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: What is the life expectancy of the 6×6 pressure treated columns that go in ground? MIKE IN SEARCY
DEAR MIKE: If you are investing in properly pressure treated columns which are designed for structural in ground use (they will be tagged as UC-4B rated) chances are excellent no one alive on the planet today will live long enough to see them decay.
The catch – many retail lumberyards do not carry properly treated columns in inventory. For more reading on pressure treating please read: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2015/03/pressure-treated-lumber-3/
Mike the Pole Barn Guru
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: We would like a building that can have a floored attic for storage, as well as being insulated for heating and cooling. From what I have been told, Henderson County’s code doesn’t allow for this kind of building unless it is ‘stick built’. Are you familiar with our county’s codes? Any help would be appreciated. DAVID IN ROBARDS
DEAR DAVID: Regardless of what or where the jurisdiction is, it would be unlawful for them to attempt to preclude a Code conforming structural system (of which post frame – pole – construction is). They can have restriction upon types of siding and/or roofing, but those need to apply towards all construction types.
Mike the Pole Barn Guru
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: We are looking for a Horse barn with a 3 bedroom apartment above the barn. Have you done any of these types of building before? Do you have any pictures/layouts that we could look at? JOE IN MONTROSE
DEAR JOE: We’ve done numerous horse barns with living quarters above – both as monitor style and as full two story buildings. Keep in mind, to get three bedrooms you will need at least 1000 to 1200 square feet of space, so a monitor style will probably not give an adequate area.
Not to discourage you, but you will want to consider the added costs of going this route as opposed to constructing two individual buildings. Two floors is always going to be more expensive than one. There will be fire separation issues to solve, as the barn and living spaces will need a minimum of a one-hour fire separation, and in some jurisdictions two hours. This is probably going to mean needing outside stairs for access. You will also need to contend with having to pay more for insurance….possibly quite a bit more, and it is an every year expense. With individual structures, the house would be insured and the barn becomes a rider as an accessory building at little or no added cost.
As for pictures and layouts – everything we do is totally custom, to best meet the needs of the individual building owner. I’d recommend calling (866)200-9657 and talk with a Hansen Pole Buildings Designer who can guide you through the process, as well as providing schematic drawings to give you ideas and representations of what your finished building will be like.
Because we furnish complete pole building kit packages in all 50 states, we end up with very few photos of our completed buildings. You will find some of them in our online photo gallery.
Mike the Pole Barn Guru
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I am wrapping my overhead garage door openings with aluminum coil stock. My question is in the upper corners do I bend any extra to place under the top piece. Or bend extra to place under the verticals. NICK IN FREDERICKTOWN
DEAR NICK: The rule when doing exterior trims is to install from bottom to top, making certain each newly installed piece has a watertight seal and overlaps the previous piece. This may mean you will need to run each piece long, so the verticals can underlap the top horizontal and the horizontal can overlap the vertical.
Mike the Pole Barn Guru
