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An Insulation Retrofit, Adding Soffit, and a Fan Pricing Question

This week the Pole Barn guru answers reader questions about an insulation retrofit for a 72×36 pole barn with no ridge or eave vents, if one can add soffit the an existing building with no overhangs, and if the Guru has any pricing knowledge for a fan and heater to hang from a ceiling.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Hello, Thank you for all of your great content. I have a 72×36 pole barn that I want to insulate. I’ve attached some pictures of the interior so you can see what it looks like. The attic space doesn’t appear to have any ridge or eave vents. I’ve taken bits and pieces from everything I’ve read but I want to be sure before I move forward. I know spray foam is an option but for this size building, it’s quite expensive. My thoughts are to insulate the walls with rockwool with a vapor barrier on the warm side. No vapor barrier on the ceiling with blown in rockwool, and then vent the attic space through the side walls with both high and low vents. Would love your feedback. I live in Northern Utah. Thanks for your help! JARED in PLAIN CITY

DEAR JARED: Provided your roof trusses are designed to support a ceiling load you are spot on with your approach to insulating. For venting – remove ridge cap, cut our condensation control at peak of roof, replace ridge cap adding vented closure strips. For air intake, add gable vents in lower half of each endwall. You will need to add no less than 312 square inches of net free ventilating area in each endwall.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Is there any way to add a soffit to an existing pole building? Thanks. PETE in FREMONT

DEAR PETE: It would be extremely difficult to do it right from what you have. If it was my own and I was absolutely determined to have eave overhangs I would remove all of the roof steel and replace it with steel long enough to create an appropriate overhang (likely 18″). I would order it with an Integral Condensation Control factory applied, to avoid condensation challenges.

I would consult with a Registered Professional Engineer to evaluate if my column footings will be adequate to support loads on this now greater roof surface (not just dead weight, but also appropriate snow loads). This engineer could advise as to how to properly structurally add “tails” to trusses and confirm truss carriers (headers between columns) are properly sized, or if they need additional reinforcement.

Sidewall steel would be cut down and support for soffit added to columns. Besides new roof steel material investments include: ridge cap with vented closures, new rake trims, soffit, #12 x 1-1/2″ powder coated color matched diaphragm screws, fascia trim, soffit, J Channel below soffit at top of wall.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: What is practical priced good ceiling fan for a post frame 36 x 60 work shop, I plan on installing two. What height is good for a Modine hotdawg hanging natural gas heater with building with 14 ft walls? SCOTT in WISCONSIN RAPIDS

DEAR SCOTT: Having no personal experience with either, I frankly would not want to venture a guess. You might want to browse through “Pole Barns and Buildings” group on Facebook as yours are frequently discussed topics. Here is a link https://www.facebook.com/groups/2337434209870475

This entry was posted in Ventilation, Rebuilding Structures, Uncategorized, Building Interior, Insulation, Budget, Pole Barn Questions, Pole Barn Design, Pole Barn Heating, Building Overhangs, Barndominium, Pole Barn Planning and tagged ceiling fans pricing, post frame insulation, ceiling heater, overhangs, insulation retrofit, insulation, adding soffit, soffit on January 14, 2026 by Rick Ochs.

Must Do’s for a Worry Free Barndominium

My Facebook friend RICK in MALDEN messaged me:

“I have never built a building like this. I have seen many bad experiences with concrete, poor quality metal work and many more issues. I would just like to know if there is a list of things to make sure I get a quality home. I saw the other day you said osb under the roof metal could help with condensation issues. I’m also worried about gaps where the metal meets together. I don’t want to just shoot spray insulation and call it good. You have said that is not the way to do it. I guess I’m looking for something to tell me the quality method for the most common mistakes people or contractors make. I am using a contractor because I don’t have the skill or experience to DIY. I also don’t want to rely on the contractor to tell me the right way. If I had it my way I’d have you do it. You are the most knowledgeable and in-depth person I have found on the internet about the Barndo building subject.”

Thank you for all of your kind words.

There are days when I think what a joy it would be to be out building. I do truly love to build, smells of earth from freshly dug holes, lumber being taken out of a wrapped unit, sawdust – all of these give me warm, fuzzy nostalgic feelings.

I have kept myself in great physical condition and at 63 years-old I could certainly be out building. And I do know there are folks who would gladly pay my rate to have me do their construction. However this would allow me to properly assist only one client at a time. What I do now allows me to help thousands of people every year to get better buildings.

Enough of me waxing poetic – let’s get down to business!

(Side note – much of this advice is expounded upon in detail in previously written articles. Please visit www.HansenPoleBuildings.com, navigate to SEARCH at upper right corner, click on it, type in a word or phrase and ENTER)

Plan tips – consider these factors:

Direction of access (you don’t want to have to drive around your house to get to garage doors).

‘Curb appeal’ – what will people see as they drive up?

Any views? If so, take advantage of them.

North-south alignment – place no or few windows on north wall, lots on south wall.

Overhang on south wall to shade windows from mid-day summer sun If your AC bill is far greater than your heating bill, reverse this and omit or minimize north overhangs.

Slope of site.

Work from inside out – do not try to fit what you need within a pre-ordained box just because someone said using a “standard” size might be cheaper. Differences in dimensions from “standard” are pennies per square foot, not dollars.

Put up the largest building you can economically justify and fit on your property.

Plan for accessibility – 4′ or wider hallways and stairs, an ADA bathroom with a roll in shower. 3′ wide interior doors.

Walk-in (roll-in) closets for bedrooms, even secondary ones.

Consider if you truly want to live on a concrete floor. Crawl spaces are roughly the same investment.

Kitchen – two dishwashers, two microwaves, two ovens, trash compactor. Separate side-by-side refrigerator and freezer units. A good sized pantry.

9′ or 10′ finished ceilings in living areas.

Onto building construction itself….

Probably most important (and most often neglected) is proper site prep.

Make sure there is a vapor barrier under any slab-on-grade (and use 10-15 mil).

For slab-on-grade at least have pex-al-pex tubes run.

Personally I like flash & batt for walls – two inches of closed cell spray foam ideally with BIBs insulation to fill balance of insulation cavity. In this circumstance, you do not want a WRB, however you do want to order inside closures for top and bottom of every wall panel.

Order raised heel trusses so you can blow in fiberglass insulation to full depth from wall-to-wall.

For condensation control – use steel panels with Integral Condensation Control.

Vent sidewall overhangs and ridge.

Use all 5/8″ Type X sheetrock.

Make sure you and your contractor have a written agreement covering everything – it keeps feelings from being hurt and clearly outlines expectations. I will have a series of articles soon outlining some important inclusions for agreements, please watch for them.

This entry was posted in Pole Barn Homes, Pole Barn Questions, About The Pole Barn Guru, Building Overhangs, Post Frame Home, Roofing Materials, Barndominium, Constructing a Pole Building, Shouse, Pole Barn Planning, Steel Roofing & Siding, Building Contractor, Ventilation, Insulation and tagged BIB insulation, integral condensation control, ADA bathroom, slab on grade, building site prep, roll in shower, curb appeal, walk-in pantry, bandominium, overhangs, slope of site on August 26, 2025 by Rick Ochs.

