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NEW Hansen Pole Building Columns in Brackets

NEW Hansen Pole Building Columns in Brackets

Even though our glu-laminated columns are pressure preservative treated entirely through, there are some people who are just not convinced of longevity of properly pressure preservative treated wood in ground.

We have a solution for you.

There is only one commercially available with any significant moment (bending) resisting ability and ICC-ESR approved. (Read about ICC-ESR approvals here: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2012/01/icc-es/). Sturdi-Wall Plus brackets meet these requirements (https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2019/05/sturdi-wall-plus-concrete-brackets/).

Now these brackets are not free, however we again have gone out and ordered multiple pallets of them in order to get an absolute lowest cost.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE

(I know, sounds like a late night TV commercial – but we are not throwing in a Ginsu)

For bracket mounted situations, we are offsetting some of bracket costs, by use of untreated columns. Yes, these are same high strength as our treated base columns produced by Richland Laminated Columns, LLC.

No, it will not completely offset bracket costs, however it does make a significant difference.

Planning on a bracket mounted column application? We have you covered with high quality at an affordable investment!

What happens next to door openings?

Unlike many providers, Hansen Pole Buildings has always provided columns on both sides of entry, sliding and overhead door openings. Other than for buildings ordered specifically with bracket mounted columns, these have always been embedded. And pressure preservative treated. And prone to same challenges of warp and twist.

We have decided to change this picture. We hunted down kiln dried Douglas-Fir 4×6 #2 timbers to use as columns next to doors (where a glu-laminated column does not already exist) and are bracket mounting them as well. For those not used to working with Douglas-Fir, is has a reputation as being an exception product to frame with, as it tends to maintain being very straight.

Call 1.866.200.9657 TODAY to participate in “The Ultimate Post-Frame Building Experience”.

And, don’t forget to watch for our next article!

This entry was posted in Pole Barn Structure, Footings, Professional Engineer, Columns, Barndominium, Lumber, Pole Barn Design, Pole Building How To Guides, Pole Barn Planning and tagged , , on by .

Repairing Rotted Lester Building Poles

Repairing Rotted Lester Building Poles

Reader KEVIN in OELWEIN writes:

“I own a Lester’s (Company name) pole barn machine storage shed on my farm that was built in the late 1970’s. It needs new metal put on the roof. It is 50′ x 80′ with a concrete floor. Some of the poles are rotting just below the soil surface. About 15% of them. So those poles would need to be replaced top to bottom, or perhaps just the bottoms, before doing any other work on the shed. Are there ways for me to replace or repair these rotted pole bottoms on a standing building? I cannot find any contractors who will do the work. Thank you.”

Mike the Pole Barn Guru says:

Sadly, prior to about mid-1980’s, many treatment plants would do what was known as “.60 or refusal” for CCA pressure preservative treating. This resulted in difficult to treat timbers (such as Douglas-Fir) being basically painted green with preservative chemicals, as only minimal penetration would occur. Even with this, many have survived adequately in service for decades.

Provided column holes were not backfilled with pre-mix concrete (they probably were not), you could temporarily support any given deteriorated column above grade, then cut off the column just above top of concrete slab. From outside, excavate around offending column and remove it. Coat cutoff column bottom end with a waterproof sealant, such as an asphalt emulsion. Place a Sturdi-Wall Plus® wet set bracket on bottom of cutoff upper portion of the column. Clean all loose dirt from bottom of excavation. Use an appropriately sized Sonotube® extending down to at least below frost-line and backfill tube with premix concrete. Backfill around exterior of tube with compactable fill, compacting to at least 95%, no less often than every six inches.

For a rough idea of required Sonotube® diameter take roof snow and dead loads (should be 30 psf or less) x 50′ span divided by 2 x post spacing (most agricultural Lester Buildings are posts every 10′) to calculate weight to be supported.

Example: 30psf x 50’/2 x 10′ = 7500#

Most soils will support 2000 psf, so 7500# / 2000# = 3.75 square feet (required area of sonotube).

A 24″ sonotube has an area of 3.14 sft, 28″ would give you 4.27 sft.

A Registered Professional Engineer should be retained to verify adequacy of soil bearing capacity, as well as diameter of tube.

For extended reading on Sturdi-Wall Plus® brackets: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2019/05/sturdi-wall-plus-concrete-brackets/


And some thoughts about Sonotubes®: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2013/11/sonotube/

This entry was posted in Columns, Pole Barn holes, Uncategorized, Pole Building How To Guides, Concrete, Professional Engineer and tagged , , , , on by .

