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Termites, Lumber “Extras” and a new Kit

This Wednesday the Pole Barn Guru answers reader questions about subterranean termites eating the posts, the best resource to acquire commodity items like OSB, and providing a kit sized 16′ x 32′ x 10 height.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: What do you do about subterranean termites eating the posts.? Where I’m at they eat treated lumber. DAN in FRAZIER PARK

DEAR DAN: Inorganic arsenic based pressure preservative treatments are toxic to any type of termite. Even so, a pre-construction termite treatment should be done (read more here: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2019/09/pre-construction-termite-treatment/), as termites will build around poisonous wood in order to get to materials they may find as more pleasing to their palates. If you are seeing termites eating treated lumber, it is due to non-arsenic based treatments.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Are you able to supply the osb 7/16 sheathing boards the insulation foam boards and interior wall lumber boards to my order if I purchase the custom design package deal to up grade and custom my order. RAFAEL in ANTIOCH

DEAR RAFAEL: Thank you for your continued interest in a new Hansen Pole Building. All of those items are considered ‘commodity’ items and while we can provide them, our clients typically have found it more practical to acquire them from vendors such as your nearby The Home Depot.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Could you provide a kit 16′ x 32′ x 10 height? ROBERT in GASTONIA

DEAR ROBERT: We can provide any dimensions up to 100 foot clearspan width, lengths only limited by your property and heights up to 40 foot sidewalls or three stories (50 foot sidewalls and four stories with fire suppression sprinklers). Depending upon how you will be using your new building, multiples of six feet in width and 12 feet in length are usually your most cost effective.

This entry was posted in Building Interior, Budget, Lumber, Insulation, Pole Barn Questions, Pole Barn Design, Barndominium, Roofing Materials, floorplans, Pole Building How To Guides, Pole Barn Planning and tagged pole barn planning, OSB, subterranean termites, wall framing, Post Frame Materials, post frame kit, termite treatment, commodity materials on July 24, 2024 by Rick Ochs.

Framing and Materials, DIY plans, and a Conversion

This Thursday’s blog is another bonus “Ask the Guru” answering reader questions about Hansen Kits framing and materials, if a readers structural plans are viable, and whether the Guru thinks an old pole barn can be converted into a Barndo.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Do your home kits come as a frame tight to the weather. Are the rooms already framed? GREGORY in SPRING HILL

DEAR GREGORY: Typically our post frame home packages are provided “dried in” – including all roofing, siding, windows and doors. We do have some clients who desire specific materials (typically a custom door or window), in those cases we provide openings.

We do not furnish materials for interior, non-bearing walls. History has shown us these materials are rarely adequately protected from weather, get used by one subcontractor or another, or walk away from job sites before it is time for their use. These are also ‘commodity’ materials, readily available from vendors such as your nearly The Home Depot.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I’m building one now myself. It’s 20’x42 The bottom floor is constructed of 4×6 post with 4×8 in the corners, walls are 5′ metal/foam SIPs as well as the subfloor on the 2nd floor. I’m doing homemade rafters with 2×6 lumber with 3/4″ osb gussets, glued and stapled 2″ -7/16′ staples on a 22.5 degree symmetrical design. I’ll be using milled 2×4 pine for my gussets on a 24″ center and 24 gauge metal roof. I’m planning on setting my trusses on a 48″ center. Will that work? JOHN in PERRYVILLE

DEAR JOHN: It is highly unlikely any of your 4x posts will be structurally adequate to carry imposed loads. Depending upon grade of lumber being used for trusses, applied wind, snow or dead loads, they may or may not be adequate. I would strongly suggest you engage a registered professional engineer to visit your building, inspect it and make recommendations for any fixes in order to prevent a catastrophic collapse.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Can we make this post frame barn into a barndo? If so, what do we need to consider to make sure it’s structurally sound? It’s approximately 40×80 not including the lean to. ASHLEY in NEVADA

DEAR ASHLEY: You should engage services of a Registered Professional Engineer to do a physical examination of this building and make recommendations appropriate to upgrade it for residential occupancy. Most usually suspects will be inadequate diameter of column footings and lack of truss capacity to support weight of a ceiling. Adequate attic ventilation will also need to be addressed. Given age of structure, you may find it more expensive to upgrade it, than to start from scratch. Plus, starting from scratch, you have an ability to create something best meeting your family’s wants and needs, as opposed to trying to fit what you want, into someone else’s old box. Best of success in your journey.

