Pole Barn girts

   / Pole Barn girts #1  

Zola

New member
Joined
Aug 29, 2010
Messages
2
Location
West Virginia
Hi, new member here, longtime lurker.

We would like to build ourselves a nice pole barn house (I love the look of barns, and the gambrel roof gives us space for bedrooms)

I'm at the research stage, I have a couple of books, I've looked at a bunch of the posts here about pole barns, and I've checked out some of the stuff on the web.

We're planning a size of 24' x 32', and this is where my question comes in.

In the book, it shows the main girts as being an unbroken length of lumber. I highly doubt I can get lumber that's 2 x 12 x 32, so obviously I'll have to splice.

I made a quick diagram of the two possible methods of splicing that come to mind. The first butts the ends together on a pole and each is held by a carriage bolt.

The second splices the boards somewhere in-between the poles, using metal connectors.

girts.jpg


Which method is better? We're planning on using class 7 utility poles spaced at 8' intervals (20' poles on the outside and 25' on a line in the center).
Strength is very important because we are sometimes subject to high winds/microbursts from thunderstorms, small tornadoes, heavy snow loads, and even a chance of a minor earthquake. I'd like the building to have the best chance of surviving any one of those if at all possible.
 
   / Pole Barn girts #2  
:welcome:
16' girts with splice on pole, but alternate splices on each run. For strength, put angle bracing in a few places to resist racking. Method two with splices in between poles is ok but again, at least 16' girts there as well. Not a lot of strength with fasteners at the ends of boards.
 
   / Pole Barn girts #3  
:welcome:
16' girts with splice on pole, but alternate splices on each run. For strength, put angle bracing in a few places to resist racking. Method two with splices in between poles is ok but again, at least 16' girts there as well. Not a lot of strength with fasteners at the ends of boards.

Good info from beenthere I agree totally:thumbsup:Dave
 
   / Pole Barn girts #4  
:welcome:
16' girts with splice on pole, but alternate splices on each run. For strength, put angle bracing in a few places to resist racking. Method two with splices in between poles is ok but again, at least 16' girts there as well. Not a lot of strength with fasteners at the ends of boards.

I agree also...And I don't think carriage bolts are needed either. Good structural screws will be fine.
 
   / Pole Barn girts
  • Thread Starter
#5  
I agree also...And I don't think carriage bolts are needed either. Good structural screws will be fine.

The carriage bolts are just for the main joist-supporting girts
 
   / Pole Barn girts #6  
The carriage bolts are just for the main joist-supporting girts

OK, but still overkill. Take a look at the Picasa link in my signature for the building I had built. I didn't do it all myself because I couldn't buy the materials for what they charged me-and they did it in 5 days!
 
   / Pole Barn girts #7  
I would turn the girts so that the 6" dimension of the 2x6 is horizontal. This will keep your wall thickness down and is easier to insulate using standard 6" batts.
 
   / Pole Barn girts #8  
I recommend the 16' long 2-span girts with the frames 8' apart.

Good Luck

Yooper Dave
 

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