My grandparent’s lake cabin was nearly 75 years old when the cedar shake roof finally gave out in the 1980’s. With the quality of cedar shakes down and the price high (besides the dangers of a wooden roof in a forest) the solution became clear – painted steel. In the woods, the non-combustible feature alone […]

Coming from a background in the prefabricated roof truss industry, knee braces have always bothered me. What is a knee brace?  I’m not talking about the type you wear for a dislocated or arthritic knee joint. A knee brace is an inclined diagonal lumber member connecting to and extending from the sidewall columns, usually several […]

Three decades ago, when I was a newbie in the pole building industry, I was working in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. One of the local roll formers was selling steel roofing and siding as 26 gauge or (as they called it) .018E. To begin with, what is a steel roll former? The process of […]

As we near the end of 2011, I’ve been browsing various websites from the pole building industry. When I first entered the post frame business in 1980, nearly everyone was attaching steel roofing and siding to purlins and girts using ring shank nails with waffle heads, with rubber washers. It only took a couple of […]

As a youngster, I heard stories about my parents doing road races in my Dad’s Jaguar. I’d seen photos of the two of them and as a result, having a Jaguar of my own became a goal. Early in 1988, I had determined it was time for a new car. I was living in the […]

The International Building Code (IBC) is the primary non-residential United States model building code. Although the code covers all buildings, and has been adopted to varying degrees in all 50 states, most agricultural buildings are not designed in accordance with its provisions. This is because most state and local governments which adopt the IBC exempt […]

Some or all of a building collapses in a wind or snow storm. Upon examination, it is determined the building had several major weaknesses due to lacking engineering. The building owner is frustrated and angry as he truly believed he had purchased a properly engineered building. A properly engineered building, in the average client’s mind, […]

Seeing as it’s Friday, I’ll give you a “shorty” today.  At the beginning of this year my bride and I visited a horse barn facility in Florida we sold fall of 2010.  This was a huge building and although our programs calculate just over a 5% overage cushion for screws, we really went heavy on […]

My 21 year old daughter Bailey is a professional horse trainer. She works at a riding facility in Aumsville, Oregon – near Salem. Now Dad is pretty proud of her, as she has competed with the best in Tennessee and one of her horses was a national grand champion. The road to her dream occupation […]

Is Mini-Storage for You? My brother and I were pole building contractors in 1991, when we got a contract to construct 3 self-storage buildings along rural Highway 95 just north of Athol, Idaho. We’d done other work for the same client, and had met with the property owner, who was providing the financing for the […]

As important as carefully investigating the style, quality and features of the building you are going to buy, is taking the time to look over a sample set of plans and directions of how it all goes together…before you buy the building.  I’ve purchased what looked to be the simplest projects in the past (how […]

Pole building plans are included with every one of our kits, and I can’t help but scratch my head in wonderment (and often frustration) when someone calls for more materials, a verbal directive on what is outlined nicely on their plans, and still manages to make major mistakes in putting their building together.  Most upsetting […]

When I read this CNBC.com article, written by Colleen Kane, I immediately thought – why is it these folks aren’t just doing it the easy way? Here is a brief overview of one of the homes – a barn located in Dallas, Texas: This structure existed for its first 150 years or so as a […]

If you didn’t read my blog from yesterday- it’s well worth reading, and short, so I’ll wait while you go back and pick it up. Got it?  That’s right, stick framed construction, while being more of the “norm” than pole building construction, is habitually wasteful of materials and manpower.  I’m not saying there are “places […]

When my younger (and only) brother was earning his first university degree (in Planning), he had to do a thesis. Mark’s topic was comparing the materials costs of a stick built (stud wall) Habitat for Humanity home, versus the same building as a post frame (or pole) building. The results were a savings in the […]

There is Always Someone Who Will Do It for Less! Over the past few days, one of the Building Designers for Hansen Buildings has been negotiating with a client on the design and materials for a building 80’ x 250’ x 20’ interior clear. This is a project with a price tag approaching $150,000 – […]

I once overheard my lovely bride responding to this question with – if you make the building large enough, short enough, take off the walls, doors, and roof insulation – it is almost free! While it doesn’t quite work this simply, she does have a point. Pole buildings come with an inherent economy of scale. […]

Green building is one of the most dynamic market forces in construction today. Pole buildings are considered sustainable, but until very recently little documentation existed on the energy efficiency and the reduced impact on the environment created by pole barns. “Green building” is based on producing more sustainable buildings and is the basis for green […]

