Finishing the Inside of an Existing Pole Structure There are literally millions of pole structures (aka post frame buildings or pole barns) in existence in the United States. Most of them were constructed without a thought as to future use, beyond their immediate need. Here is a story about one which actually did have some […]

Few things drive me nuts more than self- serving advice columns. In my humble opinion, if one is offering advice as an expert in a construction field they should be open to a plethora of possible design solutions. The following article appeared October 1, 2016 at www.kpcnews.com and is copied in its entirety without edits: […]

We get a few requests for quotes from clients every day – actually more like a few hundred. With this volume of inquiries, it goes to figure we see and hear a broad variety of ideas. One of the more popular ones is clients who want a 16 foot tall eave height and a loft […]

My long time readers will recall concrete flatwork is not my friend and I will avoid it whenever necessary. In the event one is forced into doing flatwork (apparently some folks actually enjoy it), concrete screeding is something to know about. Screeding is the process where a concrete finisher (a real live person, not a […]

From a February 22, 2016 article by Mike Grant in the Washington, Indiana Times Herald: “A fire early Sunday morning destroyed a camper home near Washington. The Washington Township Volunteer Fire Department was called out around 2:46 Sunday morning to a fire in a camper that was parked inside of a pole barn at the […]

Interior Sliding Doors HGTV (Home and Garden TV, not Happy Gilmore Television) is probably my lovely bride’s favorite channel. I am guessing other folks as well, since over 80% of household in American with television receive it. Her favorites are Property Brothers, Love it or List it, House Hunters and Flip or Flop. One of […]

And the one between Hansen Pole Buildings, LLC and our clients is no exception. Here is an excerpt from ours: “…. provision for flooding, firewalls, sprinklers or other fire separations …..” Our client Matt from Chapel Hill wrote: “Our local building department is a little uncertain on what type of fire separation should be required […]

Reverberation Room in a Pole Barn Nestled away in the outskirts of Menomonie, WI stands a secluded century-old barn surrounded by more than 100 acres of farmland. Instead of sheltering livestock, feed and farm equipment, the barn houses drums, guitars and other instruments and recording gear which lines the old, wooden walls. Drummer John Richardson, […]

My long time readers have heard the stories of my framing contractor father and uncles. My dad was the oldest, and I cannot begin to count the number of times he spoke highly of his younger brother Gil’s abilities to walk up nearly anything. Dad would tell stories of Gil walking up beams set at […]

Hansen Pole Buildings has seen a dramatic increase in the number of post frame buildings which utilize either a partial or full second or third floor, or bonus space within attic trusses. Seemingly the average pole builder, or pole building supplier, has a limit knowledge of what is involved in the proper structural loading of […]

I have to thank those readers who contribute questions so good, it is impossible not to share them as articles. Remodeling and repurposing  of pole barns is becoming a popular subject, as the buildings will, in all likelihood, outlive their original owners. Here is one meritorious recent submission: “Hello, I love all the information on […]

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 […]

My first exposure to tongue and groove lumber was when I managed the prefabricated metal plate connected wood truss manufacturing facility at Lucas Plywood and Lumber back in 1979. I’d relocated from Northern Idaho to Salem, Oregon to take the position. (Read more about Lucas Plywood and Lumber here: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/blog/2011/06/theres-no-education-like-real-life-business-experience/) The most common method of […]

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 […]

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” […]

How Do I Make It Taller? One of our clients called in earlier today as his builder is beginning construction of his new pole building kit package. He has invested in a 14’ eave height building, and while his tallest door is 10 feet high, he has now decided it may be important to have […]

You Will Never Look at a Horse Barn Aisleway the Same Again Most of our equine inclined horse owner clients do not own horses which are worth more than the average house. In fact, most recognize it is not how much (or little) they have paid for their horse (or horses) – the real expense […]

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 […]

The phones ring at Hansen Pole Buildings every day from dawn-to-dusk, and sometimes both before and after. Some calls are a little more interesting than others. Bright and early, first thing this morning Eric (one of the owners of Hansen Pole Buildings) gets a phone call from Lowe’s®. It seems Lowe’s® has a pole building […]

True confessions…..we love them, we watch reality TV, we read tabloids, and inquiring minds just want to know! Yeah silly as humans, aren’t we? Well…..I drink. A lot. Of water (LOL – expected something tawdry, right?)!! On a typical day I will guzzle down at least a gallon of it. Most nights I wake up […]

I’ve come to face a reality – the great majority of people are dimensionally challenged. And it is OK if you might be one of them. I’ve worked with dimensions and sizes of all sorts and shapes since I was a teenager swinging a hammer (and being go-fer) on the buildings my Father and Uncles […]

When I lived in “the Hood” in Salem, Oregon in the early 1980’s, my neighbors and I all had Yamaha street motorcycles. For some reason, we got into riding through the multiple story city parking structure, very fast. Part of the “rush” was the building was designed for vehicles no greater in height than 6’8” […]

Turn On the Water I was recently reading a news story online about a fire which destroyed a pole building located in a Midwest industrial park. The large building was owned by a semi-trailer delivery company, and was a total loss of all contents including their offices. What really caught my attention was a quote […]

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” […]

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” […]

MAN LAND This was written by Cheryl PaPania (and posted on Facebook), who is an expat living along the coast of Ecuador with her husband Don about his “man-cave” pole building: “January of 2007 my husband, (Don) built a workshop to store his tools, equipment, etc. and also have a place to work out of […]

When my brother and I were but youngsters, we rode our bike’s a couple of miles from our family home in the Spokane Valley, to where our Aunt Donna lived. Aunt Donna was very artistic, and she taught art lessons in the summers, seemingly primarily to our extended family of cousins (my Dad’s five brothers […]

Last week I started discussing understanding the Building Code – and how it applies to post frame buildings.  Go back to Friday if you want to get caught up – this is part II of a two part blog. Again – this will appear “long” – but hard to break it up, and the tables […]

More and more we have clients asking for their new pole buildings to be designed with bonus space above which can be later turned into a finished “bonus room” (my home office is in exactly one of these spaces). Done right, this bonus room can be a cozy addition; done wrong, it can be chronically […]

One of our clients purchased two pole building kits from Hansen Pole Buildings last year. He has the first one completed (he constructed it himself), and decided to hire a contractor to complete the second one for him. The Hansen Pole Buildings Designer, Rachel, contacted him recently, to see how it was progressing. The client […]

OK, I was web surfing again! My wife thinks I spend all of my time on the ‘net Facebooking….well, I actually do some real research. I found this post recently on www.garagejournal.com, in reference to a comparison between all steel and post frame (pole) buildings. The poster cited this as why he regrets not having […]

Eric, one of the owners of Hansen Buildings, was chattering with me today about the number of interesting telephone calls he fields. Many of these are probably due to this blog, as well as “Ask the Pole Barn Guru” – the weekly advice column for those with pole building questions, concerns, or who just are […]

For years I have preached about the efficiencies of post frame (pole building) construction, as compared to stick frame construction. I appreciate the beauty of a well-designed pole building – every piece has a structural function, there are not the redundant materials found in typical buildings with stud walls. The idea of efficient structural design […]

QuietRock – Sound Dampening Sheetrock When my wife and I designed our pole building home in South Dakota, one of our considerations was to isolate (for sound) as much as possible the master suite from the living areas of the rest of the house.  We put a large pool table in the center of an […]