Today the Pole Barn Guru answers questions about plans for a residential pole barn, lumber going missing, and to building an existing slab. DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Hello, I’m looking to build a residential pole barn. I would need enough space for 3 bedroom 2 bath. How big of a pole barn would I need? […]

Foundations – Post Frame Keeps It Simple Post frame (pole building) construction affords a plethora of savings for a new building owner, chief amongst these are foundation simplicity. I’ve previously expounded upon foundation savings in post frame construction as compared to stick frame buildings: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2011/10/buildings-why-not-stick-frame-construction/. Today I will add some graphics to reinforce (pun intended) […]

Animal Control Shelter Pole Buildings Pole (post frame) buildings are ideal structures for animal control shelters. They can be constructed with a minimal financial outlay as compared to other building systems. They can be assembled by volunteers and ready for occupancy in a short time frame. Wide clearspans allow for total flexibility of interior spaces […]

Gordon Miller photo Pole Barn Ignorance After spending pretty well my entire adult life in some facet of my industry, it becomes amazing to me to find pole barn ignorance. Other than recent immigrants to our country, and maybe those who have never traveled outside of urban areas most everyone should have some inkling as […]

The Pole Barn Guru addresses questions about frost heave, a sliding door dilemma, and plans on climate control. DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Hello. Do you have any information regarding how to avoid frost movement with Pole Barn Building designs in stony ground and cold climates such as Norway? There is a building nearby that had […]

Post Frame Roof Top Decks Question: Can decks be constructed upon a post frame roof top? Answer: Yes, and it may prove far simpler than one might expect. Our typical request from clients generally revolves around having a very slightly sloping roof and to use EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer) rubber as roofing over plywood. […]

500 Year Storm and wind exposure. Allstate® Insurance has a TV commercial featuring actor Dennis Haysbert. Haysbert sits in an open field and questions why there have been 26 “once in 500 years storms” in last decade, when term alone implies they should only happen every 500 years. View Allstate® commercial here: https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=crmas&p=Allstate+once+in+500+years+storm+commercial#id=1&vid=b134fa05aba0ff046debaea22891c23d&action=click IBC (International […]

The Pole Barn Guru assists with questions about pole size, the “right” sized building, and a picture is worth a thousand words. DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I have a question on a pole barn.  I’m thinking of 50 by 60 and about 14ft high or so.  On the 4/4 poles, how far apart should they […]

Examining a Light Steel Truss Frame Building I have never owned or assembled a light steel truss frame building. A gentleman named Stan Floyd worked for me as a salesman when I owned M & W Building Supply. Stan’s dad had fabricated light steel truss frame buildings in Arkansas and Stan was interested in developing […]

Today the Pole Barn Guru answers questions about installing buildings, adding on to an existing structure, and custom designs. DEAR POLE BARN GURU: If we purchased from your company do have does it come with installing in Hedgesville WV. Thank you. BRENDA in HEDGESVILLE DEAR BRENDA: Our buildings are designed to be able to be […]

Lean To, Or Not to Lean To? Over my post frame building career I have seen a plethora of buildings designed with an enclosed clearspan enclosed space plus a shed roof (or lean to) for one or both sides. Most often just a roof, a lean to provides shade and not much else for whatever […]

What Size Truss Carriers? It seems every day I am asked to do structural design of post frame buildings – for free. Today’s request comes from BOB in ARKDALE who writes: “Yesterday I asked a question about a double header and single trusses being spaced every 4 feet with 8 foot spacing on posts. I […]

Oklahoma, Is It OK? Last weekend my lovely bride and I attended an event hosted by her first husband’s sister and her husband. Event purpose was to celebrate this couple’s upcoming 40th wedding anniversary. Adding to this fun, at least for me, was a new Hansen Pole Building being erected onsite (D.I.Y. husband doing some […]

Today the Pole Barn Guru discusses rebuilding on an existing concrete foundation with dry set brackets, unfinished work, and proper engineering. DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I’ve recently torn down an old machine shed that still has very good 8″ wide by 24″ deep cement foundation walls that I’m thinking about using to erect a new […]

Planning a Building – guest blog by J.A.Hansen I am the principle owner and CEO of Hansen Buildings – offering to give Mike a day off from writing a blog. Over the years I’ve done just about everything at Hansen Buildings, including shipping (setting up the original shipping department), ordering materials, writing parts of the […]

