Maybe Our Pole Building Isn’t Right For You

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 03/30/2016
Maybe Our Pole Building Isn’t Right For You

And maybe there are a few folks out there who are going to have their tender feelings hurt when I break this news to them….. The reality is, Hansen Pole Buildings are not right for every client. If the lowest price is driving your decision over performance, then we are probably not right for you. […]

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What Does It Take to Become a Building Designer

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 03/29/2016
What Does It Take to Become a Building Designer

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: All the answers to the quiz you just sent 🙂 DAVID IN ROCHESTER DEAR DAVID: Thank you for your question, this gives me the opportunity to explain to our clients what our Building Designers go through before they ever get to aid them with assisting to solve building design challenges and […]

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Dear Pole Barn Guru: Monitor Buildings

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 03/28/2016
Dear Pole Barn Guru: Monitor Buildings

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Monitor Building Designs. Monitor Garage and Workshop. Over the years, monitor style roofs have been traditionally used on barn designs, specifically horse pole barns. Today, monitor roofs are found on everything from agricultural metal buildings to houses, shops and garages which may even have an office in the upper section. A […]

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Smashing Fiberglass Insulation Instead of Pumpkins

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 03/25/2016
Smashing Fiberglass Insulation Instead of Pumpkins

For those of you long-time readers, I have finally managed to weave The Smashing Pumpkins into an article. Their hit single 1979 takes me back to my days at Lucas Plywood and Lumber, where I shared an office with Al Mercer. Whilst I was gleefully entertained running the prefabricated roof truss plant (and selling a […]

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Glue On Roof Steel

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 03/24/2016
Glue On Roof Steel

For those of you who didn’t follow closely, 1985’s film classic, “Back to the Future” included characters named Otis Peabody and a son Sherman, as a tribute to cartoon hero Mr. Peabody who appeared in the late 1950’s animated series Rocky and His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show. The WABAC machine was a central element […]

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Yes This is Actually One of Our Building Kits

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 03/23/2016
Yes This is Actually One of Our Building Kits

However it did not quite get assembled the way we had planned for! We would not even have known about it, other than Ritchie Wallace of Wallace Brothers Construction (https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/find-a-builder/oregon-contractors/portland-or-contractor/) was contacted by the client, who is now interested in adding onto the length of the building. According to a July 2015 article in Time […]

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¿Hablas español?

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 03/22/2016
¿Hablas español?

In 2015, news agency CNN reported the United States is now the second largest Spanish speaking country in the world, trailing only our southern neighbor, Mexico. According to data collected by the U.S. census and other government sources, the United States is home to 41 million native Spanish speakers, with an additional 11.6 million who […]

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Dear Pole Barn Guru: Pole Barn Kits

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 03/21/2016
Dear Pole Barn Guru: Pole Barn Kits

DEAR POLE BARN GURU:  Hi! I have a home design and am interested in seeing if it can be constructed as a pole barn, or if I can achieve a similar look using pole barn construction methods. Thanks! JENNETTE IN HUDSON DEAR JENNETTE: Nearly any design, residential or commercial, can be converted into being constructed […]

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Marijuana Grow Barns – Part II

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 03/18/2016
Marijuana Grow Barns – Part II

Clones or Cuttings.  Extremely high humidity for the first 3-7 days after cannabis clones have been taken is most effective for negating drought stress. It appears the most success comes with 80-95% relative humidity in a cloning dome. After clones develop roots so they can intake and transport water properly, you can lower the humidity […]

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Marijuana Grow Barns – Part I

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 03/17/2016
Marijuana Grow Barns – Part I

Back in my M & W Building Supply days in the 1980’s, we had a client buy a building from us which was fully enclosed and had no doors. We joked about the building perhaps being planned to be used for a (at the time illegal) marijuana grow barn, as well as what sort of […]

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Diagonal Bracing

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 03/16/2016
Diagonal Bracing

In yesterday’s article I alluded to one more thing I looked at on the building in question which appears to be an unnecessary expense. Check out yesterdays photo.. In the plane of the walls of the pole building running at an angle are diagonal braces. Diagonal bracing provides lateral stability in buildings which do not have […]

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Doing Our Duty – Efficient Buildings

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 03/15/2016
Doing Our Duty – Efficient Buildings

This is my humble opinion only – speaking for our industry, it is my belief we have a duty to our clients to design, produce, deliver and build (for those who are contractors) the most cost efficient buildings which are structurally sound. If this sounds like common sense, then let me remind you common sense […]

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Dear Pole Barn Guru: Snow and Solar Panel Loads

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 03/14/2016
Dear Pole Barn Guru: Snow and Solar Panel Loads

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Are your buildings engineered to take the weight of snow and solar panels? Can I substitute tin for greenhouse plastic panels on one side? What are the base pad requirements? Frost zone 3. JOHN IN RUPPERT DEAR JOHN: We can engineer your new post frame building to support any amount of […]

