Category Archives: Budget
See Your New Barndominium Here
Posted by polebarnguru on 19/08/02 @ 8:00In our last episode, we were escaping odors produced by mushroom people – now let us move forward to getting a clearer vision and a view from your new post frame barndominium’s windows! Once you have narrowed your choices down to a handful, ideally you can watch each site over a year’s time – as […]
Read morePost Frame Home Construction Financing
Posted by polebarnguru on 19/07/31 @ 8:00Most people building their own post frame post frame home (barndominium or shouse included) need some amount of post frame home construction financing. (shouse=shop+house) Some important things to keep in mind with construction loans: Obtaining one takes more time and financial investment than a conventional loan (loan on or against an existing building). Lenders require […]
Read moreMore Thoughts on Polyurethane Foam
Posted by polebarnguru on 19/07/25 @ 8:00More Thoughts on High Density Polyurethane Foam for Column Backfill Reader STEPHEN contributes a question regarding high density polyurethane foam for column backfill: “Hello, I have this question I would like to pass along to the “pole barn Guru” to be answered, I doubt I will get the answer I need in the time frame, […]
Read moreNew Pole Buildings Cost Money
Posted by polebarnguru on 19/06/19 @ 8:00New Buildings Cost Money As I recently mentioned, I have joined several Barndominium Facebook groups. It has proven to be enlightening and has given me a great deal of information towards authoring a book or books on Post Frame Barndominiums. In asking for input on chapters for my endeavor, I had one person respond with: […]
Read moreWhy Your Church May Be Too Small
Posted by polebarnguru on 18/08/24 @ 8:00Why Your Church May Be Too Small Your church too small? Maybe you just don’t know it? More and more congregations are looking towards post frame (pole) buildings as a design solution to their growing membership. Post frame buildings offer more space for dollars invested and, let’s face it congregants like to see their contributions […]
Read moreSingle-Pane Windows
Posted by polebarnguru on 18/07/26 @ 8:00Single-Pane Windows When I was first in the post frame (pole barn) building industry almost 40 years ago windows were hardly ever a chosen option, and when they were, they were always single-pane windows. Why? Because the buildings were probably never going to be climate controlled and the single-pane windows were cheap. And, as we […]
Read morePost Frame Homes Proliferate
Posted by polebarnguru on 18/07/03 @ 8:00Post Frame Homes Proliferate Post frame homes have been a well-kept secret for decades. Well, not only is the bag the cat was in open, but the cat has also leaped out and is running rampantly! Here at Hansen Pole Buildings, we have noticed a significant surge in requests for quotes, as well as general […]
Read morePut the Architect in Charge?
Posted by polebarnguru on 17/12/06 @ 8:00Put the Architect in Charge? I spent several years paying off my college student loans from Architecture school, so I do have a profound respect for architects who have been able to make a living practicing their trade. This, however, does not mean I feel the intervention of an architect is appropriate in all situations […]
Read morePost Frame Hotels
Posted by polebarnguru on 17/10/06 @ 8:00Post Frame Hotels Over the years my lovely bride and I have spent many a night in one hotel or another in nearly every state in the continental United States. We’ve been in small ones and large ones, nice ones and ones which were not quite so nice. One thing which I noticed early on […]
Read morePost Size? Convert to OHD? & Cleaning Dirty Vinyl
Posted by polebarnguru on 17/09/25 @ 8:08DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Do you have to use the same size posts on the end walls even if it is non load bearing? so if I use 6×6 posts that hold the trusses can I use smaller lumber on the non load bearing ends? Thank you. CAMERON in BOISE DEAR CAMERON: This is why […]
Read moreHairpins? Best Eave Height, and the Cost of a House…
Posted by polebarnguru on 17/08/14 @ 8:00DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I am installing re-bar hairpins prepping for a pour in a Hansen pole barn. My question is about the inside poles. I have on rebar per outside pole. Do i put two rebar hairpins on the inside poles? Thanks ALCUIN in LAVEEN DEAR ALCUIN: The purpose of the rebar hairpins […]
Read more- Categories: Pole Barn Homes, Pole Barn Design, Pole Barn Structure, Concrete, Budget
- Tags: Rebar Hairpins, Hairpins, House Price, Eave Height, Hay Storage
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Pole Sizes, Adding On a Shed Roof, and Ridge Vents
Posted by polebarnguru on 17/07/01 @ 8:00DEAR POLE BARN GURU: We live in Pacific county in Washington state and wondering what size of truss pole we would be looking at needing for a 60 ft truss. We are in a wind exposure “C” and trusses will be on 12′ centers. The building we are planning will be 60’w x 48’d with […]
Read more- Categories: Pole Barn Questions, Pole Barn Planning, Trusses, Ventilation, Budget, Columns, Sheds
- Tags: Pole Size, Shed Roof, Add On, Foam Closures, Ridge Vents, Code, Post Size
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Perfect Pitch, Added Expense, and Endwall Roof Leak!