Preaching Post Frame Conditioned Spaces – Insulation We smile and greet each other inside the doorway, sharing pleasantries with friends old and new. Once assembled and comfortably seated upon hard wooden pews, we are relieved to be able to stand for a few minutes whilst singing a hymn or two and listening to announcements. Eventually […]

Why Most People Should Not Order Trusses These posts are a part of what I do, to advise people so they will hopefully avoid making costly (or even fatal) errors. Now prefabricated trusses are great and wonderful things. However, most people lack expertise necessary to know right from wrong when purchasing highly engineered components. As […]

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot! Is it Ventilation? I really enjoy good food. In order to continue doing so and avoid weighing significantly more than I should, I do a treadmill run nearly every morning. To keep from expiring from utter boredom of exercise, I have wall mounted my flat screen LED television within easy viewing distance. […]

Mike the Pole Barn Guru answers questions about pole barn a redesign, Hansen’s delivery range, and post hole backfill. DEAR POLE BARN GURU: If I send you photos of my pole building can you redesign its appearance to make it more attractive? Thanks MATT DEAR MATT: Thank you very much for your interest. Could I […]

Fairgrounds Pole Buildings (Photo by Patricia Guthrie/Whidbey News Group) A new position, Island County Fairgrounds’ director, was created by Port of South Whidbey since it assumed fairgrounds ownership in March 2017. This directorship position was subsequently filled by Larry Lehtonen. Island County Fairgrounds’ original structure, a pole building, was built in 1937. Lehtonen takes a […]

True Double Trusses ASABE (American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers) published ANSI/ASABE S618 “Post Frame Building System Nomenclature” in December 2010. For those who are unfamiliar ANSI stands for American National Standards Institute (www.ansi.org). ANSI is a private non-profit organization overseeing development of voluntary consensus standards for United States products, services, systems and personnel. […]

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 […]

Today the Pole barn Guru discusses questions about Gambrel buildings, a minimum ceiling height for a loft, and RV storage solutions. DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Do you make plans for 18 x 20 gambrel roof pole barns? BEN in HOWELL DEAR BEN: Hansen Pole Buildings can provide materials, assembly instructions and engineer sealed plans for […]

Post Frame Cold Storage for Fruits and Vegetables Hansen Pole Buildings’ Designer Rachel passed along this: “Have a client call in asking if we have experience in designing a building for cold storage.  Confused I said yes, many building are used for cold storage and are not insulated or heated.  He said no I mean […]

Post Frame Gun Range A few years ago a Hansen Pole Building became a gun range for U.S. Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton, California. It was easy for us, as we were merely given dimensions to provide and only afterwards were we clued in to actual building use. Reader DIANE in FORSYTH writes: “Hello, I […]

Avoiding Using Pressure Treated Wood Pressure preservative treated wood remains a mainstay in modern wood construction. United States’ manufacturing and sales of pressure treated wood has become a multi-billion dollar industry. Even with all of this, there are some skeptics. Reader DIANE in MORGANTOWN writes in: “ I want to avoid pressure treated wood. Even […]

Building Within Height Restrictions From small towns to large metropolitan areas, most have restrictions upon heights of buildings. Most restrictive of all are typically those placed upon residential accessory buildings (think garages and shops). In urban planning there are a lot of cases where cities are for and against height restrictions. Mostly because some communities […]

Roof Slope Dang, up jumped an altogether conspicuous term included as a part of every building, and I totally neglected – roof slope. Growing up in low-middle income level suburbia, I had never given much thought to slope of roofs. This oversight existed even though my father and his five brothers (as well as their […]

Today the Pole Barn Guru discusses Rebar hairpins, a bigger build, and cutting corners on the construction process. DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Hello, regarding the column to concrete hairpins. I’ve talked to a couple different contractors and they both have cringed when I discussed tying the pad to the columns. They say around here everyone […]

Spot Problems With This Pole Barn Photo One of my Facebook friends had posted this as a timeline photo as it brought back to her fond memories of a childhood spent frolicking in hay lofts. It was so bad, I just had to save it. So, what’s wrong with this photo anyhow? Obviously bird excrement […]

Elevating to Avoid Flood Level Building in flood zones can be problematic, with one solution being to elevate to get usable spaces above high water mark. Typically jurisdictions and insurance companies want to get structures above 100 year occurrence flood level, however to error towards caution’s side can prove advantageous. Today’s article has been sparked […]

Today the Pole Barn Guru discusses potential DIY savings, moving an existing building, and the ideal building size. DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I am out of the area of which I can order a premade kit and have it shipped to me. If I wanted to still build it myself and buy the parts local […]

