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Convert to Residence, Insulation, and Truss Spans

Today’s Pole Barn Guru addresses reader questions about building upgrades to convert to a residential use, how to best insulate a monitor style building, and the possibility of trusses spanning 40′ to eliminate interior posts in a shop/storage building.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: We bought a pole barn with no insulation, just studs and metal siding. We added faced batting insulation. But now we are thinking of making it a residential building. Do we need to remove the siding and put OSB and a vapor barrier house wrap on it? How do we refit this for a residence? KIMBERLY in COLUMBUS

DEAR KIMBERLY: No you do not have to add OSB and a Weather Resistant Barrier to your exterior walls.
Most pole barns are not designed to support wind and snow loads to extents required for residential applications – you should invest in services of a Registered Professional Engineer who can do a physical examination of your pole barn to determine structural adequacy and provide solutions for upgrades to make it safe for you to live in.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: This has been covered 1 million times but I wanted to reach out directly! I’m in North Carolina. I have a 30×50 pole barn with a 20×50 lean to off both sides. The lean tos are accessible from inside the main shop. So imagine one large open space. Lean to walls are 10’ rising to 14’. Main shop is 16’ rising to about 22’ at the peak. I have bubble wrap foil under the metal on the roof. Open 2×6 ceiling. 2×6 walls with nothing on them but metal. I will add interior wall coverings probably in the form of 7/16 osb. Concrete has vapor barrier.

Now, I’ve been told to do closed cell insulation on my walls 1” thick. I wanted an opinion on whether to go every inch of the walls top to bottom all the way to the roof? Would I benefit from the insulation at all by just going to the 10’ mark (my lowest wall height) because that’s as high as my interior osb is going anyway. I guess what I am asking is it any benefit to insulate closed cell up to 10’ mark from the floor and then just bubble foil the main shop above 10’ to give a finished look? THOMAS in PLEASANT HILL

DEAR THOMAS: Unless you are planning on some degree of climate control in your building, there would be no real reason to make an investment into closed cell spray foam. If controlling interior temperature is a goal, then spend your money on insulation in your roof/ceiling where over ¾ of your heat loss/gain is coming from, before spending money on wall insulation.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: We are looking to build a 40×90 pole barn, with 1/3rd being used for storage and 2/3rds for a vehicle maintenance. Both will be heated and storage cooled. Concrete floor, shingled roof, insulated, vertical metal siding, no windows, 5 overhead doors on the same side. Can you span the trusses from wall to wall and provide the above with no center columns? Thank you, ROD in CLEVELAND

DEAR ROD: Prefabricated metal connector plated wood trusses allow for some tremendous clearspan opportunities. We provide fully engineered post frame buildings with clearspans up to (and in some instances beyond) 80 feet. Your 40 foot width can quite easily be accommodated without any interior columns. One of our Building Designers will be reaching out to you Monday to further discuss your building needs.

This entry was posted in Professional Engineer, Insulation, Pole Barn Questions, Pole Building How To Guides, Pole Barn Planning, Trusses, Ventilation, Building Interior and tagged moisture barrier, post frame house, Residence, Conversion, truss span, insulation on November 3, 2021 by admin.

Upstairs Conversion, Building Plans, and Basic Buildings

This week the Pole Barn Guru answers questions about converting an upstairs space in a pole barn to a living space, Plans only packages, and a basic building kit.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I have a 30×30 pole barn with upstairs 2 story shingle roof. Want to convert it to a living space for my grandchildren and their mom my son passed away she needs a place to live.

Thank you RICH in CREAM RIDGE

DEAR RICH: You should begin by finding out if your local Planning Department will allow you to convert this barn into a residence. Once you assured they will be happy, you should engage a Registered Professional Engineer to determine if it will be structurally adequate to be used as a residence.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Hello, Do you sell plans for pole barns? I live in Canada and work as a social worker working with at risk youth. My wife and I use horses as a way to work with children who have difficulty in communication, self-esteem, anger and other concerns that prevent them from reaching their full potential.

The struggle we have is that everything we do is outside which means we simply cannot do anything during the winter and early spring months.

