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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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” […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Pole barns seemingly get repurposed on a fairly regular basis. And I’ve seen some interesting repurposing. In this particular case, a shed style pole barn (I’ve looked over the photos, the quality of the structural design ranges from not-so-good to absolutely frightening) had been added onto a masonry structure which was the former home of […]

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” […]

Portions of the content for this post were courtesy of Charlie Wardell’s February 5, 2016 article in The Journal of Light Construction (JLC). About 45% of residential field inspections result in a jobsite code violation. The majority of post frame (pole building) construction is residential or accessory to a residence, which makes this highly relevant. […]

In 1980 I was working for Lucas Plywood and Lumber in Salem, Oregon. Besides managing their prefabricated metal connector plated roof truss manufacturing facility, I also sold kit packages for pole buildings. The same summer, one of my clients was a gentleman from Portland named Tony Storm, who ordered a garage which he and his […]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77ENInb4kAc and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrW-6MK3MO8 I will begin by saying this backyard engineer is not only absolutely clueless, but also frightening if someone was to happen to follow along with his plans and ideas. I’ve watched some of his later videos and they are truly scary. Even scarier, is others are watching them and making positive comments […]

Interior Sliding Doors HGTV (Home and Garden TV, not Happy Gilmore Television) is probably my lovely bride’s favorite channel. I am guessing other folks as well, since over 80% of household in American with television receive it. Her favorites are Property Brothers, Love it or List it, House Hunters and Flip or Flop. One of […]