader Carol recently wrote me this: “I’m encountering problems with folks looking at my house and being “Afraid” of buying the house.  Because it’s a pole barn house rather than a stick house.  What can I tell these folks to help them understand pole barn houses are still a good purchase?” I happen to live […]

Totally Unsolicited Hansen Buildings Testimonial When I was actively selling post frame buildings, I became adept at asking for written testimonials. They were actually quite easy to get. Immediately after the client has invested in his (or her) new post frame building, I asked them these four questions: Why did you invest in a new […]

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Just wondering if you build homes? I’m interested in building an open floor plan home with this style of architecture. NICK in SICKLERVILLE DEAR NICK: We do not happen to build anything, as we are not contractors. We do, however, design and provide the materials for post frame homes. Post frame […]

I’ve admired Dr. Frank Woeste, P.E. since I first picked up an article authored by him, which lead to us hanging out on his front porch in Blacksburg, Virginia in October of 1985 discussing bollards. Over the years Frank has done his best to attempt to cram post frame building structural design information into my […]

There are plenty of bad structural things which can be done to post frame buildings. While roof only buildings can have their own set of challenges, these can be exponentially made worse by putting walls on the eave sides and leaving the building endwalls entirely open. Here is a good explanation of why this occurs, […]

What Fails First in a Fire- the Truss Lumber or the Steel Truss Plates? Part II If you didn’t read my blog yesterday, you will think me out in left field until you do.  Take a few extra minutes and go back and read Part I. You will be glad you did! Continuing from yesterday’s […]

What Fails First in a Fire- the Truss Lumber or the Steel Truss Plates? Part I We have a client who also happens to be an engineer. He is planning upon a rather goodly sized (64 feet wide by 96 feet long by 22 foot eave) hay storage building and had some rather interesting concerns. […]

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: 34’x44′ pole barn middle is 20′ high and 14′ wide, the 2 outside parts are 10′ high by 10′ wide, frost level is 48″, snow load is 40lbs per sqft poles will be 6×6 what kind of footings will i need to have to support this building? MITCH in KAWARTHA LAKES […]

I’ve written in the past about our oldest daughter, Bailey. Bailey is a professional horse trainer (Tennessee Walkers) and is well respected within her industry at the now ripe old age of 27. She is a smart lady – she wanted overhead doors with electric openers on the sliding doors of her barn aisleways.. Why? […]

(Rob Hammer photograph) Our youngest son, Brent, will be graduating from Gonzaga University (Spokane, Washington) in May with a degree in Kinesiology. Some of you may recognize the name Gonzaga as the team which just came within a minute or so of being the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) men’s basketball champions. Kinesiology means Brent […]

Why Your Airplane Hangar is Probably Exposure C I had the joy of growing up “hanging out” (pun intended) at airplane hangars and doing a lot of flying including having my hands on the controls of a Cessna 182 for many hours before I became a teen. One thing for certain about airplane hangars – […]

Let’s Not Uplift I learn new things every single day, much in part to loyal readers, the Hansen Pole Buildings’ Building Designers and our clients. Column uplift seems to be a repeating point of contention for me, as it is (in my humble opinion) poorly addressed, if not totally ignored. Reader Dan has some uplift […]

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Is it possible to get a quote from you guys? Do you just deliver material or build too? I am looking to build a house pole barn in Belle Plain MN Do you have to have a 36″ frost wall to build on a concrete slab? JOSHUA in BELLE PLAIN   […]

Oh the misconceptions arm chair engineers have when it comes to what can be done with post frame construction. For the most part – if you can imagine it, we can design it! Here is a case in point shared by our friend Neil: DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I have limited floor plan on my […]

My Wife Does Not Like the Look of Steel Siding DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I hope I’m not taking up too much of your time with this question. BTW, I’m copying Doug (Hansen Pole Buildings Designer) as we’ve briefly discussed this question. My wife does not like the look of steel siding.  However, I’m pretty sure […]

Residential post frame buildings are becoming more and more prevalent as consumers are beginning to realize they can save thousands of dollars in foundation costs and actually build their own beautiful and well insulated barndominium homes. Steve from Northglenn posed this question: DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Now that the “Barndominium” style home is more popular than […]

Interpreting the Mark on Pressure Preservative Treated Lumber Pressure preservative treated lumber is a mystery to most consumers, builders and even building officials. Certainly all of the above parties understand the need for pressure preservative treated lumber when it is embedded in or in contact with the ground or concrete, or in locations where there […]

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: We are planning to build a pole barn in the near future and, I need some advice on the footings. depth width etc. We are planning to use rough cut 6×6 pine for the posts and plan to use anchors. The soil here on the property is very sandy. I’ve set […]

Attic bonus rooms seem to be the rage – Hansen Pole Buildings does more than a few of these and the trend seems to be increasing in popularity. With this comes how to properly insulate an attic bonus room. There are more than a few challenges when it comes to utilization of attic space for […]

I’ve designed a fair number of interesting cantilevers in my time, but they have always been as original construction, not as an “add on” after the fact. Here is a request for a cantilevered roof extension from FRED in BURLINGTON: DEAR POLE BARN GURU: My 30′ x 54′ x 12′ pole barn was constructed in […]

Putting a 14 Foot Tall Overhead Door in a Short Eave Height… I’ve been doing post frame buildings now for a couple of years. Okay, maybe a couple of couple of years, as in 37 (ouch, am I seriously this old?). I’ve learned a certain amount of clients (and builders) are seemingly dimensionally challenged when […]

Understanding the Needs of Load Bearing Finish I sadly hear this story all too often. A brand new post frame building which quite possibly will not meet the load needs of the owner due to lack of due diligence upon the part of whomever sold the building. Here is the story and my response: DEAR […]

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I am building a pole barn with rafters at 16″ OC. We sheeted the roof and sides of it. The building is 16′ wide with and engineered ridge pole. Do I need knee bracing at each of the posts along the walls? Can I skip putting the bracing on the corners? […]

Setting 80 Foot Span Wood Trusses Here is the question asked by CHAD in EVANSVILLE: “What is the best way to hang an 80′ wooden truss? The company I work for is building 80×120 pole barn for one of our customers. The trusses are kicking our butt.” Before you even think about getting started, you […]

The Construction of Pole Barns is Prohibited Seriously? This is directly from the White Bear Lake Township (Minnesota) ordinances related to Building Codes, buried deep in their Ordinance No. 8: 5-34. POLE BUILDINGS. The construction of pole barns/buildings is prohibited in the Town. I found this as a result of an article in the White […]