Air Intake, Sliding Door Trolleys, and Footing Costs

This Thursday is another bonus ” ask the Guru” answering questions about proper air intake with no overhangs, replacing sliding door trolleys, and most cost effective footing solution.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I am in preliminary stages of designing a post-frame building, that will serve a multitude of functions such as a home gym, work-shop, and area to host family parties. It is a 30′ x 76′ x 20′ tall, with 2 fully enclosed leans 64′ long on each side that span out 16′. I really like Scandinavian style, which utilizes no overhang. My main concern is how to allow for proper air intake if I do zero over-hang since there will not any soffit. Curious for your thoughts. Would you recommend against ‘zero over-hang’? Or do you think there is some work-around for air intake and gutter attachment? Hoping for a quick answer! Thanks in advance : ) SHANE in HARTLAND

DEAR SHANE: In my humble opinion – I would personally go without doors, before I would go without overhangs. For me it is about looks (no overhangs look too industrial for my tastes), functionality (besides being a perfect location for air intake, they do keep your walls much cleaner, provide protection of windows from summer sun, pushes rainfall/snow away from base of building). You can meet Code requirements for air intake via gable vents, however they do not afford nearly as even airflow as to eave intake vents combined with a vented ridge. Gutters can be hung off from eave struts (aka eave girt or eave purlin), however it does increase possibilities of having water back up into one’s wall if an ice dam were to occur.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I have a quonset with (2) 15’x14′ sliding doors with 4 cannonball style rollers each that need to be replaced. I’m thinking I’ll have to remove the doors, but what is the best way to do this? CODY in MAYNARD

DEAR CODY: If these are one piece doors and not bi-parting, you can remove any end stops and slide door out of rail on one end, replace trolley, then repeat in opposite direction. If doors are bi-parting, you will need to remove doors to replace trolleys (and have plenty of help, as doors will be unwieldy).

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I been debating on what foundation to go with. I’m in Texas 1.5 hours west of Houston. I noticed some going with piers and slab or the wall footing with slab. It’s going to be a post frame house. Possibly shingle roof. What is the best foundation system that will not fail? ANGEL in SEALY

DEAR ANGEL: Your strongest and most affordable foundation will be to use true glulaminated columns, embedded in ground. Regardless of what you pick, it will only be as good as ground it is placed upon. A well prepared site, where clays and organic materials have been removed and proper fill has been placed and compacted every six inches, will greatly improve your chances of having a solid foundation. I would encourage you to consider a steel roof, as shingles have a very short life span (read more here: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2018/10/ask-the-builder/.

This entry was posted in Building Overhangs, Pole Barn Planning, Pole Barn Homes, Ventilation, Pole Barn Heating, Concrete, Footings, Post Frame Home, Budget, Barndominium, Lumber, Professional Engineer, floorplans, Insulation, Pole Barn Questions, Columns, Pole Barn Design and tagged overhangs, Ventilation, sliding door parts, embedded columns, footings, sidewall overhangs, sliding door trolleys, attic ventilation on June 13, 2024 by Rick Ochs.

Concerns About Truss Sizes and Overhangs When Designing a Floor Plan

Concerns About Truss Sizes and Overhangs When Designing a Floor Plan

Reader ART in EADS writes:

“Hello Mike, my wife and I are making floor plans for a future pole barn house. We see that numerous companies offer buildings in common L x W x H dimensions as well as some customized sizes. We want to utilize all space without any overbuilding so we are looking at required interior spaces to accept how we intend to furnish and used the house. So we are drawing out floor plans and taking in to account wall thicknesses both interior and exterior. Questions have come up concerning truss sizes with and without overhangs. 1. Are there usually standard truss sizes for clear spans vs customized? i.e. 30′, 40′, 50′ etc. 2. Is there a difference in clear spans with a 40′ with and 40′ without overhangs? 2.a. What about pricing differences? i.e. #% additional for n” in overhang?”

I am going to open a bag and let a cat out here – Hansen Pole Buildings will be building metal connector plated wood trusses, for our clients, in just a few short months.

nailing trusses I spent two decades (in what I call a ‘past life’) in management and/or ownership of truss manufacturing facilities. For 22 years, we have outsourced our truss needs and it all worked well until Covid – where lead times for even obtaining preliminary truss designs stretched from days to weeks (and weeks), designs were not necessarily very efficient (due to out sourcing to people in third world countries who have never seen a 2×4), and lead times for production extended out sometimes as long as six months.

We provide buildings to clients in all 50 states, so we deal with snow loads ranging from none to over 400 psf (pounds per square foot) and design wind speeds from mild to in excess of 200 miles per hour. Along with this, clients who are blowing in attic insulation, need different heel heights depending upon thickness of insulation. In summary – there is no ‘standard’ truss when it comes to us.

I did learn a few things in architecture school. Work from inside out – do not try to fit your wants and needs within a pre-ordained box just because someone said using a “standard” size might be cheaper. Differences in dimensions from “standard” are pennies per square foot, not dollars.

As far as overhangs are concerned, personally I would go without doors before I would go without overhangs. Doors can be added later, overhangs cannot. Without overhangs, buildings tend to look industrial. Overhangs afford weather protection for door openings, shade south facing windows from brutal sun, move ‘weather’ away from walls (helping to keep moisture out from under building and keeping walls cleaner), plus they afford a valuable air intake for vented attic spaces.

From a truss cost standpoint, those overhangs add very little to one’s investment.

This entry was posted in Building Styles and Designs, Pole Barn Homes, Building Overhangs, Barndominium, Constructing a Pole Building, floorplans, Pole Barn Planning, Pole Barn Structure, Trusses, Lumber, Ventilation, Insulation, Budget, Pole Barn Questions, Pole Barn Design and tagged custom buildings, truss sizes, truss design, truss building, overhangs, floor plans on March 12, 2024 by admin.

Weather Resistant Barriers, LVL Notches, and Design Ideas

This week the Pole Barn Guru answers reader questions about weather resistant barriers, a caution to not attempt to notch LVL rafters, and a recommended design solution for a new build.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: We are in process of designing our barndominium with hoping to start building next spring. Do you have a recommendation as to what water resistant barrier (WRB) to use with closed cell spray foam? Planning on using a standing seam metal roof and wainscot siding at this time. I know that a reflective barrier is useless without an air gap behind it. Using spray foam prevents its use. I’ve researched several, like zip system, Tyvek, and others. Thanks for answering my question. GREG in CARROLL

DEAR GREG: In your climate zone I would typically not recommend using spray foam other than as two inch thickness applied directly to steel roofing and/or siding in order to control condensation. This does result in having to mechanically control humidity as your building will now “dry” to inside. As standing seam steel does not provide shear resistance, it must be installed over solid decking – and you can spray foam directly to this decking underside.