Posted by polebarnguru on 17/06/26 @ 8:00DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Could you tell me the pitch of the roof…for small pole barn…..front wall is 10 foot high…back wall is 8 foot high…rafter span is 13 feet. HERBERT in HAMPTON DEAR HERBERT: Roof slopes are expressed as the number of inches of rise per 12 inches of run. 24 inches of rise […]
Read more- Categories: Lumber, Roofing Materials, Pole Barn Planning, Budget
- Tags: Rake Trim, Lumber Species, Roof Pitch, Roof Materials, Lumber Grade, Leaks, Sealant
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Floor Limits, Foam Board, and Consider True Costs!
Posted by polebarnguru on 17/05/15 @ 8:00DEAR POLE BARN GURU: If I wanted a pool table in 2nd floor I’d assume we might be pushing the floor limit at 40psf? NEIL in CLEVELAND DEAR NEIL: As a general rule of thumb, a slate pool table is going to add a dead load of roughly 100 pounds per foot of length. On […]
Read more- Categories: Insulation, Pole Barn Design, Pole Barn Structure, Trusses, Budget
- Tags: Floor Limits, Psf, Financing, Foil-faced Foam Board
- No comments
Pole Building Specs- Design Solution!
Posted by polebarnguru on 17/05/05 @ 8:00Sometimes prospective clients educate themselves just enough to be dangerous – most often dangerous to their own pocket books. I much more prefer a client who comes to us looking for a design solution and assistance in best fitting a building around their needs for today and the future. This is rather than one who […]
Read more- Categories: Pole Barn Questions, Pole Barn Design, Pole Barn Planning, Budget
- Tags: Overkill, Design Solutions, Future Needs, Under-building
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Inflation
Posted by polebarnguru on 17/01/19 @ 8:00Inflation in the marketplace. In 1991 my younger brother Mark and I ventured out into what for us was a brave new world – we were going to be post frame (pole) building contractors. Having spent the decade of the 1980’s selling post frame building kit packages, we had over 6000 buildings of experience behind […]
Read moreModern Post Frame Buildings and Geothermal
Posted by polebarnguru on 16/12/28 @ 8:00Modern Post Frame Buildings and Geothermal Over the past few years, there has been a trend towards building modern climate controlled post frame buildings for homes and commercial use, but the HVAC Systems in these buildings remains outdated. Most climate controlled post frame buildings are still being built with inefficient gas or propane furnaces, coupled […]
Read moreThe Right Size, Connection, and Foundation!
Posted by polebarnguru on 16/12/19 @ 8:00DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I am considering using pole barn construction to add on to an existing metal building I have I also already have a 24×34 foundation were I want to put the add on. This will be a residential building. Would you recommend using drill in slab brackets to connect the post to […]
Read moreCost Savings of a Crawlspace vs a Slab!
Posted by polebarnguru on 16/12/12 @ 8:00DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I am building a pole barn 50 foot clear span wide, and 70 foot long, 16 foot to the eve. I am using 4×4 metal uprights on 20 foot spans, red iron purlins and stringers, and 4×4 metal welded all around the top. I am using conventional wood trusses engineered for […]
Read more- Categories: Budget, Building Styles and Designs, Roofing Materials, Trusses, Footings
- Tags: Windload, Crawlspace, Roof Exposure, Concrete
- 4 comments
Five Reasons to Choose a Pre-Engineered Post Frame Building
Posted by polebarnguru on 16/07/01 @ 8:00Undertaking a commercial building development is a big step for many businesses and it’s an investment which shouldn’t be taken lightly by any means. Unfortunately, too many commercial developments are rushed into for one reason or another—time constraints force the project ahead and before you know it, you’re left with a project coming in overtime […]
Read moreProposed Building Code Change to Add to Construction Costs
Posted by polebarnguru on 16/06/14 @ 8:00During each 3-year-cycle of the International Building Code (IBC) and International Residential Code (IRC), there exists an opportunity to propose modifications and improve the codes to recognize new and innovative construction. During the final two weeks in April, the code proposal hearings were held in Louisville, Kentucky where several hundred proposals were discussed and considered […]
Read moreBusting More All Steel Building Myths
Posted by polebarnguru on 16/02/12 @ 8:00I’m not nearly as entertaining as Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman of the Discovery Channel’s MythBusters, but I do my part to entertain and enlighten those who are considering a new building. Somehow it seems the biggest myths are those propagated by the all steel building industry, where I have stepped up to set the […]
Read more- Categories: Pole Barn Design, Pole Building Comparisons, Pole Barn Structure, Budget
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Sometimes Things Just Don’t Add Up – Cheap Building Prices