Besides being a semi-regular contributor to Rural Builder magazine, I have also had articles published in several other lumber and wood truss periodicals. I’ve been asked to write an article for The Advertiser (https://www.componentadvertiser.com/), which I share with you below: Increase Your Post Frame Sales Nearly every U.S. and Canadian metal plate connected wood truss […]

Why Your Church May Be Too Small Your church too small? Maybe you just don’t know it? More and more congregations are looking towards post frame (pole) buildings as a design solution to their growing membership. Post frame buildings offer more space for dollars invested and, let’s face it congregants like to see their contributions […]

Venting an Attic Without Soffit Air Intake Loyal reader KEN has an attic space with only air exhaust points – a vented ridge, and no air intake. His dilemma, how to adequately ventilate his attic without vented soffits. Ken writes: “I finally was able to make contact with the manufacturer of the open foam like […]

Minimum Design Loads and Risk Model Building Codes, such as IBC (International Building Code), offer minimum design loads for climactic forces such as snow and wind. As building permit issuing agencies adopt codes, within their scope they can establish minimum values for their particular jurisdiction. Key word here “minimum” – least values a building may […]

Post Frame Scissor Trusses I’d spent summers working for my dad and uncles framing buildings and being low man when it came to a totem pole of laborers, I did my fair share of strong back, weak mind work – such as setting trusses. As a teenager, I had not given much thought to complexities […]

When All Things Apparently Go Wrong Hansen Pole Buildings’ Designer Rachel was contacted by one of her clients, who has had his building delivered and has begun erecting it. Client inquired about adding sheetrock to his building. As with many things, there existed a Paul Harvey (younger readers can Google Paul Harvey). You can read […]

Adding a Second Floor in an Existing Pole Building More than one pole (post frame) building owner has an idea of adding a second floor inside their existing building. Or, they plan a new post frame building with an idea of a future second floor being incorporated. This apparently simple proposition has no simplicity involved. […]

The PBG answers questions about insulation, snow loads, and best choice for condensation. DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I am wanting to finish the interior of my pole barn and have an cathedral like ceiling. If I were to follow the trusses up to the peak with foam board Insulation and use 2x4s spanning between the […]

Pole Barns and Tornados (Excerpts from a July 21, 2018 Jeffersonville, Indiana News and Tribune article by Jenna Esarey are incorporated in this article) “NEW MIDDLETOWN — With Bobcats, ATVs and chainsaws, many residents of New Middletown spent their Saturday cleaning up after an EF-1 tornado cut a swath through homes, barns and cornfields Friday […]

Insulating a Room in an Unheated Pole Barn Regular readers of this column recognize insulation as being a hot (pun intended) topic of discussion – not just entire buildings, but also of a room or rooms in an unheated pole barn. Reader RICHARD in WOODSTOCK writes: “I have a 50 x 75 pole barn with […]

This week the Pole Barn Guru answers questions about properly treated posts, building on hillside locations, and an option to build with post frame. DEAR POLE BARN GURU: According to most of the answers on the Internet, if I bury the posts for my deck they will rot away and the whole thing will come […]

Poor Pole Barn Plans Lead to Poor Results There are a plethora of places people can go to buy a pole barn kit package with plans – Hansen Pole Buildings (I’d like to believe there is a reason we are the industry’s leader), a few online resellers, nearly every lumberyard in America, as well as […]

Single-Pane Windows When I was first in the post frame (pole barn) building industry almost 40 years ago windows were hardly ever a chosen option, and when they were, they were always single-pane windows. Why? Because the buildings were probably never going to be climate controlled and the single-pane windows were cheap. And, as we […]

Almost Round Pen Our eldest daughter Bailey, as a professional horse trainer, has spent a great deal of her life with horses in round pens. Generally round pens are unprotected in the great outdoors, leading to them not being able to be used in inclement weather. Personally, experience has shown it is far more economical […]

Decks and Exterior Balconies of Post Frame Buildings Post frame buildings and residential construction have finally met and the marriage happily looks to be a long term one! Along with this marriage, post frame has to familiarize itself with structural areas which were previously unfamiliar. Amongst these are decks and exterior balconies. The 2018 IBC […]

What to Do With an Old Dollar General® Pole Barn In the fall of 2016 the town of Reading, MI purchased the pole barn which had previously been the home of a Dollar General® store. The original plan was to convert the pole barn into a new city hall, but, after seeing the estimated price […]

