any pole barn experts on here ?
 

So this coming Tuesday we have the closing for our retirement house , it has everything except a shop building . It would appear that a pole barn is the best bang for the buck .
I would want to enclose the pole barn and here is my main question. It looks like the " strength " of the pole barn is setting the poles deep in the ground . Makes perfect sense . But I want a concrete floor , do you still go with poles in the ground with a concrete floor ? Or do you set the posts on the concrete after is is poured ?
If you go with the poles in the ground do you pour the concrete after it is built and pour the concrete floor around the poles ?
It is in Georgia so not much concern about frost heaving it's more about stability and longevity . I have also not ruled out a metal framed building . I'm thinking of 24 x 24 or 24 x 26 in size with 10 ' walls and enough overall height to house a 2 or 4 post lift . Buying the house has consumed a good chunk of my " play " money so looking for the best bang for the buck . Thanks in advance .

All the pole barns I've seen the floor was poured after the poles and roof were up.

Go over to Garage Journal. They have several threads on pole barns.

I had a pole horse barn built. Concrete is, as WD mentioned, poured last. 12 years in and it is still perfect.

I have also concreted the floors of the old tobacco barns on the farm without issues.

Glen is right, head over to Garage Journal: The pole barn content there will provide a complete picture of low end to high end pole barns.

We erected a pole barn (3) years ago. As mentioned, poured slab after. If you are doing a steel frame building, pour slab prior.

Just did one. Concrete last. Be sure to ask for power trowel finish. Like glass.


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We built a 60'x104' horse riding arena barn 4 years ago almost by ourselves (some help on the roofing). We don't have a concrete floor, but you set the poles in the same manner whether concrete is added or not. I rented a bobcat with an 18" auger bit, and dug 36 holes 48" deep along a plumb line. We then nailed 2'x6' "windstay" blocks onto all 4 side of the bottom of the 6'x6' posts, and set them into the ground with 3 bags of concrete/water/couple inches of dirt. The wind stays are in place to prevent a strong wind/tornado from sucking the smooth posts out of the ground. That barn is complete now, and strong as hell, along with being perfectly straight looking down the sides.

fify

On my 40x72 the structure was complete and then they came in and poured to floor to the level of the lower skirt board. I went 6" thick with 3/8 rebar in 24" square sections along with fiber reinforced concrete but I put some heavier equipment on my floor. When the used the power trowel I asked them to leave a slightly rougher surface for slip resistance. Part of my building isn't insulated and some condensation will form when the temperature changes.

On our barn, we did the foundation and attached the poles to the floor with metal brackets and 8 inch slag bolts. It is a Sand Creek Post and beam barn. You can google them for more details.

Previous replies are correctish. Poles provide stability of updraft in high winds and some lateral stability. The real stability comes from installation of gurts on the horizontal.

Floor after setting the posts for sure. If you use a metal skin I'd advise not pouring tight to the skin by either setting a 2x on edge or using expansion joint material

if your area is susceptible to termites, get the ground treated before pouring- lots cheaper
I have a 36 x 60 x 10, 10 foot will require strategic placement to use a lift
I wish I had gone 12 tall and had them continue roof another 10 foot off the side of building for parking stuff under shelter - like the car trailer, compressor....
I have vinyl wrapped r12 glass insulation - sprayed in is better

Am in south carolina, a 4 ton commercial carrier package unit will keep the humidity and temp ok to work in the dead of summer with a fan

A skylight in the center is handy but it does let uv in and will hurt anything uv susceptible

can never have enough outlets - have a few on ceiling beams for retractible drop lights in work area

even if not now - run good wire to where hvac might go
put a 220 outlet by the doors
and near where benches will be

I put a semi quiet fan with louvers in the peak opposite the roll up doors for nice days- very handy - don't let them sell you a barn fan - noisy! kind of wish I had gone with a belt driven

run 220 to where compressor will go - recommend put it outside

As for power, do what you can to use one power meter for your house. Months when I don't spend much time in it, I still have a 30-40 ish dollar payment just for the meter - it adds up.

I put usb board all the way around to protect the insulation, was going to go the whole 10 ft but have only put the 4 x8 sheets standing on end
When you have the purilans ran - horizontal 2 x 6's between poles - have one put with it's centerline 8 feet off the floor - I had to rip 6 1/2 inches off each sheet ( that was a pain) to be able to screw/nail to it and have enough room to catch the 2 x 6 when I do cover the top 2 feet

any water plumbing - have a layout before pour - put under the floor, run air pipe overhead, put a drain valve at each air bib

Kolo you make some good points . I have a Mitsubishi mini split in my current garage that I will be bringing with me to this home , it was 3K well spent but I want it in the new garage . I'm with you on the outlets , my current garage I put ceiling outlets in for drop lights . The new garage I will either put the compressor outside or build an interior closet for it to keep the noise down .

I would not have thought about termite treatment good tip . And yes my plan is to run just the house power meter , there is tons of available breaker spots in the existing box so feeding the garage should not be a problem . And I may have to consider 12 ' walls . Thanks for the advice .

I've built several, most pretty well by myself. My shop I built in 1996. Cost me less than $20K, for 1800sq/ft insulated and 100amp service, took me the whole summer of weekends.

This small pole barn is my attached garage, built it about 12 years ago.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads...1111562820.jpg

It looks like I am the dissenting voice here. Slab first, sill plate anchored around the border, then built like a conventional pole barn from there up. I have done both ways, but prefer slab first.

A guy out on the farm built one using H brackets out of pressure treated wood which was cemented into the ground. Then used trees cut on the property as the uprights. The bottoms on the trees were cut to fit the top of the H and then two bolts held them in place. He saved a bunch on the timber costs that way.