Welcome to Ask the Pole Barn Guru – where you can ask questions about building topics, with answers posted on Mondays & Saturdays.  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 […]

My friend Domenick Buonamici is an American expat who lives in Ecuador. He also writes about his experiences in Ecuador. When this one passed by me, I couldn’t help but relate it to common similar mistakes we see here in the United States. I see it all the time here on the coast of Ecuador. […]

In my career, I’ve designed a plethora of wood floors for post fame buildings. I’ve never yet has a client question me about one of the things which may later seem very important – how much will my floor deflect? Post frame building buyers naturally take for granted wood floor system in a new pole […]

While it is impossible to get around the fact lumber is an organic substance, and therefore has inherent variability, it has always been used as the primary raw material of the residential construction industry. In fact, the growing reliance on the structural design properties of lumber by the US housing industry led to the development […]

I have to thank those readers who contribute questions so good, it is impossible not to share them as articles. Remodeling and repurposing  of pole barns is becoming a popular subject, as the buildings will, in all likelihood, outlive their original owners. Here is one meritorious recent submission: “Hello, I love all the information on […]

Welcome to Ask the Pole Barn Guru – where you can ask questions about building topics, with answers posted on Mondays & Saturdays.  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 […]

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” […]

There are some occasions when I get asked questions which are best if shared to a wider audience than just, “Ask the Pole Barn Guru”. Here is one: DEAR POLE BARN GURU:    How important is it to have the post straight across from each other when they are on the same truss?  Is there […]

One thousand – it can be a very large or very small number, depending upon one’s perspective. For me, this marks the 1,000th blog article I have written. To put this into perspective, Tolstoy’s epic, “War and Peace” (which I confess to having never read) has about 560,000 words, in English. The blog articles total […]

This is a two part blog so if you have not yet had a chance please read yesterdays blog titled ‘The Apprentice‘. “What does have a major affect on the plans is the entire left side elevation.  I already own steel horse stall wall sections that measure approximately 11’ 11” wide by 7’6” tall so […]

A dozen years ago Donald Trump became executive producer and host of the NBC hit reality show, The Apprentice. In the show, a group of competitors battled for management positions at one of Trump’s businesses. Contestants were successively “fired” by Trump and eliminated from the game. I considered the use of Donald Trump’s catchphrase 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 answer with a “reply-able” […]

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” […]

On a Major League Baseball team, the 25th man on the roster is the last guy on the bench. He’s usually a rah-rah guy, who is a fan favorite due to his obscurity. Generally he can play multiple positions, not very well. But when the team needs him, they need him. Inside Closures for steel […]

Flame On As a youngster Marvel Comics Johnny Storm (aka The Human Torch) of The Fantastic Four always captivated me with his, “Flame On”! In today’s world, the average person with internet access can literally “Flame On!” any business or individual. I believe in being straight upfront and honest, so I will share today. I […]

Why Risk “Homemade” Pole Barns Recently, my hometown of Spokane, Washington (near Idaho, not Seattle) experienced some tremendous windstorms. These winds were strong enough to leave most of the region without power. My brother was one of those who went without electricity for over a week! The local news organizations had a field day with […]

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” […]

With winds topping out at an estimated 100 mph, the severe weather blew across Scotland County, Missouri quickly on a recent afternoon. While the bulk of the county escaped with only minor damage, the National Weather Service reported a tornado touched down between Memphis and Arbela at approximately 4:40 p.m. on November 11th. The EF-1 […]

Moisture accounts for about 80% of construction defect litigation, so while lawyers may love the stuff, no one else benefits. In the worst cases, moisture trapped in the framing assembly can lead to decay which weakens the structure and to mold growth which renders a building unusable. Problems need not be catastrophic to cause major […]

Being the person who intercepts a great number of the Technical Support inquiries at Hansen Pole Buildings, I’ve heard this statement more than once – weirdly enough, it is close to 100% of the time from builders. Those who are doing their own work, somehow don’t have this challenge. Building owners are more likely to […]

A Wind Uplift Story This idiom is most usually associated with trying to revive interest in a hopeless issue. Those of you gentle readers with former spouses in your lives may very well have some understanding of this issue. Well, sometimes there actually IS a dead horse….. Many years ago, my future ex-wife and I […]

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” […]

This is more about the amount of detail which is incorporated into the Hansen Pole Buildings’ Construction Manual, than it is about the installation of outside closures, read below, and then I will explain why. “Place a Ridge Cap piece centered on building peak. Make a pencil mark at lower edges at both building ends, […]

Adding on to a Concrete Block Building It was Hansen Pole Buildings’ Designer Rick who came up with the money question today. He wanted to know if I had ever attached a single sloping post frame (pole) building shed roof, to the eave side of a concrete block building. Whether concrete block, tilt up, stick […]

There are lots of little pieces involved when it comes to the assembly of a pole building, which the average lay person would have little or no knowledge of. Some of them don’t make a difference until the lack of them (or their failure to perform) becomes apparent. One of these unsung heroes is the […]