High R-value Overhead Doors for Post Frame Buildings When my lovely bride and I had our post frame building home constructed, energy efficiency was important for us. At the time Hansen Pole Buildings was ordering our overhead doors through my friend David Vance, owner of Rainer Building Products in Western Washington. I approached David with […]

What Size Posts Does My Building Need and How Deep Should They Be? Reader ANONYMOUS in BENTON writes: “1. If my building has 16 posts and posts are 12 feet apart do I need 4×6’s or 6×6’s? 2. If the plan shows 16 feet above grade how much do I need underground? 3. If the […]

Splashwood™ Reader MIKE in ORLANDO writes: “Dear Pole Barn Guru, I bought a 38×42 Pole Barn kit from a reputable supplier. The posts are 8″ x 8″ – but do not have the AWPA markings that you describe in your Blog. These posts have a tag stapled to the end that says “SPLASHWOOD, Saltwater Splash […]

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’ […]

Post Frame Homes Proliferate Post frame homes have been a well-kept secret for decades. Well, not only is the bag the cat was in open, but the cat has also leaped out and is running rampantly! Here at Hansen Pole Buildings, we have noticed a significant surge in requests for quotes, as well as general […]

Installing Joist Hangers on Opposite Sides of a Double Truss My friend and loyal reader LONNIE in COLORADO SPRINGS is one Hansen Pole Buildings’ client who truly puts thought into the assembly of his new post frame building. Lonnie writes: “I’ve been pondering and pondering this and I may have a solution that I want […]

Why Should Air Barriers Be Incorporated into Post Frame Construction? Energy efficiency of post-frame buildings has become a huge topic of discussion. Rather than trying to impress you, gentle reader, with my limited degree of knowledge, here are the words of an expert. The general public does not get to read Frame Building News. Here […]

Conditioned Post Frame Crawl Space Recently I had a reader ask about Conditioned Post-Frame Crawl Spaces, a subject I quickly did an internet search on, and found nothing. Dear gentle readers: In the event you should Google any post frame related information and cannot find the answer you are searching for, please drop me an […]

To continue from last Friday’s blog on adding a lean-to onto an existing pole building… Moving onto the design of the lean-to itself: The lean-to can be placed to either begin at the same height of the existing building eave, or the high side can be placed lower along the original building wall. If the […]

Adding a Lean-to on a Pole Barn In six years and nearly 1500 articles written it is hard for me to believe I have actually overlooked the topic of a lean-to being added to a pole barn! For the biblical readers amongst you, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find” […]

Geothermal Heating/Cooling for Post Frame Buildings I’ve opined upon geothermal heating and cooling for post frame buildings in the past (https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2016/12/modern-post-frame-buildings-geothermal/). Reader STEVE in BOYNE CITY had some further questions and writes: “You said you pump (approx.) 55 degree liquid through pex in ”wells” in the ground (I think is how you put it) through […]

Cardboard (or Plastic, Foam, Metal) Eave Baffles The model building codes (IBC and IRC – International Building Code and International Residential Code) require enclosed attic spaces, in most cases, to have ventilation. The most efficient ventilation design solution is to have enclosed vented soffits at the eaves as an air intake, and a vented ridge […]

Continued from yesterday’s blog: (1) Storage – if you ever believe anyone might ever in the future desire to climate control then provision should be made for making it easiest to make future upgrades. At the very least a reflective radiant barrier (single cell rather than wasting the money for the extra approximately 0.5 R […]

Plastic Under Roof Steel? Reader Loren is persistent, he wanted to ask a question in regards to placing plastic under roof steel to prevent condensation, however the wonderful world of technology was making it a challenge. Thinking – Loren emailed me directly. Here are Loren’s own words: “I’ve been trying to submit a question to […]

Please Let Me Engineer Your Post Frame Building For Free Because I am not a Registered Design Professional, I can’t engineer your new post frame building for you. And, if I was, I most certainly would not be doing it for free. Typically an engineer should be compensated somewhere in the area of 8 to […]

Insulation is the hot (pun, intended) topic. Everyone seems focused on energy efficiency in their post frame buildings. Reader CHRIS in TRAVERSE CITY got my head spinning on it once again: “I recently purchased a property with a 24×30 pole building (metal siding, wood trusses and 3 tab shingle roof). I would like to insulate […]

My Cousin Did Not Buy a Building From Me I truly love my cousin Randy. In the past few years he and his lovely bride have had a home and a post frame shop constructed on their farm southwest of Spokane, WA. Through a set of unfortunate circumstances Randy did not get a Hansen Pole […]

