Pole barn posts

[yooperdave]

Hi Bud,

A few things to check out when building a pole barn:

1. Find out the frost depth below grade.
2. The pole should bear on a concrete pad footing
usually circular and prefabricated.
3. If the pad bears on the fill, make sure that the fill
is granular, and has been compacted to at least
95% of a modified proctor.
4. Make sure that the fill has been compacted and proof
rolled in 8" lifts - important for slabs and foundations.
5. Check with a local geotechnical engineer if your local
soil can be used as fill - you may have to import fill
from another location.
6. Make sure that the posts are pressure treated solid or
pressure treated glulam. Do not let the contractor
"build up" some columns from nominal 2x material.
7. Know your contractor. Integrity is very important.

Good luck with your project - post some pictures.

Yooper Dave

 

[Gatorboy]

<font color=blue> Make sure that the posts are pressure treated solid or
pressure treated glulam. Do not let the contractor
"build up" some columns from nominal 2x material.
</font color=blue>

I would think that "built up" posts out of 2x's would be stronger than a solid post. Am I wrong?

 

[rmorgan]

Here's a picture of a 24'x40' pole barn we've got going up (construction started last Monday). The poles are set on two bags of quikcrete emptied into each hole dry. The building has attic trusses and will have inside stairs, sliding doors on each end and a man door (Dutch door--longtime spousal fantasy /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif). There will be a concrete floor. We opted for pole construction rather than stick-built to minimize impact on the couple of nearby trees; I also like the way pole construction looks inside. The windows are a little strange for a barn, but we've had 'em for years and figured we might as well use 'em.

 

[axldoozer]

Carl NH is right on with the pole barn info. I would just like to emphasize the fact that by the time it is all said and done, a stick-frame building will be about the same price. I am in the process of building a 40x60 pole barn right now and by by the time you set the posts, brace them and put a concrete ring below the frost line you will have dropped about as much money as a concrete foundation for a stick building.
My building is a monitor style barn. If I remember correctly the center posts are 22' long 6x6 PT and the sheds along the sides are 14' 6x6 posts. The concrete ring Carl speaks of is created when you take 1/2" lag screws and screw them on all four sides of the post below the frost line and pour 1-1.5 feet of concrete in the area surrounding the lag screws (big spikes will work also) this is done so that in order to move the post (settling or wind) the whole concrete ring has to move with the post.

Oh yeah, if you have a lot of posts and plan to put in the lag screws,use or borrow an air compressor and an air ratchet. It will save you a ton of time

Another piece of advice--if you are thinking about any upstairs storage check into pre-fab I-joists. They have a longer span (enables a wider floor space without posts).

The guys are starting on the roof this week. Let me know if you need any other info. I am finally building my dream barn and have a lot of tips on stuff to put in it.

Darren

The guys start on my roof this week. I will try to send some photos.

 

[Scott_in_WVA]

I built a nice 32' wide x 48' long,made all of the 6"x6" posts by nailing 2"x6" boards together staggering each layer,I was told I would have better treated post's this way,because a 6"x6" is not always salt treated to the center,if I had it to do over I would just go with the 6"x6" posts and call it good,I forget how many posts were in the barn,but there were a lot,we drilled the holes with a post hole driller (I think 36" deep) and put two old heavy clay bricks on the bottom of the hole and set the posts and filled with concrete.

 

[barticus73]

What's a typical price for 4x4 and 6x6 posts in varying lengths of say 12', 16', 20'?? I am looking to add a side addition onto my existing barn for extra eqipment storage and was thinking of going with pole type constrction for it.

Thanx

 

[Scott_in_WVA]

Well,
I honestly cannot answer that question with out looking myself,it has been a while since I purchased any...although I am getting ready to start another project soon.I typically deal with Lowes...you might go to there home page and see if they have any prices there...they have a nice web page.
Sorry I could not be of anymore help as of now.

 

[Gatorboy]

Scott,

Do you have any pictures of your barn? (inside/out would be great).

I am currently working on my 32'x72' pole barn. 48' of the barn will be open, and the last 24' will be enclosed. I will have 32' trusses made so that I will have no posts inside the structure. I have just finished with the <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.pbase.com/image/5028812>pad</A>. I would like to get the posts (at least the bottom portion) set before Winter -- and then finish it up this Spring.

I will be making the posts out of 2x6's as well. I will use PT wood for the portion that goes into the ground and a few feet above, and then regular non-treated for the remainder going up.

I am just going to nail a 2x12 to the bottom of the post (to create an upside down T), place a concrete pad in the bottom of the hole and just fill the hole back up around the post with dirt -- no concrete mixing required.

 

[yooperdave]

Hi Dave,

A built up column of the same size as a solid member requires a slenderness reduction factor - usually in the 10% to 25% range. This can be offset by making the built up section larger (e.g. 3-2x4 instead of a 4x4).

An important consideration when fabricating built up columns is to transfer the shear stress from adjacent members.

I saw a pole barn for a farmer that was constructed out of built up columns. The contractor had all of the butt joints located within a couple of feet of the midspan of the column. This produced a hinge and was unstable causing significant sidesway in the building. The building posed a safety issue for the occupants. No codes were violated because agricultural buildings are exempt from all building codes. The farmer assumed his money was the same as everybody elses, and the contractor would have followed a building code.

Buyer beware.

Yooper Dave

 

[Scott_in_WVA]

I will see about scanning some in the next few days.

Scott