Avoiding Mechanic’s Liens From Post Frame Subcontractors and Suppliers When I owned my first post frame building kit package supply company – M & W Building Supply, I made an error early on and extended credit to post frame building contractors. It didn’t take me long of getting burned to realize it was essential for […]

With barndominiums, shouses (shop/houses) and post frame home building on a brisk upswing, a considering factor is how to insulate new homes. Becoming as close to (or reaching) net zero (https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2019/01/net-zero-post-frame-homes/) as possible should be a goal of any efficient post frame home design. Rather than me just blathering about what my opinions are, I […]

In my humble opinion (and in one word) – no. I have opined in past articles as to what Code is applicable to post frame (pole) building construction: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2018/10/what-building-code-applies-to-post-frame-construction/. Recently Louisiana engineer Steve M. Sylvest (www.sylvestengineering.com ) sent an email to Structural Building Components Association addressing challenges with non-engineered structures, particularly residences. Again, I stand […]

Most people building their own post frame post frame home (barndominium or shouse included) need some amount of post frame home construction financing.  (shouse=shop+house) Some important things to keep in mind with construction loans: Obtaining one takes more time and financial investment than a conventional loan (loan on or against an existing building). Lenders require […]

Barndominiums, shouses and post frame homes all fit into a similar category to me. This category heading would be titled, “Living in a Post Frame Building”, although other construction types may be used, post frame is going to give most bang for your investment. What if you want to D-I-Y construct your own post frame […]

Registered Design Professionals and Building Officials please weigh in on this one. Is hiring an engineer terrible advice? In a Facebook ‘Barndominium Living’ discussion group this was posted: “Curious as to how many of you consulted an engineer before building (for concrete and steel framing) or simply went with your welder’s design?” First response, from […]

Tornadoes Reek Havoc, Don’t Let Them Wreck You Excerpts in italics below are from an article first appearing in SBC Magazine June 3, 2019: “In the past few weeks, weather systems throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Indiana and Ohio have had a significant impact on the built environment. As is well known, tornadoes cause severe stress […]

Storing Lumber for Your New Post Frame Building Ideally, use lumber promptly. Otherwise store in a cool, dry location, avoiding direct sunlight and preferably indoors where humidity variations will be minimal. Dry lumber Unlike green lumber, keep kiln or air-dried lumber away from moisture, otherwise product may lose value added by careful seasoning. Dry lumber […]

When All Else Fails a Monitor Barn Truss Challenge. Monitor style buildings are a popular post frame building design (for background on monitor barns please read: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/building-styles/monitor-building-designs/). In most cases, design, ordering, delivery and construction of monitor buildings goes off without a hitch. On rare occasions a hitch glitch happens – so when all else […]

This week the Pole Barn Guru answers questions about building over a basement, an OHD modification, and interior photos of one of our buildings? DEAR POLE BARN GURU: If I order a pole barn knowing that it will be built over a basement will the plans show how to install the floor or do I […]

Part III, the conclusion by Dr. David Bohnhoff, Phd., P.E., Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Perhaps only people that engineer buildings understand and appreciate the true dangers and hence insanity of erecting (and then occupying) a structure of absolutely unknown strength.  To structural engineers involved in agricultural building design, NOT following the structural […]

Day 2 of a three part series by guest blogger Dr. David Bohnhoff, Phd. P.E., Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. If you understand the information from yesterday’s blog, then you know that when someone tries to sell a farmer a building “designed to withstand a BALANCED snowload of XXX psf” that farmer should […]

When Your Roof Grows Today’s worthless trivia question: What one-hit wonder sang 1970’s popular song, “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)”? Please read to this article end for the answer. While one’s love might grow, it proves less than ideal to have this occur when it comes to overall length of a post frame building […]

Reader CHRISTI in INOLA writes: “Is it standard practice to pour concrete above the base trim of the building? In the attached photos you can see the red chalk line where the concrete will come up to. Help! They are coming this week to pour.” Gentle inquirers, if you want a relatively quickly (or in […]