In any case, it is not recommended to use closed cell spray foam applied to any WRB. For extended reading: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2020/04/spray-foam-insulation-3/

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I got a pole barn I’m putting up. The purlins were designed to run over end rafter bit that makes eve low. Can a 1 ½” x3 ½”(2×4) notch for outrigger for eave support and run end rafter up like others in the center. Notch would be 1 ½” deep on an 11 ¾” lvl. One in center span and one at top of roof. This is on the shed roofs only. MIKE in RAVENSDALE

DEAR MIKE: Absolutely do not cut or notch into your end rafter. You need to lower end rafters to allow purlins to go over top of end rafters without any notching.

While you are at it – have your building’s engineer recheck those shed rafters and purlins closest to main endwall to confirm they are adequate for snow drift loads. Usually purlins closest to endwalls have to be much closer together to adequately support those loads.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I want to space my poles 8′ apart and use to 2×12, one inside and one outside at the top to place standard trusses on the top so i can add an insulated ceiling in it. Any comments on this, and how deep do my posts have to go into the ground? LARREN in DAVIS CREEK

DEAR LARREN: Personally, I would throw away your proposed design solution.

In most instances, you are better served with sidewall columns spaced every 12 feet. Use a true two-ply truss, aligned with every sidewall column (https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2018/09/true-double-trusses/) and notched in. Trusses should be engineered to carry a ceiling (bottom chord dead load – BCDL). Use five (5) psf (pounds per square foot) for a steel ceiling and 10 psf if sheetrocked. Between bottom chords of pairs of trusses, joist hang 2×6 #2 24 inches on center.

In any case, raised heel trusses should be utilized to allow for full depth of insulation from wall-to-wall. https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2012/07/raised-heel-trusses/
Column depth will be determined by engineer who is designing your plans. They need to be deep enough to go below frost line (not an issue in California) as well as to resist overturning and uplift. Building dimensions, applied wind loads and soil bearing capacity will all impact depth of holes.

This entry was posted in Building Overhangs, Pole Building How To Guides, Pole Barn Planning, Barndominium, Pole Barn Structure, Trusses, Ventilation, Insulation, Building Interior, Pole Barn Questions, Professional Engineer, Pole Barn Design and tagged overhangs, weather resistant barriers, Design Solutions, standing seam, truss spacing, LVL, notching rafters, spray foam on September 7, 2022 by admin.

Soffit, Framing Options, and Increasing Eave Height

The Guru has had so many questions sent over email and social media, we thought we’d play catch-up for a few days. Today he answers questions about adding soffits or overhangs to a structure, options for framing a building with lap siding, and the feasibility of lifting a building to add to the eave height.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Should I have a soffit on my pole barn? CLIFF in SOUTHSIDE

DEAR CLIFF: Personally if my budget was so tight I could only afford doors or enclosed overhangs, I would do overhangs and leave door openings to install later when funds became available. You can always add doors, however you only get one opportunity to do overhangs – at time of construction.

Overhangs will keep your building from looking like an industrial warehouse. They will push ‘weather’ (rain runoff or snow slide off) away from your building walls – keeping your building cleaner and reducing potential for trapped water to build up and enter your building. With ventilated eave soffits, you have an air intake required for any dead attic spaces.

Invest in them and you will have no regrets.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Okay, I have been researching horizontal lap siding options for my detached garage project I plan on building next summer. I have seen many opinions on the necessary framing to support the engineered wood horizontal lap siding that matches my house and my wife is requiring my garage to match. Most people talk about installing furring strips over OSB, having the OSB cover the horizontal girts. But what about mounting regular 2×6 studs INSIDE the girts? Then covering the girts with Zip Sheeting. This would provide a continuous building envelope, superior nailing support for the siding, and vertical support if I choose to finish the interior in the future. Thoughts? SCOTT in BROOKSTON

DEAR SCOTT: While you could build a stud wall inside of exterior mounted wall girts, it would seemingly make more sense to use bookshelf girts instead, solving challenges in one fell swoop. Should you decide to finish your interior, bookshelf girts are also ideal for drywall applications. https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2019/09/11-reasons-post-frame-commercial-girted-walls-are-best-for-drywall/

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: My 30×60 pole barn has 8 foot eaves. I need 10 foot eaves. Can I lengthen poles to get added height? JEREMY in COLUMBIA CITY

DEAR JEREMY: With input from a Registered Professional Engineer you may be able to however you are talking about a fairly monumental undertaking, fraught with peril in trying to raise it up without destroying what you have. Besides coming up with a satisfactory column splice, you are going to have to slowly raise the building up at each column equally. Get one column too far ahead or behind and you risk ripping steel roofing around screws – then you have leaks. If a lift point slips off from jacks you could end up with a scrambled mess. Provided you are able to successfully lift and get columns spliced, you now have siding being too short to contend with.

Personally, provided I had the space and it was allowed by my jurisdiction, I would build another taller building. And make it taller than 10′ eave – so you have some future resale value for someone with tall stuff.

This entry was posted in Rebuilding Structures, Pole Barn Questions, Pole Barn Design, Building Overhangs, Pole Barn Planning, Pole Barn Structure and tagged overhangs, lap siding, raise building, no overhangs, siding framing, framing options, eave ht on December 9, 2020 by admin.

Must Do’s for a Worry Free Barndominium

Plan tips – consider these factors:

Direction of access (you don’t want to have to drive around your house to get to garage doors).

‘Curb appeal’ – what will people see as they drive up?

Any views? If so, take advantage of them.

North-south alignment – place no or few windows on north wall, lots on south wall.

Overhang on south wall to shade windows from mid-day summer sun If your AC bill is far greater than your heating bill, reverse this and omit or minimize north overhangs.

Slope of site.

Put up the largest building you can economically justify and fit on your property.

Plan for accessibility – 4′ or wider hallways and stairs, an ADA bathroom with a roll in shower. 3′ wide interior doors.

Walk-in (roll-in) closets for bedrooms, even secondary ones.

Consider if you truly want to live on a concrete floor. Crawl spaces are roughly the same investment.

Kitchen – two dishwashers, two microwaves, two ovens, trash compactor. Separate side-by-side refrigerator and freezer units. A good sized pantry.

9′ or 10′ finished ceilings in living areas.

Onto building construction itself….

Probably most important (and most often neglected) is proper site prep.

Make sure there is a vapor barrier under any slab-on-grade (and use 10-15 mil).

For slab-on-grade at least have pex-al-pex tubes run.

Order raised heel trusses so you can blow in fiberglass insulation to full depth from wall-to-wall.

For condensation control – use steel panels with Integral Condensation Control.

Vent sidewall overhangs and ridge.

Use all 5/8″ Type X sheetrock.

This entry was posted in Ventilation, Insulation, Pole Barn Homes, Pole Barn Questions, About The Pole Barn Guru, Building Overhangs, Post Frame Home, Roofing Materials, Barndominium, Constructing a Pole Building, Shouse, Pole Barn Planning, Steel Roofing & Siding, Building Contractor and tagged walk-in pantry, bandominium, overhangs, slope of site, BIB insulation, integral condensation control, ADA bathroom, slab on grade, building site prep, roll in shower, curb appeal on December 8, 2020 by admin.

What Hansen Pole Buildings Offers for Prospective Barndominium Owners

What Hansen Pole Buildings Offers for Prospective Barndominium Owners

If you are considering building a barndominium or shouse (shop/house), whether DIY or with a contractor’s involvement, there is one very important question to ask:

“Do you personally live in a barndominium?”

