This Wednesday the Pole Barn Guru answers reader questions about a village or township requiring you to put a full foundation in for a pole building, whether a pole building is “hurricane proof,” and the potential use of drill-set brackets to set 6×6 columns on an existing slab with thickened edge.
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Can a village or township require you to put a full foundation in for a pole building? CHRISSY in CHANNAHON
DEAR CHRISSY: Our country has tw
o model Building Codes – IRC (International Residential Code) for one and two family dwellings and their accessory structures, and IBC (International Building Code) for all other buildings. Neither code has a requirement for full foundation to support pole (post frame) buildings. I would encourage you to reach out to your local Building Official to ask for further information – it is possible your village or township may have enacted a specific ordinance, to this case, if so – request a written copy of the approved document and please forward it to me for review. In most instances, no such ordinance exists and, if so, this ‘requirement’ cannot be legally enforced.
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Are they hurricane proof? LINDAONGLEY in DAVENPORT
DEAR LINDA: I don’t know of any structural system other than maybe a reinforced concrete building underground and above any flood stage affording 100% hurricane protection. We can engineer to design wind speeds in excess of 200mph.
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I have a new monoslab with 20″ footer all around. Slab is also reinforced with 1/2″ rebar. I want to build a 40’x46′ pole barn. Walls are 14′, roof trusses are 5/12 pitch. Can I use Simpson brackets and place 6″x6″ posts on top of the concrete every 8′ with 2″x6″ girts? Or should I have builder put posts in the ground around the slab? Thanks-ERIC in REXFORD
DEAR ERIC: There is no dry set (bolted down) anchor (including those from Simpson) capable of handling even minimal moment (bending) loads. So no – you should not use any type of bracket on top of your slab. Your best bet will be to build around slab with posts properly embedded in ground.
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Hello, I see your communications on here a lot so figure I would take a shot at asking you some questions. If you’re not interested in wasting your time I understand and disregard. I am trying to plan out a future build for a pole building probably 36x46x16 to heat and store a RV in. My area in Northern MN gets heavy snow and lots of rain so I think posts out of the ground would be best (mounted to slab). So we would do a thickened edge like we did with our home. Is there any semi-basic logic to what kind of thickened edge would be required or does it need to be calculated by an engineer? SHAINE in DULUTH 
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I am looking into a property with an existing pole building on a 24×40 slab (construction history unknown, it’s old so there might not be any). The building is too short for my needs, and is also pretty worn out overall. My question is would I be capable of taking down the current building and reconstructing my own on the current slab? Would it be possible to have the slab inspected as to know it’s exact structural capabilities? Would it be best (or even possible) to have a 2′ skirt with footings poured and tied in around the entire perimeter, and just build a larger building on that as to avoid the structural limitations of the current slab? Thanks! BEN in ZIMMERMAN 
DEAR BRIAN: Regardless of spacing of columns or trusses, a fully engineered post frame building will be designed to meet or exceed a specified set of wind design criteria – speed and exposure. You are better served to increase design wind sped, so your entire buildings is capable of supporting higher loads, than to merely move columns closer together. Provided Code required deflection limitations have been properly engineered for, any purlin sag, over time, should be relatively imperceptible.
DEAR SHERRY: Properly manufactured inside closure strips are UV resistant and should outlive your building’s steel roofing. Personally, I find them essential, as without them small flying critters have a clear path to enter your building. In order to replace them, you will have to remove screws along your eave line. Once remains of old closures are removed, new ones can be put in place. Old screws should be replaced by both larger diameter and longer screws, to maintain integrity of connections and prevent leaks.
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: 
DEAR BOB: Weirdly enough I have installed probably tens of thousands of joist hangers and had seriously never given a thought to this (or experienced a challenge). Obviously the engineers at Simpson Strong-tie have thought this all through in designing these parts. I would think even if you were able to drive nails in from opposite sides perfectly so as they would hit each other, the point of the nail from one side would tend to deflect the nail from the opposite side. In all reality, because the holes are so close to the truss, the nails are going to be driven in at a slight angle (whether driving by hand, palm nailer or a gun). Installing all of the nails should not compromise the wood.
DEAR SCOTT: I feel post frame construction will be the largest growth market in construction over the next five years. It is becoming increasingly popular as residences, especially with people fleeing big cities. Post frame buildings afford many opportunities not seen with other structural systems – minimal concrete for footings, easily erected DIY, easy to super insulate, rapid construction, vastly customizable.
Unless one wants to make a significant investment in concrete filling a very large diameter tube, it is more economically practical to increase the size of the footing (maintaining a smaller diameter tube) in order to properly distribute the downward forces over an adequate surface.