I have talked to several builders and truss makers who insist that trusses must be spaced every two feet so for a 100 X 60 pole barn I would need 51 at a cost of $30,000; factoring in all of the other costs it is simply out of our reach. I have read that you suggest trusses can be spread further apart and one of the builders I have spoken to said I should ask for some plans and he would see what he could do, however is very skeptical.

I sincerely hope you can assist and thank you in advance.

Many thanks. PETER in ST. GEORGE

DEAR PETER: Thank you very much for your interest. We are not a plans service, we do supply engineer sealed plans with all of our buildings (along with complete installation instructions). Currently we are unable to design to Canadian Building Code, however we hope to incorporate this option in 2020. Right now, all of our Canadian friends are ordering buildings designed to U.S. Codes. Trusses most certainly do not have to be every two feet. Depending upon your snow load, I would expect to see a pair of trusses every 10 feet. We do have a sample plan available on our website: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/sample-building-plans/

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Hello, are the base prices listed for the kit only or does that include shipping, tax and installation? NATE in EFFINGHAM

DEAR NATE: Thank you for your interest in a new Hansen Pole Building. Prices listed at https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/pole-barn-prices/ are for engineer sealed plans, complete materials package delivered to your accessible site, 500 page step-by-step installation manual and unlimited free technical support. Sales tax varies by state (and sometimes city or county) and we only collect in states mandating we do so.

While our buildings are designed for an average physically able person to assemble their own beautiful new building, should you be not so inclined, installation services are available through our Independent Builder Network.

This entry was posted in Barndominium, Pole Barn Questions, Pole Barn Planning, Trusses, Lofts and tagged living space, basic building, truss spacing, building kit, Plans, Conversion on April 6, 2020 by admin.

Earth Work, Pole Barn Conversion, and Insulation Issue?

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I am about to build a pole building on a piece of land that is absolutely flat (pasture). I have read on this site that the poles should be installed before any earth work has been done. However, the state of Idaho says that I must have a drainage slope away from the building of 1 foot in 20. How do I reconcile these two requirements? STAN in LINDEN

DEAR STAN: The rationale behind installing the columns first is very few people have fill adequately compacted when they bring it in. I’ve written a series of articles about proper site preparation and compaction which begins here: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2011/11/site-preparation/. For most, it is easier to just order columns two feet longer than normal, embed them into undisturbed native soil per the engineered plans, then start construction with the pressure preservative treated splash plank held up far enough so as to have its bottom at the point of where the bottom of the finished concrete slab on grade in the building will be. Once the building is up, fill can then be brought in to bring the interior up to grade and create the needed slope outside of the building. The IBC (International Building Code) requires a 5% slope away from buildings where surfaces are not impermeable.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Below is pictured a pole barn I’m looking to convert into a woodworking shop. I want to stud out the walls, fiberglass insulate, and shiplap interior walls. The ceiling will be drywalled and loosefill fiberglass insulation. I will install electrical service, and a gas radiant tube heater on ceiling. My question is, with a wooden frame pole barn with exterior metal skin, OSB sheathing and asphalt shingle roof, what type of vapor barrier do I need on walls, under ceiling gypsum, and on seal plate? KENNY in SOUTHINGTON

DEAR KENNY: You should remove the wall steel (one wall at a time) and install a housewrap between the wall framing and the wall steel, then reapply the siding after making certain any tears or seams have been properly taped. If you use unfaced fiberglass wall insulation you should place a 6ml clear visqueen vapor barrier on the inside (running from concrete slab to the bottom of the trusses), immediately prior to installing the gypsum wallboard (or other interior finishes). Again make sure to seal all rears or seams.

You should not have a vapor barrier between the ceiling framing and the drywall on the ceiling.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Have a new pole type barn and looking to insulate the inside walls with old style pink roll insulation, do I need a moisture/vapor barrier between the insulation and the metal tin siding? DOUG in PAOLA

DEAR DOUG: You do not want a vapor barrier between the insulation and the siding, you DO want a building wrap (such as Tyvek). You should remove the wall steel, a wall at a time, install housewrap then put the siding back on. Use unfaced fiberglass batts and then a clear visqueen vapor barrier on the inside (make sure to seal any seams, rips or tears.