If you do not receive a resounding, “YES” for an answer, you may want to rethink your choice.

My lovely bride and I have lived in our Hansen Pole Building along South Dakota’s Lake Traverse for 15 years now. This being my third personal barndominium, dating back some thirty years, I can speak with experience few others can.

Hansen Vision At Hansen Pole Buildings, we are literally “All About the Building” and we strive to provide “The Ultimate Post Frame Building Experience™”. Every single one of our fully engineered post frame buildings is custom designed to best fit our client’s wants and needs. Rarely will we be least expensive, however we will always provide a best value solution.

This process ideally begins in infancy stages, with a determination of fiscal reality – highly tempered by individual tastes and how much effort one is willing or able to put into their new home. Those willing to be their own General Contractors can plan upon saving roughly 25% over hiring a builder to turn key and 50% for DIYing as much as possible. We have found any physically capable person, who is willing to read step-by-step directions in English can successfully erect their own beautiful building, and many do. We have even had septuagenarian couples do their own construction!

Most often a DIY barndominium turns out with better results than one could ever hire done – because you truly care about how it turns out.

Once a budget has been established, it is time to ‘find the dirt’. Without knowing where your barndominium will be located, it is impossible and impractical to determine how your new home should be planned. Important aspects such as direction of access, curb appeal and views play into a well thought out design. Directional orientation is important, with heat loss or gain determined by location and number of windows, as well as design of shading from overhangs. Slope of site determines needs for significant grade work or placing upon a full or partial basement or crawl space.

Moving closer to actuality we provide direction and encouragement in determining your family’s needed spaces, sizes and orientation to each other. Work from your home’s inside rather than trying to fit what your needs are into some pre-ordained space. With this information in hand, we offer a potentially free, professional floor plan and building elevation service to take all of your ideas, wants and needs and actually craft a floor plan best melding them with realities of construction.

Whether you have utilized our plan service, or have a plan of your own, your Hansen Pole Buildings’ Designer will work directly with you to make recommendations to provide a home most practical for you. You have total choice over a virtually unlimited number of aspects. Your being directly involved eliminates builders taking advantage of you in order to pad their bottom line. Hansen Pole Buildings does have a unique Instant Pricing™ system, allowing your Building Designer to make changes and have a near instantaneous answer as to what your investment will be as various dimensional and feature changes are contemplated.

We are very conscious about design for energy efficiency. Power is unlikely to ever become less expensive, so getting at or as close as possible to a net zero design is paramount.

Need financing for your new barndominium? We work with several lenders who actually understand post frame barndominiums and can assist with this phase.

After your building order has been placed, it moves from your Building Designer’s desk to our design team. Before going to one of our skilled draftspeople every building comes across my desk for personal review – mostly in an aspect of what will or will not work structurally, Building Code compliance and how to increase building efficiency without compromising functionality.

Once your structural building plans are completed, you get to review them for accuracy prior to our independent Registered Professional Engineer going over every member and connection as a final assurance of structural soundness. Only after all of these steps have been completed are your engineer sealed plans, along with verifying structural calculations, sent to you to acquire necessary building permits.

Even if your jurisdiction does not require building permits, structural plan reviews or do inspections, having engineer sealed plans is your assurance of structural adequacy. There are insurance companies who give discounts to those who build fully engineered homes, so ask your agent for yours.

You have access through our online portal to follow your building’s process, reschedule build dates, report any damaged or missing materials, as well as requesting unlimited technical support from those who have actually built post frame buildings.

Even after your barndominum is complete and you have sent us digital photos of your beautiful new home, our commitment to you does not end. Hansen Pole Buildings provides a Limited Lifetime Structural warranty covering your home and regardless of how many years you have had your building, should you have questions or concerns, we are available to assist.

This entry was posted in Budget, Building Overhangs, Professional Engineer, Building Department, Constructing a Pole Building, Pole Barn Homes, Pole Barn Planning, Pole Barn Structure, Pole Building Siding, Post Frame Home, Building Colors, Barndominium, Building Interior, Shouse, About The Pole Barn Guru and tagged curb appeal, Limited Lifetime structural warranty, overhangs, DIY pole buildings, barndominium, the ultimate post frame experience, crawl space, general contractor, basement on November 12, 2020 by admin.

Percentage of Price Difference by Building Profile

This ended up being an interesting exercise and it yielded results pretty much as I had expected.

Reader RON in MONROE writes:

“Can you tell me the approximate percentage difference in pricing or cost of the different building styles? I know this will vary according to the size of the building, etc., so let’s pick a 38 by 38 by 17 foot tall building. How much more to move up from a single slope to gable style, to monitor, and to Gambrel?”

Mike the Pole Barn Guru responds:

There are so many variables involved in this question it is impossible to answer. And an answer for one given set of climactic loads (snow, design wind speed and exposure) would not translate to any different set of variables. Even as to where you are going to measure 17′ to is a huge impact. On a single slope – is this measure of low wall or high wall? Would it be clearspan or have interior columns? Is monitor measure to low side of wings, or raised center? If low side of wings, then how tall would center be? Gambrel, is your measure to eave side of steep slope or to pitch break? With a 17′ height, would there be an intention to have a full or partial second floor? Would this building be a garage/shop or a residence? It makes a difference as loading criteria are different and if drywall will be attached to walls or roof, a greater deflection stiffness is required. Even features such as overhangs can change your percentages as monitor style is going to have four eave sides.

If you are looking for cost effectiveness, footprint multiples of six feet are going to get you there (lumber comes in two foot multiples, steel roof and siding in three foot).

A gabled roof will be your least expensive and easiest to build, however not always aesthetically your best design solution. I recommend you determine what your finished space needs will be and discuss options with Rachel your Hansen Pole Buildings’ Designer.

RON wanted just a little bit more:

“Just use a peak height, no doors, no windows, same snow load, everything the same.”

Pole Barn Guru replies:

Drum roll …….

And the envelope please …….

Here are results:

I did have to change roof slope on the single slope to 2.84/12 in order to have an eight foot eave height on the low side.

Monitor was 5.6% more than gable, gambrel 10.4% more, single slope 17.6% more.

This entry was posted in Pole Barn Design, Pole Building Comparisons, Building Styles and Designs, Pole Barn Planning, Pole Barn Questions and tagged gambrel roof style, gable roof, overhangs, monitor barn, single slope building, loading criteria on March 31, 2020 by admin.

Beginning a Shouse Journey in Washington State Part I

A shouse (shop/house), barndominium or post frame house project may seem daunting, however by doing lots of reading, research and asking questions, an average individual can craft for themselves a home they love, tailored to meet their family’s wants and needs.

Loyal reader ROBERT in OLYMPIA writes:

“Hello to the Pole Barn Guru or whoever reads this!

I came across Hansen Buildings a few years ago when I first became interested in pole barn homes, and have been following the content posted by the Pole Barn Guru in various places online- always great information! I am finally zeroing in on purchasing a piece of land and I would like to get some more information on going the “Hansen route,” either for a shouse or a house and detached shop, or for just a shop.

