Breaking Through Rock in Holes Post frame (pole) buildings are maybe the easiest to construct and most affordable permanent structures known to human kind. Once the holes are dug and the columns are set, it is pretty well nothing but go-go-go. The intangible is what is happening below the surface of the ground. When I […]

When I began writing these articles a few short years ago, I assumed I would run out of subject matter after about 100 or so. Silly me – as I’ve now produced in excess of 1100 of them and I keep realizing I have totally skipped over some obvious subject matter. One of those which […]

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 […]

Back in 2000, I had the pleasure of working with Dale Schiferl when we were both with Gruenwald Engineered Laminates, Inc.™ (https://gruen-wald.com/) , manufacturers of (among other things) glu-laminated columns for post frame (pole) buildings. Dale and I both moved on, Dale to open Timber Technologies, LLC, the manufacturer of Titan Timbers™. Dale and his […]

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 […]

Another excellent question from a soon to be new post frame (pole building) owner. DEAR POLE BARN GURU: The materials just arrived for my pole barn and construction is to start on Monday. The building will be 30×40 with attic trusses with an 8/12 pitch, 24 inches on center with a 1ft overhang (there is […]

Reality television watchers have suffered through 384 episodes of the ABC networks, Dancing with the Stars hosted by Tom Bergeron since 2005. On occasion, it seems some of our clients (or much more often their builders) have done some posts (as opposed to pole) dancing when placing columns for their new building. A certain amount […]

Redwood for Post Frame Building Columns Just this week we had a client in the California Bay area interested in a roof only post frame structure. His caveat, he really wanted to have Redwood columns, as opposed to properly pressure preservative treated timbers. The characteristics of redwood make it a popular choice for outdoor applications. […]

How Many Licks Does It Take to Get to the Tootsie Roll Center of a Tootsie Pop? Well, according to Mr. Owl, the answer is three. At an office meeting of the Sweets Company of America in 1931, employees were asked to share any ideas for new candies. Employee Luke Weisgram had been thinking about […]

Pressure Treating Beyond CCA My friend Sharon Thatcher is the editor of Rural Builder magazine. This article, written by her, was published in the December edition of Rural Builder and is so well done, I felt it was well worth sharing. It’s been nearly 12 years since new measures were put in place to help […]

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” […]

Which End is Up? Recently one of my articles (https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2015/06/nail-laminated-columns/) triggered quite a response from the President of Ohio Timberland Products, Inc. (https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2015/07/mike-burkholder/). Luckily, the two of us settled matters like most human males – we duked it out (at least electronically), got past it and then figuratively went and had a beer together. I’ve […]

Mike the Pole Barn Guru would call this his “bonus round” of questions for the week.  Mike is currently sitting at his son’s bedside at a local trauma care hospital.  While waiting for Brent’s surgery following a late night crash on his motorcycle, Mike is keeping vigil over his son.  He will be ok, but […]

The Hole Enchilada Yesterday I began hacking away at my neighbor’s new pole building under construction. Today, I will dig even deeper (pun intended)! Leroy and his building crew arrived on Thursday to begin building. My bride and I had to take a detour most of the day to go to Fargo to visit grandchildren […]

Hansen Pole Buildings’ Designer Rick has been working with a client who has a nose for knowledge – and I thank both of them for sharing information with me, so I can pay it forward. This particular client is weighing the use of Perma Columns against the more traditional design solution for post frame (pole […]

Dear Readers: For those of you missing the past two days, or yesterday’s blog at most, please back up a day or two to bring you up to speed for my response to a seemingly heated rejoinder by Mike Burkholder of Ohio Timberland Products to a blog I wrote.  This is published in it’s entirety. […]

Ohio Timberland Products, Inc. Nail-Lam “PLUS” Columns Eric, the managing partner of Hansen Pole Buildings, asked for me to write specifically about these columns, which we happen to neither supply, nor recommend. On their website (www.OhioTimberland.com) are extolled the “advantages” (at least in their eyes) of these nailed together columns over true glu-laminated columns: Nail-Lams […]

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” […]

About a year ago the Technical Department of Hansen Pole Buildings was contacted by the manufacturer of the Toci Ground Anchor: “We manufacture the Toci Ground Anchor, an anchoring device that you may find useful in your line of business. The Toci Ground Anchor safely secures any outdoor structure or building to the ground without […]

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 […]

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 […]

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” […]

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 […]

We Don’t Always Do Things Perfectly, But We Do Listen Last summer Hansen Pole Buildings Supplied a pole building kit package to a client who experienced a few challenges and I took the time to address each one of them. This is Part I of a four part response. First – here is my initial […]

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 […]

My loyal readers know I grew up flying small planes (read more about my adventures at https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/blog/2013/09/hangar-n3407s/). Growing up in a flying household meant the Wright Brothers were highly revered. I’d always wondered why it is two brothers from Dayton, Ohio ended up making history at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. I had my first experience […]

This question was posed to Justine, who gets everyone’s wonderful materials to their pole building sites for Hansen Buildings: “Justine, pardon me for being confused but: If the tops of glulam posts were manufactured that way to allow cutting, why are they not all that way?  There is no rhyme or reason to them. Some […]

A Hansen Pole Buildings client recently called his Building Designer Rick. The client was concerned as three ply glulams were provided for his pole building kit package, instead of the 4×6 and 6×6 solid sawn columns which were on his plans.  He is concerned his inspector will give him trouble about this and would like […]

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

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 […]

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 […]

Some days it seems there are nearly as many possible design solutions for pole barn “poles” as there are pole barns! Here is a brief overview of the organic (think coming from trees) ones. For the sake of brevity, I will limit this article to only applications where the columns are embedded in the ground. […]

I have a very dear friend who tends to avoid possibly challenging situations, by pretending they didn’t occur. This is known as the ‘Ostrich Syndrome’. Post-frame, as an industry, sometimes suffers from some of the same ailment. I present, for your entertainment pleasure, International Building Code (IBC) Section 1807.3.1, which may very well be both […]

Having spent two decades directly involved in the prefabricated metal connector plated roof truss industry (with titles running from just above the janitor, to owner of two plants) steel truss plates have always fascinated me. From Pro-Footer® comes the UP-Lift plate, which is an ingenious adaptation of truss plate technology. They are designed to help […]

FootingPad™ Composite Footing System In the late 1980’s I was a member of the Board of Directors for the National Frame Building Association (NFBA). Serving along with me was Glen George. The recent 2014 National Frame Building Expo held in Nashville, TN, was like old home week for me, as I reunited with several people […]

Timber Technologies Titan Timbers vs. Littfin Truss Nail-lam Columns – The battle continues One of the exhibitors at the 2014 NFBA Expo was Timber Technologies, LLC of Colfax, WI. Timber Technologies is a full-line glulam manufacturer of Titan Timber columns and beams for post-frame buildings. Their Titan Timbers are straight, strong, reliable, easy to cut, […]