Ask The Builder Tim Carter just celebrated his 25th anniversary of his “Ask the Builder” syndicated newspaper column. When I began writing “Ask the Pole Barn Guru”, I was unaware of Tim and his column. To commemorate this event, Tim penned this article: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/sep/29/ask-the-builder-reflections-on-25-years-writing-ab/. There are some highlights of Mr. Carter’s I totally agree with […]

Planning Your Equestrian Facility   Those of you loyal readers who actually read links in this article are going to see our daughter Bailey Momb’s name frequently. 2018 Tennessee Walking Horse Celebration made for me being a proud dad with Bailey riding to a World Grand Championship (link has results): https://twhnc.com/content/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/RESULTS-TUESDAY-EVENING-8-28-18.pdf.   Moving forward, reader […]

A Sad Pole Barn Tale I so like happy ending stories, however this sad pole barn tale doesn’t appear to have an immediate happy ending – although over  20 years some victims might see some or all of their hard earned money returned. I’ve previously written about this case, however it has grown exponentially since […]

Secrets of a Pole Barn Salesperson Back in 1980 I was a pole barn (post frame) building industry newbie. So new, I considered myself to be rather clueless. Then I was working for a now long defunct company, Mac Truss in McMinnville, Oregon. I’d pick the brains of anyone who was willing to listen to […]

Why It Is Essential to Supervise Professional Installers In an ideal dream world, one would be able to hire a professional installer and know the job would be done right, without the need for hands on supervision. RYAN in ELLENSBURG recently contracted out the roof steel installation of his new Hansen Pole Building kit package […]

Fear of Concrete Slab Cracking at Post Corners Nothing appears to add to the self-importance of a contractor more than instilling fear into the hearts and minds of their clients. If I had a dollar for every fear mongering story I have heard over the years, I would be a wealthy man! Hansen Pole Buildings’ […]

Trump’s Tariffs Driving Up Pole Building Costs (Includes information from an April 24, 2018 article at www.villages-news.com Florida by Marv Balousek) “Federal tariffs on steel and aluminum imposed several weeks ago by the Trump Administration already are having an impact in Wildwood. The tariffs were blamed Monday night for increasing the cost of a steel pole barn […]

The Dual Splash Plank Dilemma I’ve never been a fan of stacking splash planks. Even when they are center matched (think tongue and grooved) the two boards never seem to want to bend, twist, warp and/or cup the same direction leading to gaps. Gaps which lead to water getting through and spoiling an otherwise fun place […]

Do not let this happen to you… not vetting contractors Long time readers of this column have heard me preach this sermon repeatedly – do not let yourself be scammed by nefarious pole builders. From the Danville (New York) Evening Tribune (dated February 21, 2018): “A Dansville man was sentenced in Allegany County Court and […]

See yesterday’s blog for Part I. To continue the discussion on Use and Occupancy: Momentarily skipping a few chapters and going to Chapter 6 (because it would be too simple if the IBC was in order) the code book outlines different types of construction. Post frame buildings can fall under the following construction types: The […]

The Use and Occupancy Classification Challenge Part I Every building, regardless of how it is constructed has a Use and Occupancy Classification (sometimes more than one). In order to best enjoy this, you can play along at home by opening this free access link to the International Building Code (ICC): https://codes.iccsafe.org/public/document/IBC2015 Who Should Read This? […]

Public Works Pole Barns, and Labor Costs Many town/city jurisdictions in the United States have a Department of Public Works, which depending upon the individual municipality it may be responsible for a wide variety of activities including maintenance of streets and roads, maintenance and operation of drainage facilities, sewer collection lines, maintenance and operation of […]

Why Property Owners Should Obtain Their Own Permit Back in the day, when I was a post frame building contractor, we always required our clients to obtain their own buildings permit. It wasn’t due to us being lazy, it was because if the building needed to be relocated on the site, or the permit office […]

Builders Who Make No Upgrades in Twenty-Five Years. Why? We’ve Been Building This Way for 25 Years In the event you happen to hear this from a pole builder – run away from them as quickly as possible. Why? Because every three years there is a new version of the Building Codes and often those […]

