Ok, I previously posted that I was going to build a detached garage, got a lot of good input at the time..

I havent done anything yet, still collecting estimates, etc..I am staggering from the price quotes!

40widex32deepx12 high ceilings, with 2nd floor room 40wx16 deep, inside stairs..Pole barn prices range from 32k(no concrete) to 65k with concrete! A couple builders I spoke with seem uninterested in quoting. If I DIY, materials are $22k, but I really dont have time to invest in building all of it myself, I figure finishing it off will be enough work for me right now.

Anyone out there that has a pole barn: Are you happy with it? My main concern is the lack of foundation and the wood in contact with the soil..but they say they are 30 year guarantee on the poles..I have no experience with these things, but I can probably get away cheapest if I go this route. Anyone have an "old" pole barn? How's it holding up?

I guess my main question is: would you guys go pole barn (cheaper) or pay the $$ and do foundation and stick frame/truss roof??

We recently relocated and the new place has a 24' x 48' pole barn, half enclosed with a pitched shingle roof. I think it was built in '73 when the house was built. Upright "poles" are treated and look like telephone poles, about 10'' in diameter. The poles go right into the ground. It seems to be very sturdy and withstood several hurricanes last year. Currently it's set up for horses, has a concrete floor down the middle and dirt floor in the stalls. May get converted to a shop or a guest house. I'm looking at metal industrial buildings for shop space when we recover financially from moving.

Pole barns are often as the man said, actual poles, like trees or telephone poles.

We sometimes refer to pole barns when I believe we mean "post and beam" construction. That is usually implemented with dimensional lumber.

The construction style basically means the walls don't carry the load of the roof/2nd floor, the poles do. The walls just keep the wind out :)

Pole barns are considerably cheaper to build and are supposed to go up faster. They are supposed to be easier to build, also. Regardless I would go with a pole barn construction for something that size because a "stick build" would almost certainly be way to much $$$. A MAJOR cost savings with the pole barn is the lack of a foundation.

As to longevity, most farmers barns are pole barns/post and beam. That includes the hundred year old barns with the wood that's turned black/grey that are still standing. Keep in mind the older barns were probably erected by local farmers, and while strong may not have been build with the poles 4 ft in the ground with concrete, etc, which may be why they warp after 60 or 70 yrs :). I would think if you have it built right with the most up-to-date materials and techniques it will outlast you!

Pole barn is the way I will be going. Someday in the distant future when I can spare 25k or so. I will be doing everything myself just to make it affordable. The metal buildings are faster and I think cheaper but I don't like the looks of most of them. We'll see.

When I built my house, 6 years ago I also built a detached garage, I believe it's 32x20 with 16' door concrete frostwalls and 5" reinforced slab I even oversized the attached garage, 2 bay, 27'wideX30' deep with 10' doors, and you know what ,I'm out of space, and I thought I was good for life ,the "toys " (as my wife puts it) add up. I would recomend the concrete with the stick framing,I believe you can do a much better job finishing and weatherproofing for your needs, very important in the northeast, also if you go with steel beams you can either eliminate or at least cut down the amount of columns youll need, we all know what those can do to car doors and useable space. Remember if you can, build it bigger than you need now because later you will wish you had and it costs much more to add later than during initial construction.I was going to say if you need to keep cost down maybe eliminate the room above,but my wife is telling me if I keep bringing things home that have motors that i'll be sleeping in the garage with them, so that room would be nice to have.

Thanks AC, I feel like I saw that ad somewhere too! Not too shabby for a C'girl fan!! Man I thought a 40' wide building was big, this thing would be absolutely huge!

I was talking to my dad about the same points you mentioned, regarding poles..he was a PSE&G guy for 37 years in T&D, knows a few things about those old poles, which is what we were talking about...I guess it would be ok, I sure do see a lot of old old barns around the SE Pa./South Jersey area. I'd love to have it all stick built, but I just can't get past the costs involved right now.

Thanks to all for the feedback so far. Just trying to make best decision, its always helpful to get some other opinions.

I've got a 30' x 120' storage building down here at the yard - pole construction. Been up for 20 years now, no issues at all. Used 6 x 6 PT lumber for the poles. Where they have found the problems was encasing the poles in concrete would shorten the life cycle due to moisture retention in the concrete. Trend is too set the pole in a hole dug to below frost level. Install either concrete or a even use a bag of ready mix gravel mix in the hole - without any water added. Setting it this way allows the moisture to drain away and extends the life of the poles - almost indefinitely.

If your cat wanders into your pole barn.......does that make him a polecat..???

