Lumber grades take into account natural characteristics, including knots, splits, checks, shake, and wane. Lumber design values are assigned to lumber grades to provide a means for using this material in structural applications. These values are published in Design Values for Wood Construction, a supplement to the National Design Specification® (NDS) for Wood Construction. The […]

Here are the top three reasons – Money, Availability, and Recycling/Reusing. Trying to save a few bucks on your pole barn and don’t care about longevity or ease of use, then used utility poles may be the answer. Most people, who are going to invest an average of $50,000 into a new building, prefer to […]

If I had a dime for every time, over the last three plus decades, I have had a potential client even bring up using old telephone (utility) poles for constructing a new pole barn, I would be retired and sitting on the beach in Ecuador now! Pole buildings are designed with the thought of being […]

I first became involved in the post frame (pole) building industry over three decades ago, in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. At the time, many of the region’s pole barn builders were buying the lumber for the pole buildings they were selling to consumers from Withers Lumber in Brooks, Oregon. The “special” thing about this […]

Not near as exciting as 867-5309, but this one Section of the International Building Code (IBC) is one of the most important and least understood sections. The American Wood Preservers Association (AWPA) addresses in, Section UC4 wood, which is pressure preservative treated for “Ground Contact”. The “UC” is short for “Use Class”. UC4A is for […]

This is a product review for Tuff Posts,  a product I have never used. Now how can I feel qualified to do such a review? Thanks to the miracle of the internet, a plethora of information can be gleaned on nearly any product. Tuff Posts are prefabricated columns for use in pole buildings. As a […]

Justine (a Hansen Buildings Project Coordinator) recently needed to order some glu-laminated columns for a pole building kit package. One of our vendors recommended she instead order Parallam® Plus PSL columns instead, insisting they would be as strong as or stronger than glu-lams. Parallam® is the brand name for an engineered wood product developed by […]

Client to Hansen Pole Buildings Designer, Jim; “I talked to a local lumber yard and received a quote from them for a similar 40×60 with attic truss at 40#/sq and they were about 20K lower than your quote.  The 54K that you quoted seemed a little high when I received it.  The other quote did […]

Southern Pine lumber has been popular since Colonial times for a wide variety of applications. Favorable growing conditions, wise forest management, and efficient manufacturing ensure a continuous supply of high-quality Southern Pine products for future generations. Southern Pine consists of four main species — shortleaf, longleaf, loblolly, and slash — and has been the preferred […]

Even the best of pressure preservative treatment chemicals are not going to entirely eliminate the possibility of termite infestations. No, the termites are probably not going to touch the pressure treated materials, but usually building owners are unwilling to invest in all pressure treated wood for their pole buildings. So, what to do with the […]

Pressure-treated lumber has been available for about 60 years. Most original formulas centered on arsenic as the main preservative, to help lumber withstand the extremes of outdoor use. While over time small amounts of chemicals from treatments such as CCA may have leached out of the treated timbers, a 2004 report in Wood and Fibre […]

More than once (especially in California), it has been suggested by lumber yards to use cedar or redwood posts for pole buildings, rather than pressure preservative treated wood of other species. The lumber yard sales people are of the belief the cedar or redwood posts should have adequate natural resistance to decay to last the […]

The smell of fresh sawdust on a crisp fall morning, the slap and ring of hammers on boards, the sturdy feel of new framing – what’s not to love? So it’s no surprise when builders set out to frame a pole building, sometimes they use a little more lumber than really needed. Sometimes a lot […]

In the United States, there are four prevailing species of timber which is used for framing lumber. Douglas Fir-Larch – which includes Douglas Fir and Western Larch (Tamarack). Prevalent along the West Coast, it is also known as Oregon Pine or Red Fir. Hem-Fir – another western lumber species group which includes California Red Fir, […]

We recently had one of our engineers specify the use of glulam pressure treated columns to support one of our custom designed pole buildings. The client was concerned about pressure treated glulams in the ground, so it was time for some heavy duty research. According to the American Institute of Timber Construction (AITC), structural glued […]

I do a lot of research on most everything I blog about.  I want you to have the most solid and recent information, along with my advice as to how to put it to best use.  I found this recently at www.spib.org: “The Family owned and publicly traded companies that choose to use the SPIB […]

Brookfield Timberlands of Vancouver, B.C., Canada owns over 3800 square miles of forest land in Canada (larger than the land area of Rhode Island and Connecticut combined). They are one of North America’s largest log exporters. One of Brookfield’s partners feels a timber supply “shock” is fast approaching which will lead to significantly higher prices […]

As I said yesterday, between 1952 and 2001, more trees grew, more trees died, and more were harvested.  Why? Forest density has a huge role in tree morbidity.  Forest restoration begins with sound ecologic management practices. I have a home in the state of Washington, and in fact, live a good share of the year […]

There have been times when I have seen manufacturers of all steel buildings attempt to portray pole buildings as being less than ecologically friendly. The premise being steel is 100% recyclable, while wood somehow is not. Or, by using wood in construction, we are somehow cutting down all of the trees! Today, forest growth in […]

Green building is one of the most dynamic market forces in construction today. Pole buildings are considered sustainable, but until very recently little documentation existed on the energy efficiency and the reduced impact on the environment created by pole barns. “Green building” is based on producing more sustainable buildings and is the basis for green […]

Let’s start in the forest… When David Friss of Anchorage worked for NOM ‘s Environmental Research Labs in Boulder, he was once asked why lightning sometimes spirals down the trunk of a tree. While the answer was not proven, we observed the path of least resistance might follow the spiral grain of the wood. He […]

Need a piece of lumber? In most of the United States, you get one from your local lumber yard or “big box” store and do not have a choice as to whether the lumber is “green” (moisture content of over 19%) or dry. For the most part, what is available at the retail level is […]

Grab any piece of lumber, with a narrow edge pointed up. Look down the narrow edge and you will normally see an upward or downward arch, or bow to the wood. An upward arch is “crowned up”.  This is a common lumber defect.  When building your new pole building, it is important for the crowns […]