Planning my pole barn, Suggestions welcome.

[Ryan03]

I hope to break ground on my pole barn shop this summer. I am fairly new to building with wood, but very handy with steel, electricity, and anything hydraulic and or mechanical. I was hoping to get some feedback on my initial plans by the TBN members who are much more experienced with pole barns than myself.

Here are a few relevant local building codes.

6x6 Treated ground contact post required

All footings must be min 42 in. deep. Hole must be 12in dia.

Maximum post spacing is 8ft.

Maximum truss spacing is 4ft.

Double 2x12 header required [both sides of top of post]

Max building height is 35ft

Minimum roof snow load rating is 30lbs. psf.


Here is what I am thinking

32x42, 12ft min wall height, or 14ft max.

4/12 pitch roof, trusses 24in on center, 12 in overhangs. Undecided on steel or asphalt shingle. Cost could be an issue.

Post 6ft on center, 12dia x 48in deep hole with 6in of cement in bottom for post to sit on.

Side sheeted with OSB, Tyvec wrap, and vinyle siding.

One 16x10 or 12 insulated overhead garage door on gable end, offset to one side.

One man door on rear gable end of building.

I am planning on farming out the truss setting for sure, as well as the roof. I am considering drilling, and cementing post holes, as well as setting post my self [have a FEL.] I am also considering installing wall girts and wall sheeting OSB and Tyvec by myself. I would Farm out the overhead garage door and vinyle siding. I would like to try and get a weathered complete shell up minus electrical and concrete for $12,000 to $15000. The closer to 12k the better. What do you guys think, feasable or not. Do you see anything I missed or should add.
Thanks, Ryan.

 

[unfinished]

Just got done building a 24x36x12 last year. My first pole barn.

I'm surprised you only need 12" footer for your poles. I am in Portage County, we are required 18" footers, poles set 42" deep. I was not sure if that was to the top of the footer or bottom so ended making my holes 48" deep and pouring concrete footor so that 42" of the pole was in the ground. Also with a 12" hole, you will not have much adjustment to move your poles left or right, invariably there will be a couple holes slightly off, so I was happy to have 18" opening (around 20" opening with 18" drill). If your holes fill with water, it does not matter when pouring concrete, I just pumped out the water out of a hole when I started so I could see what I was doing, then dumped the concrete in, the water fills back in and the concrete sets just fine under water.

Maybe consider laminated poles. I used regular 6x6 treated and did not get all the girts on right away (maybe 2-3 weeks later, poles just had bracing to ground) and had 2 poles warp badly. They warped in one direction, so I was able to rotate the pole 90 degrees so my wall would be plumb.

Definitely 12' high walls is the way to go, or higher if you have rv's or semi's. 2 people can set trusses. Not hard at all. I made attachment for the FEL, with a long metal pole and a couple ratchet straps to stabilize things. Just keep in mind a small move on the controls makes a large move at the end of the pole. I ran the tractor, the other person on ladder to help guide the truss to location. I used same attachment to set poles as well.

 

[davedj1]

If it was mine I would do more than a 4/12 pitch roof. No need to put the posts closer than required by code, I would stay 8' centers so framing material works out.
Truss setting that high up can be a pain with just 2 people, hire a crane and get a third person for the day.

 

[L355SS]

Orient the door(s) so as to be opposite the weather side. In my neighborhood, the weather/wind is most always from the South so put the entries on the North or Northwest. Continue the roofline down to 8 ft on one or both sides, keep the 32 Width center part with the 14' eves. To save some money, Vinyl siding is easy to install, same as the roof. As mentioned before, once the posts are in you need to attach the wood to it to keep warpage to a minimum. Keep unused materials under a tarp or keep wet until you use it. Build in the Spring when the weather/sun aren't at their peak heat (materials warpage).
good luck
Dennis

 

[BHD]

IF your going to be doing 4 foot trusses and OSB sheeting and so on just go conventional construction, the pole barn will not save you any lumber by the time you put your sleepers on the trusses and on the posts, it will more than make up for the studs one would use,

for example a post is normally 3 if not 4 2x6", now spaced on 24" centers, that is 6 foot, (OK you need one more for 8 foot spacing but by the time you take the sleepers and nail them ever 3 to 4 foot on the wall it will more than make up for that stud and plates,

also to set your trusses, you will need a fair header around the top of the wall so they have some thing to set on, that will take some expensive lumber,

the same for the trusses, at 4 foot spacing you might as well eliminate the sleepers and put them on 2 foot spacing and sheet it as you proposed,

Insulating it will be much easer, and so on,

normally about the only thing a pole barn saves is not using any sheeting, and even on a conventional building one can run the side tin horizontal and not use sleepers or sheeting, to install it,

and you will never have to worry that the posts will rot off in the ground,

also depending on width and roof pitch, one could consider what is called an attic truss and have storage room in the rafters,


