Pole Barn Post Longevity

[bebster]

Scott,
The link didn't seem to work. Seems like you might be on to something. Can you please repost it? Thanks.

 

[slowzuki]

My sisters pole barn is about 25 years old built with untreated posts in topsoil/poorly drained soil. The spruce poles have about 3/4" of rot on them where the manure from the sheep that occupied the barn was piled.

Our back deck posts was pulled up at 20 years old, pressure treated posts. They were in wet sand all their life, I pulled them up in August and they were sopping wet but looked brand new!

Our front deck posts is pentoxed/creosoted hemlock and is now 25 years old with no signs of rot. The untreated decking lasted 20 years before it rotted out.

Ken

 

[BIGBLUETOY]

The correct address should be www.permacolumn.com
Sorry I had an extra s and a period at the end in my
previous reply.
Scott

 

[BIGBLUETOY]

The general manager from Perma Columns emailed me and the PC6400 sells for 57.35 ea picked up at Craigville, IN. Sounds like they will not arrange any trucking, he said that I would have to pick them up at their site, I live in upstate NY so that won't work. In my original email I asked him how much each one weighs but he did not give me that info so I emailed him back.
I will probably go with the 6x6 PT posts poked in the ground for my garage.

 

[bebster]

Looks to me like the Perma columns are the equivalent of poured concrete sonatubes below grade with the wooden posts attached to them above. They have a beefier tie-down bracket.

This technique makes a lot of sense, and will clearly last a long time, since there is no wood in contact with the ground (pressure treated or not).

Very similar to how decks are built in the north. Only a pole barn is an enclosed deck with a roof. I guess the tie-down needs to be adequate for the increased windage, and that's my only concern. So I looked at Simpson Strong-Tie components, and found some tie-downs that seem to do the job. Galvanized Post Bases

 

[dmccarty]

bebster,

I'm putting my 6x6 PT column on concrete piers. I'll use
Simpson Strong tie post bases to connect the 6x6 column to the
pier. It just seems better than putting the wood in the
ground.....

I have not gotten prices yet but I'm pretty sure that I'm going
to go with common wood trusses. They can span my 24 foot
width with ease so that I don't have to internal columns.

At least that is todays plan.

Later,
Dan

 

[Junkman]

Dan....... you are going to find that the Simpson Strong Ties are just a shade too small for the PT 6x6.. about a saw kerf on two adjoining sides will do it. I set mine by drilling a hole in the center of the pier after I had everything aligned and set a piece of threaded rod into the hole after pouring in some of the high strength fast setting cement. Tightened them down with a 1/2" ratchet and couldn't pull the threaded rod out, so I know that they are going to stay put.....

 

[bebster]

Dan,
What's the diameter of your piers? In NC you probably only have a 12" frost line, so I'm sure they don't have to be that deep. But I assume you'll want them wide enough to support the load on the post. With no interior posts, that's probably a decent load.

 

[dmccarty]

Bebster,

I'm thinking of putting in 12 inch diameters with a footer that is at least 28" square and 12 inches thick.

Why?

Well, 12 inches gives me some play to make sure the piers are
all inline and square.

I read somewhere that the footer should have 8" on each side
of the pier. I think that is overkill but what the heck.

The frost line in my area is supposed to be 6 inches.

I'm planning on digging about 24-32 inches deep. The pier
tubes are 4 feet so I'll cut them in half to get 2 feet. I want at
least 8 inches of the pier above grade. So I should be digging
a 28 inch deep hole.

Per an earlier TBN conversation I'm going to backfill with ABC.

I'll talk to the building inspector to see what he says. I'm still
waiting on info from the truss company. If I did my math
correctly, a big if sometimes, the loads really are not that bad
for the roof. Eventually one side of the barn will be a shop
that will be guilt on beams attached to the posts. That
requirement has made the loads a bit interesting on that side
of the barn...

Later,
Dan

 

[dmccarty]

Junkman,

Thanks for the tips.

Later,
Dan