I’m a voracious reader. A large portion of my daily reading is devoted to learning as much as I can about my industry and expanding my knowledge base. On LinkedIn, I am a member of the “Truss, Panel & Building Components” discussion group. One of the members, Gene Marcoux, from Florida, had postulated, “If we […]

“I’ve got a GREAT deal on a pole building for you. All you have to do is take it down, move it and reassemble”. Even if the price is FREE, is it a bargain or not? Let’s take a look at why this might not be such a great deal. Better check out the building […]

You can save some money or save some effort…… Assuming you order a building with steel roofing and/or steel siding, these materials will most usually be delivered to your building site by the steel company. The truck which will be making the delivery is what is known as a “route” truck. A route truck is […]

The night of July 26, 1988 will always stick in my mind. My cousin Amy called my home, to tell me my Dad had been killed in a construction accident. Dead at 57, my contractor father and his brothers had spent their entire lives working on buildings. In this case, my Dad was working with […]

Come on now, be honest, we all have our fears and phobias. One of the most interesting ones I have found over the years with clients is “postsetaphobia”, or fear of setting posts. This particular phobia is defined as, “the fear of being able to properly set posts for a pole building”. Fear is False […]

Lumber is considered to be dry when it reaches a moisture content of 19% or less. When below this threshold, it becomes relatively dimensionally stable.  More importantly, it is naturally resistant to mold and other fungi which will attack wood. When lumber is rained upon, or allowed to sit in mud or puddles, it can […]

Two bills which fit in nicely with the strengths of pole building construction were introduced in the House recently. They would provide federal financial incentives to strengthen buildings against major storms. The Natural Disaster Mitigation Act, H.R. 2099, introduced by Reps. Thomas Rooney (R-Fla.) and Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and  the Safe Building Codes Incentive Act, […]

Meet – Mike The Pole Barn Guru and how this name came about. We challenge you to stump Mike with a pole building question in a blog comment.

Steel outbuildings or barns are often a gathering point of family and friends during times of celebration. Whether your pole building is used as a place to party or for the usual toy storage, take time to enjoy your 4th this year and be safe.

Obama Administration says “Wood is Good” The Obama Adminstration has officially endorsed wood as a green building material. The U.S.  House and Senate passed resolutions in 2009 and 2010 acknowledging the American wood industry sustainably manages an environmentally preferable natural resource, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilscak recently announced a strategy to promote […]

Pole buildings can be easily designed to withstand hurricane and tornado wind loads. The article below is from www.technewsdaily.com May 26,2011 and speaks to housing design under high winds.       Redesigned Roofs Withstand High Wind Events The tornado that stormed through Joplin, Mo., on May 22 shredded an estimated 8,000 buildings and stranded […]

Yesterday afternoon, one of our senior building designers sent me this instant message: “So what do you do with a customer who is being sold a bill of goods by his contractor? Starting from, client was told he needed to pour footings and build with 2×6 studs because pole buildings ‘move too much’. All the way […]

Thanks to www.ocala.com May 24, 2011 for their article, “Florida Building Codes Limit Tornado Damage” While surveying tornado damage in Tuscaloosa, Ala., University of Florida researcher David O. Prevatt said he was struck by the city’s large number of old homes susceptible to storm damage. “We have to expect this sort of damage unless we […]

What do you mean they are not 2 feet apart? Back in the day (early 1990’s) I was on the National Frame Builders Association (NFBA) Board of Directors. One of my fellow board members from the Midwest wanted to take a peek at how pole barns were constructed in the West, so I invited him […]

To wrap up the History of Pole Buildings, the following excerpt was taken from the National Frame Builder’s Association website,  www.nfba.org: Countless structures are now erected using post-frame methods, including strip malls, convenience stores, restaurants, office complexes, and many other types of retail, public, commercial and residential applications. Schools, churches, fire stations, airplane hangars, and […]

To continue with my History of Pole Buildings, the following excerpt was taken from the National Frame Builder’s Association website,  www.nfba.org: H. Howard Doane is credited with being the innovator who, in 1930, first combined the availability of poles and metal roof sheeting into a “modern” building concept. The founder of Doane’s Agricultural Service, Doane […]

While many old barns exist, it was not until the last century that pole barns developed, first as farm buildings. The following is excerpted from the National Frame Builder’s Association website:  www.nfba.org: The post-frame industry has grown steadily in North America, gaining more and more widespread application in the past 100 years. Yet, many people […]

When life has been turned upside down by disaster, the building to turn to is a pole building. By the time the wreckage is cleared, your new building has been delivered. Pole buildings offer the ultimate resource when you need a building fast. With simple design meant to speed along construction pole buildings may best suite your needs in a time of emergency.

In the early 2000’s the worlds fastest pole barn builder envisioned the next step for the pole building industry. Complete building kits available across the country was his dream. Soon came the day Hansen Pole Buildings was born and today the Pole Barn Guru continues his quest to provide affordable building solutions that meets everyday needs.

In my early years, tremendous quality was not necessarily the strong point. It was the ability to offer a very reasonably priced building and deliver it quickly. My buildings were pretty much the same as everyone else I competed against. Business grew and I started being able to hire employees. Jim Betonte left the steel […]

In the summer of 1979, home interest rates began to rise. Idaho had a usury limit, home mortgages could not be written for 10% or more. When this ceiling was hit, home construction pretty much stopped in Idaho. I set out looking for other opportunities and ended up in Salem, Oregon. I was offered the position […]

In order to best understand where one is at today, it helps to know where one has come from. Jump in the “Way Back” machine with me and travel to my roots.