How to Prep Your Site for a Pole Barn
Deciding to add a pole barn to your property can be exciting, and you may already be envisioning how you’ll use this new space. However, before you get too carried away planning your pole barn’s layout and features, you’ll need to choose a building site and prep the site for your pole barn. While pole barns are designed to be durable, being strategic when choosing your location will help ensure the building will stay in great condition for years to come and that you are able to fully enjoy the space.
Questions to Ask When Selecting a Site
When deciding where to build your pole barn, ask yourself the following questions:
- Can I build on my preferred site and stay in compliance with county and local zoning requirements?
- How easy will it be to get to this site from my home or the road?
- Will I be able to easily transport materials and any necessary construction equipment to this site?
- Do I have enough space if I decide to expand my pole building later?
- Are there any weather conditions (e.g. high wind on the top of a hill, potential flooding of a low site) that could be an issue?
Answering these questions will help you rule out any problematic pole barn building sites and narrow down your choices to the best fits.
Tips for Choosing and Preparing Your Pole Barn Site
One of the most important things to think about when selecting a pole barn building site is water drainage—you don’t want to choose a site to which water will flow, or you’ll have to deal with muddy treks to your pole barn, a breeding ground for insects, and possible flood damage. If you’re not sure where water flows on your property, walk around the next time it rains and take note. You’ll ideally want to find a flat space that is elevated enough to drain well.
If the only land available to you is uneven or sloped, you’ll have to increase the grade so that water can drain away from the site. You may need to add a compactable fill, such as crushed stone, in order to raise or level the site before you add the building pad. For Hansen Pole building kits, the ground will need to be within eight inches of level to use our standard pole lengths. If you’re dealing with a steep slope, you may need to hire an excavator to cut into the bank.
When clearing your site to prepare for leveling, you’ll need to remove top soil and vegetation up to four feet beyond the pole building dimensions. As you begin construction on your pole barn, plan to leave space around the perimeter so that you’ll easily be able to access the building from all sides and have space to clear snow (if you live somewhere with harsh winters).
To get more tips on preparation for your pole building site and constructing a pole barn from a Hansen Pole customizable kit, visit our Pole Building Learning Center. If you have a specific question, you can ask the Pole Barn Guru or contact us directly at 1-866-200-9657.

Thank you for reaching out to me. You and I come from the same generation, as I am 67. Your new building kit is designed for an average physically capable person, who can and will read and follow instructions, to successfully construct their own beautiful building shell (and most of our clients do DIY – saving tens of thousands of dollars). We’ve had clients ranging from septuagenarians to fathers bonding with their teenage daughters erect their own buildings, so chances are – you can as well! Your new building investment includes full multi-page 24” x 36” structural blueprints detailing location and attachment of every piece (as well as suitable for obtaining Building Permits), our industry’s best, fully illustrated, step-by-step installation manual, and unlimited technical support from people who have actually built post frame buildings. Even better – it includes our industry leading Limited Lifetime Structural warranty! An excellent resource is our Hansen Pole Buildings’ Construction Manual. At over 500 pages, it seriously covers everything and can be acquired by reaching out to Haley.Stephenson@HansenPoleBuildings.com.
When I lived in Oregon in the 1980’s one of the sights to see in the Portland metro area was the OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) planetarium. Then located at Washington Park, the blue and green 32-foot geodesic dome, the Planetarium seated 160 people and featured a 400 pound star projector creating almost 1000 stars using 32 giant lenses.
From 1951 to 1955, more than 70 of Rod Serling’s television scripts were produced, garnering both critical and public acclaim. Full-scale success came on Wednesday, Jan. 12, 1955, with the live airing of his Kraft Television Theatre script “Patterns.” Deemed a “creative triumph” by critics, and the winner of the first of Serling’s six Emmy awards, the acclaimed production was actually remounted live to air a second time on Feb. 9, 1955 — an unprecedented event.
Taking frequent pictures of a new pole building under construction on is something which just does not happen on a routine basis. These pictures could easily save a world of grief. I personally believe building owners and contractors should be taking pictures more often than what I usually find is being done.
How does this apply to building one’s own pole building in the U.S.? An average pole barn of about 1500 square feet can be erected by a typical weekend warrior in about 200 man hours (with good plans and complete instructions). Get together a couple of buddies (or recruit relatives) and in a month of weekends or less, it is done!