Pole Barn vs Metal Barn....pros and cons?

[AlanB]

Oh, one other one you may want to consider, at least it made great sense for a buddy of mine and is somewhat appealing to me as well.

There is a place in Shelbyville TN that makes a truss to use on a pole barn.

It is a steel truss that holds a 2X8 I think his are for the purlins, they are held "upright" for lack of a better term.

What that did for him (probably not an issue for you if you are at 16' eaves) is that it gave him 12' wide bays with no truss up there.

As he was putting in a car lift, that was important as the lift sits in a "bay" between two trusses.

Probably not something that will make a big difference for you, but for me, it is something to consider.

Another factor to consider in, if you think you may add doors etc later on, sometimes that is easier with a pole barn, particularly if the bracing wires are in the way on your steel building.

For it to be "right" it is far better, cheaper easier on a steel building too design all doors, openings etc from the start, rather then after it is built.

 

[SnowRidge]

I have a metal sided pole building with a concrete floor for my shop. It was here when we bought the place. We also have a dirt floored pole barn. After living with both, and especially with the new PT lumber rules, I like Eddies suggestion that if it is going to have a concrete floor, you might as well use conventional framing. We are eventually going to build on some new property that we acquired. I'm not sure exactly what I going to build (or have built) for my shop, but I don't think it will be a pole building.

When I lived in Florida, I talked extensively with a good contractor about putting up a shop building. The one thing that really struck me was his comment that except for really small buildings, he could build in either conventional framing, metal framing, or concrete block for about the same price.

I never did build, but moved away instead. My neighbor down there had his shop built using concrete block. He painted the walls white and had the ceiling sheetrocked and painted. It was one of the brightest shops I have ever seen.

My own shop here has translucent corrugated fiberglass panels in four places in the roof. They just replace the metal roofing in those spots. They really brighten the shop up. I rarely have to turn the lights on, especially on sunny days. I have had no trouble with leaks because of them.

FWIW.

 

[tallyho8]

Alan, I can't answer your question but landscape logs will do about 5 years and they are made to go on the ground? I don't think I would put wood in the ground to support a building. Jim

I don't know if they treat landscape logs differently where you are than they do here, but the ones sold here at Home Depot have the light duty treatment which is rated for aboveground usage. The 4x4s, 6x6s, etc have the heavy duty treatment and last much longer.


One of the considerations in building a barn is whether it is going to be just one big room or have a lot of interior walls. In a metal building you must build all the interior walls but with a pole barn some of your walls are partially built already.

 

[2manyrocks]

In my opinion, landscaping timbers usually aren't treated enough to hold up for long. Telephone poles have so much treatment that they stay in the ground for decades. Pressure treated dimension lumber falls somewhere in between, but how long nails or or other metal will last in contact with the new pressure treated material remains to be seen.

The dimension lumber will cost more, but you don't have to deal with the taper of poles in putting up your building.

Another issue for DIY is whether you prefer working with a lot of smaller, lighter pieces of material or prefer to put up a few large, heavy posts. Another issue is digging footers for a concrete foundation versus digging holes for poles.

There are a few books on pole barn building available. You could probably find one at your local public library, etc.

 

[3RRL]

Building it yourself will really determine which one you choose.
IMHO, there are compromises to make depending on your skill, tools and help. If I had the skills and tools I would consider doing it myself too, but I don't. I opted for a metal building which is being built by my contractor....and an insulated metal building is what he suggested. They are doing a first class job of it too. Expensive? Yes, but I have nothing to compare it to.

As far as what Mr. Jimi said about the concrete, they used 7 trucks fully loaded with 9-1/2 yards each to pour my 6"+ slab and all the footings. Almost double what he's listed. Perhaps with a little more conservative footings it could have been 6 trucks? But still...

Here is a link to the barn part of my thread where they just did my slab. It starts on post #187 if that helps?
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/104037-3r-home-barn-project-5.html

 

[Stand-up Dave]

One thing I have not heard discussed... is the conductive properties of steel vs. wood. I have an all metal building with 4 inches of vinyl backed insulation. All of those thousands of metal screws holding the skin on, bring the outside temperature THROUGH your insulation and delivers it to the metal structure on the inside.

The insulation provides a buffer and slows the process, but essentially the metal on the inside is trying to match temp with the metal on the outside. Having wooden girts and purlins would significantly reduce that effect.

I am finishing my metal building on the inside and find the metal structure on the inside more difficult to work with in terms of running wiring and plumbing. In order to insulate more efficiently, I have had to go back and build normal 'stick' walls with extra insulation in between the metal girts and the new 'stick' walls.

Also, with the metal I was able to have a second floor designed into the plans. In between the metal trussess, there are horizontal girders that accept 2x10s for my second floor. I just added on to this building and I decided to go pole-barn style. Instead of more second-floor space, I just made a bigger single floor garage.

IMO...someone else building and left unfinished...go all metal. If I was building and wanted to finish the building, I would go with the pole-barn.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

I believe that most telephone poles are figured to last 75 years. I'm sure that it depends on where your located though.

 

[blueriver]

go with the pole barn.

 

[texasjohn]

I had all the same questions. For me, I found a builder who would put up a Mueller building and gave me a good price so I went with that. I like to do things myself, but just didn't have the equipment and muscle power to do this one myself. Concrete slab, very glad I did, I have everything on casters.. makes rearrangement a snap. 40X60 building.

 

[EddieWalker]

Reading the replies, something esle comes to mind. The metal building will have a solid arch for a truss, which gives you allot more space for working on projects. Wood trusses, both pole barn and conventional framing will most likely have a flat bottom to them. You can always do a fancier, more expensive truss to get more space, but it's really not practical.

Life of wood in the ground for a pole barn is going to be longer then most other woods because it's sheltered from the elements. If you have good drainage away from the building, then almost no moisture will come into contact with the posts. This should greatly extend the life of the posts, but how long is still a guess.

I tore down a barn a few years ago that was built during WWII with the posts still in good shape. The wood trusses had failed was why I tore it down.

Eddie