Mike the Pole Barn Guru answers questions about pole barn a redesign, Hansen’s delivery range, and post hole backfill. DEAR POLE BARN GURU: If I send you photos of my pole building can you redesign its appearance to make it more attractive? Thanks MATT DEAR MATT: Thank you very much for your interest. Could I […]

Fairgrounds Pole Buildings (Photo by Patricia Guthrie/Whidbey News Group) A new position, Island County Fairgrounds’ director, was created by Port of South Whidbey since it assumed fairgrounds ownership in March 2017. This directorship position was subsequently filled by Larry Lehtonen. Island County Fairgrounds’ original structure, a pole building, was built in 1937. Lehtonen takes a […]

True Double Trusses ASABE (American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers) published ANSI/ASABE S618 “Post Frame Building System Nomenclature” in December 2010. For those who are unfamiliar ANSI stands for American National Standards Institute (www.ansi.org). ANSI is a private non-profit organization overseeing development of voluntary consensus standards for United States products, services, systems and personnel. […]

One More Reason to Avoid Metal Building Insulation   Photo isn’t showing the inside of a Hansen Pole Building. This view happens to be inside of an eave sidewall looking up underneath a post frame building roof. White vinyl facing happens to be underside of a product commonly known as Metal Building Insulation, having actual […]

Planning Your Equestrian Facility   Those of you loyal readers who actually read links in this article are going to see our daughter Bailey Momb’s name frequently. 2018 Tennessee Walking Horse Celebration made for me being a proud dad with Bailey riding to a World Grand Championship (link has results): https://twhnc.com/content/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/RESULTS-TUESDAY-EVENING-8-28-18.pdf.   Moving forward, reader […]

Today the Pole barn Guru discusses questions about Gambrel buildings, a minimum ceiling height for a loft, and RV storage solutions. DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Do you make plans for 18 x 20 gambrel roof pole barns? BEN in HOWELL DEAR BEN: Hansen Pole Buildings can provide materials, assembly instructions and engineer sealed plans for […]

Blowing Attic Insulation, Without Vapor Barrier, Below Roof Steel A very common problem I see involves people not preparing their post frame (pole barn) buildings to adequately be insulated. Reader NED in THURMOND writes: “Thank you for your help. I’m in process of completing a pole barn project. It’s divided into three sections…living area, workshop, […]

Post Frame Cold Storage for Fruits and Vegetables Hansen Pole Buildings’ Designer Rachel passed along this: “Have a client call in asking if we have experience in designing a building for cold storage.  Confused I said yes, many building are used for cold storage and are not insulated or heated.  He said no I mean […]

Domestic Cat Pole Barns I know my loyal, long time column readers think I am stretching way out there when I start writing about domestic cat barns. Reality being stranger than fiction, one of them exists! Now neither our mom, nor any of our grandmothers were crazy cat ladies with housefuls of feline friends. Even […]

Boat Storage Pole Barns Summertime growing up Newman Lake, Northeast of Spokane, Washington – nearly to Idaho was where my younger (and only) brother and I usually could be found. Our grandparent’s lake cabin was located there, as was our parent’s ski boat. Interstate 90 did not yet connect Coeur d’Alene, Idaho to Spokane, so […]

This week the Pole Barn Guru answers questions about uplift concerns, retro-fitting insulation, and setting posts in high water tables. DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I am adding an open overhang to the gable end of my 40×80 pole barn. I bought 36’ trusses and will lower them to fit under the existing gable going out […]

Post Frame Gun Range A few years ago a Hansen Pole Building became a gun range for U.S. Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton, California. It was easy for us, as we were merely given dimensions to provide and only afterwards were we clued in to actual building use. Reader DIANE in FORSYTH writes: “Hello, I […]

Avoiding Using Pressure Treated Wood Pressure preservative treated wood remains a mainstay in modern wood construction. United States’ manufacturing and sales of pressure treated wood has become a multi-billion dollar industry. Even with all of this, there are some skeptics. Reader DIANE in MORGANTOWN writes in: “ I want to avoid pressure treated wood. Even […]

Building Within Height Restrictions From small towns to large metropolitan areas, most have restrictions upon heights of buildings. Most restrictive of all are typically those placed upon residential accessory buildings (think garages and shops). In urban planning there are a lot of cases where cities are for and against height restrictions. Mostly because some communities […]

Roof Slope Dang, up jumped an altogether conspicuous term included as a part of every building, and I totally neglected – roof slope. Growing up in low-middle income level suburbia, I had never given much thought to slope of roofs. This oversight existed even though my father and his five brothers (as well as their […]

Today the Pole Barn Guru discusses Rebar hairpins, a bigger build, and cutting corners on the construction process. DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Hello, regarding the column to concrete hairpins. I’ve talked to a couple different contractors and they both have cringed when I discussed tying the pad to the columns. They say around here everyone […]

Spot Problems With This Pole Barn Photo One of my Facebook friends had posted this as a timeline photo as it brought back to her fond memories of a childhood spent frolicking in hay lofts. It was so bad, I just had to save it. So, what’s wrong with this photo anyhow? Obviously bird excrement […]

Elevating to Avoid Flood Level Building in flood zones can be problematic, with one solution being to elevate to get usable spaces above high water mark. Typically jurisdictions and insurance companies want to get structures above 100 year occurrence flood level, however to error towards caution’s side can prove advantageous. Today’s article has been sparked […]

Making Framing Work With Bookshelf Girts for Insulation A most simple method to achieve a deep insulation cavity in post frame building walls is to use bookshelf girts, but how to make framing work? Some quick background reading on commercial girts: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2011/09/commercial-girts-what-are-they/. Reader BRANDON in ST. JOE got today’s discussion going when he wrote: “Hi […]

Isolating Truss Connector Plates from Treated Lumber Assembly time for Hansen Pole Buildings’ client BRAD in MOUNT VERNON. Construction has begun upon his new post frame building. Brad had some great questions for Technical Support! “I’m not sure if you can answer my question or can possible point me in the correct direction.  We are […]

Today the Pole Barn Guru discusses potential DIY savings, moving an existing building, and the ideal building size. DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I am out of the area of which I can order a premade kit and have it shipped to me. If I wanted to still build it myself and buy the parts local […]

Skylights Leaking Reader DIANA writes,  ”skylights leaking in 40 year old barn. Is it possible to replace the sky lights with metal.” Skylights in steel roofs are problematic, and not just due to them eventually leaking. You will certainly want to read this article: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2016/01/one-more-reason-to-not-use-skylights-in-steel-roofs/. Now, considering your entire roof is 40 years old – […]

A Sad Pole Barn Tale I so like happy ending stories, however this sad pole barn tale doesn’t appear to have an immediate happy ending – although over  20 years some victims might see some or all of their hard earned money returned. I’ve previously written about this case, however it has grown exponentially since […]

Besides being a semi-regular contributor to Rural Builder magazine, I have also had articles published in several other lumber and wood truss periodicals. I’ve been asked to write an article for The Advertiser (https://www.componentadvertiser.com/), which I share with you below: Increase Your Post Frame Sales Nearly every U.S. and Canadian metal plate connected wood truss […]

Secrets of a Pole Barn Salesperson Back in 1980 I was a pole barn (post frame) building industry newbie. So new, I considered myself to be rather clueless. Then I was working for a now long defunct company, Mac Truss in McMinnville, Oregon. I’d pick the brains of anyone who was willing to listen to […]