Posted by polebarnguru on 15/11/18 @ 8:00Hansen Pole Buildings’ Designer Mike Houska has been working with a client from a rural area near the Great Smoky Mountains. Mike sent this to Hansen Pole Buildings’ co-owner Eric, “See attached quote for xxx@xxxx.com. I had sent previous quote with end shed, overhangs, & windows but he then sent a competitor’s quote without those options. […]
Read more- Categories: Pole Building Comparisons, Budget
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Your Pole Building Price is Higher
Posted by polebarnguru on 15/07/15 @ 8:00Your Package is a Considerable Amount More! “I like your package a lot but it seems to be a considerable amount more than my other quotes. I have attached the one I received from 84 Lumber. A couple of things are a little different but the bottom line is considerably less. Please let me know […]
Read more- Categories: Budget, Uncategorized
- Tags: Post Frame Prices, 84 Lumber, Pole Building Package Prices, Pole Barn Prices
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How to Get Pole Building Financing
Posted by polebarnguru on 15/06/22 @ 8:00Welcome 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 more84 Lumber is $5000 Less
Posted by polebarnguru on 15/05/22 @ 8:00I celebrated my 35th year in the pole building industry in January. I’ve learned a lot and forgotten probably even more in this time. One of the things I have learned is, when quoting any particular post frame building, no one is ever $100 less. They are always $3000 or $5000 less and it is […]
Read more- Categories: Budget, Pole Building Comparisons
- Tags: Pole Building Prices, Pole Barn Prices, Pole Building Comparisons
- 5 comments
Monitor Barns and High Snow Loads
Posted by polebarnguru on 15/05/12 @ 8:00Back in the early 1990’s, when I was building pole buildings, we had constructed a monitor barn for some clients in the Libby, Montana area. For those who are not familiar with the term “monitor barn” it is a main gabled roof, with side sheds or “wings” on each eave side. The height of the […]
Read more- Categories: Building Styles and Designs, Budget
- Tags: Pole Barns, High Snow Load, Monitor Barns, Snow Loads
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Pole Barn Savings Part II
Posted by polebarnguru on 15/05/06 @ 8:00Eight Nifty Tricks to Save Money When Building a Pole Barn (reprised) This is Part II of a two part series on pole barn savings through material and feature choices. Bret Buelo of Wick Buildings® wrote an article by this title last year, some of the items I agree with, some not so much. This […]
Read moreSaving Money With a Pole Barn
Posted by polebarnguru on 15/05/05 @ 8:00Eight Nifty Tricks to Save Money When Building a Pole Barn (reprised) Bret Buelo of Wick Buildings® wrote an article by this title last year, some of the items I agree with, some not so much. I will offer my “take” on his points. “1. Spacing of your columns. Builders typically space columns anywhere between six […]
Read moreDear Guru: What Type of Insulation?
Posted by polebarnguru on 15/04/27 @ 8:00DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Good morning, Mike … I have a question for you. I’m trying to decide between a 30×40 barn and a 60×40 barn. It would have a gambrel roof with a loft. 16′ wide sliding door in the center of the short ends. All other things being equal, what is the cost […]
Read more- Categories: Budget, Insulation, Pole Barn Questions
- Tags: Insulation, Tyvek, Thermal Break, Reflective Radiant Barrier
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Dear Guru: Have You Used SIPs?
Posted by polebarnguru on 15/03/09 @ 8:00Welcome 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 moreUpgraded Pole Building
Posted by polebarnguru on 15/03/04 @ 8:00Upgraded Building at No Additional Cost If you seriously believe this drop me a note – I have some swampland for sale! There are three parts to anything being invested in – price, quality and service. The tough part is, the purchaser is only going to get two of the three. Here is an actual […]
Read morePole Barn Price Shoppers
Posted by polebarnguru on 14/12/17 @ 8:00Why True Pole Barn Price Shoppers are Never Satisfied I’ve learned a few things in my close to 40 years as a business owner or manager. One of the most important is, there is always some other provider who is willing to sacrifice quality and/or service to sell at a lower price. If everyone was […]
Read morePole Building Price for Size
Posted by polebarnguru on 14/11/10 @ 8:00Welcome 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- Categories: Pole Barn Questions, Budget
- Tags: Pole Barn Budget, Hansen Pole Buildings Location, Pole Buiding Budget
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Builders – Paying for Convenience
Posted by polebarnguru on 14/11/06 @ 8:00Builders – Paying for Convenience Most of us are fairly willing to pay a few extra dollars for convenience. We know it costs us an extra dollar a gallon for milk at the C-Store, but it was right there, we didn’t have to drive two minutes out of our way, find a parking spot, and […]
Read more- Categories: Building Contractor, Budget
- Tags: Building Contractor, General Contractors
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Dear Guru: Can I Add Radiant Barrier?
