Pole Barn Post Longevity

[gerard]

Try postprotector.com. Saw them at a home show and spoke to the inventor. He was a contractor with the same concerns as you and he designed some high density plastic post covers that slip over the posts and come out above grade so the post will never contact the ground. Seemed like a rgeat idea and I'd do it in a heartbeat if I were doing pole construction. Not real cheap, think maybe $40 per post but still minimal in the overall cost........

 

[gerard]

try this link

post protector

 

[kevincook]

Those look interesting, but I would think that if you put screws through the plastic into the post that they would eventually leak water inside.

I like the permacolumn.com product mentioned above and the price doesn't seem that much more than these.

Kevin

 

[gerard]

I asked about the leaking issue. Dealer said you don't have to put in any lag bolts if thats a concern but if you DO want to use lag bolts the plastic is soft enough that when you crank them down they self seal against the plastic. If you REALLY wanted to go overkill you could use some neoprene or rubber as a gasket but I don't see where you would have to use any lags at all unless you were really concerned about uplift forces. (Most posts just go in the ground and are held in palce by gravity anyway)

 

[SPIKER]

Not sure how old you are, but the .40CCA will last longer than most of us will that is here on the board today. I belive that most of the beam/post treatment places provides a 50 yr no rot warranty on their stuff... my barn (still working on it as I lost wages bad and can't afford to keep putting $ into it and live in isde the hosue at same time!) can be seen here it is 38 x 50 2 story, all fabricated, (no trusses or fab beams) and has a 10' open sides porch down the 50' side. inside is 12' down stairs and 10'6" upstairs. upstairs is all free span, but now has interior wall partisions in there.

http://www.bright.net/~ispike/home2

anyhow it is 6x6 beams 3~4' in dirt, setting on 12" dia round pre fab concrete post peirs that were about 10" thick. 6x6 just drops onto concrete pad. then back filled around them. concrete floor will be poured next year as $ flow stopped too long this year. the gambrel roof is what I was after in my barn but put my 2nd floor woodworking space a bit higher than i wanted, down stairs shop space is what i wanted but will be oosing a lot as i decided to raise slab above grade by about 3" at the HIGH side which put me putting in about 36" of fill at the LOW side.

Mark M /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[accordionman]

SIR,
i had a WICK building put up in 1985. it is guaranteed for 30
years. i expect it to last much longer.
accordionman
wlbrown
wright city, mo.

 

[JLoaf]

I'm an engineer and I do a lot of work for a custom glulam manufacturer. For embeded columns or "poles" we use 0.6 pentachloryphenol (I can say it but I'm not sure I can spell it) for ground contact. We also embed the posts in a concrete shaft.