Competitor’s Quote: A Paul Harvey
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 08/10/2012
Client to Hansen Pole Buildings Designer, Jim; “I talked to a local lumber yard and received a quote from them for a similar 40×60 with attic truss at 40#/sq and they were about 20K lower than your quote. The 54K that you quoted seemed a little high when I received it. The other quote did […]
Read moreTimbers and Steel Connectors
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 08/09/2012
Many of you are by now familiar with Jim, one of the senior Building Designers at Hansen Pole Buildings. Jim is great – he has an investigative mind, so poses many marvelous questions to me, many of which are incorporated into this blog. Today Jim asked me what I knew about a particular building system […]
Read moreCamo
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 08/08/2012
For my step-son Kevin, this one word pretty much covers everything. He and his identical twin brother Josh have always gone by the premise of – if it moves- kill it, and if it doesn’t move, prod it until it moves, then kill it. Kevin loves to hunt, and if he isn’t hunting, he is […]
Read moreHurl Your…Concrete Cookies
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 08/07/2012
I know none of us has ever experienced this condition, but we all know of someone who has had the hurling issue, often after a period of personal discussion with some of the friends of George Thorogood. In this instance, I’m not thinking either of the example above, or the tasty oatmeal raisin cookies my […]
Read moreVentilation Blows
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 08/06/2012
One of our clients, Derald writes: “How do you provide adequate intake venting for a ridge vent on a pole building? I am assuming that you would drill 2” holes along the eave girt and install a wire mesh, like bird blocking. How far apart would the minimum spacing of the 2” holes need to […]
Read more- Categories: Ventilation, Building Department
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Constructing a Pole Barn: Other Challenges at Steve’s
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 08/03/2012
No construction project goes without any hitches at all, Steve’s garage being absolutely typical. If you have just joined my daily construction blog – I have been sharing my daily chronicle this week of constructing a pole barn garage for my oldest step-son’s father-in-law in Happy Valley, Tennessee. It was probably the hottest days I […]
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Windows – A View To The World
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 08/02/2012
I really, really like windows. They give a view to the world. They can be used for ventilation. Those are good things. To bring those of you who are just joining my daily blog up to date, I’ve spent this week building a garage – in Happy Valley, Tennessee. My thanks for the opportunity to […]
Read more- Categories: Ventilation, Windows
- Tags: Windows, Ventilation
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Camels Have Humps: Fascias Should Not
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 08/01/2012
We are on day 4 of working on a garage for my oldest step-son’s father-in-law in Happy Valley Tennessee. You might want to skip back to Monday of this week, and skim through to catch on my day by day account of building a garage. – Last I left you, we encountered a problem of […]
Read more- Categories: Constructing a Pole Building
- Tags: Pole Building Construction, Construction Mistakes
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Day Three at Steve’s: Squaring a Roof
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 07/31/2012
This week I am relating a recent day by day account of putting up a pole building for my oldest step-son’s father-in-law in Happy Valley, Tennessee. Check back to Monday for the beginning of this string. On to day two on the jobsite…another sunny day. (Read that as “oppressively hot and humid”.) Jake picked up […]
Read moreDay Two at Steve’s: Setting Trusses
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 07/30/2012
If you did not read last Friday’s blog – go back and catch up. This one will make more sense! Since the posts for Steve’s new garage were already in place, the worst of the work – playing in the dirt, was out of the way. Even when I have set my own poles, the […]
Read moreConstruction Time: Checking into Reality
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 07/27/2012
While most Hansen Buildings clients are looking to construct their own buildings, a fair number don’t want to do the dirty work themselves. They are looking for a builder who can at least construct the building shell for them. I haven’t been a building contractor personally in over a decade. Over the past few years […]
Read moreOM – I Failed the Plan Check!