I’ve spoken with my county’s planning department and was informed that there would be no problems building what I want. The land is already improved with water and septic, is nice and flat, is south facing, and is zoned accordingly. There is actually a building permit currently active from the previous owner’s stick built project (who passed away, and never further than the dig out for his foundation). They told me that I could bypass some of the headaches (such as the Pocket Gopher review process) if I renew the permit before it expires (4/2020) and submit the new site plans…

My ideal setup would be:

– 50x90x(16 or 18) building

-around 1200 square feet of living space, 2 bath, 2 bed, 1 “office”

-3300 square feet as shop space with 1 bath and 1 utility sink. Wired with electricity & lighting.

-Very energy efficient (insulation, doors, windows, leakage). Prefer spray foam if budget allows.

-ERV?

-1 large garage door/bay, 3″ thick

-All large windows to be south facing with appropriately-sized overhangs (passive house principal). These overhangs could potentially be in the form of a covered porch.

-Enclosed overhang with vented soffits, but only on the eaves & vented ridge cap. Solid gables.

-Concrete piers with post brackets.

-slight outward slope in concrete where garage doors meet concrete to make water drain away from/out of shop.

-at least 2 drains in concrete – 1 near door, and one near a corner

-insulated concrete slab w/ hydronic heating, sealed concrete flooring throughout (no other floor covering)

-Possibly add ductless heat pump mini-split for additional heating if necessary.

-No cooling system necessary.

-modestly finished interior

-Ikea or similar non-custom kitchen

-self-sourced appliances

Questions:

Someone at the Thurston county planning department told me that while the project definitely is doable, it might make more sense to build the home and shop as separate structures. He mentioned that because they were attached, the whole building would have to meet WA energy code. I guess he was implying that it would be cheaper to construct the shop separately if it didn’t have to meet that code? Because I would like the shop to be insulated, does this really apply to me? I’ve heard that insurance could potentially be cheaper with a detached setup, but I can’t seem to find anything concrete about that. Have you found that to be the case?

As I mentioned I would like to do hydronic radiant heating (probably by Radiantec) throughout the home and shop. From my research that seems like the most cost efficient way to heat (mass rather than air). However, the shop doesn’t necessarily need to be kept at “living temperature” all the time. I would like it to be comfortable while I’m in there, but beyond that I just need it to stay above about 40 degrees. I’m interested to hear your input on this. In reading, it seems like whenever people opt for something like a radiant tube heater or mini-split for the shop, they always regret not going with radiant floor heating. Natural gas is not available at this location, so my options are propane, oil, wood, or electric.

Because I’m very new to the world of home building, I’m not sure what other requirements there would be in building this. I know that there are some pretty detailed drainage plans that exist for the previous project on the property, and I’m wondering who is in charge of creating new drainage plans for my project? Does Hansen do that type of thing? Or someone local to me?

Pricing/plans: Is it possible to get some sort of idea about costs/cost breakdown for the type of building I described? How about for separate structures? I love the idea of doing some of the work myself, I’m just not sure how realistic that really is with my work schedule, especially in the summer. I would probably need contractor(s) to take care of the majority of the major work.

Do you have any floor plans similar to what I’ve described? I have a few different ideas on different floor plan ideas but it’s probably easier/cheaper to just use some existing plans.

I love the “Shouse” idea but I find it a little overwhelming because there is not a “turn key” option like what exists from traditional home builders like Adair Homes in Olympia. So to get the job done would require basically managing the project with a crew of different contractors to finish the shell, concrete, insulation, electrical, plumbing, finishing, etc……I just would really prefer something a little different and more energy efficient than standard construction.

As of right now, I think those are all of the questions that I have.

Thank you very much for your time and I look forward to hearing back!”

Mike the Pole Barn Guru responds:

Come back tomorrow for Part Two.

This entry was posted in Building Overhangs, Pole Barn Homes, Pole Barn Planning, Workshop Buildings, Pole Barn Structure, Building Contractor, Post Frame Home, Concrete, Barndominium, Building Drainage, Budget, Shouse, Porches, Pole Barn Questions, Pole Barn Design and tagged barndominium, Post brackets, stick built building, shouse, porch, pocket gopher review process, overhangs on March 11, 2020 by admin.

Lumberyards-Don’t Burst Customer’s Dreams

Lumberyards – Don’t Burst Customer’s Dreams

A week or so ago I was contacted in regards to a 42 wide by 48 foot long 12 foot eave post frame (pole) building kit. This person had actually ‘purchased’ this building from a vendor local to him for just over 12,000 dollars with steel roofing and siding, with him to provide his own doors. He was also planning upon adding a front deck (as in photo) at a later date.

Now this seemed to be a heck of a deal. Client had lined up a builder to start right away and all was lovely until his Building Department asked for engineered plans. And his provider of choice could not provide them!

This client was nice enough to provide his earlier provider’s invoice, so we could do a comparison. It was only then that I discovered there was more than just engineer sealed plans absent from this equation.
Look at trusses specified on this invoice. 30 foot span would need a major board stretcher to cover 42 feet. Good news is there are 25 of them, enough to go 48 feet of building length. Bad news is, there is no material for truss carriers (aka headers or beams) to run from column to column to support these trusses. No idea why trusses would have overhangs on only one side.

Posts are perfect in quantity for a 10 foot on center spacing, however there should have been four more (ignoring wrong building width) to have placed client’s three nine foot width overhead doors. In case you are curious, these three doors would not have fit across a 30 foot wide endwall.

Endwall steel is plenty too long for a 12 foot sidewall, however no provision has been made for shorter panels above overhead doors. Where this gets dicey is when roof steel is looked at. 19’3” would be a correct length for a 10-1/2” eave overhang, at 30 foot wide and 8/12 slope. Assuming no end overhangs, each 48 foot roof side takes 16 three foot width pieces. 20 are on the order? Maybe just 30 feet on each side of roof?

No idea what was planned to cover 48 feet of ridge using four 10 foot long ridge caps.
Sidewall steel exhibits similar problems – only 20 pieces 14 feet (again too long for a 12 foot eave), however there is a mysterious 10 pieces of 8’2”.

By now – I am sure you are getting an idea as to how upset this client would have been with his 12 foot too narrow building. How about his builder? Even had 30 foot been accepted, there would have been many a trip back to this supplier (over 50 miles away) to even come close to being able to assemble this mess.
This is what upsets me – this unknowing client has scrimped and saved for his dream building and now believes he can afford it. Only to have those expectations and dreams smashed by a supplier who (in my humble opinion) had no business even leading client to believe they could supply what he desired, wanted and needed.
At Hansen Pole Buildings, we guarantee we will furnish a complete and ENGINEERED post frame building kit per invoice and plans. Along with all step-by-step instructions on how to assemble and unlimited free Technical Support from people who actually know how to erect post frame buildings.
Want it done right? Please dial 1 (866) 200-9657 and speak with a Hansen Pole Buildings’ Designer today.

This entry was posted in Building Contractor, Pole Building Siding, Pole Barn Questions, Pole Barn Design, Overhead Doors, Pole Building Comparisons, Pole Barn Planning, Pole Barn Structure, Steel Roofing & Siding and tagged overhangs, roof steel, engineered post frame building, ridge caps, endwall steel, step-by-step instructions, technical support on December 18, 2019 by admin.

