Planning for Pole Building/Shop/Storage Building

   / Planning for Pole Building/Shop/Storage Building #1  

RUSSELL5000

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It is winter and I am trying to think through this. I am sure many members have been down this road, and welcome input. "Plan the work, work the plan." My land is in western New York, right next to Pennsylvania and Lake Erie.

Use

I have a travel trailer (assume 40 feet in length), a small power boat (assume 25 feet in length), small utility trailer, plan to have a compact tractor and implements, and a truck to store. I壇 also like to have space for a bathroom, workbench, and storage lockers. I dream of having a concrete floor area with a lift. My initial thought is 30 feet wide by 60 feet long by 16 feet high.

Snow Load

It is not usual to have snow on the ground for four months of the year here, and it is fairly normal to have a good amount of snow where my property is. One year we got five feet of snow in two days. So the snow load requirements are pretty substantial. I see some steel buildings in the area these are shaped like Quonset huts, or very similar to Quonset huts. I don稚 recall ever seeing one collapse. I have seen pole buildings collapse.

Anybody have any view on steel Quonset hut type buildings?


I think if I do a pole building I need to consider perhaps increasing my poles and roof trusses; e.g., maybe poles on six foot centers and roof trusses on two foot centers rather than poles on eight foot centers and roof trusses on four foot centers. I think a roof pitch of 6/12 is required.

Foundation

It looks like a common pole building approach is to place a precast concrete circle at the bottom of a hole at a depth below frost line and set the pole on that. In my area, the hole would be such that the top of the concrete circle would be at a depth of five feet. To help reduce rot and decay, a plastic sleeve can be added to the portion of the post that is in the ground (https://www.postprotector.com)

Another approach would be to set the pole on a concrete pier. One thought that occurs to me is that of using the bigfoot system (Bigfoot Systems Footing Forms save time, save money: decks, renos, new construction) or the sonotube base system (TubeBase - Sonotube) coupled with a mounting bracket (Sturdi-Wall(R) - Lumber Tech Columns, Inc). This gets the wooden pole out of the ground.

A cross between these two approaches would be to place the precast concrete circle at the bottom of the hole and set a precast concrete column with mounting bracket on the concrete circle (Perma Column East LLC). This approach also gets the wood pole out of the ground.

A regular foundation is an option: reinforced concrete footer at a depth below the frost line and a poured reinforced concrete foundation wall with pole attachment brackets.

If I were to do a steel building, I wonder if I could use the concrete piers and tie-in a 12 inch or 18 inch reinforced concrete perimeter slab.


Framing

For a pole building, I did not assume anything unique apart from: (1) more closely spaced poles and roof trusses, (2) using 4 ply 2x8 poles rather than a 6x6 post or 4 ply 2x6, and (3) 2x6 girts rather than 2x4 girts.

I assume I will have a 14 ft tall by 16 ft wide sliding door at one end (i.e., two pieces of roughly 14 ft tall and 8 ft wide) and a 36 inch wide man door.


I know there is a long way to go, but getting started. As in most things in life, I expect there are trade-offs between cost, durability, and construction efficiency. Viewpoints and prior experience welcome.

Thanks.
 
   / Planning for Pole Building/Shop/Storage Building
  • Thread Starter
#2  
I did some research on foundation options, which I'll pass along here in case it is of help to anyone doing a similar analysis. Prices are along good for a day anymore (or at least it seems that way to me), so the real point is the relationship between the various approaches. In what follows, "regular in ground" means the post is set on a concrete circle and the post has the plastic sleeve covering it; "sonotube base" means the poured concrete pier with the large base and a wet-set anchor, and "perma-column base" means the six foot tall concrete perma-column set on a concrete circle; "garage" means a building of 10 feet in side wall height; "pole barn" means a building 16 feet in side wall height. All prices include the appropriate size post and miscellaneous hardware, but of course exclude any labor.

regular in ground garage 6x6: $ 148
regular in ground pole barn 6x6: $ 187
regular in ground pole barn 3ply 2x6: $ 258
regular in ground pole barn 4ply 2x6: $ 342
regular in ground pole barn 4ply 2x8: $ 353

sonotube base garage 6x6: 254
sonotube base pole barn 6x6: 271
sonotube base pole barn 3ply 2x6: 338
sonotube base pole barn 4ply 2x6: 432
sonotube base pole barn 4ply 2x8: 484

perma-column base garage 6x6: $ 307
perma-column base pole barn 6x6: $ 322
perma-column base pole barn 3ply 2x6: $ 384
perma-column base pole barn 4ply 2x6: $ 524
perma-column base pole barn 4ply 2x8: $ 613

I think the sonotube approach will be by far the most labor intensive.
 
