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” […]

In the case of most pole buildings – doors are an important feature. As long as they open and close as expected, most people really don’t give much, if any thought to them. Overhead doors offer many things which other door choices do not. Here are some things which are all too often not considered […]

Market What we Make or Make What we Market? In the last half of the 1990’s I owned a prefabricated metal plated truss manufacturing business. One thing lead to another and I found myself serving five terms on the board of directors of the Machine Stress Rated Lumber Producers Council https://msrlumber.org/. Of the 11 directors, […]

Everyone always wants to pay as little as possible, right? Well, maybe not. Wearing shoes right now? If so, look down at them. If they are a generic brand from a discount store, then maybe you are one of the few who fit into the always paying as little as possible group. There is a […]

I have configured both Google and Yahoo for notifications every time “pole barn” or “pole building” comes up in a new or edited article on the Internet. One of the things I am looking for is new or innovative ways people use buildings. Some of them make for interesting potential blog posts. From Van Buren […]

Wind Happens… …even close to home (or home of Hansen Pole Buildings anyhow) in Roberts County, SD! Friday, October 11, at 5:25 p.m. a tornado touched down about 10 miles northeast of Dumont, (just across the border into MN) in a soybean field. As the tornado moved to the northwest, it struck a barn which […]

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” […]

The following story by Zack McDonald appeared in the October 17, 2013 Panama City, FL The News Herald: “PARKER — Residents may want to hold off on building any pole barns, carports, garages or storage sheds in their front yards within the next three months. They might be asked to remove them at their own […]

As a teenager I worked for Blaine Johnston Construction in the Spokane Valley twice, the summer after my freshman year of college, and again after I was out of school. The second time around, I was the “change order guy” – if a client wanted something changed on their house, I got to go do […]

Like many things, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I recently saw a photo of a McMansion in Florida, valued at eight figures, with a galvanized steel roof. Personally, I thought it looked pretty darn nice (as did the architect, builder and home owner apparently). What got me going on this subject was […]

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” […]

(Disclaimer: for those dear readers who are not Christian, the reference to the Bible below is merely for illustrative purposes, and is not an attempt to sway anyone to or from any particular religious practices or beliefs.) Imagine, if you will, the Bible being revised every three years. Once the revisions were accepted by the […]

Oil canning is the perceived waviness in the flat areas of steel trims. Generally the “period” and “amplitude” (in layperson’s terms – the frequency and size) of the wave depends upon the continuous width of the flat part of the trim. Oil canning is an inherent part of light gauge cold formed metal products, particularly […]

For those who want their new post frame building to have an authentic rustic “log cabin” look, split log siding is the most popular answer. Log siding is the way to get the look, without the price of actual logs. Full logs are very expensive, in comparison, and split log siding produces far less wasted […]

Vinyl Log Siding Post frame buildings which use real wood log siding can cost a lot more money than other siding options and be a lot of upkeep as well. An alternative may be vinyl log siding. While it will still be fairly expensive, it will be far less than real wood. Lots of people […]

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” […]

Most people shopping for a new pole building kit package are great people. There are, however, some who are a bit more challenging. In the event you fit into one or more of the following, I am going to make a helpful suggestion at the end of this article. Do you buy only on price? […]

Although it is the least expensive and most durable of all sidings not everyone desires steel panels. Whether for aesthetic purposes to match other structures, or restrictions on sidings, some pole building owners are just looking for an alternative. Engineered wood siding and trim (EWST) is perhaps the most affordable of all wood siding options. […]

You Be The Judge While I have my own strong opinions about this particular case, I’d like for my readers to weigh in with their opinions, before I shout out mine, and the reasoning behind them. Weigh all sides of the story, then please share with all of us what you think of it. Here […]

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” […]

Energy Star and Windows Ever wonder where the whole “Energy Star” thing started from? It seems like it pops up on everything from computers to refrigerators to windows. Well, the Energy Star program was started in 1992. It is a voluntary program, which lets manufacturers put an Energy Star label on specific items if they […]

Why to Verify Design Criteria For those of you who are dedicated long term readers, I thank you. I’ve preached this subject more than once – but the message hasn’t gotten through to everyone yet. I will attempt to avoid boring anyone. There are over 7000 building permit issuing jurisdictions in the United States. A […]

Establishing Fire Resistance Table 601 of the International Building Code (IBC) establishes the required fire resistance of building elements (usually the structural frame, walls, floors and roofs) due to the construction type of the building (most post frame buildings being either Type III or V). Required ratings are given in hours. Fire resistance describes the […]

Last week I started discussing understanding the Building Code – and how it applies to post frame buildings.  Go back to Friday if you want to get caught up – this is part II of a two part blog. Again – this will appear “long” – but hard to break it up, and the tables […]

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” […]