We're planning for a new barn this fall, approximately 60 feet long by 36 feet wide, two-story, gambrel roof. I met with the lumber company architect/draftsman the other day, and he's working on our first drawings now. I had envisioned a block foundation, wood sided barn, but the architect seems to think that a pole building is the way to go. He insists that the durability is as good as stick built, plus way less maintenance (painting, etc.), quicker & easier to build, and less expensive. The building will house all our animals (geese to horses) and we'll store hay upstairs. In a few years, we hope to convert the upstairs to living space for ourselves. I'd like to hear your opinions on this.

-- Shannon at Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary (gratacres@aol.com), September 09, 2001

Answers

My wife and I built a steel frame pole type building. It was EASY to set up (60 by 30- 22 ft peak) even with just 2 people and the help of a backhoe. Scaffolding helps alot, too. It was guarenteed to with stand 100 mph winds.

-- Kevin and Yvetta in NC (vettsvet@AOL.com), September 09, 2001.

Make sure the architect realizes that converting the second storey is your intention. There may be changes in the design which could make the conversion easier down the road. As one poster mentioned, those steel structures are very durable, easy/quick to assemble, most look great and are very affordable.

-- Yup (Yup@nospam.com), September 09, 2001.

Kevin and Yvetta,

How did you get started on your barn. Did you purchase a kit, or did you hire it done professionally?

-- Rick#7 (rick7@postmark.net), September 10, 2001.

For what it's worth, pole (sometimes called "post") buildings and steel buildings are not necessarily synonymous. While pole/post buildings use those as primary framing members, true steel buildings do not. True steel buildings use structural steel framing members. Steel buildings are substantially stronger and longer lasting than pole/post buildings, but, as is usually the case with better things, they cost more. For your intended uses, I'd go with pole/post contruction.

-- Gary in Indiana (gk6854@aol.com), September 12, 2001.

Hmm. I'm a bit confused, as here in Colorado, we were told when we applied for a building permit for our barn, that a "pole" building was one without a concrete or other permanent foundation, and did not require a permit, whereas the permanent foundation type does. Our builder suggested a pole barn also, and sunk the supporting 8x8 (or whatever they are) posts deeply into the ground and cemented them in. Are we talking about a different type of "pole" building? Thanks, Jan

-- Jan in CO (Janice12@aol.com), September 12, 2001.