40x64x12 Pole Barn started (and finished!)

Herkypilot · Mar 1, 2014

I had my pole barn put up in Western VA this past week by CHA Pole barns LLC out of Pennsylvania. I bought a PB kit from DIY Pole barns which worked out pretty well. I'm pleased with how everything went. I'll cover a few details in this thread along with posting the pictures of the progress.

First of all, DIY was a very good company to deal with. Their web site was easy to navigate and had a very useful tool to "build it yourself" section where you specify the details of what you want and it gives you a running estimate of the cost as you add options. It also lists the estimate to build using one of their preferred builders. The options I selected for my 40x64x12 barn were two steel entry doors, one 12x12 barn door entry, one 10x10 roll up door, two windows "opening only" which were framed and covered over with siding, and I also upgraded to 26 ga steel roofing and siding. One item which worked out pretty well are the translucent panels on the high wall to allow natural daylight in on the high wall. I'll have a picture of this included. The lean To is 12 feet wide.

Delivery was as expected on a large semi truck with flat bed which included a versatile forklift to unload all the materials. My barn was to be built in my back pasture and ideally, the driver would drive up my tree lined gravel drive and turn around in the pasture. We walked the driveway and the driver determined he couldn't safely get his truck back there without getting stuck. The alternative was to unload all the items in the front pasture and move what we could with the forklift to the back. He did a great job getting everything to the back close to the build site, even the long 24 foot 6x6's which had to go up jockeying sideways to get around trees. The only items he couldn't get up there were the 40' trusses. I told him I would figure out how to do that. I was just glad he was able to move everything else up there!

I decided the only way to move items that long up the drive was to use my 20' equipment trailer along with the axle from my 5x8 trailer which was lashed to the end of the trusses with straps and slowly pull them up with my truck. My wife and daughter helped out moving a stack of 5 to 6 trusses at a time until we moved all 17 up. It was a full day to get this done. Sorry, no pictures of this, but you should get the idea...

Herkypilot · Mar 1, 2014

I paid a grading company $100/hour to grade the build site level with a bulldozer. It took about 4 hours. There was a good bit more dirt to move than I envisioned. This was an easy choice as it was quick and easy and the talented operator got it within 2-3 inches level over the entire pad. I just smoothed it over with my box blade a bit to clean up the tracks. The builder required that the site be within 6" of level.

Herkypilot · Mar 1, 2014

DAY ONE - Half day
CHA's team of 3 drove to my place Monday from Pennsylvania. They showed up at about 1pm and went right to work. They laid out string line, ensured everything was squired up and marked where all the posts would go. Footer holes were drilled with the Bobcat hydraulic auger. Concrete disks were inserted in the holes and the posts were put in.

GPintheMitten · Mar 1, 2014

Sounds like a good project.

I can't see the attached pics in post 3

Herkypilot · Mar 1, 2014

DAY TWO
Once all the posts were put in, the team leader asked me what kind of flooring I intended to put in. I told him I intend to put gravel down along with 4" of concrete. He used his laser transom to ensure the treated baseboard to the same height. From there all else was measured up to ensure the building was level.

Herkypilot · Mar 1, 2014

Now it was already time for the trusses. They had a pretty good hydraulic attachment for the Bobcat that makes this job easy!

Herkypilot · Mar 1, 2014

Trusses were finished up and all the 2x4 supports were nailed on. Two guys worked the roof and one around the perimeter. Before the steel doors were installed I mentioned to the team leader that I thought I may have made the wrong selection on the way the doors would swing. The box labels stated "right hand swing". When he opened them, both were universal and could be inverted to swing in the desired direction.

Herkypilot · Mar 1, 2014

DAY THREE
Roofing and siding go on. I was happy I went with the 26 ga steel. They had to pre-punch the hole locations for the screws as the thicker steel makes it more difficult to start the screws. They later told me they couldn't do this on the roof and had to drive the screws through. Must have been tough on the hands with the thousands of screws they put in. The barn doors are put together and hung. The kit includes all hardware. The opaque panels are put in on the high wall. I had the double bubble insulation put on the roof to help keep moisture from accumulating on the underside of the panels

Herkypilot · Mar 1, 2014

DAY FOUR - Final Day
Finished up the roof and siding along with the trim work and cleanup. You can see the daylight that is let in by the translucent panels. I believe it's a good option.

Herkypilot · Mar 1, 2014

Overall, CHA did an excellent job. The workers showed up promptly at 7 am and worked hard every day until sundown. I was impressed with their professionalism and dedication to making the job right. CHA required 10% up front to schedule the work. The remaining 90% is paid at the time of completion when the customer is satisfied with the results. If you do not have power on site, you can either provide a 5,000 watt (or higher) generator or they will provide one for $50/day. I had one so it gave me an opportunity to really give my generator a workout for 10 hours a day. It passed the test and worked flawlessly. Overall, I'm very happy the building is up and usable in less than a week! All was as expected - which I can't ask for more then that!