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 […]

Treated Wood Industry Looks to Toughen Standards Prior to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) dipping its nose into the pressure preservative treating chemical industry in 2002, buying treated wood was pretty darn easy. Chromated Copper Arsenate (CCA) was the treatment of choice for most everything. CCA was so much cleaner to work with than its […]

Larimer County, Colorado I drive through the Fort Collins area about once a year. Other than the urbanized areas, the terrain is a classic example of Exposure C for wind (for a “fun” wind exposure story read https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/blog/2011/11/wind_exposure/ or to get more technical: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2012/03/wind-exposure-confusion/). One of our clients had been discussing with Hansen Pole Buildings […]

Hansen Pole Buildings Wizard Justine is in a never ending search to provide the best possible building components to our clients. For some of the pole building kit packages we provide, glu-laminated columns are either specified by the client, or are the best design solution. Long time readers may remember the friendly discussions over nail […]

Universal Forest Products Double Hinge Plate Having spent a generation in the truss industry, very tall trusses always posed a challenge – both in how to fabricate, as well is in shipping. Granted I once fabricated some 17 foot tall trusses, then couldn’t legally deliver them to the jobsite! Universal Forest Products https://www.ufpi.com may have […]

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” […]

Over the past several years we have seen more and more pole (post frame) buildings with exterior decks attached. Most of these instances are in conjunction with residential and man cave uses. For more reading on pole building decks in general see: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/blog/2013/11/decks/ This past winter has seen a lot of snow fall in some […]

We recently received a request from a client who had a building burn to the ground. The client proposed to reuse their existing concrete – which to me has always resonated as a bad choice. But is it actually a bad choice? Concrete can be some amazing stuff. In June of 1987, I was privileged […]

There is a builder in my neck of the woods who advertises as “the only company around that offers…Vertical Flush Walls, for your pole building, shop or garage, which allows you to sheetrock inside your building without having to re-frame the inside!” In the photo with this article, wall girts have been placed “barn” style […]

Back in the early days of my career in the pole (post frame) building industry, the great majority of pole building windows were single glazed (one pane of glass) in anodized aluminum frames. These were several things, none of which would be associated with high quality, all of which were about low price. It wasn’t […]

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” […]

Seemingly if it is the strange, unusual or near impossible (although we have been told a few times we can do the impossible) in post frame (pole) building construction, there is a good chance we have been involved in it! A circumstance which is becoming more and more prevalent is cantilever roof overhangs. When I […]

Preserving Wood Columns Beyond Code Requirements The Building Codes (IBC – International Building Code and IRC – International Residential Code) specify minimum requirements for pressure treated lumber used to structurally support buildings. My previous dissertations on pressure treating are available for your reading pleasure here: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/blog/2012/10/pressure-treated-posts-2/ and https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/blog/2014/05/building-code-3/ Hansen Pole Buildings Designer Kelly brought to […]