Hopefully most, if not all, of my loyal readers are those who have concerns when it comes to investing in a new post frame building (I do know some of you just enjoy my slightly skewed sense of humor, or find my writings otherwise entertaining). For those of you who are avid kit shoppers, I […]

Today Mike the Pole Barn Guru answers questions about Retro Insulation, Cost of a Hipped Roof, and Slab Prep! DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Retro Pole barn wall insulation: should a person put plastic or some sort of vapor barrier against outside tin on interior, then put fiberglass blanket up? Which Is a better option faced or […]

Gambrel style rooflines are often enticing, they offer the feeling (however not the reality) of getting added space for free. Building your own gambrel barn trusses might appear on the surface like a way to make this even a greater savings. This was prompted by an inquiry from reader DON in WAYNE. Don writes: “I […]

Ways You Can Integrate Cost-Effective Heating Into a Self-Build Thank you to today’s guest blogger is Chrissy Nicholson Only 65% of homeowners in America have mortgages and with an average down-payment of just under $13,000, it’s not surprising consumers are looking for alternate ways to own their own homes. One of the most cost-effective ways of owning […]

An Engineer wants to Learn More, Roof Steel Replacement, and the ideal Building Height to Accommodate an RV! DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I’m a licensed engineer in KY. I would like to learn more about pole barn design. Do you have any references that you would recommend? James in KY DEAR JAMES: The NFBA Post […]

Reader JIM in HOODSPORT writes about condensation issues: “New Completed 40’ x 60’ pole barn with 16’ side walls and 24’ peak. Walls and ceiling insulated, 60’ long ridge roof vent. Full cement Pad with plastic vapor barrier under it. Cement was 60 days old when barn was completed.. rained just about every day. No […]

Bigfoot Systems® Bigfoot Systems® bills itself as North America’s Original #1 Selling Pier Footing Form, which I would say is most likely 100% or more correct. So, what exactly is a Bigfoot and why would one use one? Before we get carried away, I have never used a Bigfoot and this is not a celebrity […]

Manure Storage Pole Barns Here is a combination which seems doomed from the get go: young man, girl 60 miles away from said young man’s home, late night darkness, a crotch rocket, slow speed zones, Idaho Highway patrol and unfamiliar roads. After our youngest son had surgery to repair his broken hip, Dad had very […]

Mike answers questions about spray foam releasing agents, Going up instead of out, and a Post Frame Basketball Court. DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Thank you for this blog of informative words on the world of post frame construction. I am a confirmed fan of spray foam insulation. What are your thoughts on the use of […]

The Effects of Temperature Upon Concrete and Lumber Every time I begin to think I could never possibly hear something new, I have to be corrected as something new crops up. In this particular instance it was a reasoning to not embed properly pressure treated columns in the ground surrounded by concrete. Rot? Nope – […]

Hangar Doors in Eave Side of Buildings Reader KEN in ZEPHYRHILLS writes: “To facilitate use as an aircraft hangar can the sliding doors be located on the side rather than the end walls?” I have been involved in more than a fair number of airplane hangars, starting way before my days in the post frame […]

Mike answers questions about a Roof Line, Roofing with OSB layer, and Endwall Only Sheds: DEAR POLE BARN GURU: What is the roof line style in the attached picture called? BRYAN in MARYSVILLE DEAR BRYAN: The prefabricated roof truss folks would refer to this as being a Polynesian roof – one in which the outer […]

The following is the second part of a two part series on the risk of a metal roof and lightning. Jump back one day to read the first segment. Jim Cunningham writes: “Lightning – like any electrical charge – seeks the path of least resistance to discharge. In CG lightning, it’s discharging into the earth, […]

How to Clearspan the Juncture of L or T shaped Post Frame Buildings There are some instances where either an L or a T shaped building is the design solution of choice. In some cases it is due to the shape of the property being built upon. Other times it is a result of ideal […]

Is a Double Truss System Stable for the Midwest? Reader SHARON in NORTH DAKOTA writes: “Dear Pole Barn Guru, I have attached some pictures of a 62×96 pole barn with 12ft sidewalls. I am rather ignorant about truss systems, but this one looks atypical to others I have seen. What type of truss system is […]

2018 ARCHITECTURE AWARDS For the second consecutive year Hansen Pole Buildings, LLC has been nominated for BUILD News’ Architecture Awards. Pretty heady stuff, however it seems after 16 years of promoting building excellence and delivering “The Ultimate Post Frame Building Experience™”, our hard work and due diligence is paying off. From BUILD News: Shaping the […]