A Free Post Frame Building Critique

A Free Post Frame Building Critique

I am going to offer a free critique of this post frame building.

From a design aspect, I wouldn’t consider investing in a residential (or residential accessory) post frame building without overhangs. Not only do they make buildings look far less industrial, they also afford weather protection above doors and push runoff or slide off away from walls. With overhangs building walls stay cleaner and large snow piles sliding off roof are far less likely to dent siding and overhead doors.

Enclosed overhangs, in combination with a vented ridge, provide for adequate air flow from eave to ridge to assist in preventing condensation.

Note there is a very small space between top of overhead door openings and roofline. This means these particular overhead doors will need to have low headroom tracks in order to open. In many cases this precludes an ability to have a remote garage door opener. Low headroom also tends to not open as smoothly. Certainly it would be impossible to have a ceiling installed at a future date (provided trusses were loaded to be adequate to support extra ceiling load).

For virtually no extra cost, overhead door openings could have been dog-eared – a 45 placed in opening upper corners. This makes building again look more like it fits in one’s backyard, rather than an industrial park.

Look at wall bottoms. There is maybe two inches of pressure preservative treated splash plank showing. Due to this, when entry door landings or aprons in front of overhead doors are poured, to avoid having concrete poured against steel siding, there will be a significant step. There is also no base trim (aka rat guard) at the base of walls to stop critters from venturing in through steel siding high ribs.

It is very easy to see nearly every roof and wall steel panel overlap. When properly applied, these laps should not show. This is a craftmanship (or lack thereof) issue.

Missing from sidewall tops is any sort of trim. Even though steel siding and roofing is manufactured (in most cases) on machines with computer controlled cutoffs, there is some slight variance. This variance is going to show either at the base of walls, or at the top. By having trim at wall tops, any slight differences can be hidden.

Structurally – wall girts flatwise on column outsides on spans such as these fail due to not meeting Building Code deflection limitations. https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2012/03/girts/

All of these items mentioned above would not be an issue with a new Hansen Pole Building. We seriously lay awake at night thinking of ideas to prevent clients from making crucial mistakes – we want to avoid you owning a building you will hate forever!

Looking for a building done right? Call 1(866)200-9657 to speak with a Building Designer today – call is free and there is no obligation or charge!

This entry was posted in Overhead Doors, Pole Barn Design, Steel Roofing & Siding, Trusses and tagged low headroom tracks, wall steel overlap, Building Code deflection limitations, enclosed overhangs, overhead doors, overhangs, base trim, Headroom, dog eared door openings, vented ridge on September 18, 2019 by admin.

Proper Storage of Trusses at the Job Site

Proper storage of trusses at the job site.

Long time readers (or those with time on their hands to have read my previous nearly 1700 articles) will recall in a past life I worked in or owned prefabricated light gauge steel connector plated wood truss manufacturing facilities. In my first long-term position as Sales Manager at Coeur d’Alene Truss (now Coeur d’Alene Builders Supply http://www.cdabuilders.com/) we fabricated huge sets of “saw horses” so we could store trusses vertically in these bunks.

Sadly I see much mishandling of trusses at manufacturing plants, upon delivery and at jobsites. Below are tips to keep your new post frame building’s trusses bright, fresh and structurally sound.

Trusses store best when standing upright.

Shore and brace standing trusses well to keep from toppling. Trusses stored other than in a vertical position can and will warp, and become difficult to use.

Store trusses with “tails” (overhangs) elevated so truss weight rests on the bottom chords, not on the truss tails..

Unload trusses in bundles and store on level ground, but never in direct contact with ground (to avoid collecting moisture from the ground). Allow for good drainage at truss storage location in the event rain occurs before installation. Protect trusses from damage resulting from on-site activities, environmental conditions or weather. Exercise care at all times to avoid damage to trusses due to careless handling during delivery, unloading, storage, and installation.

In warm, rainy weather, moisture regain in unprotected trusses can result in fungal staining. Wetting lumber also results in swelling. Subsequent shrinkage may contribute to structural distortions.

To store trusses for a long time period, cover with a water repellent tarp for protection. Plastic is an acceptable alternative, provided there are side openings to allow air flow.

Handle pole building trusses in such a way as to prevent toppling when banding is removed from bundles. Trusses stored on black top (asphalt) or other impervious surfaces and continuously moved around the construction site are subject to damage when they are slid along the surface with equipment. As a result, galvanized coating on connector plates may be removed, allowing plates to rust and possibly reduce plate thickness.

This entry was posted in Building Overhangs, Pole Building How To Guides, Pole Barn Planning, Trusses, Barndominium and tagged overhangs, truss tails, Coeur d'Alene Builders Supply, water repellent tarp, truss connector plates on June 13, 2019 by admin.

Free Post Frame Foundation Building Calculator

Free Post-Frame Building Foundation Engineering Calculator

No, such a thing as a free post-frame building foundation engineering calculator does not exist. However there always seems to be someone out there who is in search of “engineering for free”.

Reader KELLY writes:

“Guru,

Do you have a link to a pole foundation engineering calculator?

Looking for column depth / diameter for:

40x60x14

10 ft column spacing

35 PFS load

115 wind load.

No floor for constraint.

thanks.”

Mike the Pole Barn Guru responds:

There is no such thing as a “pole foundation engineering calculator” therefore, there is also no link to one. The design of post frame (pole) building foundations is one which is best left in the hands of RDPs (Registered Design Professionals – architects or engineers). When provided with all the pertinent information about your proposed building, they can design not only a structurally sound column embedment, but also your entire structure (which I whole heartedly recommend).

You’ve provided some of the information a RDP would require, but I will expand upon it:

Will the building have adequate sheathing (which could be roll formed steel roofing and siding) to transfer wind loads from roof to ground through endwalls? And will the sheathing be adequately fastened to underlying frame to take advantage of sheathing stiffness? If yes, diaphragm design can be utilized in your building design.

The difference in forces carried by sidewall columns with and without an adequate diaphragm is a factor of 4! If diaphragm design cannot be utilized, expect significantly larger columns, deeper holes and more concrete around columns.

What type of soil is at building site? Strength and stiffness of your soil will impact both depth and diameter of holes.

How are you measuring your 14′? It should be from bottom of pressure preservative treated splash plank, to underside of roofing at sidewalls. It does make a difference.

Does your building have overhangs?

What is the roof slope?

What is wind exposure at your site? The difference in force against columns between Exposure B and Exposure C is roughly 20%.

In the event you are not interested in procuring services of a RDP, the NFBA (National Frame Building Association) has available a Post-Frame Design Manual and you could attempt to do calculations yourself. For more information please see: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2015/03/post-frame-building-3/.

Of course you could always invest in a fully engineered post frame building kit package. Besides engineer sealed blueprints and calculations, you would also get materials delivered to your site and a multi-hundred page Construction Manual to guide you through to a successful completion.