(smiley face here)
ktownkid

I have a 45' x 55' pole building that is attached to my 48' x 24' shop. The pole building was erected in mid-70's and poles still look like new. My shop is a 1940's era pole building that was enclosed years ago. It is starting to show it's age. The poles were much smaller and are starting to rot (not treated like the new building). However, even so it lasted 60 years and probably has another 10 or 20 left! Eventually my plan is to convert the big building into my shop.

GRN69CHV, I'm not sure I understand what you are suggesting about the pole to increase the lifespan..you are saying concrete is bad but I don't think I understand your alternative. Can you rephrase it or something or I you what you mean? Thanks.

if i was you, i'd be making a decision as quickly as possiable, i'm hearing a lot of grumbling about the high costs of building supplies. well, i can tell you, they aren't going down anytime soon. i'm in plastics, and have buddies in lumber, and prices in some cases are going up daily. the hurricanes and floods have caused a drastic trucking shortage, one of my routes went up $250 last week alone. don't be like me, i've passed a couple oppritunities this year, because i was too cheap, now prices are up, and i look to be a fool. by the way, a prefer a concete garage.

HIJACK:

What are the benifits/downfalls of a post and beam aka pole barn compared to a 2x4/2x6 stud frame building?

You won't use as many 2x# for a pole barn,right? but wouldn't you take up that savings in the cost of the poles? aslo wouldn't it be harder to insulate a pole barn because of no cavities in the walls? Also arn't pole barns normally sheeted with metal? also hard to heat.

Also any good workshop / garage has to have a concrete floor so does that make the pole barn just as much as the stick built?

I have a 40' x 50' with 18' to the bottom of the trusses. The floor is poured concrete. The only insulation is the 2" blanket that they put over the perlins before they hang the tin. It's bit to heat, but anything with 20 something feet to the peak is going to be hard to heat. My next plan is to frame in a 2 car garage, a quarter of the existing floor, with floor joists for a mezanine/storage above. The 2 car garage will be a lot easier to heat.

Cam

Funny, I have 3 books dedicated to pole barn construction...all 3 say in concrete. I'm not even sure the building code would allow you to set them without it.


Without concrete do you have to set them deeper? I can't imagine the bare earth giving enough support with only 4 ft in the ground, like you said, I picture them swaying, maybe even worse than the gravel. At least gravel falls in on itself to fill any gaps, but doesn't dirt just squeeze away until the pole is loose?

Again I am talking only shallow set poles, phone/hydro poles are set deeper than 4ft I imagine.

I would set the poles inside, I think it would be easier to close in the walls that way.

AC, yes you are correct, that's exactly what I meant.

PS - Philly is going to have the cheese steak advantage in the Monday Night Game. Already circulating on the net - here's the secret plan. All the die hard Philly Fans are going to go on a heavy diet of cheese steaks, sausage and kielbasa for 3 days prior to the game. By game day (night) they will be so loaded with gas that every time Dallas gets the ball, they will have a planned release of flatulance. The deafening roar as 70,000 fans fart at once will cause the Dallas Cowturds to loose concentration.

Roger! Thanks for the info.

My parents have a pole barn they estimate to be 50 years old in the foothills of the Olympic Mountains. I recently helped him fix it. 3 of the poles (telephone pole size) were rotten nearly through at the bottom. The metal corugated roof has been watertight, but the moisture has been wicking up from the underground stream that feeds the well. In winter if you dig you hit water at 1'. We waited until late summer and dug next to the old poles with the tracter post-hole digger, went down 4', put in new 8' posts made from freshly cut and debarked trees, and bolted through them and the old ones with 1/2" threaded rod. My point is under those conditions they still lasted 75 years.

One last note on the poles - at a minimum - dig bottum of hole to frost level -36" by code over here in Eastern Penna. - NJ is probably about the same.

And you need to consider frost protection if your pouring a floor as well ,if your not pouring a foundation youmay wan't to consider a haunched slab.


Not sure what all this Boys/Igles talk is about the SKINS are in1st!!!!

According to my buddy who sells/builds pole buildings: The poles are set on cured concrete in the hole and have to be inspected before the poles are set in place.. The concrete is not pured around the pole. I just helped him with his 48x48 and IIRC it was about 36k for the materials and concrete. That included 5 roll-up and one man door. I believe it was with 16 ft eves.
My shop is 40x32 and 2 stories with a storage area I can stand up in above that. It is insured for $50k replacement.The building was put up in 1993. It can be seen behind Old Blue in the pic below:

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/500/medium/jeffa.jpg

AC, what can I say other than you crack me up!

I have heard the same deal..that pouring concrete around poles is a rot problem waiting to happen.

I think most of the pole barn quotes I have say that the posts will be 6x6, in the ground 48", probably sitting on top of a prefab concrete disc at the bottom of the hole. Its good to hear that there some of you guys know of some really old ones out there..the more I hear, the more I am inclined to just bite the bullet and go for it.