“I’ve got a GREAT deal on a pole building for you. All you have to do is take it down, move it and reassemble”. Even if the price is FREE, is it a bargain or not? Let’s take a look at why this might not be such a great deal. Better check out the building […]

Come on now, be honest, we all have our fears and phobias. One of the most interesting ones I have found over the years with clients is “postsetaphobia”, or fear of setting posts. This particular phobia is defined as, “the fear of being able to properly set posts for a pole building”. Fear is False […]

Lumber is considered to be dry when it reaches a moisture content of 19% or less. When below this threshold, it becomes relatively dimensionally stable.  More importantly, it is naturally resistant to mold and other fungi which will attack wood. When lumber is rained upon, or allowed to sit in mud or puddles, it can […]

Two bills which fit in nicely with the strengths of pole building construction were introduced in the House recently. They would provide federal financial incentives to strengthen buildings against major storms. The Natural Disaster Mitigation Act, H.R. 2099, introduced by Reps. Thomas Rooney (R-Fla.) and Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and  the Safe Building Codes Incentive Act, […]

Obama Administration says “Wood is Good” The Obama Adminstration has officially endorsed wood as a green building material. The U.S.  House and Senate passed resolutions in 2009 and 2010 acknowledging the American wood industry sustainably manages an environmentally preferable natural resource, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilscak recently announced a strategy to promote […]

Pole buildings can be easily designed to withstand hurricane and tornado wind loads. The article below is from www.technewsdaily.com May 26,2011 and speaks to housing design under high winds.       Redesigned Roofs Withstand High Wind Events The tornado that stormed through Joplin, Mo., on May 22 shredded an estimated 8,000 buildings and stranded […]

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 […]

Thanks to www.ocala.com May 24, 2011 for their article, “Florida Building Codes Limit Tornado Damage” While surveying tornado damage in Tuscaloosa, Ala., University of Florida researcher David O. Prevatt said he was struck by the city’s large number of old homes susceptible to storm damage. “We have to expect this sort of damage unless we […]

What do you mean they are not 2 feet apart? Back in the day (early 1990’s) I was on the National Frame Builders Association (NFBA) Board of Directors. One of my fellow board members from the Midwest wanted to take a peek at how pole barns were constructed in the West, so I invited him […]