Posted by polebarnguru on 14/10/06 @ 8:00Welcome 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 moreAre Your Pole Buildings Local to Me?
Posted by polebarnguru on 14/09/15 @ 8:00Welcome 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 moreHow to Save Money on Pole Building Kits?
Posted by polebarnguru on 14/08/18 @ 8:00Welcome 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 […]
Read more- Categories: Concrete Cookie, Budget, Columns, Pole Barn Questions, Concrete
- Tags: Pole Building Kit Packages, Perma-column, Sturdiwall
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Storage Wars
Posted by polebarnguru on 14/07/17 @ 8:00We don’t have network television access out here in the sticks where I live, so we see little TV except for Netflix. Our 19 year-old son Brent was out to visit one afternoon and started watch a program originally aired as a reality TV series in 2010 on the A&E Network. I suppose I always […]
Read morePole Barn Prices
Posted by polebarnguru on 14/03/12 @ 8:00At Half the Price… Every once in a while there is an exchange with a potential client which I cannot resist sharing. This one is about pole barn prices…at half the price of! In this particular case, as the request came in at 7:39 a.m., I was afterwards wondering if the inquiry came after a […]
Read moreDear Guru: Why is My New Pole Barn Quote Much Higher?
Posted by polebarnguru on 14/03/10 @ 8:00Welcome 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 morePole Barn Prices: I Feel Your Pain
Posted by polebarnguru on 14/02/05 @ 8:00Being in the pole barn blog writing business, I hear from and get a lot of feedback from clients, and potential clients. I’d like to share this with my kind readers: “Dear Sir; I do appreciate you’re candid effort to offer such a deal, but I am going to be gone starting Dec 27 and […]
Read more- Categories: Budget
- Tags: Post Frame Prices, Prices Of Pole Buildings., Pole Building Prices
- 1 comments
The Naked Pole Building
Posted by polebarnguru on 13/10/09 @ 8:00When the construction industry imploded in 2008, pole barn builders and suppliers stripped their pole buildings down to the bare essentials (or, in some cases, to less than the bare essentials). This was done in an effort to make the pole buildings more affordable and to not be underpriced by another provider or builder. Even […]
Read more- Categories: Budget
- Tags: Building Prices, Pole Building Prices, Building Kit Prices, Pole Builders, Post Frame Building Prices
- 4 comments
Post Frame Prices: Knowing the Competition
Posted by polebarnguru on 13/10/08 @ 8:00Knowing the Competition Better Than They Know Themselves Hansen Pole Buildings provides post frame building kit packages. Lots of them and in all 50 states! As such, we have lots of clients provide quotes from our competitors, with the idea we will meet or beat the pricing – of lesser featured or poorer quality buildings. […]
Read more- Categories: Budget
- Tags: NFBA, Post Frame Building Kit Packages, Pole Barn Prices
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A New Pole Building: What is the Price per Square Foot?
