Flame On As a youngster Marvel Comics Johnny Storm (aka The Human Torch) of The Fantastic Four always captivated me with his, “Flame On”! In today’s world, the average person with internet access can literally “Flame On!” any business or individual. I believe in being straight upfront and honest, so I will share today. I […]

Why Risk “Homemade” Pole Barns Recently, my hometown of Spokane, Washington (near Idaho, not Seattle) experienced some tremendous windstorms. These winds were strong enough to leave most of the region without power. My brother was one of those who went without electricity for over a week! The local news organizations had a field day with […]

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” […]

With winds topping out at an estimated 100 mph, the severe weather blew across Scotland County, Missouri quickly on a recent afternoon. While the bulk of the county escaped with only minor damage, the National Weather Service reported a tornado touched down between Memphis and Arbela at approximately 4:40 p.m. on November 11th. The EF-1 […]

Moisture accounts for about 80% of construction defect litigation, so while lawyers may love the stuff, no one else benefits. In the worst cases, moisture trapped in the framing assembly can lead to decay which weakens the structure and to mold growth which renders a building unusable. Problems need not be catastrophic to cause major […]

Being the person who intercepts a great number of the Technical Support inquiries at Hansen Pole Buildings, I’ve heard this statement more than once – weirdly enough, it is close to 100% of the time from builders. Those who are doing their own work, somehow don’t have this challenge. Building owners are more likely to […]

A Wind Uplift Story This idiom is most usually associated with trying to revive interest in a hopeless issue. Those of you gentle readers with former spouses in your lives may very well have some understanding of this issue. Well, sometimes there actually IS a dead horse….. Many years ago, my future ex-wife and I […]

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” […]

This is more about the amount of detail which is incorporated into the Hansen Pole Buildings’ Construction Manual, than it is about the installation of outside closures, read below, and then I will explain why. “Place a Ridge Cap piece centered on building peak. Make a pencil mark at lower edges at both building ends, […]

Adding on to a Concrete Block Building It was Hansen Pole Buildings’ Designer Rick who came up with the money question today. He wanted to know if I had ever attached a single sloping post frame (pole) building shed roof, to the eave side of a concrete block building. Whether concrete block, tilt up, stick […]

There are lots of little pieces involved when it comes to the assembly of a pole building, which the average lay person would have little or no knowledge of. Some of them don’t make a difference until the lack of them (or their failure to perform) becomes apparent. One of these unsung heroes is the […]

We, in the industry, have always known intuitively of the superior lifespan of steel roofing, as opposed to other material types. Now there are studies which back up what we already knew. Researchers from the Metal Construction Association (MCA) hosted an educational session sharing the results of the association’s breakthrough study on the service life […]

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” […]

One of my loyal readers asked this question in regards to a previous blog post: “We have a pole barn/shed which is 50 X96 plus an additional 16 leant-to tied to posts which creates a total building size of 66 X96. Question is, Can I take out the knee braces on the side with the […]

First the disclaimer – the photo is NOT of a Hansen Pole Building. It was provided and constructed by a small firm in Southern Missouri.  How small are they? Small enough to not have a website! And, according to the Better Business Bureau (of which they are not members), the business is under a year […]

Hansen Pole Buildings’ Designer Mike Houska has been working with a client from a rural area near the Great Smoky Mountains. Mike sent this to Hansen Pole Buildings’ co-owner Eric, “See attached quote for xxx@xxxx.com. I had sent previous quote with end shed, overhangs, & windows but he then sent a competitor’s quote without those options. […]

I enjoy informed clients. The best ones  have done their homework with their Planning (https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2013/01/planning-department-3/) and Building Departments (https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2013/01/building-department-checklist/) before they began shopping. Then there are those who know just enough to be dangerous: “When we built 6 yrs ago, the contractor was stunned with how our snow load impacted his cost. 2ft footings with […]

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” […]

Engineer Kirk Grundahl recently wrote the following which appeared in the Construction Magazine Network: “A truss collapse can be devastating, not only to the immediate health of those on the job site, but to the installers’ confidence going forward. Training a crew in proper bracing techniques in a way that gets them past the negative […]

“ATTENTION: Now YOU Can Discover What They Don’t Want You To Know!” “Secrets of Pole Barn Warranties Revealed” Would you seriously want to purchase a new “big-ticket” product without a warranty? Just think about it for a moment…would you order a new car or truck without a warranty? Of course not. You wouldn’t even consider […]

Here are the words of Ginnie’s husband – someone who understands: “Aaaargh! We’re never moving again! What we thought was going to be an easy melding of two households into one, has proved to be a nightmare times two. Remember that 40′ x 60′ pole barn on the farm that I was bragging about, the […]

“Wanted – Pole Barn Builder, Carpenter, and skilled handyman to help me rebuild this 20+ year old pole barn that was recently taken down. It is 65′ x 100′. I need to lay it out, put in the holes, pour the concrete pole piers, and erect all the superstructure (including 65′ wide trusses), and the […]

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” […]

I’m an old guy (at least to my kids) – I turn 58 on Monday. Myself and my childhood cronies all grew up riding bicycles everywhere, and none of us wore cycle helmets. Also, none of us, or anyone we knew, was damaged by crashing a bike and not having worn a helmet. Cycle helmets […]

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” […]