How to Re-level a Garage

Auntie Em, Auntie Em My Garage Has Lifted 

Well, it wasn’t from a twister and this article has nothing actually to do with Auntie Em or actress Clara Blandick who played Auntie Em in 1939’s film classic The Wizard of Oz. For trivia buffs, Blandick also played a part in 1937’s original A Star Is Born.

Reader GEORGE in LAGRANGE might be wishing a twister had hit his garage, so insurance would pay for a replacement. George writes:

“Due to the freezing and thawing cycle my pole garage has lifted about 7 inches since it was built 12 years ago. You can now see the outside grass from inside the garage. And it has not lifted evenly so the garage is unlevel.”

George’s post frame garage has some challenges, none of them ones with an easy fix. How did his garage get this way? There are three possible major contributors to this garage’s current situation. These would include:

Inadequate site preparation

At a minimum, site preparation includes:
· Remove all sod and vegetation.
· For ideal site preparation, remove topsoil and stockpile for later use in finish grading. In frost prone areas, remove any clays or silty soil
from within future building “footprint”.
· Replace subsoil removed from around building with granulated fill to help drain subsurface water from building.
· Distribute all fill, large debris free (no pit run), uniformly around site in layers no deeper than six inches.
· Compact each layer to a minimum 90% of a Modified Proctor Density before next layer is added. Usually, adequate compaction takes more than driving over fill with a dump truck, or
earth moving equipment.

For more details on proper site preparation please read: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2011/11/site-preparation/

Column Depth

Bottom of column encasement needs to be below frost line. This is a no-brainer.

Water

Read more about what causes frost heaving here: http://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2011/10/pole-building-structure-what-causes-frost-heaves/.

There is going to be no easy or inexpensive fix to George’s situation. An investment into a geotechnical engineer who could provide a thorough site evaluation along with solutions might be money well spent.


Building could be brought back to level by excavating at each raised column to well below frost depth. Cut off columns at base of splash plank (while supporting building from falling), then remove embedded portion of column. Place an appropriately sized sonotube in excavation with top of tube at grade. Pour premix concrete into tube and place a wet set Sturdi Wall bracket – expertly placed to receive upper portion of column. https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2013/11/sonotube/

If all of this sounds daunting (it would be to me), a consideration could be demolition and start over from scratch.

This entry was posted in Pole Barn Questions, Pole Barn Design, Pole Building How To Guides, Pole Barn Structure and tagged , , , , , , , , on by .

Sturdi-Wall Brackets

Placement of Sturdi-Wall Plus Brackets

I am enjoying our client Dan who is in the process of getting started with his new Hansen Pole Buildings’ kit package. My educated guess is he is going to construct one truly beautiful building.

Dan has a great question, which I will share:

“So I went ahead and purchased the Sturdi-Wall Plus brackets (in concrete is the rebar) from Perma Column. Really nicely made.

 So my plan now is to dig, setup similar to what is in attached picture and get everything nice and level before hand. 

So what I’d like to do is set my piers all at equal elevation and leveled. Then, wooden boxes so they are square to allow ground girts to sit nicely. 

 Here is my dilemma. What height to set the piers to? If I set them 3.5” lower than my anticipated concrete floor, that means that I wouldn’t be able to tie my poles to my floor with rebar as shown in sealed plans PDF. Would it therefore make sense to lower the piers even more so that the bottom of the Sturdi-wall is level to the bottom of the 2×8? That would mean I am burying the bracket in 3.5” of concrete (I’d imagine if removed Sturdi-wall I’d have a square) but I would be able to tie the rebar to the post. 

 Does that all make sense? “

Well, Dan’s question does make sense and I believe I can make his life fairly easy.

Set the Sturdi-Wall Plus brackets so the bottom of the bracket and top of pier are even with the level of your concrete floor. Take two five foot long pieces of rebar, bent at a 90 degree angle with one leg into the encasement around the brackets, the other leg out into the future slab. This will accomplish effectively tying the columns into the slab and will keep the “business” end of the bracket above the concrete. It does take a little more rebar than running through the columns, however the net extra investment is minimal.

Not interested in placing your new post frame building’s columns into the ground? Your building can be designed for the columns to be bracket mounted!

This entry was posted in Pole Barn Questions, Pole Barn Design, Concrete, Footings, Columns and tagged , , , , , on by .
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