A loyal reader writes: “Hi. Good morning! As I read your post about a wood floor in a work shop, it reminded me of my research into a garage with a wood floor. I have often wondered, can this be done? So I ask you, can this be done? I am not a rich man, […]

One of our clients is preparing his site in order to dig the holes for his new post frame building kit. He happens to live in an area of Washington State, east of the crest of the Cascade Mountains, which would be best classified as being high desert. He has encountered the bane of excavators […]

Reader KEN in FORT COLLINS writes: “HI MIKE! We just bought an acreage with an existing 36 x 48 post frame farm storage building. In talking to the prior owner, we have learned that the builder did not use cookies, footing pads or a cement bottom collar. So nothing to prevent settling (He did nail […]

Some things in life amaze me – magicians are one of them. I have no idea how the do what they do, but I am totally fascinated by them (you can read about my college experience with a magician here: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2014/08/lumber-bending/). One of the other things which amaze me are how clients will invest tens […]

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I am looking for a bottom guide for a sliding barn door. I was hoping to get a guide with a roller vs. just a roller. I noticed some guides trap the roller in a channel on the bottom of the door. I would like to know if you have that […]

Placement of Sturdi-Wall Plus Brackets I am enjoying our client Dan who is in the process of getting started with his new Hansen Pole Buildings’ kit package. My educated guess is he is going to construct one truly beautiful building. Dan has a great question, which I will share: “So I went ahead and purchased […]

Grade is at… ANSI/ASABE S618 Post Frame Building System Nomenclature has the definition of grade as, “10.1 Grade line (grade level): The line of intersection between the building exterior and the finished ground surface and/or top of the pavement in contact with the building exterior”. On Hansen Pole Buildings’ Engineered Building Plans, grade is denoted […]

I’ve Hit a Boulder, What do I do? When I was building, the rock the size of a Volkswagon was generally parked in the last hole being dug on any given project. After digging all of the other holes – moving the building to avoid the rock just never felt like a viable option. I […]

Clients make for the best blog article subjects, here we have client Dan at a relative loss as to what to do about concrete backfill dilemma in and around his building columns. DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Hi there!  So I am about to receive everything for a 22x34x10 pole barn. The plan is to add […]

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: As a licensed Real Estate agent and looking to move, I realize how crazy the market is (at least in Michigan and the Grand Rapids Area). Considering building a pole barn home for my wife and I when we sell our house, however what about resale value? My concern is regarding […]

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: 34’x44′ pole barn middle is 20′ high and 14′ wide, the 2 outside parts are 10′ high by 10′ wide, frost level is 48″, snow load is 40lbs per sqft poles will be 6×6 what kind of footings will i need to have to support this building? MITCH in KAWARTHA LAKES […]

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Is it possible to get a quote from you guys? Do you just deliver material or build too? I am looking to build a house pole barn in Belle Plain MN Do you have to have a 36″ frost wall to build on a concrete slab? JOSHUA in BELLE PLAIN   […]

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: We are planning to build a pole barn in the near future and, I need some advice on the footings. depth width etc. We are planning to use rough cut 6×6 pine for the posts and plan to use anchors. The soil here on the property is very sandy. I’ve set […]

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Did I read on this web page that there is a installation product that is one inch thick with a R rating of R-50? DELLA in DALLAS DEAR DELLA: Unless I am mistaken, I believe your question is about insulation, rather than installation. Yes, there is such a product. Here is […]

I’m a Bit Confused… No, not me – one of our clients who is about ready to invest in his new Hansen Pole Buildings’ Post Frame Building kit. Just like me, when I have something new on the way, Phil is chomping at the bit to be doing something! Anything! DEAR POLE BARN GURU:  I’m trying […]

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Is concrete included in price? TRACEY in SUMTER DEAR TRACEY: No, we do not include concrete in the price and here is why: Most familiar, as well as most available is the Sakrete® general purpose High Strength Concrete Mix. When mixed per the manufacturer’s instructions, this mix affords a compressive strength of […]

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 […]

