On Sat, 28 Oct 2006 12:32:08 +0100, bigegg
wrote:

Jim Behning wrote:
Building my pole barn was not as bad as it was in the
summer but I was outside.
http://www.brookridgemorgans.com/ourpolebarn.htm

nice shed. - would make an adequate sized workshop I think (but would
probably *still* be too small) - shame you need to put horses in it :.D


seriously - you mention 16 ft and 20ft poles. - do the 16fts go around
the outside, then there's two rows of 20ft poles down each side of a
central aisle? Is the spacing of the 20 foot poles same as the 16 foot?
What distance apart?
I guess the rafters were on 16" centres?

I can't speak for Jim's, but most pole sheds have poles 10' on center.
With the freestall style he's got, the center poles are at the same
frequency, and the rafters go from the outside poles to the center
ones, and are tied together in the center with a metal strap or cactus
plate. Then, there are purlins that either nail to the top or sit in
saddles between the rafters at about 34", though that spacing is
different on every building. If you use trusses, it works the same
way, except that they have purlins on the bottom as well (about every
8') and X bracing in the first bay. The truss style ones usually have
knee bracing in the upper corner to keep the truss square to the pole
as well.

On the walls, girts are nailed to the outside of the poles about every
34", again, this is different on every building.

The roof panels are attached to the purlins, the wall panels are
attached to the girts. Windows and doors have a light rough-in,
without traditional headers and are installed after the outside
panels- and are held in place on the bottom with J-trim.

It's a fast way of building, and works okay, but it is much lighter
than a standard stick-framed building, and the standard construction
methods you'd find in (for example) a regular house are more or less
tossed out the window. The steel (or plywood) provides most of the
strength of the building- until that's on, you can twist the whole
thing with a steel cable and a come-along.

They're really good if you want high side walls and need to save some
money, or you don't want to have a foundation or need a floor. But
generally speaking, they're not as robust as regular construction.
They are good options for shops and industrial buildings as well as
barns, and not too tough for a guy to put up in a weekend or two with
a couple of helpers and some scaffolding.

I've worked the numbers several times, and at least in my area, if you
can get a foundation or slab poured cheaply, it's less expensive to
stick frame- unless you want a very large building. If you want a 80'
x 150' shop, a pole shed is the way to go. If you want one 20' x 30',
it's better to stick frame it.