This Wednesday the Pole Barn Guru answers reader questions about the types of exterior materials which can be chosen from, a foundation into a sloped site, an education in post frame to an unfamiliar reader, and building on a crawl space.
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I am thinking of getting one of your buildings for a home.
· What types of exterior materials can I choose from?
· If there is a slope in the terrain, can I build a foundation and place the building on top? How would the building fit with the foundation?
Thank you. EMILIO
DEAR EMILIO: We can engineer to attach to a myriad of foundation possibilities – block, ICF or poured concrete being most common. With any of the previous, we provide code approved brackets to pour into foundation. We can also design and provide permanent wood foundations. Unless your site has an extreme grade change, it is usually most cost effective to cut and fill your site to bring footprint area of building to level.
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I am seeking affordable housing but am unfamiliar with pole barns. Where should I start to educate myself? I have questions like 1) what is the process of building one? 2) legality of the unconventional home (I live in South Carolina) 3) is financing a pain because it’s not the norm 4) do you offer services beyond just the building, things like drive, septics, and so on. MITCHELL in LANCASTER
DEAR MITCHELL: Pole barns (non-engineered version of post frame buildings) are typically not designed to meet structural requirements of building codes. A great place to start is by visiting our website www.HansenPoleBuildings.com and navigating to upper right corner where it says SEARCH. Type in any subject you want information on and ENTER. There are roughly 3000 available articles on a myriad of post frame subjects.
Many of our potential clients find this to be helpful: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2021/02/a-shortlist-for-smooth-barndominium-sailing/
We have provided hundreds of our fully engineered post frame homes/barndominiums to our clients in South Carolina. They are legal in all 50 states (and we have provided buildings in every state).
As to affordability, Fully engineered post frame homes and barndominiums, modest tastes, DIY, budget roughly $75-85 per sft for conditioned spaces, $35 for all others. Does not include land, site prep, utilities, permits. If you hire it done, expect to pay two to three times as much.
We are not contractors, however we do have an extensive network of building erectors and General Contractors serving most areas.
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Is it possible to place a barndominium on a crawlspace? MICHAEL in GUSTON
DEAR MICHAEL: Absolutely it is possible. Most common is to increase building eave height and incorporate a raised wood floor.
By using wet-set brackets, we can also attach to CMU blocks, poured concrete or ICFs. By excavating, another option is to incorporate our glulaminated columns into a Permanent Wood Foundation.
For extended reading, please see: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2019/03/slab-on-grade-or-crawl-space/
DEAR BILL: Your idea is totally possible. I have done it myself. In my case I had 12 feet of grade change across my building’s 40 foot width. I used ICFs full height on one sidewall and stepping down across rear endwall. Columns on these two walls were mounted using wet set brackets, other two walls had embedded columns. This process could also be used with poured concrete or block walls. We have also developed a system to use columns placed in a permanent wood foundation.
DEAR POLE BARN GURU: 
DEAR KELLY: Pressure preservative treated wood standards can be confusing even for lumber dealers, professional builders and building inspectors. For structural building columns, all end tags should have UC-4B marked on them. UC-4B is for “Heavy Duty” use. This American Wood Preservers Association infographic might prove helpful to understanding proper uses for pressure preservative treated wood: 