Permafrost is soil, rock or sediment which is frozen for more than two consecutive years. In areas not overlain by ice, it exists beneath a layer of soil, rock or sediment, which freezes and thaws annually and is called the “active layer”. In practice, this means permafrost occurs at an average air temperature of 28°F or […]

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I am about to build a pole building on a piece of land that is absolutely flat (pasture). I have read on this site that the poles should be installed before any earth work has been done. However, the state of Idaho says that I must have a drainage slope away […]

Bad Energy Efficient Pole Barn Advice from GreenBuildingAdvisor.com Long time readers of this blog have seen ample posts about energy efficient post frame (pole barn) buildings. As most are aware, there is as much bad information (maybe more) than good available on the internet. Whilst I’d like to believe Martin Holladay at www.greenbuildingadvisor.com is fairly […]

Agricultural land has increasingly become overrun with a proliferation of event centers, wedding venues and bed-and-breakfast inns. This is due to a rise in the “farm-to-fork” movement which has seen a growing popularity of agritourism as more landowners open up their ranches to those who wish to experience the bucolic countryside views. I’ve written in […]

Narrowmindedness drives me literally crazy. Post frame (pole barn) buildings can look like absolutely any other building. The only differences being the structural system – post frame and saving a fair amount of hard earned money. From the Marion, Indiana Chronicle Tribune February 21, 2018: “The Marion City Council will review a rezoning request for […]

The Possibility of 18 Foot Span Roof Purlins? Reader CHRIS writes: “I have a building I want to build but I am not able to add the height I need on the side walls.  My plans are 24 deep by 30 wide with 8 foot walls.  Roof trusses would be 24 ft.  My problem comes […]

Fire Resistance, Condensation, and Wind Speed DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Do you know if WMP-10 metal building insulation facing is ok to have exposed in a commercial building in regards to its fire resistance rating? JON DEAR JON: WMP-10 facings are flame resistant, however you should consult with your local building code enforcing agency to […]

This is Part IV in a four part series on Use and Occupancy. If you have just joined us now, it would behoove you to go back to Tuesday’s blog and get caught up by reading the first three parts before rejoining us for Egress. “1006.2.1 Egress based on occupant load and common path of […]

Go back two days to get up to speed for an example of determining the Use and Occupancy of a monitor barn example. Part III “SECTION 506 BUILDING AREA 506.1 General. The floor area of a building shall be determined based upon the type of construction, occupancy, whether there is an automatic sprinkler system installed […]

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 […]

Animal Shelters – a Building Problem Animal shelters have many challenges facing them in their quest to unite abandoned animals with good homes. Battling people’s preconceived notions about rescue pets, public ignorance over curbing animal overpopulation, lack of centralized funding for these non-profit shelters, and the staggering number of animals all contribute to a veritable […]

Cool Metal Roofing for Post Frame Buildings Energy efficiency has leaped to the forefront of concerns for owners of new post frame buildings. Using cool metal roofing for post frame buildings can assist new building owners in reaching their goals. What is a Cool Roof? A cool roof is one which strongly reflects sunlight and […]

CODE REQUIREMENTS FOR ATTIC VENTILATION Historically, ventilation requirements in the International Residential Code (IRC) are applicable to one and two family homes, and have been based on the ratio of “net free ventilating area” (NFVA) that is the area of the ventilation openings in the attic to the area of attic space. The NFVA is […]

The Both Ends Open, Pole Barn Wind Load Challenge There are plenty of people who just do not understand the basic concepts of how wind loads are transferred through a pole barn (post frame building) to the ground. Included amongst these would be those who desire buildings which are enclosed on both long sidewalls and […]

Salt Bagging Pole Barns I would imagine most of us do not give much thought as to salt, which is rather surprising considering 255 million metric tons were produced in 2016 alone (over 20% from China)! The first time I ever really thought about salt (other than at the supper table or in a water […]

Moratorium on Pole Barns? The Port St. Joe, Florida commissioners will be holding a workshop to discuss accessory buildings, in particular pole barns. Commissioner Rex Buzzett brought the issue up at the previous meeting and moved to implement a moratorium on additional permits for accessory buildings until commissioners discussed the topic in greater detail. Mayor […]

Indoor Batting Cage Buildings Growing up in the 1960’s and early 1970’s in Spokane, Washington, we had the AAA minor league baseball club for the Los Angeles Dodgers in our town. On many a weekend we were entertained for a 50 cent bleacher ticket to be able to watch future major leaguers such as Bill […]