Category Archives: Building Styles and Designs

Polycarbonate eavelights: Light up my Life

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 09/19/2011
Polycarbonate eavelights: Light up my Life

One of our Building Designers, Alan, is a former general contractor who, prior to becoming a Building Designer, had constructed about 200 Hansen Buildings in several Pacific Northwest states. This morning, he sent me an Instant Message as a client had asked if they, “could have eave lights in the roof of their building”? Traditional […]

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Construction Specifications: How do Spec Writers Decide What Products to Specify?

Construction specifications are generally produced by architects or engineers, for governmental or NGO construction projects which are to be let out for competitive bids. Our experience shows us many of these project specifiers write in requirements for products which are either commercially not readily available, or are not practical for the intended use of the […]

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Roof Trusses: Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 08/11/2011
Roof Trusses: Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Roof Trusses: Planes, Trains & Automobiles Usually none of these get hung from the bottom chords of roof trusses, however lots of other things can be. Standard pole building truss designs will support only the extra weight of minimal lighting and electrical. Don’t panic, virtually anything can be supported from your pole barn trusses and […]

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Mega Building Clearspans; Just Put a Post in It

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 08/10/2011
Mega Building Clearspans; Just Put a Post in It

Mega Clearspan Buildings…Just Put a Post in It In my first managerial position in the roof truss industry, we worked out of an 80 foot wide by 120 foot long concrete tilt up building. This building had a row of interior columns down the middle, 30 feet on center. These three columns posed no challenge […]

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When Less is More – Economical Buildings

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 08/03/2011
When Less is More – Economical Buildings

When Less is More – Economical Buildings The beauty of pole building construction includes being very affordable and being relatively easy to build. In the affordability area – a common misconception is to construct the building as “just a roof”, with the idea of walls being installed at a later date. And this will result […]

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Chasing Your Building Dream

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 07/27/2011
Chasing Your Building Dream

There are lots of folks just like you who are out there chasing the steel covered building dream. You have a problem or are trying to reach a goal, which involves a new pole or steel building. Am I right?   Now there are also a lot of people out there telling you it’s easy. […]

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Quonset Huts

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 07/26/2011
Quonset Huts

You may have heard them advertised on television, radio, online and in the back of Popular Mechanics. I came across a query from a gentleman from Wake Forest, NC which included, “I have found some really good deals on the local craigslist from private individuals who have bought them and never put them up for […]

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Cruising Forums: It’s Just a Pole Barn!

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 07/20/2011
Cruising Forums: It’s Just a Pole Barn!

As a voracious reader, and someone who always wants to make sure they have their finger on the “pulse” of the pole building industry, I am always scouring for information and misinformation on the ‘net. I recently read the post below. I’d like to have you read through it, and then I will give you […]

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Lying or Just Plain Stupid?

Posted by The Pole Barn Guru on 06/28/2011
Lying or Just Plain Stupid?

Yesterday afternoon, one of our senior building designers sent me this instant message: “So what do you do with a customer who is being sold a bill of goods by his contractor? Starting from, client was told he needed to pour footings and build with 2×6 studs because pole buildings ‘move too much’. All the […]

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