This entry was posted in Building Interior, Budget, Pole Barn Homes, Post Frame Home, Lumber, Barndominium, Pole Barn Questions, floorplans, Pole Barn Design, Constructing a Pole Building, Pole Barn Planning, Trusses and tagged framing materials, frame tight, barndo, DIY Plans, pole barn conversion, post frame kit, structural lumber on June 6, 2024 by Rick Ochs.

Wall Height, What’s Included? and Drill Set Bracket Usage

Today the Pole Barn Guru answers reader questions about customizing the wall height to best “utilize sheet goods” on interior walls, what Hansen includes in a pole barn kit, and the practicality of using a drill set bracket for columns into an existing slab.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Once I save up the funds, I plan to have you guys design me a 28′ x 48′ pole barn with 12′ walls and 6/12 roof. Due to various reasons I will be foregoing metal siding and utilizing wood sheathing and siding for the exterior. I know you measure wall height from the bottom of skirt board, but is it possible to have 12′ walls from top of concrete floor to bottom of truss so as to efficiently utilize sheet goods on the interior walls? Also is 12′ post spacing possible? Thanks TROY in HONEOYE FALLS

DEAR TROY: Yes, we can design to give you a 12′ finished ceiling. Typically, your Building Designer will plan upon 12′ 1-1/8″ from top of slab to bottom of trusses. This allows for finished ceiling thickness (drywall, steel, etc.) and to be able to utilize 12′ drywall panels run vertically and be 1/2″ above your concrete. In most instances sidewall columns every 12 feet will be your most economical design solution (and minimizes number of holes having to be dug).

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I was wondering what is including a pole barn kit? JOSHUA in LEBANON

DEAR JOSHUA: Our fully engineered post frame (pole barn) kits include: Mutli-page full size (24″ x 36″) engineer sealed structural plans, specific to your building, on your site, detailing location and connection of every structural member. Includes foundation design. Engineer sealed calculations to verify adequacy of each member and connection. The industry’s best fully illustrated Construction Manual. Unlimited Technical Support from a team who has actually built post frame buildings. All columns, pressure treated splash planks, wall girts, blocking, headers, jambs, roof trusses (and floor trusses where applicable), truss bracing, roof purlins, joist hangers, specialty connectors for trusses to columns, steel roofing and siding (or alternative claddings), steel trims, UV resistant closures for eaves and ridge, powder coated diaphragm screws to attach steel, doors and windows. In a nut shell – everything you need to successfully erect your own beautiful new building other than concrete, rebar and any nails normally driven from a nail gun.

Our Limited Lifetime Structural Warranty.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I have an existing concrete slab with extra thick edges that once housed a quonset before a tornado in the 1980s destroyed it. I have bolted on brackets intending to use the glued columns that I purchased for a 12′ sidewall building. I have since been reading your posts in multiple forums regarding moment force etc., is there any mitigation that can be done with the construction that would still accommodate my original plan? Corner shear walls etc? Thank you Mr. Guru. TOM in STREETER

DEAR TOM: While shear walls (and/or bracing) can make your building shell stiffer, they do not eliminate moment (bending) loads having to be transferred through those brackets and bolt connectors. Your best bets are to either build with columns outside perimeter of existing slab, or cut out squares at each column location for either embedded columns (best design solution) or to pour wet-set brackets into piers.