This entry was posted in Pole Barn Planning, Pole Barn Structure, Trusses, Pole Barn Questions, Pole Barn holes, Pole Barn Design, Constructing a Pole Building and tagged building site soil, wind exposure, RDP, roof slope, NFBA, overhangs, post frame building kit package, sheathing on February 22, 2019 by admin.

Avoid Metal Building Insulation

One More Reason to Avoid Metal Building Insulation

Photo isn’t showing the inside of a Hansen Pole Building. This view happens to be inside of an eave sidewall looking up underneath a post frame building roof. White vinyl facing happens to be underside of a product commonly known as Metal Building Insulation, having actual R values so low it should be more appropriately described as Condensation Control Blanket.

For previous words of wisdom in regards to Metal Building Insulation, read more here: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2015/05/metal-building-insulation-3/.

This particular building can be found in Western Washington. 20 years old, construction was done by current building owners. A horse barn, building has a concrete slab floor, other than in horse stalls. Each side of building has open (no soffits) overhangs.
Now our challenge – certain days, with high humidity and fog, building has a problem with water ‘leaking’ along first purlin inside building.

My take regarding the problem’s root cause:
Properly installed in a roof, each roll of Metal Building Insulation should be stretched two inches past eave strut (eave purlin). Fiberglass adhered to vinyl facing should be removed from these two inches, folded back over top of intact fiberglass, then fastened securely to eave strut top until steel roofing installation. This takes a bit more effort than merely cutting rolls off flush with eave strut outside and calling it a day.

My guess, this building’s owners were not given instructions advising how to properly install Condensation Control Blanket, so it was done a quicker and easier way. This leaves a raw edge of fiberglass above the eave strut. When those chilly high humidity days occur, underside of roof steel in eave overhang has condensation collecting. Some of this moisture then contacts raw fiberglass edge and wicks up into building. Please note, in photo the apparent puffiness of insulation between sidewall and first purlin up roof. This would be an indicator water has sat above white vinyl vapor barrier.

A solution exists – remove screws from roofing above fascia and eave strut. Insert form fitted inside closures above eave strut, making certain no fiberglass remains exposed to overhang. More information about inside closures here: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2015/12/the-lowly-inside-closure/)

Replace screws (using larger diameter than original screws). Roofing should be screwed to both sides of high ribs into fascia board. We recommend use of 1-1/2″ Diaphragm screws as a replacement.

This entry was posted in Pole Barn Planning, Building Overhangs, Roofing Materials and tagged inside closures, overhangs, condensation control blanket, R values, white vinyl facing, eave strut on September 26, 2018 by admin.

Purlin Questions for the Engineering Department: Building Disaster Part IV

Purlin Questions for the Engineering Department

For those readers just joining us, go back to Tuesday through Friday’s blogs to catch up to the following story…

Our client (after discussing possible corrections with one or more builders) poses this:

“I have two questions I’d like to ask of the engineering dept.

1.) Is there an acceptable way to inset the grade boards to be flush with the posts? Perhaps with hangers? If so, it would mean the wall girts would not have to be furred out.

2.) Would building frames for the end wall overhangs, and attaching them to the end trussses a viable option? Or do they feel like the end trusses would need to be lowered so the purlins can be extended?

I don’t know all of the terminology. Hopefully the above makes sense.

Thank you.”

Any proposed “solution” at this point is only a suggestion for discussion. A revised set of drawings should be produced and sealed by the engineer of record to incorporate the ultimately agreed upon repair fix.

Answers…

(1) Place a UC4B Pressure Treated 4×4 block at least 7-1/4″ long on each side of the column at the level where the 2×8 skirt board would attach. Use 3- 5″ Ledgerlocks to attach block to column. Pre-drill for them and stagger to avoid splitting. Drive 6-10d common nails through skirt board into 4×4 block. Cut ends of 4×4 block and 2×8 skirt board to be painted liberally with Copper Napthenate. Place (2) Simpson Strong-Tie LSTA12 straps across each column to tie from one skirt board to the next. Any 10d nails driven through the LSTA12 into the 2×8 PT and block would count towards the total of six.

(2) Building a “ladder” floating in space is far from an ideal solution. If they opt for this, I would want to see an LSTA24 on top of each purlin split 50/50 between blocking in the ladder and the purlin behind the truss, with 10d nails in each hole. Ladder would need to be built of 2×6 and also nailed through the 2×6 on the building side of the ladder, into the top chord of the end truss with 2-10d @ 12″ o.c.

Ultimately repairs can be simple, difficult, low cost or spendy. In the end the least expensive solution for question number one will be to furr out the girts by nailing a 2×4 flat across the columns at each wall girt. Fairly easy to accomplish and not overly expensive in time or materials.

The right way to do number two is to remove all of the purlins from the end bay, take down the end truss, cut the notches into the columns to support it (as detailed in the plans) at the correct height, and properly place the truss. This will entail the purchase of longer purlins, however it will give a much better end result.

And this my friends, is the end to my story about a building “gone wrong”.

This entry was posted in Building Overhangs, Constructing a Pole Building, Building Contractor, Trusses, Pole Barn Questions, Pole Barn Design and tagged purlins, skirt board, overhangs, furring out wall girts, LSTA 12 on June 30, 2017 by admin.

F Channel and Enclosed Soffits

My early days of post frame (pole) buildings came in the Pacific Northwest. In the early years, rarely did buildings have any overhangs…at least not beyond a few inches of roof steel extending past the siding.
When building did have overhangs, they were always “open”. Open, in this sense, did not mean birds and other critters could fly into the building through them, but rather they had no soffits.

With an open overhang, when one stands beneath and looks up at the underside of the overhang, the supporting substructure framing is visible, as is the underside of the roof steel, or roof sheathing.

A decade later and a transition from a provider of post frame building kit packages, to being a pole builder and clients began requesting their buildings to have enclosed overhangs. With a minimal investment over open overhangs, plus the advantages of being very attractive and limiting locations for nests of both barn swallows and wasps – it was (in my mind) a no brainer.

In researching how others were installing soffits, I found the majority use a piece of trim called an F and J up against the building sidewall.

Picture an F channel with the downward leg being attached to a horizontal piece of wall framing, usually by nails. The horizontal “legs” of the F receive the soffit material – usually vinyl, steel or aluminum. From the end of the short (and lower) horizontal leg of the F channel, is another downward leg (envision an inverted J). The sidewall steel then slides up into the J from below.

All of this appears to be a quick and easy install. Nail a single 2×4 against the outside of the columns, attach the F and J to it and slide the soffit panels into the F channel.

Now the problem with this (as happens with quick and easy) – the soffit panels are not attached to the F. When the breeze begins to blow, the soffit panels vibrate in the F channel, making noise. As wind speeds increase, the soffit panels can actually be blown out of the F – creating all sorts of challenges.

So how did we solve the challenge?

Instead of a single 2×4 nailed to the face of the columns, we took two 2x4s and nailed them together to form an inverted L. The short leg of the L now gives something solid to attach the soffit panels to. Below the soffit panels an inverted piece of J channel trim is installed, easily attached to the vertical leg of the 2×4 L.

I’ve now experienced several thousand soffit installations using this procedure and have yet to have a report of a single soffit panel being blown out!