   / Planning for Pole Building/Shop/Storage Building #3  
I did some research on foundation options, which I'll pass along here in case it is of help to anyone doing a similar analysis. Prices are along good for a day anymore (or at least it seems that way to me), so the real point is the relationship between the various approaches. In what follows, "regular in ground" means the post is set on a concrete circle and the post has the plastic sleeve covering it; "sonotube base" means the poured concrete pier with the large base and a wet-set anchor, and "perma-column base" means the six foot tall concrete perma-column set on a concrete circle; "garage" means a building of 10 feet in side wall height; "pole barn" means a building 16 feet in side wall height. All prices include the appropriate size post and miscellaneous hardware, but of course exclude any labor.

regular in ground garage 6x6: $ 148
regular in ground pole barn 6x6: $ 187
regular in ground pole barn 3ply 2x6: $ 258
regular in ground pole barn 4ply 2x6: $ 342
regular in ground pole barn 4ply 2x8: $ 353

sonotube base garage 6x6: 254
sonotube base pole barn 6x6: 271
sonotube base pole barn 3ply 2x6: 338
sonotube base pole barn 4ply 2x6: 432
sonotube base pole barn 4ply 2x8: 484

perma-column base garage 6x6: $ 307
perma-column base pole barn 6x6: $ 322
perma-column base pole barn 3ply 2x6: $ 384
perma-column base pole barn 4ply 2x6: $ 524
perma-column base pole barn 4ply 2x8: $ 613

I think the sonotube approach will be by far the most labor intensive.


Call - MORTON BUILDINGS, and bring your wallet !!!
 
   / Planning for Pole Building/Shop/Storage Building #4  
Just a couple of thoughts on your plans. 6 foot spacing is a waste vs 8 foot spacing. My 40 x 50 uses 4x6 posts on 8 foot centers and is more than adequate. 2 foot spacing on trusses is probably not needed. The trusses are generally rated for up to 9 foot spacing, but 4 foot spacing is adequate for metal ceilings and allows you to put the roof stringers flat instead of on edge.

Depending on the space you have, I would suggest 40 feet wide. My 40 x 60 was originally built with a single 12 foot wide door in one end. It was a complete pain to move things in and out. I added a 9 foot wide door. I would rather have 2 x 9 foot wide doors and the 12 foot wide but the location precludes that. More drive in doors are always better. Also overhead doors are much better than sliders. It's a one time cost and definitely worth it.

I wish mine was 40 x 70 with doors on each end. You never have enough space, especially since you seem to have big toys which will take up a lot of the space.
 
   / Planning for Pole Building/Shop/Storage Building #5  
OP: Check out niagarapolebarns
Josh is great to work with.

Also no matter what size you have calculated go a third bigger. I got a 30x40 and after 4 yrs need to expand. Toys and tools add up. Feel 40x60 would have been better..lol
 
   / Planning for Pole Building/Shop/Storage Building #6  
Just a couple of comments;
bigger is better,
sturdier is better,
I prefer footers and sill walls.
14' foot walls should give room for a lift.
Red iron steel buildings can go up fast and will last better then a pole barn usually.

Sliders suck in the winter, you have to go and shovel a path for the door to be opened in and it will drift back in almost immediately.
 
   / Planning for Pole Building/Shop/Storage Building
  • Thread Starter
#7  
Thanks, guys. I hear you on size and have no doubt whatsoever that bigger is better. Unfortunately, as seems to be true with just about everything in life, the final determination will be made by the money available for this project.

LouNY, what are "Red iron steel buildings"?
 
   / Planning for Pole Building/Shop/Storage Building #8  
OP: Check out niagarapolebarns
Josh is great to work with.

Also no matter what size you have calculated go a third bigger. I got a 30x40 and after 4 yrs need to expand. Toys and tools add up. Feel 40x60 would have been better..lol

I initially got 36 x 48.
6 years later built another, 40 x 50
 
   / Planning for Pole Building/Shop/Storage Building #9  
The original structural steel buildings, not to be confused with these new tubular buildings.
 
   / Planning for Pole Building/Shop/Storage Building #10  
Sizing is difficult. What looks OK on paper will probably be too small in reality. Here's a real life situation:

I have a 40 x 50 pole barn, slightly larger in area than your suggested 30 x 60. Currently I have installed about 40 linear feet of storage shelving, 40 feet of workbenchs, the usual saws, welder, etc. I have a 7 x 16 trailer, a 4 x 8 trailer, the tractor, the pickup, and a sports car I'm restoring in the building. I have room to work because I'm using the trailers are storage since it's winter. When the weather warms up, I'll have to move at least one trailer out to make room for car parts. When I'm not using them, I often have to store my box blade, snow plow, forks, lawn roller and scaffolding outside. Because I have a two car garage, I can store the running sports car, the mower deck, the concrete mixer, etc in the garage with my wife's car.

As I said earlier, with the big RV, I think you need more area and more doors. :thumbsup:
 
   / Planning for Pole Building/Shop/Storage Building #11  
I am pretty sure I will never install another work bench. All they are is junk collectors in my buildings. Your a lot further ahead with shelves and a heavy mobile work/tool bench that you can move to where you need it. That way your not walking across the shop to get your tools or to a vice.

I would plan on a mezzanine storage area that you can move things too that you can't bear to throw away Also for the same reason, plan for a lean to along one side. You don't have to build it but it's nice to know you have the option.
 