Private wood lots and portable sawmills exist in nearly every state in the United States. Over the years I have had more than one of the owners of these ask me about using rough sawn ungraded lumber in their pole barns. My recommendation, every time is…NO! If you are a private wood lot owner, I […]

Bookshelf Girts aka Commercial  Girts: What are they? I do a lot of blogging, not because I enjoy it ( I do) but because I am always “listening” and learning.  And if there is anyone out there who I can help, my fun increases exponentially.  I recently came across this posting on a Farm Forum: […]

One of our Building Designers, Alan, is a former general contractor who, prior to becoming a Building Designer, had constructed about 200 Hansen Buildings in several Pacific Northwest states. This morning, he sent me an Instant Message as a client had asked if they, “could have eave lights in the roof of their building”? Traditional […]

A couple weeks ago I posted about vinyl siding damage due to hail storms in the Knoxville, Tennessee area. Vinyl siding was not the only thing damaged – on my four mile running loop are numerous yard signs from roofers. The roofers are replacing shingles which were damaged by the same storm. When I first […]

On LinkedIn, I am a member of a builder discussion group. Recently this question was posed: “Do you use inferior products to get your bid down low or use the right product knowing you will lose the job on price?” Anthony LoCoco, owner of Traditions Home Improvement Service, LLC in Illinois responded with this answer, […]

Pole Building Design: Do It Right The photos above and quote below are an actual posting on a discussion website I belong to: “i got this late 60’s 102’x56′ pole barn/shelter. The poles are set 11’center squire. The purlins(nailed with 3 spikes each end)to the poles. rafters are 2×6,4′ apart,then 1×8 boards across and metal roofing […]

‘I want to see people build past minimum (code) standards’: Mike Holmes In a June 29, 2011 copyrighted article in Postmedia News, Mike Holmes says, “Anyone who knows me knows I talk an awful lot about building code. The code is a minimum acceptable standard for the construction of a building. It’s also a living, […]

Need a piece of lumber? In most of the United States, you get one from your local lumber yard or “big box” store and do not have a choice as to whether the lumber is “green” (moisture content of over 19%) or dry. For the most part, what is available at the retail level is […]

A New Pole Building: Why We Won’t Sell You Anything…. Have you ever purchased something, and then after the purchase wondered how it is you ended up owning it? We are not talking here about the package of Chiclets from an adorable child on a sunny beach – those types of small dollar purchases are […]

Roof Leaks: Where does condensation come from? When the weather turns cool in the fall, we get calls from customers with “roof leaks”, even when it has not been raining. These “leaks” are actually from condensation and are often reported as, “My steel roof is sweating”. Steel roofing does not sweat. Having no sweat glands, […]

Green Buildings: The Economics of Building with Wood Anyone can equip a building with a few energy efficient features and call their product “green”, but a true move to sustainability in low rise buildings means improving the building process itself. In an industry as fragmented as construction, doing so demands a major investment in time, […]

Blazing Building Prices…Honestly You’ve been talking with someone about a new pole barn. You like the salesperson, and feel like you have built a good relationship with them. You feel they offer a good design solution, can deliver within your time frame….just one question remains. Is their price right? Here is the secret to honestly […]

Mega Clearspan Buildings…Just Put a Post in It In my first managerial position in the roof truss industry, we worked out of an 80 foot wide by 120 foot long concrete tilt up building. This building had a row of interior columns down the middle, 30 feet on center. These three columns posed no challenge […]

Why you can’t afford to not make a quality building investment. I am a member of a builder forum on LinkedIn. This morning, a new topic post was, “Do you use inferior products to get your bid down low or use the right product knowing you will lose the work on price?” As a professional […]

There are lots of folks just like you who are out there chasing the steel covered building dream. You have a problem or are trying to reach a goal, which involves a new pole or steel building. Am I right? Now there are also a lot of people out there telling you it’s easy. In […]

You may have heard them advertised on television, radio, online and in the back of Popular Mechanics. I came across a query from a gentleman from Wake Forest, NC which included, “I have found some really good deals on the local craigslist from private individuals who have bought them and never put them up for […]

Back in the middle of March, Darlene T. made an inquiry to us about investing in a new pole barn. Now Darlene and her husband are newlyweds, having been married for just a year. Initially, she had considered a gambrel roof style, with a loft so the kids would have a place to stay when […]

As a voracious reader, and someone who always wants to make sure they have their finger on the “pulse” of the pole building industry, I am always scouring for information and misinformation on the ‘net. I recently read the post below. I’d like to have you read through it, and then I will give you […]