(the Idea of a pole barn in my opinion is to be cheap, tin walls and tin roof, and just enough framing to hold it up,

it is designed to eliminate the sheeting and the normal framing and foundation, and that is by wide spacing of the posts,

in your discussion about all you are eliminating is the foundation, or stem wall
but if your planing on a concrete floor most likely it can be a combined stem wall, pour with the floor,

If your planing on doing a true pole barn, go to a truss manufacture, that builds the trusses for pole barns and see if they have any engineered drawing for the building, then you have a "engineered" building that may save you some cost over conventional construction,

the other option is to build up a steel building you say your good at steel,

if you think or even had a far down the road desire to insulate the building (Pole barns and steel buildings are hard to insulate, conventional construction is not,

 

[SPIKER]

Hey Guys:

I would suggest you look into some Amish Builders (I used CHUPPS Builders) out of Apple Creek and for 20K got a 50x48 2 story with gambrel roof to spec used T1-11, all 2nd floor and built on-site trusses on 16". exterior poles were 8' and sat on 24" x 48"deep concrete cookies (preformed already hard cookies) Came with 1/2" OSB roof & 30yr OC shingles, 2 steel man doors and a 8x8 garage door.

I dont have their number anymore but could probably find it in my OLD phone if it decides to charge up. My only complaint is I said it was OK for staples and should have gotten screwed off siding & nailed roof decking. The staples are crap & I've had to go back & screw off all the T1-11 siding & hoping long term the roof holds up...
There is a vendor in the back of the Country Living mag I get form the Electric Company that had similar prices. I went with the Amish guys as we build some equipment for his Brother Vernon.

Also note some of the local counties (Medina) require additional bracing & thru bolting of the dual header plates. This burnt my brother as he got Red Tagged for the bolts on one of his builds. I can also get my older brothers number he has been building them with home owner help if you are interested in still attempting to do much of the building on your own or with some help, (he lives in Lodi.)


Mark

 

[Deere Dude]

Consider concreting the floor and just put regular walls up like you would in a house and bolt them to the floor. Then you could build it in your leisure and have walls for hanging stuff and stuffing insulation.

 

[Ryan03]

Thanks for all the feedback. Plans for the building two years out are 6 inch concrete floor, with a vapor barrier under it, 200amp electrical service, white corrugated steel ceiling, white corrugated steel 6ft up interior side walls, with the rest of the wall dry walled. The building will be fully insulated when completed, and heated to 55 degrees all winter, sometimes warmer when im out there. I will be storing our two classic cars, the tractor, an ATV, and lots of tools. A dry warm building is of the utmost importance.

 

[strum456]

Drilling a 12" diameter hole 48" deep accurately enough to put your 6x6 where it needs to be will be pretty tough. If the post hole digger goes a little out of plumb, you will be getting an arm work out with the digging iron.

 

[timswi]

Thanks for all the feedback. Plans for the building two years out are 6 inch concrete floor, with a vapor barrier under it, 200amp electrical service, white corrugated steel ceiling, white corrugated steel 6ft up interior side walls, with the rest of the wall dry walled. The building will be fully insulated when completed, and heated to 55 degrees all winter, sometimes warmer when im out there. I will be storing our two classic cars, the tractor, an ATV, and lots of tools. A dry warm building is of the utmost importance.

I had a 30x48 pole building built about 9 years ago, so I can't speak to current cost...Then it was about $12,000 with the roof (dimentional shingles) and most purlins installed..Roof is 4:12 24" OC...6x6's are 8' OC, 12' ceiling..I installed the OSB, tyvek, vinyl siding, garage door, man door, windows and concrete.

I'd be somewhat hesitant to put drywall in a pole building as they have a slight amount of movement that could crack your mud joints.

All and all it sounds like I have most of what you're looking for minus the fully finished interior....If you have any specific questions, PM me.

 

[PoleBarnGuru]

32x42, 12ft eave

4/12 pitch roof, 12 in overhangs (enclosed). Steel roofing.

Side sheeted with OSB, Tyvec wrap, and vinyle siding.

One 16x10 insulated overhead garage door on gable end, offset to one side.

One man door on rear gable end of building.

I am planning on farming out the truss setting for sure, as well as the roof. I am considering drilling, and cementing post holes, as well as setting post my self [have a FEL.] I am also considering installing wall girts and wall sheeting OSB and Tyvec by myself. I would Farm out the overhead garage door and vinyle siding. I would like to try and get a weathered complete shell up minus electrical and concrete for $12,000 to $15000. The closer to 12k the better. What do you guys think, feasable or not. Do you see anything I missed or should add.
Thanks, Ryan.

