30x50 pole barn

[weinerdog]

I'm in the stages of planning to build a 30 x 50 pole barn. Have seen the replies to hepner's project 30x40 pole barn, but have a few more questions.

have seen a lot of concerns about pole rot, was wondering if anyone has used the post protectors. they are some type of plastic seelve that goes over the post before its put in the ground. had considered the cement posts with the u shaped brackets on top but worried if they would be as strong as a pole in the ground. we have a lot of wind here in kansas. another guy says he dips his posts in roofing tar, but am on well water don't want to take a chance on contaminating the well or worse one of my neighbors. My current plan is put a some dry concrete in the hole, put the post protector on the pole, back fill about 18 inches with rock then dry concrete the rest. The reason for the rock is there are two drain holes you can punch out in the bottom of the protector to drain any moisture that may get in them this is an optional drain may be better not to open the drains up. guess my question is does this sound like a good plan?

second question is I plan to put a cocrete floor in the building. Some buildings have put pressure treated lumber 2x6 around the bottom of the barn , poured the concrete and left the 2x6 in place. My concern is this would then be in contact with the ground. Also have seen where they pour the slab, then remove the forms, then start with the barn framing by raising the 2x6 up exposing the concrete. My question I guess would be should I worry about ground contact with the2x6 around the concrete? and is it done this way on purpose for building strength?

 

[Duffster]

I'm in the stages of planning to build a 30 x 50 pole barn. Have seen the replies to hepner's project 30x40 pole barn, but have a few more questions.

have seen a lot of concerns about pole rot, was wondering if anyone has used the post protectors. they are some type of plastic seelve that goes over the post before its put in the ground. had considered the cement posts with the u shaped brackets on top but worried if they would be as strong as a pole in the ground. we have a lot of wind here in kansas. another guy says he dips his posts in roofing tar, but am on well water don't want to take a chance on contaminating the well or worse one of my neighbors. My current plan is put a some dry concrete in the hole, put the post protector on the pole, back fill about 18 inches with rock then dry concrete the rest. The reason for the rock is there are two drain holes you can punch out in the bottom of the protector to drain any moisture that may get in them this is an optional drain may be better not to open the drains up. guess my question is does this sound like a good plan?

second question is I plan to put a cocrete floor in the building. Some buildings have put pressure treated lumber 2x6 around the bottom of the barn , poured the concrete and left the 2x6 in place. My concern is this would then be in contact with the ground. Also have seen where they pour the slab, then remove the forms, then start with the barn framing by raising the 2x6 up exposing the concrete. My question I guess would be should I worry about ground contact with the2x6 around the concrete? and is it done this way on purpose for building strength?

If you are going to pour concrete anyway, pour a floating slab and put the barn on top of it, that take care of all your wood to ground contact concerns.

 

[Cougar300]

I have a 30 x 50 built on top of the slab with poles anchored to the slab.
We've had a few good wind storms and one time the roof started to lift but the rest of the building didn't budge. That was a major storm had lots of trees down but the pole barn stood.

 

[wedge40]

Just a suggestion. The cost will be (almost) the same if you go 30x56. This gives a multiple of 8'.

Most poles today are manufactured for pole barns and the part that goes into the ground is special treated against rot.

Keep us posted of progress. Photos are always appreciated.


Wedge

 

[rmully]

Telephone poles do not rot ...find a few used ones

 

[hcallaway]

You can see the pole protectors on my link. They were worth the $1000 extra I was charged.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/157940-new-garage-pole-barn-40-a-7.html
If or when a pole needs to be replaced, what would that cost. They also keep the poles away from contact with concrete.

 

[crazyal]

There are two types of PT lumber, make sure you ise ground contact type. Secondly have you thought of renting an auger and drilling holes and putting the post in the hole filled with cement?

 

[weinerdog]

To hcallaway:

did you punch in the optional drain holes or opt to leave them sealed? thinking I'll take a chance leave them sealed, we have lots of termites and some years the water table can get pretty high, they'll be inside so should be okay.

Crazyal Yeh I just learned in my research what the little tag on the boards was for just ripped them off when I did my deck.. When I recently went to the lumber yard the guy says the new pressure treated lumber has a new rating system, alot different then the old stuff. seems like it is only .15 or less instead of .40 or .60.

rmully I considered the telephone poles they were changing some couple miles from the house but already had wacked them to short, but they looked like new when they were pulled out off the ground

 

[hcallaway]

did you punch in the optional drain holes or opt to leave them sealed? thinking I'll take a chance leave them sealed, we have lots of termites and some years the water table can get pretty high, they'll be inside so should be okay

I left them sealed. They have ribs that allow air movement so you don't have moisture trapped. They also have horizontal ribbing that helps with up lift (?) if there were high winds. They are very easy to trim after the concrete is in place with a utility knife. The material is very close to a bedliner for a truck.

This shows the lag and washer with the rubber gasket.

This shows how on this side of the exposed open shed I left them above the concrete.

On this side the top for one of the three protectors were cut flush with the concrete to match the other posts. This shows the far post before being trimmed.

The building inspector was reluctant when I told him what I was using until he did his inspections. I think they also may reduce concrete cracking on the corners. I don't have any issues anywhere in my barn to this point. The concrete has been down for several months at this point.

 

[mx842]

I know this is an old thread but I came across it yesterday and it got me to thinking. The storm we just had knocked one corner and a wall down on the pole barn I am building. My post that were knocked down didn't snap off the anchors that were screwed into the concrete footing pads were just ripped out of the concrete.

I had thought about using these post protectors also as I too worried about the post rotting off after time had taken it's toll. But now looking at these pics I'm glad I went with just attaching them to the footings with my home made connectors. I might be missing something though......but it looks to me like putting them in these protectors then screwing those anchor screws with the rubber washers into the post then covering them up with concrete would be a bad idea if you had luck like mine. How on earth would you ever change a post if something like what happened to me? Or if your wife gets mad at you and tries to run you over but misses and takes out half of your shed before she realizes she missed.

I hope something like this never happens to the op and probably once everything is up and all tied together with proper bracing the structure maybe would have been strong enough to keep the post from breaking off. I was just wondering what you have to do if something like this happened. I looks to me like you would have to rip up the concrete to get the screws out so you could pull out what is left.