Pole building on a windy hilltop

[woodstick]

I need to put up a storage building this year, and am considering a 40 X 80 pole building. The building site is on a hilltop in western PA without much protection from the wind. I am concerned as to whether a metal pole building in this location will hold up over time. It seems that the wind is always blowing there. My other option is to build a concrete block building, but as you might expect, the cost is substantially higher.

Any comments or experiences that you are willing to share would be appreciated.

 

[Farwell]

From my reading on the Internet, a pole building is one of the most stable type of structures when it comes to the elements due to the poles being buried 4 feet into the soil and the rigid design of the building. I am sure that there are things that can be done to improve on the pole buildings ability to withstand a constant wind. In California I was required by code to install what is called hurricane bracing on all 4 corners of my free standing shop for earthquake protection. The bracing is made of 4'x8'x1/2" plywood. At each corner a sheet was fastened vertically on each side of the corner and nailed from the top of the wall to bottom and side to side at 2 inch intervals into all the structural lumber that the sheets come into contact with. This bracing should work in almost any wind under an actual hurricane or tornado force wind.
In my opinion, a pole building built to code will be more than adequate for your needs.
Farwell

 

[RobJ]

You can also tighten up on the building specs. Instead of the poles on 8' centers pur them on 4'. Lathing and such closer together. If the walls are metal you can use 2x6's and such. It'll cost more but may give you the piece of mind.

 

[goneandbrokeit]

I am not a builder or any sort of expert. I do have a 24x40 pole barn on a unprotected hilltop where the wind can be pretty fierce.
The building is only a 1 1/2 years old but no troubles so far. I do have 6 inch insulation plus the 4x8 sheets of reflective insulation board. The inside is relatively quiet on a extremely windy day.

Some pictures... Pole barn pics

 

[scott_vt]

Hi Woodstick,
We are located on a hillside at about 1200 ft . My neighbor has a 30x60 pole barn and he is at about the same elevation. Last week we had 60 to 70 mph winds with gusts over 100 mph. His pole barn survived just fine, no problem. My other neighbor who is a sheep farmer also has a pole barn that was open ended for the sheep to get under during the bad weather, and he lost the roof along with the roof rafters mostly because it was open ended and facing in the wrong direction. But all his poles stood rock steady!!! By the way, all the roofs were metal.

scotty

 

[flyers]

Woodstock

I was in the pole building buss. about 10 years in PA.,NJ.,DE.,MD.,VA.WV.&NY. If you build to code you will be fine. I never had one come down. If you have any concerns ask for hurrcane straps & pins in the bottom of poles go 4' deep with holes & get corner bracing on walls & trusses. Your trusses should be 40lbs snow load but make sure your headers can hold 40lbs snow load. Use glulam poles.This should take you up to 120 mph wind load.

 

[LarryD]

We get some pretty good winds through the Strait of Juan de Fuca and off the Cascade mountains. 70+ mph is pretty common annually. There are a lot of pole buildings here that stand up quite well here.

As was mentioned, an open door or three sided building facing the right direction can be destructive to roofs. A friend of mine just lost a couple metal roof panels only because he left his doors open and the wind blew right into the barn, the back door were closed.

I've had the same thing happen to an aircraft hanger with a EPDM roof. They left the doors open on one end and the pressure built up so much it lifted the rubber roof.

You should be fine with a pole building as long as you are aware of what high winds can do.

 

[EddieWalker]

When I was looking at metal buildings, I saw that they had different wind loads. Some are rated up to on point, while others have a much higher rating from the same manufacturer.

I didn't look any further, but it's obvious that they build them differently for the higher wind loads.

I'd look at some of the websiteds you can find and see what they do in the stronger buildings.

Eddie

 

[drm]

Woodstick,

I am also in a windy exposed area of western PA. I need to build a pole building as soon as I can get the funds together and have thought about the incessant wind and the building construction. As previously indicated, if properly constructed, a pole building will hold up as well as a stick frame building or an unreinforced slender block wall.

Some things that you should require are:
4' min. embedment of the poles in good stable ground
Good firm backfilling of the poles, some people like concrete but it may cause premature rot of the bottoms of the poles,
High quality straight poles (laminated poles made from multiple 2x6’s are much stronger than a 4x6 or 6x6)
Consider 6x6 poles (or 3-2x6’s) in stead of 4x6 poles.
Bracing at all corners. This is what gives a metal sided building it’s rigidity (ability to resist horizontal wind loads)
Divert runoff water around building pad so soil does not soften soil the poles are in,
“hurricane” tie down straps on all roof trusses.
Strap down all headers
Nails, nails, nails. This is the cheapest form on insurance but skimped on often.

I have only spoken with two local pole building co’s but they seem to be up on what is required to make a building stand for a good long time. Good luck with the project.

…Derek

 

[PineRidge]

Really don't think there's going to be any issues building the barn, it can be done.

But unless you tighten it up some you are going to have a bear of a time heating it though, especially a barn that large.