From The Dalles (Oregon) Chronicle December 26, 2017: “A theft report was filed Wednesday morning concerning a theft by deception when a woman reported she paid a contractor $30,000 to build a pole barn on her property by the end of October and no work has been completed.” Most people assume when they hire a […]

Other than being pennywise and pound foolish there is absolutely no reason for those who are hiring a contractor to get bilked should the person they hire be unscrupulous. Here is a story from www.mlive.com by Cole Waterman which makes me cringe: “SAGINAW, MI — A Linwood contractor and his wife are charged with a combined […]

I recently had this comment from a client, “In normal construction projects I would order at least 5% overage and it looks like closer to 1% here, I have like 20 extra screws total, a foot of extra eave trim, two whole extra pieces of vinyl soffit.” Obviously this client didn’t grow up being the cutoff […]

The Contractor Factor I hear too many stories where well-intentioned folks hire a contractor to erect a pole barn (post frame building) and end up with less than they bargained for. This is avoidable, with an ounce of prevention. Reader DONNA in REMSEN writes: “I had a pole barn put up in Sept this year, […]

Don’t Be an Engineering Fool Proverb: “A man who is his own lawyer has a fool for his client”. I would paraphrase this to, “A man who is his own engineer has a fool for a client”. Donald Hamm is running for re-election to the Franklin (New York) town board. In a November 2, 2017 […]

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Your from Spokane area? Can one construct a custom pole building as home Spokane county? Would you have any references of builders in my area to consider? TERRY in MEAD DEAR TERRY: Yes, I was born and raised in Spokane – still have a plethora of family members there (as well […]

One of the great things about being the Pole Barn Guru is helping people who have construction challenges of all sorts – even those who do not have post frame buildings. Here is a recent one: Hi Pole Barn Guru, and thanks for your informative website and blog. I’m using email rather than the website […]

This is construction, things happen. The true mark of how any particular project goes is not everything going perfectly without a hitch, it is the ability to solve challenges when they arise. The scenario below is one which I have never had a DIY person do (shout out to all of you who are putting […]

Purlin Questions for the Engineering Department For those readers just joining us, go back to Tuesday through Friday’s blogs to catch up to the following story… Our client (after discussing possible corrections with one or more builders) poses this: “I have two questions I’d like to ask of the engineering dept. 1.) Is there an […]

The Straight and Narrow of Fascia:  Building Disaster Part III Look at the board on the far right. The one which resembles the coastline of New Jersey. It is what is known as a fascia board and it is pretty important it be straight. Why? Because not only do vinyl soffit panels attach to the underside […]

There ARE some truly excellent builders… This just isn’t one of them. In our last episode, the ‘builder’ had botched the shearwalls. A minor issue compared to what comes next. This building was designed to have enclosed overhangs on all four sides.  On the endwalls the roof purlins project over the top of the end […]

Sometimes There Are Just Not Words to Express…  Building Disaster How horrifically a build can be botched.   In a scene from 2013’s box office flop The Lone Ranger – Tonto (played by Johnny Depp) and the Lone Ranger (played by Armie Hammer) the heroes get themselves buried in the sand up to their necks. […]

The photo you are witnessing happens to be an example of a poor installation job done by a “professional” builder. I use the term professional here in quotes, because anyone who is being paid a sum of money (or perhaps receiving a horse in trade) in exchange for providing a service could be deemed as […]

Hansen Pole Buildings receives numerous requests every day from potential new post frame building owners, who are looking for a builder (in my terms technician) who can assemble their building kit. I am going to do both of us a favor and explain why we do not recommend any builders. Hansen Pole Buildings is a […]

Helping you to NOT be like this guy on a ladder… As my father died from a construction fall, I am always a bit sensitive towards safety on jobsites when it comes to possible falls. While Hansen Pole Buildings does not construct anything, we want all of our clients, or their contractors, to live to […]

Last August one of our clients in Colorado invested in a new Hansen Pole Buildings Monitor style building. One of the features of the building was for it to be drywall ready. The typical method we use for this is what we refer to as “commercial” girts – basically they are bookshelf style girts, set […]

