Your thoughts on Pole Barn general construction and kits

[Wa11banger]

Breadtrk,
Interesting idea and I did think of using them at one time but as I looked at them in my neighborhood they seemed to all tapered in diameter as they went up. I thought that might complicate walling them up later. Does anyone have any experience compensating for the taper in the telephone poles?

 

[breadtrk]

We do ours with rough sawn lumber for the purlins. Have them cut varying thicknesses. It's a barn,
This works for a pole barn to store equipment and hay, it doesn't look like a house. We use rough sawn Cedar for the siding and don't finish the insides.

Horse barns and other structures that require finishing are a whole different story, most of those use expensive dimensional lumber.

 

[GPintheMitten]

When I built my first pole barn in 1970, I got a publication from Michigan State University Extension service. It looked like it was published in the 50's.

They showed using round poles, maybe telephone poles.

If I recall correctly, they said to set them plumb on the outside. Or maybe I was thinking that would be the way to do it. Hard to remember 44 years ago.

 

[breadtrk]

That still works. In Middle Tennessee it does anyway, maybe not in other parts of the country.

 

[jclaudii]

When I built my first pole barn in 1970, I got a publication from Michigan State University Extension service. It looked like it was published in the 50's.

They showed using round poles, maybe telephone poles.

If I recall correctly, they said to set them plumb on the outside. Or maybe I was thinking that would be the way to do it. Hard to remember 44 years ago.

Look at extension office websites from various states. Just goggle it. They have plans and such for almost any type of outbuilding and truss you can think of for free. Also check out farmhandscompanion OK n yourube, he built a very old fashioned pole building. Another advantage of having a cement footer for your pole to sit on is you can always cheat some and move your pole in our out a bit. Most just shave a bit off up at the top.