DEAR POLE BARN GURU:Currently constructing building and the roof trusses are not built according to engineered plans. Plans call for 2*10 and these trusses are 2*6. Builder has purchased additional materials to reinforce the trusses. Now the steel is going up today and found that the 2 11’10” clay endwall pieces are missing. Builder also […]

What’s Wrong With This Picture? When I was a kid, my mom would buy us educational geared books which had various puzzles in them, designed to challenge our minds. One of my favorites was the one where two drawings are shown which are nearly identical, and it is up to the reader to spot the […]

In yesterday’s article, I made reference to one of the most beloved tool at any lumber yard – the green handled board stretcher. And then – I gave no details about it! A cliffhanger indeed! Before we get into the green handled board stretcher, a few words about a North American rite of passage: In […]

A Builder’s PET The stereotypical builder appears to be characterized as driving a four-wheel-drive extended cab pickup (of course jacked up so a ladder is required to get in), having a jobsite stereo system which can be heard for miles with the sound turned to only 30%, and of course – the ever faithful pet, […]

More “True Confessions” from the Pole Barn Guru….. I’ve not only never installed one of these and never sold one – I’ve also never seen one in real life! I have not one, but TWO detached pole building garages at our house. One is two car, the other three. Each of them has an entry […]

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 our clients has been speaking with Hansen Pole Buildings’ Designer Rick about a new post frame building. Rick related to me this from the client: “Talked to a client Saturday that is going to walk away from the $1,900.00 he put down to get plans from this guy, for a lot of reasons.” […]

Dedicated readers will remember my oldest step-son, Jake. Although he is a high school physics/biology/chemistry teacher by vocation – he seems to have a bit of the “builder gene” in him. For those who missed out on some of prior adventures – they begin here: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/blog/2012/07/construction-time-2/ Jake’s dad is a successful farmer in South Dakota. […]

This is a story which is heard all too frequently. And it always revolves around clients having just poured the concrete slabs in their new buildings. Even more so when the building has a low perm rated vapor retarder under the concrete. Vapor retarders do exactly as their name implies, they retard the movement of […]

Tips for Installing Eave Light Panels For those who are not insulating the sidewalls of their pole buildings and are looking for a low cost alternative to windows for getting daylighting into their buildings – polycarbonate eave lights might very well be the answer. I’ve written about them in the past (see: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/blog/2011/09/polycarbonate-eavelights-light-up-my-life/), so 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 or Saturday segment.  If you want a quick answer, please be sure to answer with […]

A Baker’s Dozen – The Most Read Articles of 2013 Sometimes, in order to know where to go, it is helpful to see where we’ve been. These are the most read blogs from 2013. #13 Board and Batten Siding https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/blog/2013/03/board-and-batten-siding/ While popular, board and batten siding should be installed considering shear values. Advice on installing […]

The Big Stick is Better than the Little Stick – Right? Those of you who are regular readers know I am fascinated by all things magical. I don’t know how they do it, but I will watch a good magician over and over. When I was in architecture school at the University of Idaho – […]

Incising My former wife (mother of my two youngest children – Allison and Brent), was by training an RDH (Registered Dental Hygienist). In order to keep her registration current, she had to obtain CEUs (Continuing Education Credits). One way to generate CEUs was to attend the annual state dental convention. One year I went along […]

I’ve previously expressed concerns about light gauge “carport” type buildings (read more at: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/blog/2013/05/carports/). (My advance apologies for the misleading title, it was used by the complainee below – VersaTube® buildings are NOT pole buildings!!) Whilst doing some ‘net surfing, I recently came across this posting at www.pissedcustomer.com: “I purchased a metal frame building from […]

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 or Saturday segment.  If you want a quick answer, please be sure to answer with […]

My lovely bride and I have been married for heading on 15 years. To some, this may seem like a lot, to my grandparents and great-grandparents (who were together for 50 years and more) – hardly a drop in the bucket. In most relationships, success (or lack thereof) is created by communication. Lots of clear, […]

“With a Little Help from My Friends” was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and released on the Beatles album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967. It was written for and sung by the Beatles’ drummer Ringo Starr as the character “Billy Spears”. Several years ago, we provided pole building kit packages […]

As regular readers know, I’m not a firm believer in the use of precast concrete cookies for footing pads for many reasons. (for further spirited reading on this very subject: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/blog/2012/08/hurl-yourconcrete-cookies/) It turns out there are “some” pole building providers who make cookies work on paper, by using an assumed presumptive load-bearing value for the […]

Yes – my readers appear to love my ‘true confessions’ and are kind enough to not overly poke fun at me. Today’s first confession, I happen to not hunt. I believe it was due to the trauma of hunting with my Dad when I was just old enough to be have been potty trained (Dad […]

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 or Saturday segment.  If you want a quick answer, please be sure to answer 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 or Saturday segment.  If you want a quick answer, please be sure to answer with […]

When It Just isn’t Tall Enough Early in my career supplying pole building kit packages, we provided a building to a client in Oregon for him to house his motor home. Our salesperson really felt he had done due diligence in having the client measure the height of the motorhome before ordering the building. After […]

Don’t get me wrong – in case I have not previously gotten my message across in earlier articles – I genuinely like Building Officials. Most of them really do care, and go out of their way to help both do it yourselfers and building contractors. With very few exceptions, Building Officials, field inspectors and plans […]

If you didn’t read yesterday’s blog – it may be helpful to go back and read about my personal pole building house, inspired by my bride of 14 years. And then, moving on to sharing from another pole barn house challenge: A CLIENT’S EXPERIENCE We have a client in Colorado who has been trying to […]