How to Properly Vet Pole Building Suppliers Whether planning a single car garage or a post frame (pole) building larger than an acre, your hard earned money is going to be invested in it. Even if you decide a Hansen Pole Building is not the right fit for you, it is important to both the […]

All Cheese Does Not Come From Wisconsin In providing pole barn kit (post frame) packages all over the United States, we do NOT ship roof trusses from our facilities in Browns Valley, Minnesota. Hansen Pole Buildings is about being efficient for our clients, which means outsourcing components when it is the most practical solution. As […]

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 it comes to pole buildings, a diaphragm is a structural assembly – including the timber framing (truss chords and purlins), structural sheathing (e.g. plywood, metal cladding), fasteners and fastening patterns – capable of transferring in-plane shear forces through the cladding and framing members. Diaphragm action is the lateral resistance to racking of the building […]

Readers – The following is from the Dear Pole Barn Guru questions I get weekly, and the issues are so important when it comes to dealing with a contractor, I wanted to take time out to hi-light a few of them. DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I have some serious issues with a pole barn 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” […]

Polycarbonate wall light panels are a very affordable way to get natural lighting into pole buildings which will not have finished interior walls. Most often (and most cost effective) is to install them at the tops of the eave sidewalls. (For more reading on polycarbonate eave lights: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/blog/2011/09/polycarbonate-eavelights-light-up-my-life/) There are some cases where it would […]

My bride tells me I spend an inordinate amount of time surfing the ‘net. She is probably right, but I surf with a goal in mind – researching topics so there are more satisfied pole building owners! I stumbled across an interesting video on “How to Fix a Sagging Pole Building” today at: https://wn.com/how_to_fix_a_sagging_pole_building Now, […]

If you are like me, you looked at this photo and the first thought was – the trim on the upper roof looks…..well frankly bad. Well it is bad, and it is bad due to installation issues, which could easily have been avoided. 1. The first trick to getting a good looking fascia, is to […]

In the Middle Ages in Europe, water quality was poor on a good day (drinking water coming from streams which were also used as places to wash clothes and…sewers). With water being pretty much undrinkable, monasteries began brewing beer to drink. The first known record of hopped beer was in the writing of a German […]

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” […]

It seems more and more people are looking towards pole buildings for their new homes. We have clients asking us nearly every day, if they can “see” the available floor plans we have for pole building houses. Unlike typical residential “plan mills” or most ‘modern’ builders, we do not have a set list of house […]

As early as 1840, early pioneers were lured to Florida and Georgia by the promise of cheap and plentiful land. With few provisions they needed to erect shelter quickly and cheaply. Cedar and cypress were abundant and were cut for framing and siding, while rocks or bricks made of oyster shells and lime were used […]

If you didn’t read my blog yesterday – it might help you to back up a day and read where the following blog got started. I nice young gentleman asked me to help him with his boy scout Eagle project – constructing an equestrian barn. So back up a day – then continue here after […]

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: What is your method for spacing the poles on a pole barn, how do you line up the locations of each pole on a wall? This is for my boy scout Eagle project, a 32x36ft pole barn to be used for equestrian therapy. ANXIOUS IN AUSTIN DEAR ANXIOUS: The best advice […]

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” […]

Recently I had a client pose the question, “What is the difference between Use Classification S-2 and U?” Chapter three of the 2012 International Building Code (IBC) provides provisions which control the building use classification of all structures as to use and occupancy. Section 312 specifically addresses “Utility and Miscellaneous Group U”. In general, Group U […]

Merry Christmas From Hansen Buildings!  

Humor me here – do a Google, Yahoo or Bing search for either “Free Pole Barn Plans” or “Free Pole Building Plans”. Up should come a million or so choices. With all of those possibilities, it has to be a great way to go….right? To begin with, keep in mind free pole barn plans are […]

Standard & Btr and #2 Graded Lumber Are Not the Same Although I had a couple of years’ experience in the prefabricated metal connector plated truss industry, my first opportunity to truly “fly solo” was when I was hired, at the end of August 1979 to manage the truss plant at what was then Lucas […]

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 NOT to Measure 5-1/2 Inches for a 2×6 My lovely bride is an RN (Registered Nurse) by training and profession. In medicine 100mg is 100mg, not 87.5mg and someone’s heart rate might be 80, not “somewhere between 80 and 120”. Wrapping her head around why a 2×6 is 1-1/2 inches by 5-1/2 inches just […]

Why True Pole Barn Price Shoppers are Never Satisfied I’ve learned a few things in my close to 40 years as a business owner or manager. One of the most important is, there is always some other provider who is willing to sacrifice quality and/or service to sell at a lower price. If everyone was […]

Screwing a Pole Building Together In 2001 I was working for a Northern Idaho pole building construction company. One of my clients was a building contractor from Moscow, Idaho. It seems he had a client he was building a home for in California, and needed a 5000 square foot pole building erected on the site, […]

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” […]