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I am considering using pole barn construction to add on to an existing metal building I have I also already have a 24×34 foundation were I want to put the add on. This will be a residential building. Would you recommend using drill in slab brackets to connect the post to […]

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 […]

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I am building a pole barn 50 foot clear span wide, and 70 foot long, 16 foot to the eve. I am using 4×4 metal uprights on 20 foot spans, red iron purlins and stringers, and 4×4 metal welded all around the top. I am using conventional wood trusses engineered for […]

Another great and well thought out question, which is best answered at length. Dear Pole Barn Guru: The construction manual states that concrete slab floors should be poured so there is 3-3/4” of skirt board left exposed above the slab. What do you do if you want or need to have a typical slab slope toward […]

What’s better: A poured foundation or block? How about – neither? Try post frame footing design! Even though my lovely bride and I are now living 98% of the time on the eastern border of South Dakota, I still read the online version of my formerly local newspaper – The Spokesman Review, from Spokane, Washington. […]

I’ve touched on the subject of Frost-Protected Shallow Foundations in a previous article (https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2012/10/concrete-slab-4/), but never truly taken a dive into the pond to expound upon them as they relate to post frame construction. My friend KEN from MANCOS recently contacted me for information, which got this subject restarted: “Mr. Pole Barn Guru, I am […]

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: […]

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 […]

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: After you dig your holes for the treated posts, do you put the post in the hole, then pour in concrete around the post or do you pour about 8” of concrete in first then let that set up and put the post on the concrete what is the best way. […]

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 […]

50 shades of The Twilight Zone, is The Ghost of Rod Serling Somewhere Nearby? From 1951 to 1955, more than 70 of Rod Serling’s television scripts were produced, garnering both critical and public acclaim. Full-scale success came on Wednesday, Jan. 12, 1955, with the live airing of his Kraft Television Theatre script “Patterns.” Deemed a “creative triumph” […]

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 […]

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 […]

The original Hansen Pole Buildings column encasement design, had the pressure preservative columns placed to the base of an augured hole. Pre-mix concrete was then poured around the lower 16-18 inches of the column to form a bottom collar. The bond strength between concrete and wood was sufficient to enable the assembly to resist 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 […]

I really, really enjoy interactive clients. The ones who pay attention to what is going on (chances are, if you are reading this, you are one too). They help keep me on my toes, as well. I’ve been enjoying interacting with John. Over the weekend he came up with this for me: “I looked at […]

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” […]

Client calls into my office at the end of the day Friday and says his Building Official will only accept his new pole building construction with holes 48 inches deep, with six inch thick concrete cookies in the bottom of the hole, and no concrete backfill around the columns. Here is some background…. The building […]

This is just wrong – in so many ways…. As my loyal readers know, I try to read every posting I can on the ‘net regarding pole buildings. Sadly, more than a few of them are downright scary. These are excerpts from a recent chat room posting: “I built this barn last year. I did 80% […]

In typical pole building construction, holes are augured into the earth, columns are placed in the hole so concrete can be placed below the column to act as a footing for vertical support, as well as to encase the lower portion of the column. Above this “bottom collar” compacted soil backfill is used to fill […]

In yesterday’s posting, I quoted Harris Hyman, an engineer from Portland, Oregon, who appears to know his stuff when it comes to preventing frost heave. In a July 1994 article, in the Journal of Light Construction he listed some methods which don’t work to prevent frost heave: “Another method for dealing with frost involves wrapping […]

Coulomb Theory As I have probably mentioned a few times, I learn new stuff every day. Sometimes, what I learn causes me to rethink my prior positions on subjects. I’d like to believe this is a good thing, as it keeps me from being so rigid. I’ve always had a bad attitude toward the use […]

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.  Email all questions to: PoleBarnGuru@HansenPoleBuildings.com DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I have a 40′ L […]

Can I Build on Bedrock? Email all questions to: PoleBarnGuru@HansenPoleBuildings.com DEAR POLE BARN GURU: It looks like on two of my pole footings (24 x 36 barn) I’m going to hit bedrock about 2.5 feet down into my 4′ footing.  Is my only option to rent a jack hammer and keep chunking away at the […]

