Pole barns

[ALBALD1]

Pole barns seem to be economical & simpler to build, but what are the negatives to them? How long can you expect the poles to last? It seems like once the poles rot, the building is trash. I had a deck w/ treat 4x4s in the ground for 10 years & the person who bought the trailer pulled the poles out to reuse. They were like new. However, I think they would have to rot eventually. I see a lot of debate about using cement or not. Does anyone have any really old pole barns. How long can you reasonably expect them to last?

[jdc40]

I have two pole barns. One is about 30 years old and is still standing but the roof has partially collasped. The other is around 25 years old with metal siding and is in good shape. I not 100% sure but I think we used old utility poles which may be a little different than a treated pole.

[Pat]

ALBALD, A good way to use concrete to set poles is to bore a pier hole with a PHD (post hole digger not PhD) and set "j" bolts or prefab steel "sockets" to accept/bolt/clamp the bottom of the poles. This keeps the pole out of the dirt and above ground moisture and biological agents of destruction.

If your design requires the poles to be burried to resist their rotating/leaning then you need to fabricate the steel insert you put into the concrete similar to leg braces so the pole is held colinear to the pier and the pier acts as a rigid extension of the pole and or add triangulation to your design to eliminate the forces that would try to flex the pole-pier interface.

There are also plastic covers to place over poles and timbers that protect them from direct soil contact. I have seen them used but don't know how long they last and haven't researched them.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[QRTRHRS]

There was a builder local to me that claimed a patent on plastic sleeves for the posts. That company has since folded and I don't know of anyone else picking up on the sleeves. Sleeves may be similar to pouring concrete around the posts rather than just backfilling them with on site materials. Some builders feel that the concrete holds moisture in and that the plastic would do the same. To my knowledge, excess moisture can be detrimental to posts.

Number one, any post should always be treated to at least .60 retention rather than the .40 you pick up at Home Depot for instance. If you simply don't trust having wood in the ground, there are other alternatives still using pole construction albeit, slightly more expensive.

Every building method has pluses and minuses. Pole construction is quick, should last at least a reasonable time without major maintanence and is easily added to or simply removed should your needs change.

[harleymsn]

Well, I don't know if it was a local builder or not, but Plasti-Sleeve Co. was founded in Pa about 5 years ago. If gone out of business means they sold the company to an outfit in Mn for big bucks then your right.
There are actually at least 3 or 4 companies that produce them now and several pole barn companies offer them.

[ALBALD1]

I thought of something else too. The poles are going to rot below ground level. I guess everything above ground would be good for as long as any other type of building. With the weight of the building, I wouldn't think anything could move it, so it wouldn't really matter if the inground part rotted. It just wouldn't be attached to the ground. Does that make sense?

[MotorSeven]

Try using used power poles. Most local power Co's will give away their old poles. Even better, if you see a road that they are replacing poles, ask if you can pick them up on site. That way they don't have to hump 'em back to the yard.
A barn built with them will most likely out last you!

RD

[CJDave]

[img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] I was in a fairly new pole barn last summer which was built with triple 2 X 12's as the posts. They stuck some specially treated 2 X 12's in the ground and the two outside ones were slightly shorter so the middle one was like a tongue sticking up, and the above ground poles were set just the opposite so they fitted together and were attached with multiple screws. By doing it that way, they could treat more effectively and the laminated lumber was straighter and easier to use that poles. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

[QRTRHRS]

Glulams! Using PT SYP (pressure treated southern yellow pine) for below grade and SYP above, the 2x... are splined jointed and glued together under heat and pressure. Glulams not only become cost effective as post length and/or size increase but resist warping and spliting far better than solid posts do.

[twstanley]

Most of the time when poles or fence posts rot, it is right at ground level where both moisture, air, and dirt can get to the wood.

I have had multiple fence posts I've had to replace that were rotted in two at the ground level, but perfectly fine a foot underground. So it seems to me to make a post last the trick is to protect the post at the point it enters the ground if at possible. Tall tubes filled with concrete, these plastic sleeves, etc. The most important thing on a pole barn since the poles are INSIDE the structure is to prevent moisture from getting to the poles as much as possible. There is a pole barn on this property that looks to be 30 years old and the poles on it are perfectly intact right at the ground level. They are inside the siding of course, the siding goes clear down and into the ground a few inches ( old style corrugated steel ) and dirt is built up around the barn to prevent water incursion at ground level.