I’ve been in the post frame (pole barn) industry for over three decades now, and I’ve never seen the “pole barn” used as a metaphor for anything by the mainstream media. Well, knock me over with a feather, here it is!! Now IMHO (in my humble opinion), the author doesn’t have a true grasp of […]

I ran across the title of this event on the ‘net and being the pole barn curious guy I am, had to find out more. This event combines several all-American things – Independence Day, a fireworks show, dancing and of course – the pole barn! Luckily very few people (as my lovely bride will attest […]

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” […]

Latest in post frame design To my loyal readers – thank you very much, your support is greatly appreciated. Many of you may be familiar with my journeys to Ecuador. For those who are new subscribers, our now 19 year old daughter was a Rotary youth exchange student in Portoviejo, Ecuador her sophomore year of […]

While the inspiration for this posting came from an article written about a 4-H Barn at a Minnesota county fairgrounds, it could speak for hundreds, or even thousands of similar livestock barns scattered in fairgrounds across America. “The century-old red wood barn stood bent with age, its rotted walls crumbling and its fractured roof ready […]

From time to time Hansen Pole Buildings is contacted by individuals who are looking for a “price break” for being charitable organizations. Popular examples are for helping military veterans, terminally ill children or animal rescue shelters. While the great majority of these requests seemingly are for good causes, there are so many requests and, in […]

There was a time when all barns were sided with wood. A drive around any rural countryside will confirm this; old wood covered barns are seemingly everywhere (although not necessarily in great condition, as wood requires maintenance). As galvanized corrugated steel became more readily available, as well as affordable, the pendulum swung away from the […]

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: With trusses spaced 6 feet on center can you lay 2×4 purlins flat? Curious in Columbus   DEAR CURIOUS: In order to answer your question properly, I will have to make a whole bunch of assumptions. I will assume this is a single truss, code minimum snow load, 4/12 roof slope […]

This story appeared in the Windsor, Ontario, Canada Star June 27, 2013:   “Firefighters had to use a metal cutter and giant airbags Wednesday to rescue a man trapped under a barn collapse. “Upon our arrival, there was one person that was trapped underneath the trusses,” said Essex Fire Chief Ed Pillon.”He was conscious, alert, […]

Things Which Scare the Pooh Out of Me And we are not talking about things which go bump in the night or hide in closets waiting to jump out. Hansen Buildings’ Designer Rick recently ran up against an interesting situation. One of the responsibilities of clients is to verify the code information with their Building […]

Thanks to a High School Student My eldest step-son Jake, started a Facebook Group for students where he taught Physics at Lenore City in Tennessee. One of his students shared this with the group: “Three professionals, a mathematician, a physicist and an engineer, took their final test for their job. The sole question in the […]

Well, It Sounded Good Anyhow On an Internet Forum, was being discussed insulation and condensation control of pole buildings. “Dave” posted: “If you spray foam the interior, for insulation and moisture barrier, there is a polyurethane foam that is rated for fire retardant qualities… and it stops air infiltration….” Dave sent me the link to […]

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 send from a “reply-able” […]

OK, I was web surfing again! My wife thinks I spend all of my time on the ‘net Facebooking….well, I actually do some real research. I found this post recently on www.garagejournal.com, in reference to a comparison between all steel and post frame (pole) buildings. The poster cited this as why he regrets not having […]

Hansen Buildings’ Designer Bob was out visiting a lumber yard recently, and he (being one who always keeps his eyes peeled) noticed a pole building design he had not seen before. Post frame construction yields itself easily to a myriad of different designs, many of which could not easily be done with other construction types. […]

Andy Hinds has been pounding nails into wood ever since he was a kid and gives his father the credit for passing along the carpentry skills. In a recent Atlantic article, Hinds reminisces about helping to build the family cabin in Montana: Dad built walls and sidewalks, installed woodstoves, laid tile, added electrical circuits and plumbing […]

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.  Email all questions to: PoleBarnGuru@HansenPoleBuildings.com DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Will the poles y’all use […]

For decades, the least expensive solution to bringing natural light into post frame buildings has been what is known as “eave lights”. Eave lights are typically short portions of translucent material installed usually in the upper portion of one or both eave sidewalls. Back in “the day”, opaque fiberglass (actually fiberglass reinforced plastic or FRP) […]

As a Wayne Dalton overhead door dealer, Hansen Pole Buildings now has new design options to offer to our valued clients. Thanks to recent enhancements, in several of their garage door lines, Model 8300 doors, part of Wayne Dalton’s Classic Steel line, now offer realistic Walnut and Golden Oak wood-grain color finishes in the Sonoma […]

Taking frequent pictures of a new pole building under construction on is something which just does not happen on a routine basis. These pictures could easily save a world of grief.  I personally believe building owners and contractors should be taking pictures more often than what I usually find is being done. A picture does […]

Eric, one of the owners of Hansen Buildings, was chattering with me today about the number of interesting telephone calls he fields. Many of these are probably due to this blog, as well as “Ask the Pole Barn Guru” – the weekly advice column for those with pole building questions, concerns, or who just are […]

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.  Email all questions to: PoleBarnGuru@HansenPoleBuildings.com DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I have erected a 125’x50′ […]

When we were kids, we (and all the extended family) went camping three times every summer – over Memorial, Independence and Labor Day weekends. Dad was always keeping his eyes open for old cabins. He knew many years ago newspapers were used for insulation, and he often scored on interesting tidbits of history in finding […]

The Following is an Actual Instant Message Conversation between Rachel, one of our in-house building designers and myself. Rachel: Builder on the phone. Rachel: He is wondering why we wouldn’t make the trusses smaller so all the pole lengths would the same? Polebarnguru: I have no idea yet what he is asking. Rachel: He says […]