Over the past three years I have had the opportunity to drive nearly every one of the contiguous United States – many of those miles over what might be considered to be back roads. This has afforded me the opportunity to view literally thousands of historic barns. These barns come in all shapes and sizes, […]

50 shades of The Twilight Zone, is The Ghost of Rod Serling Somewhere Nearby? From 1951 to 1955, more than 70 of Rod Serling’s television scripts were produced, garnering both critical and public acclaim. Full-scale success came on Wednesday, Jan. 12, 1955, with the live airing of his Kraft Television Theatre script “Patterns.” Deemed a “creative […]

CSI: Pole Barn Our youngest daughter, Allison, is studying to be a Forensic Psychologist. My lovely bride and I may have been culprits in this, as we sent her to a CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) camp for 10 days when she was about 11! All of the boys in her CSI class talked tough, but […]

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 article by Brian Walker appeared on CDAPress.com Tuesday August 26: “The cause of Sunday’s fire, which destroyed a restroom and changing area at the Boulder Beach water park at Silverwood Theme Park, remained under investigation on Monday. “We don’t know how it started yet,” said Mark Robitaille, Silverwood spokesman.  Robitaille said it appears the […]

What to do about Cut Ends of Pressure Treated Lumber? One of my sons works for an auto parts store. He seriously enjoys his job. However he has some misgivings about portions of it. Raises and promotions are based, in part, upon how much extra stuff (with high profit margins) the staff is able to […]

Pole Building Roof System – Dressed Up!! For years I sat in church on Sunday mornings with my children and admired the magnificent trusses which supported the roof. Built from glulams with the joints connected with bolted steel brackets – they were nothing short of fabulous. To me (coming from a background of construction and […]

Most of us don’t think too much about the floors we walk upon – unless they are not level, squeak when we walk on them, or are too bouncy. Traditionally wood floors have been framed with dimensional lumber (2×6, 2×8, etc.), usually spaced 16 inches on center. Often floor joist span limitations are not based […]

DEAR POLE BARN GURU:Currently constructing building and the roof trusses are not built according to engineered plans. Plans call for 2*10 and these trusses are 2*6. Builder has purchased additional materials to reinforce the trusses. Now the steel is going up today and found that the 2 11’10” clay endwall pieces are missing. Builder also […]

What’s Wrong With This Picture? When I was a kid, my mom would buy us educational geared books which had various puzzles in them, designed to challenge our minds. One of my favorites was the one where two drawings are shown which are nearly identical, and it is up to the reader to spot the […]

In yesterday’s article, I made reference to one of the most beloved tool at any lumber yard – the green handled board stretcher. And then – I gave no details about it! A cliffhanger indeed! Before we get into the green handled board stretcher, a few words about a North American rite of passage: In […]

A Builder’s PET The stereotypical builder appears to be characterized as driving a four-wheel-drive extended cab pickup (of course jacked up so a ladder is required to get in), having a jobsite stereo system which can be heard for miles with the sound turned to only 30%, and of course – the ever faithful pet, […]

More “True Confessions” from the Pole Barn Guru….. I’ve not only never installed one of these and never sold one – I’ve also never seen one in real life! I have not one, but TWO detached pole building garages at our house. One is two car, the other three. Each of them has an entry […]

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” […]

One of our clients has been speaking with Hansen Pole Buildings’ Designer Rick about a new post frame building. Rick related to me this from the client: “Talked to a client Saturday that is going to walk away from the $1,900.00 he put down to get plans from this guy, for a lot of reasons.” […]

Dedicated readers will remember my oldest step-son, Jake. Although he is a high school physics/biology/chemistry teacher by vocation – he seems to have a bit of the “builder gene” in him. For those who missed out on some of prior adventures – they begin here: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/blog/2012/07/construction-time-2/ Jake’s dad is a successful farmer in South Dakota. […]

This is a story which is heard all too frequently. And it always revolves around clients having just poured the concrete slabs in their new buildings. Even more so when the building has a low perm rated vapor retarder under the concrete. Vapor retarders do exactly as their name implies, they retard the movement of […]

Tips for Installing Eave Light Panels For those who are not insulating the sidewalls of their pole buildings and are looking for a low cost alternative to windows for getting daylighting into their buildings – polycarbonate eave lights might very well be the answer. I’ve written about them in the past (see: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/blog/2011/09/polycarbonate-eavelights-light-up-my-life/), so 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 or Saturday segment.  If you want a quick answer, please be sure to answer with […]

A Baker’s Dozen – The Most Read Articles of 2013 Sometimes, in order to know where to go, it is helpful to see where we’ve been. These are the most read blogs from 2013. #13 Board and Batten Siding https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/blog/2013/03/board-and-batten-siding/ While popular, board and batten siding should be installed considering shear values. Advice on installing […]

The Big Stick is Better than the Little Stick – Right? Those of you who are regular readers know I am fascinated by all things magical. I don’t know how they do it, but I will watch a good magician over and over. When I was in architecture school at the University of Idaho – […]

Incising My former wife (mother of my two youngest children – Allison and Brent), was by training an RDH (Registered Dental Hygienist). In order to keep her registration current, she had to obtain CEUs (Continuing Education Credits). One way to generate CEUs was to attend the annual state dental convention. One year I went along […]

I’ve previously expressed concerns about light gauge “carport” type buildings (read more at: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/blog/2013/05/carports/). (My advance apologies for the misleading title, it was used by the complainee below – VersaTube® buildings are NOT pole buildings!!) Whilst doing some ‘net surfing, I recently came across this posting at www.pissedcustomer.com: “I purchased a metal frame building from […]

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 or Saturday segment.  If you want a quick answer, please be sure to answer with […]

My lovely bride and I have been married for heading on 15 years. To some, this may seem like a lot, to my grandparents and great-grandparents (who were together for 50 years and more) – hardly a drop in the bucket. In most relationships, success (or lack thereof) is created by communication. Lots of clear, […]