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” […]

When Good Information Gets into the Wrong Hands When I want something done right, I go to an expert. I’ve got a friend working on re-restoration of my 1950 Chevy pickup truck right now. My friend happens to have taught auto restoration at a college for several years. When I talk with him about my […]

Attaching Solar Panels to Exposed-Fastened Steel Roofing I am simply amazed at the sheer number of solar system installers who convince their clients they have to use standing seam steel roofing in order to attach the solar panels to the steel roofs. First – they are doing a total disservice to their clients by causing […]

A Worthy Installer I deal directly with very few clients as a Building Designer – just enough to be able to make sure things are flowing through our system as I expect they will. I’ve truly been enjoying my recent interactions with a client who took the time to really share with me what his […]

Back in the early 1990’s, when I was building pole buildings, we had constructed a monitor barn for some clients in the Libby, Montana area. For those who are not familiar with the term “monitor barn” it is a main gabled roof, with side sheds or “wings” on each eave side. The height of 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” […]

Hansen Pole Buildings’ Designer Doug keeps me on my toes – he comes up with some of the most interesting questions, which I truly appreciate. Today, he asked me about chain hoists for overhead doors. I told him we did not currently include them in our proprietary “Instant Pricing™” system, due to lack of interest […]

Even though it is now May – the heavy snowfalls in the New England states this past winter have left many with concerns. Here is an actual conversation, between a client who recently invested in a new Hansen Pole Building kit package, and our Technical Support Department: Client: “Good Afternoon, Quick couple of questions.  The […]

Eight Nifty Tricks to Save Money When Building a Pole Barn (reprised) This is Part II of a two part series on pole barn savings through material and feature choices. Bret Buelo of Wick Buildings® wrote an article by this title last year, some of the items I agree with, some not so much. This […]

Eight Nifty Tricks to Save Money When Building a Pole Barn (reprised) Bret Buelo of Wick Buildings® wrote an article by this title last year, some of the items I agree with, some not so much. I will offer my “take” on his points. “1. Spacing of your columns. Builders typically space columns anywhere between six […]

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” […]

Butt Cuts, not Cracks In a past life, when I was far younger, I was a newbie in the prefabricated metal connector plated wood truss industry. My first job was as a sawyer, I was the guy who trimmed all of the components prior to their assembly into trusses. Although my employers had what at […]

Flashbacks to my Youth Hansen Buildings’ Designer Shea posed a question in regards to a client in Wisconsin. Her client will only be using their new pole building in the summer time, so it will not have a finished or insulated ceiling. The concern – it will be a “residence” (aka, I believe, cabin), and […]

ASK THE POLE BARN GURU is for everyone – those who own, or hope to own, a pole building, contractors as well as Building Officials. Here is a real life interaction with a Building Official: “I have a customer erected pole barn 50 x 60 and very concerned with 50 foot span engineered trusses resting […]

Somewhere between poor communications and irrationality we received this from one of our clients via email: “You may recall we were also hoping to have the ability to hang things from the ceilings like lights and HVAC.”   “Unfortunately, after all that rigmarole we have come to the stark realization in the last few weeks that […]

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Good morning, Mike … I have a question for you. I’m trying to decide between a 30×40 barn and a 60×40 barn. It would have a gambrel roof with a loft. 16′ wide sliding door in the center of the short ends. All other things being equal, what is the cost […]

Whether a building contractor, pole building kit supplier or someone considering investing in a pole building, this is going to be important to you. Important enough so if you are a competitor you should consider adding it to your agreements with your future clients to ensure a successful relationship. “GENERAL: This Agreement constitutes the only agreement […]

In an article last year I included a reference to “floating poles”: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/blog/2014/05/one-pour-reinforcement-cage/ But how would one go about actually floating poles? Once all of the column holes have been dug, distribute the poles about the perimeter of the building, laying them perpendicular to the hole they are to be placed in, with one end […]

Part of being able to determine a budget for a new pole building is the cost of the premix concrete needed to backfill the holes with. At Hansen Pole Buildings, our engineers calculate the minimum amount of post hole concrete required to prevent your new building from settling (due to the dead weight of the […]

Screw Through Ridges or Valleys? Today’s article is courtesy of the Journal of Light Construction online: Q: The new corrugated metal roofing on our client’s garage leaks. The installer had driven the fasteners through the valleys and into the 2-by rafters. We’ve since been told that corrugated roofing should always be fastened through the ridges 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” […]

Hansen Pole Buildings Designer Rick is an avid stream fisherman. Near one of his favorite fishing holes, is also one of his favorite after fishing watering holes – The Castle Rock Inn. Last December 16, the Inn burned to the ground: https://host.madison.com/news/local/columnists/on-wisconsin-optimism-remains-intact-at-the-castle-rock-inn/article_b14f8b8d-ae28-5668-a61f-be119981a5e3.html The owners of The Castle Rock Inn chose a pole building to replace […]

Roof Only Pole Buildings – Again Roof only pole buildings are most often appealing for one reason, consumers believe they are going to take fewer materials – after all there are no walls! Therefore, be less expensive! An interesting article, written by Eric Beavers (COO of Armstrong Steel Buildings) appeared recently in Rural Builder Magazine, […]

Just Another Windy Conversation Hansen Pole Buildings’ Designer Rick asked me this question today: “Mike, I got a guy who wants to compare an over wind rated building to a Quonset hut at 150 mph” (miles per hour). Of course I jump right onto this one off the get go, “So the Quonset people have […]

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I constructed a pole building with the help of Iowa based Amish group. They put up the main structure including metal roof. Due to city codes, I enclosed the 40x60x12 structure using 1/2 osb, house wrap and then vinyl siding. I want to use paper faced 4x8x4″ Styrofoam sheets on the […]