What Building Wrap Isn’t

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 11/04/2015
What Building Wrap Isn’t

It didn’t take me long to figure out a building is basically just a structural framework with control layers. Yeah, there’s also electrical, plumbing, mechanical systems, and finishes, but the heart of a building is the stuff which holds it up and which moderates the flows of heat, air, and moisture between in and out. […]

Read more

Barefoot Contessa

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 11/03/2015
Barefoot Contessa

I don’t watch much television. Other than it having limited entertainment value, we live in the sticks – so satellite or cable are really our only choices for any sort of reception. Being frequently on the road, and being busy people, we just can’t justify the expense. So, when I found images of the Food […]

Read more

Table for Two? A Local Building Ordinance Story

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 11/02/2015
Table for Two? A Local Building Ordinance Story

In 1990, I had sold my first business – M & W Building Supply Company of Canby, Oregon and had retired to the city of my birth Spokane, Washington. At the time of my return, Spokane County had enacted an ordinance which greatly restricted the ability of home owners to use their own property as […]

Read more

When a Concrete Slab Floor Might be Less Expensive Than Thought

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 10/30/2015
When a Concrete Slab Floor Might be Less Expensive Than Thought

Post frame (pole) buildings are unique in their ability to be constructed without having to pour a concrete slab floor. Often clients will opt to design their buildings without this floor, with the intention of saving money by pouring the floor at a later date. There are some times when this becomes a case of […]

Read more

Check Builder References

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 10/29/2015
Check Builder References

Please, Don’t Let This be You I’ve preached for years about thoroughly checking out anyone or business thoroughly before committing to a large investment. Here is how to check out pole building suppliers: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2015/01/pole-building-suppliers/ And builders: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2013/07/contractor-6/ Apparently not everyone who is looking for a building contacts us, or at the least follows my advice. […]

Read more

Garage Door Insulation

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 10/28/2015
Garage Door Insulation

It seems I am always reading – looking for new content to entertain, inform and enlighten the loyal readers of this column. One of the columns I read is “Ask The Builder” where readers send their questions to Tim Carter looking for advice – much like my Monday, “Ask the Pole Barn Guru” column. Recently, […]

Read more

Crash Test Dummies – a New Use for Pole Barns

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 10/27/2015
Crash Test Dummies – a New Use for Pole Barns

I’ve spoken a lot about the re-purposing of pole buildings for uses other than what was originally intended. Barns become homes, shops, businesses, etc. Here is one which I had never considered, from an October 25, 2015 article first published in www.dailyitem .com and written by Eric Scicchitano (photo by author). “A motorist was flung […]

Read more

Residential Pole Building

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 10/26/2015
Residential Pole Building

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” […]

Read more

Bluwood

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 10/23/2015
Bluwood

You have gone to great lengths to get every detail right in your new post frame home. You chose the right company for the design and to provide the plans and materials, the right finishes and colors. But have you chosen the right structural wood components? Are they protected from the threat of fungus, rot and […]

Read more

You Think You Want a Change Order?

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 10/22/2015
You Think You Want a Change Order?

When I ran the prefabricated metal connector plated truss manufacturing plant for Lucas Plywood and Lumber in Salem, Oregon – one of the better framing contractors in town was a builder named Scott Rose. Scott was reliable, did great work and was very reasonably priced with a caveat…..he claimed his middle name was “extra”. As […]

Read more

A Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 10/21/2015
A Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On

October 17, 1989 at 5:04 p.m. Pacific time, I was the owner of M & W Building Supply Company in Canby, Oregon. At the same time, one of our sales people – Randy Oglevie, was talking on the phone to one of his clients in the San Francisco Bay area. Randy’s client was standing out […]

Read more

Free Building Plans

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 10/20/2015
Free Building Plans

Why We Don’t Give Out Free Building Plans for Obtaining a Building Permit If I had a dollar for every client (or prospective client) who asked if we would supply them with free building plans to obtain their building permits, I could, at the very least, take a great vacation. I’ve warned people in the past […]

Read more

Pole Building Concrete Walls

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 10/19/2015
Pole Building Concrete Walls

