Category Archives: Pole Barn Planning

Water Your Lawn, Not Your Lumber

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 07/07/2011
Water Your Lawn, Not Your Lumber

Lumber is considered to be dry when it reaches a moisture content of 19% or less. When below this threshold, it becomes relatively dimensionally stable.  More importantly, it is naturally resistant to mold and other fungi which will attack wood. When lumber is rained upon, or allowed to sit in mud or puddles, it can […]

Read more

Happy 4th of July!

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 07/04/2011
Happy 4th of July!

Steel outbuildings or barns are often a gathering point of family and friends during times of celebration. Whether your pole building is used as a place to party or for the usual toy storage, take time to enjoy your 4th this year and be safe.

Read more

Wood is Good – Green Building Construction

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 06/30/2011
Wood is Good – Green Building Construction

Obama Administration says “Wood is Good” The Obama Adminstration has officially endorsed wood as a green building material. The U.S.  House and Senate passed resolutions in 2009 and 2010 acknowledging the American wood industry sustainably manages an environmentally preferable natural resource, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilscak recently announced a strategy to promote […]

Read more
More High Wind News – Pole Buildings Can Withstand Strong Winds

Pole buildings can be easily designed to withstand hurricane and tornado wind loads. The article below is from www.technewsdaily.com May 26,2011 and speaks to housing design under high winds.       Redesigned Roofs Withstand High Wind Events The tornado that stormed through Joplin, Mo., on May 22 shredded an estimated 8,000 buildings and stranded […]

Read more

Lying or Just Plain Stupid?

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 06/28/2011
Lying or Just Plain Stupid?

Yesterday afternoon, one of our senior building designers sent me this instant message: “So what do you do with a customer who is being sold a bill of goods by his contractor? Starting from, client was told he needed to pour footings and build with 2×6 studs because pole buildings ‘move too much’. All the way […]

Read more

Tornado Proof: Pole Buildings Can Limit Damage

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 06/27/2011
Tornado Proof: Pole Buildings Can Limit Damage

Thanks to www.ocala.com May 24, 2011 for their article, “Florida Building Codes Limit Tornado Damage” While surveying tornado damage in Tuscaloosa, Ala., University of Florida researcher David O. Prevatt said he was struck by the city’s large number of old homes susceptible to storm damage. “We have to expect this sort of damage unless we […]

Read more

Pole Barn Truss Spacing

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 06/24/2011
Pole Barn Truss Spacing

What do you mean they are not 2 feet apart? Back in the day (early 1990’s) I was on the National Frame Builders Association (NFBA) Board of Directors. One of my fellow board members from the Midwest wanted to take a peek at how pole barns were constructed in the West, so I invited him […]

Read more

The Disaster Solution

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 06/20/2011
The Disaster Solution

When life has been turned upside down by disaster, the building to turn to is a pole building. By the time the wreckage is cleared, your new building has been delivered. Pole buildings offer the ultimate resource when you need a building fast. With simple design meant to speed along construction pole buildings may best suite your needs in a time of emergency.

Read more