Concern about a Grade Change and Column Length

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I ordered a pole barn materials kit and received my designed plans  and the materials list. My concern is the posts are 14′ and will the length be sufficient for a 10′ eave height that is to be built on a site that is being raised approximately 18” above the current grade? CLEO in EAST BETHANY

DEAR CLEO: Grade change is ideally checked before placing building order, however this is not often feasible as a practical matter. If grade has not been checked before order placement, do so within 24 hours. Longer posts are far more economical when provided with original lumber delivery. In some instances, building posts have been specially ordered (due to dimension, length, treating specifications or a combination) and cannot be returned.

In the case of a Hansen Pole Building kit package, the building column holes are dug to either the frost line or 40 inches, whichever is greater. The columns are placed so as the bottom of the column “floats”  eight inches above the base of the hole.

If your frost depth is 48 inches, this means 40 inches of the column would be going into the ground. This would allow for a grade change of up to eight inches in your particular case. If your building site has been raised up over the eight inches, it would behoove you to contact your Building Designer and pay the nominal price difference for the 2′ longer columns.