Pole Barn Construction tips / heating?

djradz · Feb 21, 2003

My 30x40 barn is all 4x6 posts. My dad's, same size, has 6x6 in the corners and 4x6 around. I like the idea of the 6x6 corners and wish I'd have done the same.

cowboydoc · Feb 21, 2003

Personally if it was me I would insist on 6x6 or laminated columns.

Slippy · Feb 21, 2003

Yeap. Great advice. But...no building codes, I'm building in the middle of 500 acres. No inspections, nothing. Only thing you have to do is if you put in water, it has to be checked by the dept. of health. So, I'm on my own to do as I see fit. By the way, why 6x6 in corner djradz?

gerard · Feb 21, 2003

Corners are what take the most stress, tie everything together, and give the structure rigidity. 6x6 corners are a good idea and more important than using 6x6 in the line posts.

normde2001 · Feb 23, 2003

If you are not going to have electric for a while, I would go with kerosene heaters. You can get 10,000 btu unvented or up to 40,000 or more vented. It's inexpensive and relatively painless to stock fuel if you can rig a 55 gal drum for gravity feed. We heat a 600 sq/ft. garage apt. in Ga with 2 10,000 btu heaters. Do a search on "kerosene space heaters" for more info.

nicklan · Feb 23, 2003

djradz,
My 30x56 shop has 4x6 posts with 6x6 posts in the corner. This barn has 12' sidewalls. My 40x48 barn (13' sidewalls) has 6x6 all the way around. My builder says it has more to do with sidewall height than anything else.

Nick

mrcaptainbob · Feb 23, 2003

Anything you can do to increase the wall insulation to 6"? That and maximizing the ceiling insulation (at least an r-36 I think is 'about' what's recommended) would go a long way in minimizing the heating/cooling loads. Don't quote me on this stuff. I'm going from 'memory' here. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Anonymous Poster · Feb 24, 2003

We put 6X6 posts in the corners because it makes insulation and finishing of the walls much easier. That way, you have a 6" section all the way around. Some people don't like paying the difference, but after some explanation they like the idea. Also, before you put your siding on, stud the walls with 2X6 on 2' centers. It is very easy before the siding because you can backnail thru your perlins. With a nailgun this only takes an hour or so and makes finishing the inside a breeze. This will make insulating easy and really strengthen your building. Leave a 1" gap at the bottom so the floor can come and go with possible frost-heave.

SteveBenson · Mar 1, 2003

Slippy,

I used the 1/2" TUFF-R (R-4) insulation on my roof to prevent condensation. Performance wise it's working fine. We have had no condensation problems in our horse stable. It is unheated so this reduces condensation problems, but the horses introduce a lot of moisture so that increases the problem. We also fire up the kerosene rocket in the winter for our own comfort and that greatly increases condensation problems. But no problems at all with condensation.

Those are the pros, now for the cons. I would not use the TUFF-R (or any other kind of insulation board) again. The big minus on using foam board insulation between the siding and purlins/girts is that the foam board tends to compress when you screw (or nail) the siding down. It is impossible to keep this from happening. The result is your siding will have a slightly wrinkled appearance. I didn’t insulate my side walls and they are flat as a pancake, but the roof has that wrinkled appearance. I’m probably the only one that ever notices it, but it drives me crazy.

I built our barn (about the same size as yours) about 3 years ago. I would strongly agree with the following suggestions that the others have made:
1) Use screws for metal siding
2) Use laminated 6x6 posts with .8 CCA PT bottoms
3) Getting the poles exact will save you a lot of time and aggravation
4) Set posts below frostline

Some other personal suggestions:
1) Backfill posts with stonedust and tamp as much as you can
2) If you are using dimension lumber, secure all girts, pulins, trusses with 20D pole barn nails spaced about 2” apart. Longer nails are used for purlins if you are nailing them thru the thicker way. This is the correct fastener for 2” dimensional lumber. Using the correct fastener in post frame construction is extremely important as these structures should have a certain amount of flex when subject to wind loads. Pole barn nails are ring shanked (so they should never back out) and are case hardened (so they aren’t easily bent or sheared).
3) Look into using strap bracing for lateral (shear) bracing. I’ve never used it but have seen it used in some newer pole barns. Basically it’s a heavy gauge 1” galvanized strap that is placed in large Xs over the sidewalls and roof. It seems like this would provide an extremely cheap and strong bracing system.
4) Use 2 courses of TG 2x6 PT skirt boards.
5) Make sure you floor is at least 8” above the surrounding grade.

-Steve

Slippy · Mar 1, 2003

Steve:
All sounds like solid advice. Although, I have seen other pole barns with the Tuff R on the sides and ceiling and don't see the waive your talking about. What guage metal did you use on your barn? Mine will be 29. And do you advocate using 6x6 all the way around or just on the corners? Also, did you use nail guns or hammers? If nail guns, what type do you need for these nails. I did get screws for the metal.