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” email address.
Email all questions to: PoleBarnGuru@HansenPoleBuildings.com
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Does Hansen have a referral program (existing customer to new customer) at all? COOLING IT IN COLORADO
DEAR COOLING: Certainly. In order to qualify, the referring person must be the purchaser of a complete Hansen Pole Buildings kit package. The referral person must not already be in our data base.
Currently, once the referred person has ordered their complete Hansen Pole Buildings kit package, and paid in full, they will receive a $100 discount (thanks to you) and you will receive a check for $100 as well.
We reward our previous purchasers for being loyal customers, and their friends, for becoming our friends as well.
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Thanks for all of your information. I am a carpenter but it would be much easier for me and time saving if you have some limited prints that i could assemble the building. NOT ILL IN ILLINOIS
DEAR ILL: Unlike most suppliers of pole building kits, Hansen Pole Buildings does not just dump a pile of materials upon your doorstep and say, “Good luck”! Every complete post frame building kit package comes with two sets of completely detailed plans which show where every board and piece of steel on the building are installed.
Here is an example: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/sample-plans.htm
You also get our 400+ page Construction Guide, which gives step-by-step instructions, details and photos.
Keep in mind these buildings are designed for the average Do-It-Yourselfer to successfully craft a beautiful new building. For more on this subject: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/blog/2013/02/pole-buildings-3/
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I am squaring my roof and am able to pull it to square but I can’t pull it far enough beyond square so that when I release it the roof stays square. It wants to return to being 1.5″ out of square.
My thought is to permanently install a steel cable to hold the roof square during, and after, installing the roof steel.
Thoughts? KING OF THE CASTLE ROCK
DEAR KING: You are finding one of the miracles of pole building construction, it doesn’t take much to move the roof around, when it is framed only.
Once you have the roof pulled to square, leave the cables, ropes, braces, etc., in place, until after the steel is installed on the roof. You can then remove everything you used on a temporary basis to get the roof square in place, as the roof steel will hold it.
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I’m about to build a pole barn storage shed for my lawn and garden tools. Do I need a building permit for such a small building? FLUMOXED IN FLORIDA
DEAR FLUMOXED: Great question. There’s a common misconception building permits are only required for sheds larger than some arbitrary size. Do not just guess – contact your local Planning and Building Department. They can provide you with information to adequately determine if your proposed building requires a permit.
There are several very good reasons why a permit may be required, even for a relatively small (or at least by your assessment) building.
The Building Department will want to make sure the shed is built to code so it won’t sink into the ground, suffer a catastrophic roof collapse, or be blown over by a strong wind. (Go ahead and laugh, but all three incidents occur all the time.) Code compliant structures must be able to withstand wind, snow and seismic loads.
The Planning Department will need to approve the proposed building site to ensure it isn’t encroaching into wetlands, sitting over a septic system or straddling a property line.
If you build any structure on your property without first obtaining a building permit, you may end up having to move the structure, or even take it down completely. Asking first can save a huge headache (and expense)
