Tag Archives: foundation system

Foundations, Insulating a Sliding Barn Door, and Buying a Barn Door

This week Mike the Pole barn Guru answers questions about foundations, effectiveness of insulating a sliding barn door, and where to buy a sliding barn door.

Concrete slab in a pole barnDEAR POLE BARN GURU: Hansen Team, in beginning my post frame home over a full foundation, I am reading your excellent load bearing considerations for the posts through the foundation into the footing. Realizing the foundation is a critical and unique structural system in my design, can you recommend a PE for South Carolina who has experience in designing for pole barn foundations? FRANK in TAYLORS

DEAR FRANK: Our third party engineers have designed thousands of post frame (pole barn) foundations and can incorporate your needs into our design. As you will be living in this, may I suggest you consider using prefabricated wood floor trusses, rather than joists? They will give a flat finished basement ceiling and afford space for both duct work and plumbing.

 

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Is there such a thing as an insulated sliding barn door? (exterior) . CHARLOTTE in HOPLAND

Figure 27-5

DEAR CHARLOTTE: Yes there is such a thing however it is going to be minimally effective. Steel framed sliding doors are either 1-1/2 (typically) or 3-1/2 inches in thickness. Closed cell spray foam insulation would provide greatest insulating value at approximately R-7 per inch of thickness. Now your problem – in order to slide past adjacent siding, a space must be provided between door and siding. Heat and cold will pass through this air gap.

 

Horse ShelterDEAR POLE BARN GURU: I need two metal sliding barn doors. Each door 6’ x 8.5‘. DAVID in RUTHERFORDTON

DEAR DAVID: Thank you very much for your inquiry. Due to challenges of shipping without damage, Hansen Pole Buildings only provides doors along with an investment in a complete post frame building kit package. We would recommend you check at the ProDesk of your local The Home Depot®.

 

 

 

Foundations

Foundations – Post Frame Keeps It Simple

Post frame (pole building) construction affords a plethora of savings for a new building owner, chief amongst these are foundation simplicity. I’ve previously expounded upon foundation savings in post frame construction as compared to stick frame buildings: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2011/10/buildings-why-not-stick-frame-construction/.

Today I will add some graphics to reinforce (pun intended) complexities of non-post frame foundations.

Excavation, rebar and welded wire mesh in place for a thickened edge slab foundation for stud wall construction. In this case slab edges require a double row of rebar where thickness will be 16 inches. This foundation and floor system assumes a light weight building and must be poured upon undisturbed or properly compacted soil with adequate load bearing capability. Shallow foundation and concrete slab on grade are poured concurrently.

For an engineered steel building, foundations are more complex than for post frame construction. There is a continuous footing and foundation wall around the building perimeter, with reinforced piers to support steel column bearing points. Piers have embedded anchor bolts (requiring exact and accurate placement) to attach steel frame bases.

Top of foundation wall allows for attaching steel wall panels as well as support for any masonry veneer, if required for aesthetic purposes. Each steel column base has a rebar hairpin (usually two 20 foot long rebar sticks). These hairpins tie columns into concrete floor to reduce the tendency of column bottoms to move outward when loads are applied to the building.

Post frame (pole barn) construction utilizes a low-tech foundation system able to be successfully completed by even semi-skilled workers or an average DIY building owner. Face it, augering a hole in the ground makes for a fairly simple and affordable foundation system – eliminating any need for extensive excavations, often with a need for expensive equipment.

Looking for a design solution for your new building with flexibility and cost effectiveness? In most cases, look no further than post frame construction!