A pretty close guess on the materials, which includes the doors, roof insulation, wall sheathing, housewrap and vinyl - delivered $12,600-12,700 based upon today's markets. Steel siding would be far less costly.

 

[gears351]

I just built mine last year - Hansen Pole Buildings .com Sales guy was Jim and they were great to work with. I went steel sided/roof and it's been terrific. Came in about $12k for a 32'x32' 2 story gambrel

 

[deezler]

According to the blog on Hansen's website, dimensional lumber prices have about doubled in the last year. I can confirm this with my last visit to my local lumber yard. Holy cr@p did that suck.

Bummer for me too, I hope to build a 30x40 this year.

 

[hslogger]

I have a pole type livestock barn that we built in four stages. In the first we just put metal down for the roof. All the rest of it we laid down plywood,then paper then metal. It sure is a better way to go and one heck of lot quieter when it rains. My shed that we built a couple years ago, I went the same, metal over paper and plywood. You will never regret it.

 

[doohicky]

Ryan,

check out diypolebarns.com I got mine(30x56x12) from them and they were great to work with. I upgraded my snow load to 55lb. Key thing for me at the time was NO TAX and FREE shipping. You can "custom" build your barn with different options. I liked their design because the 6x6's they give you for the end are big enough for the end trusses to to be nailed to so you have less of a chance of them flopping over. Everything was included in the kit price the cement for the holes to the screws and nails.

 

[PhysAssist]

I just built mine last year - Hansen Pole Buildings .com Sales guy was Jim and they were great to work with. I went steel sided/roof and it's been terrific. Came in about $12k for a 32'x32' 2 story gambrel

The folks at Hansen's (Shirley Lusten was the engineer I corresponded with) were very helpful to me, even though I had advised them that I was involved with another builder already. Our original building contractor used the promise of a mid-November (2012) building start to get us to sign, then when the deadline came and passed without them answering our calls and email, finally admitted that they weren't going to be able to start until the last week of January 2013.

We were only able to get the building started sooner by threatening them with a breach of contract suit and telling them we had gotten a commitment from Hansen to start building in early December.

They finally started in mid-December, without warning, and just barely finished the main structure by year end. The same salesman had supposedly set up our roll-up door to be installed immediately after, but again, after many telephone calls, we finally saw that put in at the end of February.

Our barn is 30' X 45' X 16' walls, gable roofed with the rollup centered in one end, and the man door around the corner on the south side. We got our windows for free plus installation because we agreed to take some odd-sized custom windows that had been turned down by the original orderers. By doing this, we got significantly bigger and better windows than we would otherwise have sprung for. It has metal roof and sides, the posts are 42+" deep, cemented, and laminated out of 3- 2X6's each with the bottom 60" all pressure-treated. It cost in the near neighborhood of $17k, not including site prep.

Our ongoing complaints with the builder are that they used poor lumber with many voids and rough places and did not look at using the "best sides" at all in the exposed boards on sills and all other prominently visible areas, they did not use the specified metal foil backed roof insulation (a fact I only discovered because they were also lazy slobs and left tons of garbage and debris for us to clean up- including the wrapping from one of the rolls of fiberglass insulation with only polyethylene backing), they did not follow the plan drawings for closing the corners of the roofing trim leaving a space for bugs to nest, they tore up up our carefully created building pad, and they didn't even backfill most of the post holes.

Hansen's site and people promised high grades of lumber and showed very close attention to all the details we discussed, but who knows...

Well to provide a word of warning for any located in NYS, stay away from Fingerlakes Construction. For those not in our area, they are part of a bigger building conglomerate called EPS aka Energy Panel Structures.

Wish we had found Hansen's before we signed with FLC :-(

 

[Hiltz]

I hope to break ground on my pole barn shop this summer. I am fairly new to building with wood, but very handy with steel, electricity, and anything hydraulic and or mechanical. I was hoping to get some feedback on my initial plans by the TBN members who are much more experienced with pole barns than myself.

Here are a few relevant local building codes.

6x6 Treated ground contact post required

All footings must be min 42 in. deep. Hole must be 12in dia.

Maximum post spacing is 8ft.

Maximum truss spacing is 4ft.

Double 2x12 header required [both sides of top of post]

Max building height is 35ft

Minimum roof snow load rating is 30lbs. psf.


Here is what I am thinking

32x42, 12ft min wall height, or 14ft max.

4/12 pitch roof, trusses 24in on center, 12 in overhangs. Undecided on steel or asphalt shingle. Cost could be an issue.

Post 6ft on center, 12dia x 48in deep hole with 6in of cement in bottom for post to sit on.

Side sheeted with OSB, Tyvec wrap, and vinyle siding.

One 16x10 or 12 insulated overhead garage door on gable end, offset to one side.

One man door on rear gable end of building.

