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Secure Doors, Soffits, Wind, and Sliding Door Tracks

This Wednesday the Pole Barn Guru answers reader questions about a secure replacement for sliding doors, soffit kits, a singular concern of wind, and replacing tracks for a sliding door.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: I need to replace two 9.5 ft wide by 8 feet high sliding doors on my pole barn. The current doors are a wood box frame with a piece of siding. I am looking for something secure so I can keep tools and stuff inside. I also need help with a soffit question. Is there a steel/aluminum facing and soffit kit that I can use to make this easier without much cutting and metal bending work? CHRISTOPHER in GROVE CITY

DEAR CHRISTOPHER: If you are looking for security you should consider upgrading to sectional steel overhead doors. Sliding doors are not secure and do not seal tightly (as you have probably determined).

Metal soffit panels are available in 12′ lengths, both vented and unvented, they will need to be cut to width of your overhang, however properly installed, both cut edges will be covered by steel trim. Fascia trims are manufactured as an “L” with long vertical leg being height of your building’s fascia board plus 1/2″ for soffit thickness. Shorter leg will be 1-1/2″ with a hem. This will cover cut ends of your soffit panels as well as any exposed fasteners. Both soffit and fascia are available in a plethora of colors.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: My only concern is wind…

DAVID in SYRACUSE

DEAR DAVID: We are concerned about all climactic conditions, with every building we provide. This is one of many reasons we made a determination long ago to only provide fully engineered buildings – as it is an assurance to our clients every component and connection has been reviewed for structural adequacy.

Keep in mind, Building Code load requirements are bare minimums and are no guarantee buildings will not suffer severe damage, if loaded to maximum design loads. Codes are designed to protect human life, not necessarily to keep buildings standing usefully. I would encourage you to explore design wind speeds greater than Code minimums, as often they come with very small extra investments. We can design and have engineered buildings capable of surviving EF-3 tornadoes (wind speeds up to and including 208 mph).

Important with any design for wind, is an understanding of wind exposure. For extended reading, please visit: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2012/03/wind-exposure-confusion/

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Have a 1970 Quonset hut on our property and the doors are the sliding doors. The bottom track for the doors are all bent and beat up that the beginning of the tracks and the doors won’t stay on their tracks anymore. The length of the existing tracks are 101.5 inches – and I need replacement guides/tracks so the doors will actually stay on the tracks when it gets windy and stop popping off at the bent end. Where does one acquire those replacement track/guides for the existing huge sliding doors. Thank you. DAWN in HARRINGTON

DEAR DAWN: You have discovered why ‘modern’ sliding doors use a bottom door girt with a slot, where as door slides open, a building mounted guide keeps doors tight to your wall. My best recommendation would be to have a machine shop fabricate up new bottom tracks – if you only have to replace them once every 50 years or so, it would prove to be a sound investment.

This entry was posted in Professional Engineer, Sliding Doors, Pole Barn Questions, Overhead Doors, Pole Barn Design, Building Overhangs, Pole Barn Planning and tagged sliding door parts, bottom rail, soffit, sliding doors, overhead doors, wind loads on June 29, 2022 by admin.

B2 Bomber and…Overhangs?

Hansen Pole Buildings Designer Bob always is keeping me on my toes. He loves to propose topics for blog discussion.

Today it started with:

“Real rough blog topic idea…

What’s the difference between this pole barn with side sheds and a B2 Bomber?”

“In this case… not much.

After a couple laughs, the client seems to like this better:”

Where Bob was headed with this:

“Maybe a blog on side sheds with mention of open overhangs v. enclosed and the whole bird-nesting issue v. matching overhangs of the rest of the structure, etc.”

Nothing like be armed with topics for weeks’ worth of blogs.

Let’s talk about what happens with overhangs on the low side of open side sheds. The same issue is going to happen with overhangs on the sides of roofline (carport) extensions of the ends of buildings. It is also going to come up with roof only structures.

Putting no overhangs, or open overhangs on the sidewalls of any of these cases creates no unexpected issues.

What about enclosed overhangs?

An enclosed overhang is one which has a soffit of some sort on the underside. Looks? Great – it covers the underside of all of the framing which is needed to support the overhang. With soffit material like vented vinyl, they provide a very efficient and effective method to provide a ventilation intake for the building.

The soffit keeps flying critters (sparrows, wasps, etc.) from nesting in the overhangs…..until the enclosed overhangs are placed on a structure where the flying things can enter the overhangs from the inside. In order to keep Rocket J. Squirrel or his friends out of the soffit, it entails having to place protective screening on the inside of the overhang.

My best recommendation – for side sheds with the eave side open, or roof only structures, do not place enclosed overhangs along the sidewall. For carports, generally the balance of the building has enclosed overhangs, so screening is the solution.

This entry was posted in Building Styles and Designs, Pole Barn Planning, Pole Building Comparisons and tagged closed overhangs, open overhangs, soffit, roof only buildings on August 28, 2012 by admin.

Hutyaharapast Szorevel: Overhangs, yes!

Had you going with the title, didn’t I?

Kutyaharapást szőrével is Hungarian for “The hair of the dog”. The English saying “the hair of the dog” dates back to the days of Shakespeare, and deals with curing a hangover with even more alcohol! Similarly, I want to cure the lack of building overhangs, with information allowing potential building owners to make informed decisions.

Once it had been decided to utilize overhangs as a building feature (good choice) and an overhang size has been determined, the real nitty-gritty of overhangs begins.

Paraphrasing Shakespeare’s bard Will, “To be open, or not to be open, that is the question”. Overhangs can either be open (which has nothing to do with allowing flying things like birds and Rocket J. Squirrel into the building) or enclosed. With “open” overhangs, as one stands beneath the overhang and looks straight up, the wooden framing which supports the fascia board, fly rafter and overhanging roof sheathing is exposed to the eye. The overhang IS, however, completely closed to letting the outside weather (insects/birds) into the building. It’s the overhang area which is not enclosed…no horizontal soffit panels.

With enclosed overhangs, soffit material of steel, aluminum, vinyl, wood or cement (the most common materials) is placed so as to cover the underside of the framing.

Open overhangs will be slightly less expensive than enclosed. They do not afford the ability to ventilate the building, and wood members, while not exposed to the weather, will age and grey with time. Open overhangs also provide a favored nesting place for yellow jackets and other wasps, as well as barn swallows. Places where open overhangs do look appropriate is on the low sidewall eave overhangs of roof only sheds, buildings with one or more sides open, or roof only “pavilion” type structures.

Enclosed overhangs are generally accepted as being far more attractive, as well as maintenance free. The least expensive (and least functional) solution for soffits is with non-vented materials. Most common with steel covered buildings are one piece trims which cover both fascias and the soffit, or the use of steel roofing/siding panels for soffit material. The first tends to “oil can” or appear wavy with from expansion and contraction due to heat and cold cycles. The second, in the opinion of many, just looks cheap.

Aluminum soffit is not favored as it can create electrolysis issues from dissimilar metals in contact with each other. Vinyl and steel soffit panels come in a wide array of colors, both to match and compliment the balance of the building colors. Both are available as vented, which allows air flow into the building, reducing issues of condensation, as well as stagnant air in animal housing. The ventilation holes are small enough, so as to prevent flying insects to enter through them. In combination with an adequately vented ridge, vented overhangs can provide for an effective passive ventilation system.

Ön élveznek kinyúlása, or “enjoy your overhang”.

This entry was posted in Building Styles and Designs, Building Overhangs, Pole Barn Planning and tagged enclosed overhangs, soffit, soffit material, open overhangs on March 6, 2012 by admin.