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” […]

Read more

Don’t Cry About Weep Holes

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 10/16/2015
Don’t Cry About Weep Holes

The vinyl windows for your new pole building are delivered and upon inspecting them you find small square holes on the exterior frames of them. While the first thought may be, “Won’t those little holes let cold air in (or warm air out), the reality is these are the window’s weep holes. They are designed and […]

Read more

Winds and Stick Frame Construction

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 10/15/2015
Winds and Stick Frame Construction

Winds and Stick Frame Construction This first appeared at www.ValleyNewsLive.com on Monday Oct. 12, 2015: “High winds caused a building under construction to fall in Fargo Monday. Parts of a building in the 300-block of 39th Street south, near the Flying J truck stop, fell apart after 1:00 p.m. Monday. City building inspectors say they […]

Read more

The Expensive Roof That Failed

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 10/14/2015
The Expensive Roof That Failed

SIPs (Structural Insulated Panels) are nothing new. The idea for using stress skinned panels began in the depression era with research and testing done primarily by Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin, as part of an USFS (United States Forest Service) attempt to conserve forest resources. Engineers from Forest Products Laboratory weren’t the only ones […]

Read more

Snow Load Duration Factor

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 10/13/2015
Snow Load Duration Factor

Snow Load Duration Factor Wood is a natural, fibrous non-homogeneous material.  Because of this wood has several unique characteristics.  One of these properties is duration of load.  This is the ability of wood to resist higher stresses when loads are applied for a short duration of time.  In other words, wood has a higher strength […]

Read more

What is included in a Hansen Building Kit?

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 10/12/2015
What is included in a Hansen Building Kit?

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” […]

Read more

Pole Building Moratorium

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 10/09/2015
Pole Building Moratorium

I’m a pretty calm guy. It takes a lot to get a fire stoked under me, but the City of Williston, North Dakota could eventually get me there. And here is why…. The Williston city commissioners are considering making a pole building moratorium on any new metal or pole structures permanent. In my humble opinion, […]

Read more

When Life Changes in the Blink of an Eye

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 10/08/2015
When Life Changes in the Blink of an Eye

Judy Hansen is a Registered Nurse, who generally worked in smallish hospitals in the area around Browns Valley, MN. Primarily working in or being a nurse manager for 24 years – she pretty well did it all, including delivering her share of little ones into the world. One of her favorite positions was working at […]

Read more

Trailside Sign Covers

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 10/07/2015
Trailside Sign Covers

My only sibling, younger brother Mark, spent years in the construction industry. Among them were being top selling Building Designer at M & W Building Supply (when I owned it) in Canby, Oregon  and my partner in the post frame (pole) building construction business at Momb Building Systems. Mark is pretty sharp at keeping his […]

Read more

Horizontal Steel Siding

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 10/06/2015
Horizontal Steel Siding

The answer is – yes! Back in the late 1960’s in Spokane, Washington Joseph “Joe” Mazzie started Pacific Metal Buildings. Joe is from my father and uncle’s generation and, being in construction (and living in the same general area of town) they were acquainted. Joe developed a reputation as a shrewd businessman, as well as […]

Read more

Building Interior Height

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 10/05/2015
Building Interior Height

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” […]

Read more

A Hazardous Chemical Solution

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 10/02/2015
A Hazardous Chemical Solution

Safe disposal of hazardous chemicals can be a challenge for businesses, residents and landfills. Plymouth County, Iowa came up with a solution, which involved the construction of an approximately 60 by 70 foot pole building. The Regional Collection Center (RCC) encompasses an about 30-by-60-foot space inside. The remaining space is for landfill storage. An about […]

Read more

Pole Building Grain Storage

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 10/01/2015
Pole  Building Grain Storage

Ritzville, Washington lies along the Interstate Highway between Spokane and Seattle. In the heart of wheat country, it is also home of some huge, cone shaped piles of stored wheat. For many years, I had my lovely bride convinced the wheat piles were there because Ritzville was the home of Nabisco Ritz crackers. Eventually I […]

Read more