Tag Archives: steel shear strength

Steel Thickness: Just When I Think I Have Heard it All

One from the Archives that made me laugh out loud. There is still a great deal of misunderstanding about steel thickness and the shear strengths associated with different gauges.

Rachel is one of the Building Designers at Hansen Buildings. This afternoon she sends me an Instant Message.  Here is how it went:

Rachel: “Want to hear a new one?”

Me: “Always”

Rachel: “This customer talked to a local builder about 29 gauge steel and the builder said…

Me: “Drum roll please”

Rachel: …..”Miller makes a beer can thicker than that”.”

Me: “And no, Miller does not make a thicker beer can”

Rachel: “Thought you would get a kick out of that”.

And Rachel was entirely right, as it did get me going. I went on my learning mission for the day and found the average beer can is 80 micrometers thick (to us non-metric folks .0031”). If you have ever tried to smash a beer can on your forehead you can relate to this not being very thick. 29 gauge steel has a minimum steel thickness of .0142”.

Beer cans are also made of aluminum, not steel, with a tensile strength of about 13,000 pounds per square inch (psi). 29 gauge steel has a minimum yield point of at least 80,000 psi.

Whether the builder believes the client would seriously believe this or not, he has made himself look foolish.

The 29 gauge steel used on post frame (pole) buildings by not only us, but virtually every other provider and builder in the country, is over 4-1/2 times thicker and more than six times stronger in tensile strength than the Miller beer can.

Plus, when it comes to spanning capabilities, the calculations are a product of the square of the steel thickness. This makes the 29 gauge steel roofing and siding right about 130 times stronger than Miller beer cans for roofing and siding.

Moral – make a Miller beer can out of 29 gauge steel and try smashing on your forehead. My money is on the can to win!

Post Frame Standards or Extras?

On Facebook I am a member of a discussion group for Pole and Post frame building professionals only. Recently one of our group members posed a question, “What are the extras you do to set yourself apart”?

It was only then I realized there are some significant differences between a Hansen Pole Building and other alternative suppliers:

Most important is every Hansen Pole Building is fully engineered (not just engineered trusses) specifically to match our client’s building features (all doors and windows placed) and individual jobsite conditions (snow, wind, wind exposure, seismic loads). Not only are building plans sealed and signed by a Registered Professional Engineer, but also a complete set of verifying calculations is provided. This ensures to our client his or her new structure is designed to withstand this given set of load conditions and will be structurally sufficient. A few thoughts on non-engineered buildings here: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2014/10/non-engineered-building/.

Entry doors are important as they are one of very few moving parts on a post frame building. Ideally you want your building to be secure – without a threat of it being kicked in by a miscreant due to having wooden jambs.  All Hansen Pole Buildings entry doors are insulated steel doors with steel jambs and are factory finish painted. These are sturdy enough to keep honest people honest and they will not have to be painted (or repainted), unlike most wood jamb doors. Why your entry door is important: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2015/09/pole-building-door-safety/.

When it comes to steel roofing and/or siding we tested actual steel sheeted assemblies to determine shear strength. Our testing led to development of an entirely new screw design to provide maximum system strength (https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2012/08/this-is-a-test-steel-strength/).  We couldn’t leave well enough alone, so we had these ‘super screws’ powder coated to minimize or prevent paint chipping. Beauty and strength, a great combination: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2014/01/powder-coated-screws/.

Prefabricated wood double (ganged) roof trusses directly aligned with sidewall columns. There are a myriad of structural and ease of assembly benefits to this system, read about them here: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2018/04/is-the-double-truss-system-stable-for-the-midwest/.

Prevention of condensation below roof steel is an essential feature in any use structure. Reflective Radiant Barriers are a very popular design solution. Most often these are provided as square edged four foot width rolls, requiring taping of all seams in order to maintain continuity.  We found this system to be inefficient, so we went to having this manufactured just for us in six foot widths plus including an adhesive pull strip tab along one side to eliminate seam taping. This wider width matches up well with two, three foot wide steel panels and reduces the amount of product having to be handled. Extended reading is available here: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2017/05/effective-reflective-insulation/.

Most common sidewall column spacing is every 10 to 14 feet. This allows for greater flexibility in wider doors in sidewalls, without a need for expensive (and occasionally difficult to install) structural headers. It also minimizes probably the worst part of post frame construction – digging holes. You won’t want to miss this: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2016/03/efficient-buildings/.

Bookshelf style wall girts, for all spans over eight feet. Turned in this direction makes for very stiff walls, meeting Code requirements for both strength and deflection limitations.  Read about how this works and why it is important: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2012/03/girts/.

Most Hansen Pole Buildings come with overhangs (in my humble opinion they all should). And most of these overhangs are enclosed (they have soffits). Besides superior looks, when factory perforated the soffit material becomes an integral part of a properly vented attic. https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2012/03/overhangs-2/. Our most popular soffit material is vinyl, which is manufactured in 12 foot long panels. Most overhangs are 12, 18 or 24 inches in width, necessitating having to cut them into smaller pieces. As a service to our clients, we have developed an in-house precutting line to eliminate field cutting.

Hansen Pole Buildings’ Instant Pricing™ program allows for total customization of  building width, length, height and roof slopes – without paying a premium to do so. More about Instant Pricing here: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2019/10/hansen-buildings-instant-pricing/.

500+ page illustrated step-by-step Construction Manual. It does matter how good post frame building plans are (and ours are specific down to showing every piece), if there are not great instructions to guide contractors or Do-It-Yourselfers to an excellent installation. There is nothing even remotely close to ours! Find out how this manual has made my life easy: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2011/07/how-often-and-why-building-technical-support/, even though we also offer unlimited free Technical Support! If you, or your builder, get stuck or are just unsure actual experienced experts will answer your questions or just reassure you (when necessary).

Hansen Buildings Construction ManualAnd, something no other post frame building kit provider has – a Written Limited Lifetime Structural Warranty on all non-commercial post frame building kits. https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2015/11/pole-building-warranty/.

These benefits clearly show why Hansen Pole Buildings provides The Ultimate Post Frame Building Experience™.