I bet they wished they’d followed the Call 811 rule! I live on lake, in the mountains. My lot, much like those of my neighbors, is narrow and deep, with lots of grade change from lake to back of the lots. Nearly two decades ago, I wanted to construct a pole building on the back […]

Is Renovating a Pole Barn Practical? Welcome to our newest feature: 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.  Email all questions to: PoleBarnGuru@HansenPoleBuildings.com […]

DEAR POLE BARN GURU:  Can these pole barn kits be placed on a basement foundation? MOTIVATED IN MEXICO MISSOURI DEAR MOTIVATED: I happen to live on a lake, which is nestled into a mountain valley. For the most part, the parcels of land around the lake tend to be very narrow and very steep (only […]

In Robert J. Hoyle, Jr. and Frank Woeste’s 1989 textbook “Wood Technology in the Design of Structures”, in Chapter 21 (Post-Frame Building Design) on Page 336 is the following: “Concrete encasement of the post in the ground contact area enlarges the friction surface and can generally be credit with a wood-to-concrete bond strength of 30 […]

Truss Plates for Column Uplift The uplift of column in post frame (pole buildings) is a factor which is seemingly all too often overlooked in building design. Several methods for resisting uplift forces are utilized.  However the most popular option which historically has been used seems to be to pretend uplift doesn’t exist! Sadly, the […]

Save Me Jesus…. I’ve been reading (and commenting) in an online thread of a blog on another website, where someone is trying to decide how to construct a new pole barn. This morning, the following post was made: “What I had done was to dig the hole like you were going to set the post […]

A prospective client recently posted this question about block foundations: “Our family farm was started around 1850. During this time there were 12-14 barns and 1 house. Most barns deteriorated due to bad roofing. But we’re talking about stuff that lasted 100 years and some longer. We still have 4 barns left and the house […]

A Hansen Pole Buildings client in California has just today approved the plans for his new post frame building and poses the question: “We are in a no frost area with no snow load, so why are the concrete piers so large and deep??” In response: “The column embedment (depth and diameter of the holes) […]

I recently spoke with a prospective client in California. This particular gentleman is an electrical contractor, and fancies himself as being fairly handy. He is considering doing the construction of his new pole building kit himself, however was terrified by the prospect of having to set the building columns. Being honest, we all have our […]

This is a true story, about the construction of an all-steel building; however the events could spell the doom of any building project – regardless of the structural framework. Shifting Piers Geo-technical engineers were called out to a jobsite to investigate why it was the concrete piers supporting an under construction all-steel building were unstable. […]

Alan was a post frame building contractor for years, prior to becoming a Building Designer for Hansen Pole Buildings. If I had to estimate, I’d venture Alan constructed well over 200 of our buildings. Recently, Alan had a client question the thickness of the concrete footings, beneath the columns, used to support the pressure preservative […]

Rachel, one of the Hansen Pole Buildings Designers recently took a call from a client who was disappointed because we did not provide the concrete for their new pole building kit package. Most people are familiar with Sakcrete® readi-mix concrete. There is probably not a lumberyard in America which does not have it available for […]

When I built my first few pole buildings, over three decades ago, I was smart – I was the layout man and the other two men on my crew were the ones who got to use the dreaded “two man killer”. I have to admit, the “killer” was a huge improvement over using a two-handled […]

Perma-columns are manufactured by the same company who produces the Sturdi-Wall brackets. Paraphrased from the company’s information: Perma-Columns are five foot precast concrete columns which are designed to keep wood out of the ground, ensuring a post frame building’s foundation will never rot. They are the first product to combine the economy of post frame construction with […]

I know none of us has ever experienced this condition, but we all know of someone who has had the hurling issue, often after a period of personal discussion with some of the friends of George Thorogood. In this instance, I’m not thinking either of the example above, or the tasty oatmeal raisin cookies my […]