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Watermelon Barns

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 03/11/2016
Watermelon Barns

Two good ole’ boys from Texas get the idea to go into the watermelon selling business. They can drive their pickup across the border into Mexico and buy watermelons for a dollar each. So, they drive across, get a load, bring them back into Texas and set up a stand alongside of the road with […]

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When It’s Built Wrong – Construction Mistakes

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 03/09/2016
When It’s Built Wrong – Construction Mistakes

Now me, I look at the photo and think to myself, “This just doesn’t look very good”. Well it isn’t. Our re-involvement with this client began recently when he contacted Justine, Hansen Pole Buildings’ Mistress of Materials. Here was her report: “This client got a building ten years ago and his builders muffed up.  Apparently […]

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Let’s Make a Deal – A Bad Investment Story

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 03/08/2016
Let’s Make a Deal – A Bad Investment Story

Now 94 years old, Canadian Monty Hall was such a star as the host of television’s Let’s Make a Deal he has been enshrined with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I recently saw a deal Monty would have gotten a kick out of us a booby prize behind door number three. For […]

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Dear Pole Barn Guru: How Much Should My Steel Overhang

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 03/07/2016
Dear Pole Barn Guru: How Much Should My Steel Overhang

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Why in your manual is there a difference in overhang dimension of the roofing material on page 118 and page 369. One says 2 ¼-2 ½ “ and the other says 1 ½-1 ¾ “? I used the 1 ½-1 ¾” overhand since I have a 12” overhang. Thank you for […]

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When I Don’t Follow My Own Advice – Part IV

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 03/04/2016
When I Don’t Follow My Own Advice – Part IV

If you missed the start of this blog on hiring a contractor please read this four part series on finding a contractor and following my own advice starting with Part I below: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2016/02/when-i-dont-follow-my-own-advice-part-i/ Friday January 15 Bryan 6:31 AM Major white out.. the cars in thr ditches. Love you two. See yah Mon. Morn Bryan 6:57 […]

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When I Don’t Follow My Own Advice – Part III

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 03/03/2016
When I Don’t Follow My Own Advice – Part III

If you missed the start of this blog on hiring a contractor please read this four part series on finding a contractor and following my own advice starting with Part I below: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2016/02/when-i-dont-follow-my-own-advice-part-i/ Tuesday January 12 Bryan 6:32 AM I will get dwn as fast as I can. I gotta stop by where my truck is […]

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When I Don’t Follow My Own Advice – Part II

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 03/02/2016
When I Don’t Follow My Own Advice – Part II

If you missed yesterdays blog please read this four part series on finding a contractor and following my own advice. https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2016/02/when-i-dont-follow-my-own-advice-part-i/ Thursday January 7 Bryan 6:17 PM You all get hit with the snow? Im bringing a rental trailer dwn with my saws and tools Me 6:55 PM About ½” last night is all Bryan […]

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When I Don’t Follow My Own Advice – Part I

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 03/01/2016
When I Don’t Follow My Own Advice – Part I

Considering hiring a contractor to provide materials and labor for your new pole building? Or maybe you are one of the smart ones and are going to purchase a pole building kit package and hire a builder to assemble some or all of it for you. Here has been my advice to readers: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2013/07/contractor-6/ Long […]

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Dear Pole Barn Guru: Construction Timeframes

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 02/29/2016
Dear Pole Barn Guru: Construction Timeframes

Welcome to Ask the Pole Barn Guru – where you can ask questions about building topics, with answers posted on Mondays.  With many questions to answer, please be patient to watch for yours to come up on a future Monday segment.  If you want a quick answer, please be sure to answer with a “reply-able” […]

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Prevent Mice In Your Pole Building

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 02/26/2016
Prevent Mice In Your Pole Building

From a February 22, 2016 article by Mike Grant in the Washington, Indiana Times Herald: “A fire early Sunday morning destroyed a camper home near Washington. The Washington Township Volunteer Fire Department was called out around 2:46 Sunday morning to a fire in a camper that was parked inside of a pole barn at the […]

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Hang ’em; Those Joist Hangers That Is

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 02/25/2016
Hang ’em; Those Joist Hangers That Is

This was the tag line for some PSA commercial on the telly when I was a child. Always figured I could spin it into an article at some point in time. Here is the dilemma: From our client: “Got all the trusses & purlins up & it’s really starting to look like a building.  That’s […]

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Schweiss Doors New Wrap Around Hinge

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 02/24/2016
Schweiss Doors New Wrap Around Hinge

At Hansen Pole Buildings, we have been accused, at times, of being overly anal. We are seemingly always looking for ways to make our buildings just a little bit better for our clients, whether it is a stronger connection or a better component. An example of one of these was when we upgraded from bolting […]

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