   / Planning for Pole Building/Shop/Storage Building #12  
As others will state, a pole barn will run out of space. I planned originally to go 40x60, built 40x72, and three years later wished I had build a 40x80. Because of snow, I did go 6 foot between posts instead of 8, trusses at 2 feet as well. Snow typically slides off at some point after it ends, but I wanted the knowledge of a wet, heavy snow fall wasn't going to be any issue. I've got 6x6 posts 6 feet deep sitting on 15" concrete pads at the bottom.

I went 14 foot side walls, and wished I had gone 16 foot. I built an elevated floor (mezzanine) 40x20 at the one end of the pole barn, giving me approximately two areas with of 6'6" areas of height. On the elevated area is all the stuff I kept moving around that would get in the way, to help keep the concrete floor uncluttered. Below are my boats and their trailers. Over 7 feet of height for each area would have been better, but it works fine.

Five foot apron in front of my garage doors is level, I wish the builder would have dropped it a couple of inches sloping away from the doors. I can get some freeze up against the bottoms of my doors, but it hasn't been a huge problem. That was on me, as I assumed he would. Live and learn, it was my first time really building something form the ground up with a third party, the ground sloped away, and figured he would follow the contour.
 
   / Planning for Pole Building/Shop/Storage Building #13  
One more thing to add is a drain in the middle to wash the toys and have all that water drain out.
 
   / Planning for Pole Building/Shop/Storage Building #14  
One more thing to add is a drain in the middle to wash the toys and have all that water drain out.

I would rather build a sloped apron and wash there. If you have a floor drain you need somewhere to drain to. You also need something to catch the dirt. Then you need to clean up the dirt. It's easier outside.
 
   / Planning for Pole Building/Shop/Storage Building #15  
Mark out the outline of the interior of the building on the site and park all that stuff within it. Then you'll see how big or small it really is.

You can get creative with implement dollies to store your implements in a smaller amount of space.
 
   / Planning for Pole Building/Shop/Storage Building #16  
I'm building a 30x40 pole barn, have the poles up and roof on, but winter came before we could get the concrete floor poured and the metal walls up. It has a 6/12 pitch roof. The snow slides right off. We've had a 16" storm and a 12" storm and the barn roof was clear shortly after the storm ended. Very pleased with the pitch.

I bought my barn online from DIYPoleBarns.com. They are located near you, and have crews who will assemble the barn if you live close to them. I would have gladly used them but they did not have any crews in CT.
 
   / Planning for Pole Building/Shop/Storage Building
  • Thread Starter
#17  
How about we go on to the next topic: roofing.

I understand shingle roofing, having worked in shingle roofing in the past and doing my own shingle roofing in the past. I have never worked with metal roofing.

From what I have been able to observe, there are two basic concepts: in one type the fasteners go directly through the steel panel into the roof deck (the head of the fastener has a rubber washer which is intended to seal water out), in the other type fasteners are underneath panels; the panels overlap the fasteners, and the steel panels interlock and snap together.

It seems to me that exposed fastener approach will eventually leak. I can see that the exposed fastener approach would be fine for siding, as the steel panels are vertical, water cannot accumulate. It does not seem ideal for roofing.

Any points of view?

Thanks.
 
   / Planning for Pole Building/Shop/Storage Building #18  
Back in the early 60"s we did a 100 x 100 free stall barn with a hay mow the roof was aluminum fastened down with ringshank lead washered nails.
These were nailed in the ridge, over the years with the long aluminum sheets expanding and contracting the nail holes have lengthened and the washers have gone.
So it has required some maintenance.
Some of the older steel roofs are 20-50 years older and have held up better, less expansion as the panels are narrower and shorter.
We did 3 roofs in the last 2 years, steel with exposed fasteners, hex headed screws with rubber washers under a retaining washer in the flats.
So far so good.
 
   / Planning for Pole Building/Shop/Storage Building #19  
How about we go on to the next topic: roofing.

I understand shingle roofing, having worked in shingle roofing in the past and doing my own shingle roofing in the past. I have never worked with metal roofing.

From what I have been able to observe, there are two basic concepts: in one type the fasteners go directly through the steel panel into the roof deck (the head of the fastener has a rubber washer which is intended to seal water out), in the other type fasteners are underneath panels; the panels overlap the fasteners, and the steel panels interlock and snap together.

It seems to me that exposed fastener approach will eventually leak. I can see that the exposed fastener approach would be fine for siding, as the steel panels are vertical, water cannot accumulate. It does not seem ideal for roofing.

Any points of view?

Thanks.

Here steel roofs are very common. They do leak but we are living in a very dry climate so no real issues. From what I've read the issue with the rubber washers is installed too tight. They are just supposed to be snugged up. Not tightened to the point where the rubber is all squashed flat.

Most of the issues here are from the screws slowly turning out from expansion and contraction due to temperature changes. I've heard of farmers removing every screw and drilling the hole larger than the screw and reinstalling the screws with a dab of silicone under the rubber washer. That seems to solve the screw loosening issues.
 

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