Posted by polebarnguru on 13/10/02 @ 8:00What Is The Price Per Square Foot? If one thinks about this question for very long, they might recognize the absurdity of this question. It would be about as practical as going to buy a new car….and asking the price per pound. Or shopping for a new computer….and asking the price per gigabyte of memory. […]
Read morePaying It Forward: 1 Day Ranch
Posted by polebarnguru on 13/09/26 @ 8:00As many of you readers know, Hansen Pole Buildings has a policy of assisting 501(c) (3) organizations. If you are not aware, here is an earlier post which explains how we can assist: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/blog/2013/08/charitable-organizations/ Most of North America was touched by the tragic tornados which devastated the Moore, OK area earlier this year. Companies such […]
Read more- Categories: Pole Barn Planning, Budget
- Tags: 502c Organizations, Donation, Horse Rescue
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Cheaping Out on Pole Building Prices
Posted by polebarnguru on 13/08/30 @ 7:58In your opinion, what is the single most disruptive force in construction today? This question was recently posted to the Building Products Professionals group on LinkedIn. The most appropriate response (in my estimation) was, “The usual comment of the purchaser, “keep the quality with you, give me the lowest price”.” Regardless of their use, post […]
Read more- Categories: Pole Building Comparisons, Budget
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4-H Barn
Posted by polebarnguru on 13/08/08 @ 8:00While the inspiration for this posting came from an article written about a 4-H Barn at a Minnesota county fairgrounds, it could speak for hundreds, or even thousands of similar livestock barns scattered in fairgrounds across America. “The century-old red wood barn stood bent with age, its rotted walls crumbling and its fractured roof ready […]
Read moreBuildings for Charitable Organizations: 501(c)(3)
Posted by polebarnguru on 13/08/07 @ 8:00From time to time Hansen Pole Buildings is contacted by individuals who are looking for a “price break” for being charitable organizations. Popular examples are for helping military veterans, terminally ill children or animal rescue shelters. While the great majority of these requests seemingly are for good causes, there are so many requests and, in […]
Read more- Categories: Pole Barn Planning, Budget
- Tags: Exempt Organizations, Public Charities
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Davis-Bacon Act & Pole Building Labor Costs
Posted by polebarnguru on 13/07/03 @ 8:00When I was a pole building contractor, I always hated “prevailing wage” projects. It wasn’t just all of the obnoxious extra paperwork and record keeping, it was knowing the taxpaying public was being basically fleeced. Prevailing wage caused the pole building labor cost to be two to three times what it would have been, if […]
Read more- Categories: Building Contractor, Budget
- Tags: Pole Barn Costs, Davis-Bacon Act, Labor Costs, Prevailing Wage
- No comments
Pole Building Payment Refusal
Posted by polebarnguru on 13/07/02 @ 8:00Deadbeat Building Owners Who Refuse To Pay Twenty years ago, I was partners in a post frame building construction business with the late Rod Sevy. Rod was generally a no nonsense guy when it came to clients who didn’t play straight. One of our building crews had just completed a pole building garage/shop in Northern […]
Read more- Categories: Building Contractor, Budget
- Tags: Refusing To Pay, Deadbeat Customers, Pole Barn Payment
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Post Frame Building Purchase: Local or Global?
Posted by polebarnguru on 13/06/21 @ 8:00Very few post frame building kit package providers service more than a very small geographic area. While this may give them an intimate knowledge of a local marketplace, how buildings are most often constructed in their area, and expectations from Building Officials – it does come with some risks. In the event their local economy […]
Read moreSaving Money on Building a New Pole Building
Posted by polebarnguru on 13/06/12 @ 8:00The ‘net is a scary place More “True Confessions” from the Pole Barn Guru….I am a ‘net surfer. Yep, I scour the internet for almost anything I can find on construction related topics (especially pole building related). I have Google Alerts set up so I get notified of almost anything new posted regarding pole buildings, […]
Read more- Categories: Rebuilding Structures, Budget
- Tags: Pole Barn Budget, Pole Building Costs
- 2 comments
Right to Work Laws & Your New Pole Building
Posted by polebarnguru on 13/06/06 @ 8:00Right to Work Laws seem to have certain logic behind them – worker freedom is safeguarded by not forcing workers to join a union, in order to get a job. Currently a great deal of attention is being paid to state battles over union power, with Right to Work proposals receiving plenty of press nationally. […]
Read more- Categories: Budget
- Tags: Pole Barn Costs, Post Frame Budget, Unions
- No comments
Pole Buildings & Internet Sales Tax
Posted by polebarnguru on 13/06/04 @ 8:00Pole Buildings & Internet Sales Tax Hansen Pole Buildings sells pole building kit packages and materials directly from our website. We collect sales taxes from clients who are building in South Dakota and Washington states, but not from people who live in other states. Under the law, states can only require businesses to collect sales […]
Read more- Categories: Budget
- Tags: Pole Barn Budget, Pole Building Tax
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Pole Barn Prices: Your Price is Too High
Posted by polebarnguru on 13/05/28 @ 8:00When it comes to the purchase of a new pole building kit package, there are really only three major areas to cover – quality, service and price. Everyone wants to feel they have gotten a good value when they make a major investment, whether it is a vehicle, a house or a new pole building. […]
Read more- Categories: Budget
- Tags: Pole Building Comparisons, Pole Building Prices; Cost Of A Pole Building
- 30 comments
Pole Barn Contractors: “Best Around and Cheap”
Posted by polebarnguru on 13/05/07 @ 8:00Pole Barn Contractors I recently read this posting on an internet forum: “Who can build a good pole barn in this area? Looking to build a building and need someone that can build a sturdy pole barn.” In my mind, this is a reasonable question. And (most importantly) the person posting the question is looking […]
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