The pole barns building construction style has been a part of classic american arcitecture for centuries and is a sought after design for many types of storage buildings and outbuilding solutions. Manufacturers of pole barns offer hundreds of designs, styles and colors to choose from... but what they really don't want you to know is that you can build your own pole barn for a fraction of the cost!
Most
pole barn kits utilize the simple construction technique of post and beam construction, which anyone can do on their own with a little basic carpentry experience. Don't have the expertise? Then hire a carpenter by the hour to help you plan and build your project. Simple pole building projects can be constructed over a weekend if you have pre-arranged all of your basic building materials and have several friends or family members available to help you with the heavy lifting. There are 3 basic steps to constructing your own pole barn:
STEP 1 - POLE BARNS PLANNING. You'll need to decide how big your pole building will need to be, and then adjust your overall measurements slightly to be a multiple of standard buidling material supply lengths. This design tip alone will save you hundreds of saw cuts and carpentry time. You'll also need to decide if your pole barn will require concrete slab foundation inside, or if a dirt floor is all you need. If you plan to construct your own pole barn we highly recommend you spend the $10 to purchase a decent pole barn plan - this will save you many headaches and dramatically speed up your construction time.
STEP 2 - POLE BUILDING SUPPLIES. All of the necessary supplies for a basic pole barn can be sourced from your local building supply store. You'll need some concrete mix for the post footings, and more if you decide to pour a concrete floor slab. You'll also need treated posts, your preferred siding material, 2 x 4's, nails, fasteners, and your preferred roofing material. To speed things up you can pre-order roof trusses, or buy gusset fasteners to build your own.
STEP 3 - RAISING THE BARN! Once the concrete has set in the footings you are ready to begin framing the post skeleton of your building plan. This is a very simple process that is simply repeated until all the post framing is completed. Once the frame is in place you can attach the outer siding to the frame. From there you can move to the roofing truss installation, roof framing and roof finishing. Popular choices for both siding and roofing are metal because its light, durable, cheap, and won't rot or rust over its lifetime.
There you have it! Within a weekend you can construct and raise your very own pole barn. For those of you that might need a little more direction or help we strongly suggest you follow a plan for building pole barns, or even consider ordering a pre-cut pole barn kit.
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S.A. Smith is a freelance writer, contributor, and editor of the
Pole Barns Kits information portal which reports on the latest
pole building construction news and developments in the wood and metal storage building industry.