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Do you have to set laminated pole so you see the 1.5 side of the 2×6’s while looking in or out of the building? I was thinking of using 4ply 2×6 post 10′ out of the ground every 8′ while book shelving with 2×6’s in between posts. I thought it would […]

This is one of those “Dear Pole Barn Guru” letters which I feel bad for the client in having to answer. The client has paid good money to have his new post frame building constructed, only to have installer challenges render the end result as far less than ideal. For your reading pleasure: DEAR POLE […]

Inflation in the marketplace. In 1991 my younger brother Mark and I ventured out into what for us was a brave new world – we were going to be post frame (pole) building contractors. Having spent the decade of the 1980’s selling post frame building kit packages, we had over 6000 buildings of experience behind […]

Calling For The Wall Steel Stretcher In our last episode, the dilemma of how to get a smooth roof plane was solved, to the apparent joy of all involved. However up cropped a new challenge, contributed to by us however pretty much on the builder and this is why. You may recall the eave height […]

Yes, it happens. My long time readers will recall I owned two prefabricated light gauge metal plate connected wood truss plants in a not too distant past. And yes – this may come as a surprise – truss people are not perfect. In this particular case, we had set out what we needed explicitly as […]

Sharing the Blame Welcome to 2017! As you may recall, 2016 ended with me sharing an email from a builder who is constructing a new Hansen Pole Building and may possibly be a legend in his own mind. Our company policy, when a challenge arrives, has always been to begin by looking to see what, […]

The Builder Knows More Than We do…. After Hansen 18k Plus Buildings Very few things in life frighten me. Among them are heights (growing up in a family of framing contractors and having vertigo issues were not a good mix) and builders who tell me, “I can build anything”. This last one usually sets off […]

They Say a Picture is Worth a Thousand Words There are not a thousand words invented to describe the true awfulness of this building. To my loyal readers, I know I have occasionally ranked on pole building poor workmanship done by builders, however this one may very well rate close to the top of the […]

New in the Hammering World     Estwing AL-Pro When the latest and greatest comes around, I try to be on top of providing information to my valued readers, many of whom have become trusted friends. Here is a new one for your reading enjoyment! Best known for its single-piece steel hammers Estwing is about to […]

When Buildings Fall Down, People Can Die It was a busy Friday morning in downtown Sioux Falls, South Dakota on December 2nd of this year. About 10:30 a.m. near the corner of East 10th Street and South Phillips Avenue, Boyd McPeek was inside the Coffea coffee shop, when the 1916 building across the street collapsed. […]

If you’ve been shopping around for a pole building kit, you may have heard the phrase ‘engineer-sealed’ and wondered what it meant—and whether it matters for your planned building. ‘Engineer-sealed’ simply means that a licensed engineer has reviewed a set of building plans and put their stamp of approval on it. Engineer-sealed plans are also […]

No This is NOT a Building Under Construction Here is the story from the building owner….. “When we pulled up here, about a quarter to 12 last night, is when I noticed I could see some insulation and then I got out and took a walk around and that’s when I saw that we had […]

Do it Best® I get a lot of people asking some great questions of the Pole Barn Guru. Some of which take some lengthy answers, in order to adequately make the point. Here is one which involves the thought of doing business through a Do it Best® store would add a level of security. For […]

You Want It When? A week from Tuesday is going to find a life milestone has been passed – it will be after Labor Day. Or as we know it in the pole barn industry, the Panic Point. When I was a post frame (pole) building contractor in the 1990’s based in Northeast Washington state, […]

Please keep in mind, I was a post frame (pole) building contractor in a past life. With as many as 35 crews erecting buildings in six states – if something could possibly go awry, one of my crews would find a way to achieve it! Seriously. Some of them were creative in methods which I […]

If an Engineer Didn’t Structurally Design This Building, Then Who Did? Many of you have been reading the ongoing and sad saga of Jimmy’s building…..here is the next installment: Jimmy: “You should go buy a lottery ticket, I asked the builder, he told me only on industrial buildings do they use engineering plans. There is […]

