Pole Barn-Adopting A project

   / Pole Barn-Adopting A project #1  

BSVLY

Silver Member
Joined
Sep 2, 2006
Messages
220
Location
Desert Southwest
Tractor
Kioti CK30 HST
New Member here.

It have found this a great site for good solid info on pole barns. I enjoy reading about the many projects posted here. I could sure use some thoughts on this adopted Pole Barn Project please.

We are in the process of buying a 21 acre property in rural central Nevada. On the property there is a pole barn that was started and then abandoned. Here are two images of the poles:

Poles Set into ground

Poles Set into ground

All the junk cars and sheds will be moved by the seller. The original owner worked for the local power company & started this P-Barn and has set the 12 treated Utility poles (3-rows) into the ground 5 feet deep (No cement). They are set like power poles get set. These are neatly arranged, straight and in true rows.

However, divorce forced the guy out and we are buying the place from his ex. So I have no clue how to proceed with the pole barn. We do desperately need a garage on the property. It looks like the P-Barn was designed to have two bays. Since the center 4-Poles are a lot taller than the outside rows, I assume that typical trusses were not going to be used. Some other form of structural bracing scheme must be at play in this design. None of the typical free span & truss P-Barns I have seen posted on this site look like this pole array. The neighbor says they typivcally build the walls and tip them up and then put the roof on last. That seems a bit different too. At least there is power right there!

I would really enjoy getting some ideas and thoughts on how to proceed with this P-Barn other than putting down a concrete slab. Any guesses on the amount of funds needed to get someone to close it in for us? How to approach the design aspects?

Thanks,
Rich
 
   / Pole Barn-Adopting A project #4  
Hi Rich and welcome to the forum. You do have a good head start on a pole barn and you still have a couple of options to consider before going any farther. It looks like the original plan was to attach a ridge beam to the center poles and then run conventional rafters to a beam attached to the exterior poles. That would be a good solid building that could be built with regular lumber. The draw back to that kind of construction is the center poles will be in the way as you use the interior space. You also have the option at this point to eliminate the center poles and have trusses made that will span from one outside beam to the other. That would give you a clear open interior when the building is completed.

Which ever roof framing system you use your desired finish material and local code will dictate how the remainder to the roof framing is done. For metal roofing, as seen on many pole barns, the rafters or trusses can be spaced as much as 8’ apart with 2x4 purlins attached perpendicular to the frame on 2’ centers. The mental roofing is then screwed or nailed to the purlins. If a shingled roof is what you want the rafters or trusses are placed closer together and sheathed with plywood to attach your roofing material to.

Both forms of construction are pretty common and there are many how to books on roof framing to look at out there. If where you are is subject to building permits it will be important to find out what the local requirements are for a pole barn. The building codes can very considerably from one local to another.

MarkV
 
   / Pole Barn-Adopting A project #5  
MarkV has it right.No trusses were to be used in this design.If you want an open center remove the center poles, they are taller and you will be able to use them to finish your perimeter walls then order trusses to span.You are ahead of the game right now.
 
   / Pole Barn-Adopting A project
  • Thread Starter
#6  
Thanks for the information on the construction style of the pole array MarkV and bones1-

This farm area has no codes and requires no permits. Most of the wise locals self-impose code restrictions on what they build to protect their investments.

A popular style of shelter in this area is the quonset. As far as I can tell, there are some pretty fierce sustained winds in the area from time to time and this building is in the wide open too. I would like to keep with the original design concept. Having two distinct bays" in the P-Barn will not be a hinderance to storing a Jeep, kayaks, a pram and a PU truck. I will throw a RU-door in each bay. Probably go with metal roof and metal siding.

Thanks for the input..

If anyone has any pointers to images/plans of this particular style of framing, that would be great.

Rich
 
   / Pole Barn-Adopting A project #7  
If it was me, I'd try to find four poles the same height of the tall ones, plus four feet and use them where the short poles are on one side. Then I'd put the short poles over the same distance from the tall poles on the oposite side.

Now you'd have four rows of poles. The outsided rows are the short ones, and the inside row are the tall ones. Then I'd build or buy trusses for the distance across the tall poles. Determine the pitch based on what it is from teh short ones to the tall ones and have your trusse's at the same pitch.

Then I'd put the truss's on. From them, I'd continue the roof on down to the lower poles to create one seamless roof from the peak to the lowest pole.

This will give you a very large opening in the middle of the building and then you'd also have bays on either side.

Eddie
 
   / Pole Barn-Adopting A project #8  
a standard flat bottom chord 1 piece truss isnt going to work for that.

but a sissors mono would work.

siss_mono.jpg


the advanage of this design is it keeps the span down so they are easy to handle by a home owner, and make use of your center poles. (again useing the same "beam" material you would use out on the outside walls)

You can contact a local fabracator for more options.

alternatly you could go with a reg mono with a tc bearing leg and perhaps squeeze some stoarge space in if designed right

(hint, omit the last section of BC, run the web up to the bearing and add a "floor joist" from side to side leaving you with an open center section)
 
   / Pole Barn-Adopting A project
  • Thread Starter
#9  
Eddie-Thanks for the suggestions. I want to stay with the original concept-and keep it as economical as possible. If we need more room, I will put up a steel building in addition to finishing the pole barn; in the future. The design you describe would be a great barn!

schmism -

Thanks very much for the scissor mono truss idea and image. There is a truss company 90 miles from this property (this is a remote location-so closest full-service town is Bishop, CA). I will inquire about the scissor mono truss-members there in Bishop.

Thanks for the input guys...

Rich
 
   / Pole Barn-Adopting A project #10  
I've built a couple of pole barns with clear spans and the open space is very nice to have, so consider that decision carefully.

However, with the center supports already in place, that opens the possibility of building up. A loft storage area is a far superior place to store hay (if animals are part of the plan) or other stuff that you might want to keep off the ground - even if just to avoid clutter.
 
 
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