I am planning on farming out the truss setting for sure, as well as the roof. I am considering drilling, and cementing post holes, as well as setting post my self [have a FEL.] I am also considering installing wall girts and wall sheeting OSB and Tyvec by myself. I would Farm out the overhead garage door and vinyle siding. I would like to try and get a weathered complete shell up minus electrical and concrete for $12,000 to $15000. The closer to 12k the better. What do you guys think, feasable or not. Do you see anything I missed or should add.
Thanks, Ryan.

The old rule of thumb for estimating the size of barns or storage buildings needed is to double the size you think your going to need. For your 32x42 building I would suggest at least 60x80. Its surprising how quickly they fill up.
cheers

 

[MarkM2x2]

I hope to break ground on my pole barn shop this summer. I am fairly new to building with wood, but very handy with steel, electricity, and anything hydraulic and or mechanical. I was hoping to get some feedback on my initial plans by the TBN members who are much more experienced with pole barns than myself.

Here are a few relevant local building codes.

6x6 Treated ground contact post required

All footings must be min 42 in. deep. Hole must be 12in dia.

Maximum post spacing is 8ft.

Maximum truss spacing is 4ft.

Double 2x12 header required [both sides of top of post]

Max building height is 35ft

Minimum roof snow load rating is 30lbs. psf.


Here is what I am thinking

32x42, 12ft min wall height, or 14ft max.

4/12 pitch roof, trusses 24in on center, 12 in overhangs. Undecided on steel or asphalt shingle. Cost could be an issue.

Post 6ft on center, 12dia x 48in deep hole with 6in of cement in bottom for post to sit on.

Side sheeted with OSB, Tyvec wrap, and vinyle siding.

One 16x10 or 12 insulated overhead garage door on gable end, offset to one side.

One man door on rear gable end of building.

I am planning on farming out the truss setting for sure, as well as the roof. I am considering drilling, and cementing post holes, as well as setting post my self [have a FEL.] I am also considering installing wall girts and wall sheeting OSB and Tyvec by myself. I would Farm out the overhead garage door and vinyle siding. I would like to try and get a weathered complete shell up minus electrical and concrete for $12,000 to $15000. The closer to 12k the better. What do you guys think, feasable or not. Do you see anything I missed or should add.
Thanks, Ryan.

Ryan,
Why dick around with a pole building? Just do it right and stick build it. When you start with a pole building you fight it forever, there a bugger to insulate, you don't have to studs to hang anything on, you have to hit a perlin running side ways. I built my building in phases over 6 years. Started with a 28' X 36' 12" grade beam slab, three rows of concrete block, anchor bolts with coupling nuts and ready rod lined up so top plate is anchored to slab. 14' side wall with 12' X 12' door, 3' entry door front and rear, two windows in back one in front, 6" walls 1/2 OSB both sides, 12" blown in fiber glass in ceiling. 4/12 roof pitch. Heated with LanAir 140 waste oil heater. Second phase, 20' X 36' addition, same 3 rows of blocks, 10' wide X 8' tall, 3' service door one window in back same size as the shop. 16" Lam beams follow roof line, removed bottom row of screws pushed metal up and slipped addition metal under neath. Third Phase, mirror image of first. Fourth Phase; Concrete apron 64' X 8' all the way across, 24' X 20' in the middle. Fifth Phase; 12" cement board, aluminum sofit and facia, 2' overhang front and rear, 32" on sides. Sixth Phase; 12' W X 28' L X 10' tall on low side, lean to off back. Building is kept a 50 degrees f, takes 300-400 gallons of used oil, located in Northern WI
Here's a picture of the front 014.jpg Photo by Mark2X2 | Photobucket
Mark

 

[PoleBarnGuru]

Just got done building a 24x36x12 last year. My first pole barn.

Great planing with these dimensions.

With most snow and wind loads, multiples of 12' in width and length provide the best bang for the buck.

Why??

Steel roofing and siding come in 3' widths. Lumber comes in multiples of 2'. Going for the most efficient use of lumber for girts and purlins, as well as steel roofing and siding dictates a multiple of 6.

The worst part of any building project? Dirt - it is the intangible. The fewer holes to big dug, the less chance of hitting the rock the size of a Volkswagon.

By placing columns every 12', it reduces digging and the number of columns which must be set. By using double trusses every 12', attached directly to the columns, it eliminates the need for "truss carriers" which are typically under designed.

 

[PoleBarnGuru]

I'd be somewhat hesitant to put drywall in a pole building as they have a slight amount of movement that could crack your mud joints.

A properly designed pole building is no more likely to have drywall cracks, than a stick frame building.

A CODE CONFORMING post frame building which is designed to limit deflection, is the answer. If no RDP (registered design professional - architect or engineer) is involved in the design, or the Building Designer is unaware of the desire for future drywall - then the deflection criteria is not the same, and cracks could result.