When things appear to be going from bad to worse The original question was posed by the reader, Jimmy, as to the adequacy of materials supplied to construct his new pole barn (by a builder, not a Hansen Pole Building). His story first appeared in my column just a few days ago. Here is Round […]

When Everything Doesn’t Go Perfect (and the sky falls) Part II To refresh your memory a bit, we had a client recently email us a letter outlining some of his challenge in getting his building project going. Read yesterday’s blog for Part I of this client’s challenges with his building project. Nothing but problems seemingly […]

When Everything Doesn’t Go Perfect (and the sky falls) The key to any successful construction project is not necessarily how everything went perfect, but instead it is how the things which did not go perfect were resolved. When one considers the average post frame building kit package materials have been touched by in excess of […]

Now me, I look at the photo and think to myself, “This just doesn’t look very good”. Well it isn’t. Our re-involvement with this client began recently when he contacted Justine, Hansen Pole Buildings’ Mistress of Materials. Here was her report: “This client got a building ten years ago and his builders muffed up.  Apparently […]

If you missed the start of this blog on hiring a contractor please read this four part series on finding a contractor and following my own advice starting with Part I below: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2016/02/when-i-dont-follow-my-own-advice-part-i/ Friday January 15 Bryan 6:31 AM Major white out.. the cars in thr ditches. Love you two. See yah Mon. Morn Bryan 6:57 […]

If you missed the start of this blog on hiring a contractor please read this four part series on finding a contractor and following my own advice starting with Part I below: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2016/02/when-i-dont-follow-my-own-advice-part-i/ Tuesday January 12 Bryan 6:32 AM I will get dwn as fast as I can. I gotta stop by where my truck is […]

If you missed yesterdays blog please read this four part series on finding a contractor and following my own advice. https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2016/02/when-i-dont-follow-my-own-advice-part-i/ Thursday January 7 Bryan 6:17 PM You all get hit with the snow? Im bringing a rental trailer dwn with my saws and tools Me 6:55 PM About ½” last night is all Bryan […]

Considering hiring a contractor to provide materials and labor for your new pole building? Or maybe you are one of the smart ones and are going to purchase a pole building kit package and hire a builder to assemble some or all of it for you. Here has been my advice to readers: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2013/07/contractor-6/ Long […]

“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 […]

Rural Builder magazine has sponsored the Gold Key of Excellence Award for 33 years. This award relies upon a ballot process which allows builders in the rural industry to vote for the companies which provide the best products and services time and time again. The balloting process begins in late February each year, with the […]

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 […]

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 […]

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” […]

Most of us have never heard of the Dunning Kruger effect. Although you may not recognize the title, there is a better than fair chance you know one or more people who are affected by it. Wikipedia defines the Dunning Kruger effect as “a cognitive bias wherein unskilled individuals suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly rating […]

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 […]

Sometimes Things Just Don’t Go Right When one really thinks about it – given the literal thousands of hands the components which become a completed pole building have to go through, it is a miracle anything ever gets done! With all of the pieces and parts and all of the human potentiality factor added in, […]

Builders – Paying for Convenience Most of us are fairly willing to pay a few extra dollars for convenience. We know it costs us an extra dollar a gallon for milk at the C-Store, but it was right there, we didn’t have to drive two minutes out of our way, find a parking spot, and […]

Last summer my friend Shelean and I were visiting my favorite biker watering hole Stateline Cruisers (read more about Cruisers at: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/blog/2013/05/pole-building-13/). I was enjoying a tall cold one, when a fellow patron of the establishment approached me and asked if I remembered him. Turns out, I did. Back in the early 1990’s, when I […]

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.” […]

While contractors and future pole building owners may moan and groan about having to provide detailed plans for new buildings to their permit issuing authorities – it does better assure the new construction will prove to be Code conforming. Structural plan review, along with site inspections done by certified inspectors help to make sure work […]

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” […]

Consumers can protect themselves from unscrupulous, often unlicensed pole building contractors. By following the following suggestions, it minimizes the possibility of becoming a victim to this all too common problem. Deal only with a licensed contractor. Many states, as well as smaller jurisdictions require contractors for construction services to be registered or licensed. The license […]

