I have to give a lot of credit to Building Department plan checkers and field inspectors. They have to know a lot of stuff, about a myriad of different areas of construction. Even one who is an expert at what is written in the Building Code itself, would be only fluent in a small portion […]

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.  If you want a quick answer, please be sure to answer with a “reply-able” […]

This story appeared in the Windsor, Ontario, Canada Star June 27, 2013:   “Firefighters had to use a metal cutter and giant airbags Wednesday to rescue a man trapped under a barn collapse. “Upon our arrival, there was one person that was trapped underneath the trusses,” said Essex Fire Chief Ed Pillon.”He was conscious, alert, […]

The Following is an Actual Instant Message Conversation between Rachel, one of our in-house building designers and myself. Rachel: Builder on the phone. Rachel: He is wondering why we wouldn’t make the trusses smaller so all the pole lengths would the same? Polebarnguru: I have no idea yet what he is asking. Rachel: He says […]

Identifying Tempered Glass Email all questions to: PoleBarnGuru@HansenPoleBuildings.com DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Can you tell me if there is any method to identify glass as being tempered or not without breaking it? Many thanks in advance. SIMPLY SOPHIE DEAR SIMPLY SOPHIE: All glass including mirrors used in hazardous locations as defined in the IBC and […]

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 am having trouble determining […]

Pole Buildings and Insulation When designing a high-performance pole building – whether it be residential or commercial, the heating and cooling loads need to be shaved everywhere they can be. Thermal bridging creates hot spots or cold spots in the building envelope, and this makes a difference for heating and cooling costs—as well as for […]

While I have used metal plate connected pre-fabricated wood floor trusses in pole buildings (including one of my own buildings at home), they are not the norm. In the construction industry, much debate has been ongoing in regards to Section R501.3 of the International Building Code/International Residential Code: “R501.3 Fire protection of floors. Floor assemblies, not […]

I’ve been in the prefabricated roof truss industry in one fashion or another (sawyer, salesman, truss builder, forklift operator, crane truck driver, truss designer, general manager and owner) for 36 years. Yes, it is a very long time. Over this time span, the roof truss industry has evolved from trusses which were pretty much designed […]

Ceiling Loads Considering a new pole building? An important question to ask is, “What will the cost be to upgrade the roof trusses to support the weight of a ceiling”? Most post frame (pole) building trusses are not designed to support the dead weight (things which are permanently attached to the building) of anything other […]

Roof Truss Repair A builder writes: “The previous owner of a pole building I’m working on cut out several internal webs from three consecutive roof trusses to create storage space in the attic. There’s no sign that this has caused any structural problems so far, but I’d like to replace the missing members and fasten […]

Hansen Buildings new feature for each Monday is “Ask the Guru” where you can submit questions for Mike the Pole Barn Guru to answer on future Monday blogs. Email the Guru at: PoleBarnGuru@HansenPoleBuildings.com DEAR POLE BARN GURU:  I purchased one of your pole building kit packages late last summer, and have just finished constructing it. […]

A client writes: “I recently purchased one of your pole barn kits to use as my home garage.  We have begun construction and have all the framing and the roof on.  I recently contacted my building designer about potentially getting the metal lining material for the ceiling and walls.  My designer told me that I […]

My life with roof trusses began in Spokane in the spring of 1977. I spent the first two plus years of my career in Spokane and later Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, before being hired to manage a roof truss plant in Salem, Oregon. Having never been exposed to anything different, my assumption was all prefabricated roof […]

As always, I enjoy finding real life solutions to client’s challenges. One of the Building Designers, Rick, of Hansen Pole Buildings posed this to me today: “Another thing came up yesterday, got a guy that wants everything, and is on a cost crunch, nothing new there, but one item that he wants is parallel chord […]

I have been asked this question more than a few times, by potential do-it-yourselfers, who are considering constructing their own buildings. Jeff, one of the Building Designers at Hansen Pole Buildings, got asked this very same question again yesterday. I am certain most people ask this question, as they are considering how to go about […]

Having grown up the son of a framing contractor, then working framing for my father and uncles as a teen, I take for granted everyone knows what trusses are. When my first daughter, Annie, was just a wee tyke, she used to fold napkins into triangles – she told me she was, “building trusses”, like […]

Collateral loads are additional dead loads hung from the building, such as sprinkler systems; drop ceilings, HVAC equipment, lighting etc. These are the loads which are most often overlooked or neglected in the design of a new pole building. Many times, it is just no one having made the client aware. Most building sales people […]

Most every truss company makes sure every jobsite delivery includes a packet of BSCI (Business Social Compliance Initiative) standards. Usually all truss drawings are included in this packet, with a large orange warning sheet in the cover asking installers to ‘Read the Safety Documents’. Frequently the information is in a big zip-lock bag so it […]

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 […]

As noted yesterday, damaged trusses warrant a repair design by a professional…a licensed engineer.  This is not something for “guesswork” or scabbing on a bunch of lumber.  First the forces of where damage occurred need to be analyzed, and then only an engineer with solid experience in repairing damages should be engaged to elicit the […]