Success.

This entry was posted in Building Styles and Designs, Building Overhangs, Pole Building How To Guides and tagged post frame building, enclosed overhangs, overhangs, j channel on August 4, 2016 by admin.

Square Cut or Plumb Cut Trusses

Square Cut or Plumb Cut

Back in the 70’s, when I first entered the prefabricated metal connector plated wood truss industry, I was a sawyer. Sawyers are the folks who operate the component saws which precision (hopefully) cut all of the components prior to assembly.

The people I worked for over the first few years of my truss career did not have what is now known as a component saw – one which uses a conveyor to pull each board through a series of four or more saw blades. Instead, we had Speedcut radial arm saws which were rotated manually by the sawyer to the needed angle. Very labor intensive.

In order to reduce cutting labor, the majority of the top chords (rafters) we cut were left square (as the lumber came from the sawmill) on one end. This meant the framing contractors had to cut all of the “tails” to length in the field.

truss tails Most truss manufacturers now have the equipment which allows them to precession cut and trim most any truss member by using component saws. Strangely, some of them still leave the “tails” of the trusses square on the overhanging end, rather than plumb cutting. Plumb cutting means the cut on the end of the tail will be perpendicular to the ground.

Now why would how the tails are cut by the manufacturer be problematic?

To easily install gutters, it is far simpler to be able to attach them to vertical fascia boards. When fascia boards are installed on the ends of square cut truss tails, specialized gutter hangers must be used, or wedges placed between the fascia and the gutters.

One other consideration, the most common eave (sidewall) overhangs on pole buildings currently are enclosed with vinyl or metal soffit panels. In our case, we precut white vinyl soffit panels for our clients in 12, 18 and 24 inches. Some roof truss manufacturers who square cut the tails of their trusses measure overhang distances with the “run” of the roof, making the level returns of the enclosed soffits lesser in distance than the length of the precut panels.

Buy trusses on your own (I wouldn’t recommend it – which is the topic of a future article)? Specify plumb cut tails and overhangs measured horizontally.

This entry was posted in Trusses and tagged square cut truss, plumb cut truss overhangs, overhangs, plumb cut trusses on September 2, 2015 by admin.

Truss Butt Cuts

Butt Cuts, not Cracks

In a past life, when I was far younger, I was a newbie in the prefabricated metal connector plated wood truss industry. My first job was as a sawyer, I was the guy who trimmed all of the components prior to their assembly into trusses.

Although my employers had what at the time was a fairly good sized operation, technology had not yet reached us.

In today’s manufacturing process, most cutting is done on specially designed machines with as many as six blades which can precision cut lumber as long as 20 feet, as quickly as it can be fed into the saw! When I began, the saw I was trained on was a radial arm saw with a pivoting table. This allowed for only a single cut to be made at a time.

Bottom chords on triangular pitched trusses most often have a long sloped angle cut at the junction to the truss top chords. At my first job – we sawyers made a single cut, known as a feather cut. Due to slight differences in the crown of the lumber, this taper to an indeterminate point lead to some variability in assembly.

Once I had moved on to the sister plant of my first employers, I convinced the managing partner we would be producing a much improved truss, by using the industry standard “butt” or “Heel” cut at the end of each bottom chord of ¼”. The downside, it would take two cuts on the end of each bottom chord. The plus, more accurate assembly in the shop, and easier installation at the jobsite as framing contractors had an exact and consistent point to work from.

This cut also allowed the framers to position sheathing on the walls so the top edge was even with the top of the wall. The ¼” butt cut allowed the tail of the truss to clear the edge.

When I relocated to Oregon to manage the truss plant at Lucas Plywood and Lumber, I was exposed to an entirely new application of butt cuts. Most wood framed construction there was done with overhangs which were open (no soffits). 2×4 exterior stud walls were framed with a 2×6 double plate, with the extra 2” held to the outside of the wall. The siding would then be installed so it abutted the underside of the 2×6.

truss-tails On a 30 foot wide building, the measure from outside of double plate, to outside of double plate was 30 feet and four inches. In order for the truss tails to clear the extra two inches on each wall, the butt cut was increased appropriately for the slope of the truss top chord. With a 4/12 slope, a ¾” butt cut was perfect.

Years later, my brother and I worked as truss designers for a company which built lots of trusses for pole buildings, however did not have any 2×6 lumber graded higher than 1650msr (https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/blog/2012/12/machine-graded-lumber/).

We found we could manipulate the height of the butt cuts, gradually changing 1/16^th inch at a time, to be able to eliminate overstress in truss designs by as much as 10-12%!

This entry was posted in Trusses and tagged truss design, overhangs, truss production on May 1, 2015 by admin.

Fascia Trim Dimensions

How to Calculate Fascia Trim Dimensions

Justine (aka Hansen Pole Buildings’ wizard of deliveries) and I were discussing this subject today, so it makes for a good time to share!

In most cases, pole buildings with sidewall (eave) overhangs have fascia boards. These are most generally 2×6, 2×8, etc., depending upon snow loads as well as the “look” the building owner wants to achieve.

I say “in most cases” because there is one fairly significantly sized company who believes it is apparently satisfactory to just run the roof steel a foot past the sidewall without supporting it in any way…..sure hope the building owner never needs to get on the roof, and there are never any ice dams in the winter!In most instances, fascia boards will be installed vertically, attaching to a plumb cut on the ends of the truss or rafter tails. This application allows for the easy installation of gutters, which are required in many jurisdictions.

When steel or vinyl siding is used, I happen to feel it is a right nice idea to put steel trim on the wood fascia boards. It happens to look nice, and it keeps the fascias from having to be painted (after all, the idea is to be maintenance free) or turning gray, then black, then just rotting.

Along the I-5 corridor in Washington and Oregon, there are plenty of builders and pole building kit suppliers who rely upon “cheap is the king” and leave the fascia boards exposed. I am not quite understanding this in a climate where 60 inches a year of rain is not unusual!

Fascia trims are most easily done as an “L”, which covers the “street” side of the fascia board, as well as the bottom side (which will always be 1-1/2 inches in width). The height is the variable.

Done right, the top edge of the fascia board should be run through a table saw, to cut a bevel on the top of it matching the slope of the roof. This bevel cut allows the roof steel to be applied to the top, without crinkling or otherwise damaging the roofing when attached with screws.

The remaining height of the street side face of the fascia board can be determined by deducting the thickness of the bevel cutoff. Multiply the 1-1/2 inch width of the fascia board by the slope of the roof (e.g. 4/12). 1.5” times 4 divided by 12 = 0.5 or ½ inch. For a 2×6 fascia board at a 4/12 slope, the trim size would be 1-1/2 inch x 5 inches for an overhang without a soffit.

When soffits are added, the thickness of the soffit material needs to be added to the vertical dimension. Most typically steel or vinyl soffit panels will be no greater than ½ inch in thickness.

No rocket science involved, just an opportunity to brush up on the math skills we learned in grade school!

This entry was posted in Pole Building How To Guides and tagged overhang trim, overhangs, soffits, calculating fascia trim, measuring for fascia trim on November 14, 2014 by admin.