When I was a pole building contractor, I always hated “prevailing wage” projects. It wasn’t just all of the obnoxious extra paperwork and record keeping, it was knowing the taxpaying public was being basically fleeced. Prevailing wage caused the pole building labor cost to be two to three times what it would have been, if […]

Deadbeat Building Owners Who Refuse To Pay Twenty years ago, I was partners in a post frame building construction business with the late Rod Sevy. Rod was generally a no nonsense guy when it came to clients who didn’t play straight. One of our building crews had just completed a pole building garage/shop in Northern […]

Most contractors didn’t become contractors because they love to communicate. If they did they would be like Bob Villa and have their own TV show. Sometimes what they say seems completely obvious to them, but makes no sense to you. Of course most of what I say seems completely obvious to me, but makes no […]

Contractor Contracts Good fences make for good neighbors. Good contracts make for good relationships between a builder and the building owner. Think about it – a contractor without a contract is just a worker and his or her word. Even the most honest person would be hard-pressed to keep track of all the conversations which […]

The basics of marketing teach us (as suppliers of pole building kit packages) to focus our efforts on those most likely to be a customer. If implemented (which most do) the problem becomes the focus is on direct competitors rather than enlarging the pool of potential clients. Everyone becomes more worried about losing a sale […]

Searching for a Contractor in All the Wrong Places Plenty of experts predict the Angie’s List business model — relying on consumers to pay for information they could get for free — is not sustainable. But Angie’s probably has a way to go before it runs out of steam. Yet even free review sites may […]

Pole Barn Contractors I recently read this posting on an internet forum: “Who can build a good pole barn in this area? Looking to build a building and need someone that can build a sturdy pole barn.”  In my mind, this is a reasonable question. And (most importantly) the person posting the question is looking […]

Construction is a Complicated Business The conditions always change – different clients, different materials, dealing with workers, subcontractors and vendors and a myriad of different governmental agencies each doing the push-me, pull-me with incomprehensible mountains of paperwork and requirements. Contractor High failure rate Those who are not prepared or capable of meeting these demands may […]

“Pole barn builder” read the title of the ad “I am looking to contract a licensed pole barn builder for a few jobs that I have in xxxxx. I can provide materials or if cost effective, you could supply the materials. I would also like to affiliate with an experienced concrete person. Please provide your […]

The following includes a compilation of stories from numerous news sources. Bear with me as I share this accounting, which will come to a point by the end…of my story. Hang in here…it’s longer than usual, but well worth the read. An Oregon fugitive was arrested north of Valley City, North Dakota early morning Wednesday, […]

While most Hansen Buildings clients are looking to construct their own buildings, a fair number don’t want to do the dirty work themselves. They are looking for a builder who can at least construct the building shell for them. I haven’t been a building contractor personally in over a decade. Over the past few years […]

Yesterday I was having an ongoing discussion with a client about concrete finishing and his budget. From Elko, Nevada, the client was weighing whether he should hire a contractor to “turnkey” his new 30’ x 40’ pole building, or to construct it himself. In this instance, turnkey would include providing the design and materials, constructing […]

I once heard an anecdotal story about a man who had a choice to stand in one of two lines – for brains, or trains. He had always wanted to be an engineer, so he picked the line for trains…. OK, so it wasn’t necessarily funny. If you’ve ever been involved with a commercial building, […]

I’m a member of several discussion groups on LinkedIn. For those of you who are unfamiliar, LinkedIn is a business-oriented social site, used mainly for professional networking. One of the discussion groups is titled simply as “Builder”. A recent posting for discussion was, “What can be done to change the negative image builders get when […]

One of our clients recently sent us the following by Email…. “The main issue we have is that the sidewall pieces and wainscot only add up to 8’7″, leaving almost 7″ of uncovered space between the top of the metal siding and the fascia all the way around.  We thought maybe it was a mistaken […]

The goal of post frame (pole building) construction is to be able to get the most building, for the dollars invested. When a general contractor is hired to provide a constructed building, normally about 25% of the cost is going to the general contractor, who never lifts a tool or picks up a board at […]