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 07/26/2012
Life has now ended….nothing worse could ever happen…..ever….send my money back. No – failure to get through an initial plan check is not a reason for suicide planning, or to be jumping up and down screaming. Whether the building (or just plans) were provided by us, or anyone else – the first step is to […]
Read morePressure Treated Posts: When Future Building Owners Think They are Engineers
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 07/25/2012
When I was just a little tyke, my Mother used to watch Art Linkletter’s “House Party”. A highlight of his show was the segment, “Kids Say the Darndest Things”. I have my own version, “Potential Building Owners Say the Darndest Things”. Our Building Designer Lauri seems to be a magnet for these lately. Here she […]
Read morePost Tension Slab
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 07/24/2012
Bob, one of our Building Designers, comes up with some truly great questions. I appreciate him keeping me thinking! Today Bob writes, “Any reason why a client in Louisiana would not be able to have a post-tension slab installed in one of our buildings? Apparently it’s a slab suggested in his area because of the […]
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- Tags: Pole Building Concrete, Concrete Slab, Post Tension Slab, Pre-stressing Concrete
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Cutting Steel
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 07/23/2012
It is always a pleasure to be able to assist potential clients by answering their construction related questions. Client Randy asks: “I have gotten a bid for my building, but became aware that this will not be a “pre-fab” kit. My question is related to the cutting of the 29 gauge steel panels. What is […]
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- Tags: Steel Cutting Saws, Tools To Cut Steel, How To Cut Steel
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Customer Service: Supporting the Competition
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 07/20/2012
In 2000, I worked for a company who manufactured glu-laminated columns (or “glu-lams”) for post frame buildings. My job was to call on pole builders and companies which provided post frame building kits, to introduce the features and benefits of the product. I also interacted with lumberyards and wholesale lumber companies, in order to get […]
Read moreContractor Bonding
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 07/19/2012
I was a general contractor for years, registered in multiple states. From time to time we would have clients question whether we had the capacity to perform. In other words, “would we finish the project as promised?” The states I was registered in all had contractor bond requirements, in order to secure a license. In […]
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- Tags: Bid Bonds; Performance Bonds, Payment Bonds, Project Bonding
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Bridge Bracing
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 07/18/2012
Lauri is one of the newer members to the Building Design team at Hansen Pole Buildings. Pole buildings, while having the appearance of being fairly simple, are actually remarkably complex structures and involve the proper interaction of literally thousands of components. Due to this, it is not surprising for a question to come up, which […]
Read moreWhat is a Slip Sheet?
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 07/17/2012
I do not set out purposefully to learn something new every day, it just seems to happen. Today, Rachel, the most senior Building Designer at Hansen Buildings asked me if I had ever heard of a slip sheet. When I inquired of her further, she advised she was looking at a set of plans for […]
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Concrete Guarantee
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 07/16/2012
When I was a general contractor constructing pole buildings, we provided a fair number of concrete slabs in buildings. We always guaranteed one thing – the floor will crack! Not the answer people wanted to hear, but it was the truth. Concrete may be the longest lasting and most economical building material of all time. […]
Read more- Categories: Pole Barn Planning
- Tags: Pole Building Concrete, Concrete Cracks, Concrete Slab, Control Joints
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Truss Weight
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 07/13/2012
I have been asked this question more than a few times, by potential do-it-yourselfers, who are considering constructing their own buildings. Jeff, one of the Building Designers at Hansen Pole Buildings, got asked this very same question again yesterday. I am certain most people ask this question, as they are considering how to go about […]
Read more- Categories: Pole Barn Structure, Trusses
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Hiring for Concrete Finishing
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 07/12/2012
Yesterday I was having an ongoing discussion with a client about concrete finishing and his budget. From Elko, Nevada, the client was weighing whether he should hire a contractor to “turnkey” his new 30’ x 40’ pole building, or to construct it himself. In this instance, turnkey would include providing the design and materials, constructing […]
Read more- Categories: Pole Barn Planning, Building Contractor
- Tags: Hiring Concrete Work, Pole Building Concrete, Concrete Work
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Heels Aren’t Just for Dancing: Raised Heel Trusses
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 07/11/2012
A raised heel truss is much like it sounds: the heel of a conventional metal plated roof truss, where the bottom chord intersects with (and bears on) the perimeter pole building wall columns and is fitted with a vertical member which literally raises the top chord of the truss. Now this is nothing new. Back […]
Read more- Categories: Building Styles and Designs, Pole Barn Planning
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Ice and Water Shield
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 07/10/2012
Steel roofed post frame buildings are not required to have ice and water shields installed beneath them (International Building Code – Section 1507.4). However for most other types of roofing it is definitely a consideration, or even a requirement. IBC Section 1507.2.8.2 requires ice dam protection in areas where the average daily temperature in January […]
Read moreWeather or Not
Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 07/09/2012
My maternal grandfather passed away at age 82, back in December 1990. Now the grandparents had been married for nearly 60 years, but grams still had lots of life in her. In 1991 Grandma Jerene started dating a widower from her church, Bob. Bob was a retired meteorologist – he had run the National Weather […]
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