Who makes the best Pole Barn in your estimation?

[Muskrat Steve]

Hey gang, I thought I'd ask many of you who may own pole barns for your boat, camper and toys.
I'm looking to build a 32' x 40' in northern Wisconsin. I've heard from some guys that they go with 2x8" walls for snow load and insulation. And, I've heard several guys say they have doubled the plywood on the roof for strength. And they told me that medium size branches that might poke a hole in a typical steel+one sheet strand board, just bounce off a 2x plywood with no damage.

Thoughts or advice? One brand better than all others in your opinion. One brand stand by their product and work better?

Muskrat

[djcoop52]

Priced three brands when I built mine Morton, FBI, and Cleary. In my opinions Morton is the best but also the highest priced I went with FBI less money and a very close 2nd to Morton in my opinion. Mine is 42 by 64 no plywood typical pole barn 12 ft sidewalls trusses and 2xs between trusses. Lots of choices to make colors, fastners, type of poles, doors, windows, and heights which all affect price. FBI make a quality building erection is all about how good of a crew you get not all the crews are the same.

[man164]

Amish if they are available.......

[peter8]

Muskrat, I have a building I built in Mercer, Wi. It is definately in the snow belt. It has 2x4 walls 2' on center with 2x4 trusses 2' on center with 2x4's laying flat on top of them 2' on center. All covered with Menards 3' pole barn steel. This is the 30th year since I built it. No snow load collapse or branches have gone through it to date. Roof pitch is important and I would suggest going with a 6/12 pitch or more and you will not have any problem with snow sitting on it. Once the sun comes out it will slide off even at -30. I would use 2x6 on the walls next time. For the little extra they cost I feel it would be worth it both for structural and insulating value. Also color of roof is important. Light gray walls and dark grey roof and trim not only looks nice but promotes snow slide!! Good luck. Where are you building by the way? Pukall Lumber in Manitowish waters has excellent lumber. They have there own mill down in Woodruff. Prices are competitive....

[Pokey Fisherman]

I have had several Mortons built over the years and one hit with a small tornado. all the buildings on either side of it were destroyed and it was intact with some of the roof peeled back and one wall pushed in some. The contents survived with some light damage from flying debris. It had to be totally rebuilt since they said all the structural members could be compromised.

[Muskrat Steve]

Lots of good advice and previous experience as I suspected. djcoop, FBI is a new name to me and I'll look into them. I agree Cleary is expensive but their quality is why. Thanks Peter8 with sharing your confidence in 2x4's. Love Pukall's!

[TomP.]

What ever you build I would go with Starwood rafters they are a laminated truss, no places for birds to roost or build nests. I am looking at adding on 40 feet to my 60X120 14 foot side walls and all materials thru them was right at $10,000, minus door that was last falls prices.

[Kyle Posterick]

I think it depends on how you spec the building. A decent builder can make a really nice pole barn given the right materials are picked.

If you go into it and say "I want the cheapest x by x building you can make I bet you will get just that".

I have an old Morton and it is a decent building. My dad just had a PB built by a local crew and I was impressed by the construction. Another guy had a Lester built with laminated columns and that building is very nice. Also very expensive. My step father has a menards pole barn we built and that has held up fine for the last 20 years.

Make sure the building has eves and ridge venting, if you going to finish all or part of it make sure you tell the builder so provisions can be made for it.

I would recommend building up the area where its going to be build 2' to ensure water runs away from it. I would also recommend concrete piers to ensure no rot off. My poles are starting to rot and it has created significant issues which im not sure I will be able to overcome.

[FlyNorth]

I have had Morton airplane hangars and my friends have also. Mine was fully insulated. The insulated Morton is very efficient! I was very happy with it. I realize you can do cheaper but I just love the quality of the Morton as well as the quick build.

One thing to consider which ever building you decide to go with is double or triple one of the trusses for strength so you have a hoisting point. Have this engineered or have someone who knows what they are doing figure out the best way to do this. You may need to hoist an outboard motor or something out of your truck one day. This is one thing I would have done to my hangar but it was already built when I bought it. The ability to hoist an airplane in your own hangar sure makes changing from floats to wheels and back oh so nice.

If you put windows in your building for day light and not necessarily to see out consider Putting your windows up high for security reasons. Makes it harder for peeping eyes to see whats inside. Not really an issue for most but it is for some.

Snow rakes on the roof are a good thing to consider, this prevents the snow from sliding off in sheets which can be dangerous and also prevents heavy compacted snow from piling up and putting pressure pushing in on your walls.

I have found skylights or light panels are a pain for the benefit, they always seem to leak, I recommend against these.

Those are just a few thoughts off the top of my head.

FN

[Aspencreek]

The biggest problem you have is where you want to have it built. Had one built in northern WI several years ago and what should have been done in a week took 2 months and 2 separate contractors. But that's another story!!! Because it will probably never be inspected by the local building inspector make sure the trusses and roof system is designed for at least a 40lb live load, (most pole building guys design for 30, north of Wausau you should go 40 particularly if you are building north of Hwy 8) the truss mnf should be able to provide that design for you. Make sure the purlins are also spaced and sized for at least 40lb live load. Then my next suggestion is to make sure that before you sign the contract and put ANY money down, the contractor knows that the start date means start date, or reasonable, and they will stay on the job until completed, with rain/snow/wind days built in, and the final payment will be made at time of completion. Under no circumstances would I pay any more money than a modest downpayment, and then pay additional $$$ during construction. A good builder has the crew and equipment to put up a modest pole building in a week or less, if longer, move on. Do not let them start the project and then move to start another. Made that mistake!!

Your size, easy in a week. During the late 70's and early 80's I ran crews for a Pole Builder (Oxford Structures in Oxford WI) we would build one your size in 3 days, no concrete floor, we would build a 24x24 in 1.5 days. 6x6 poles 10'OC, 2 30lb trusses per pole, 2x6 24"oc between the truss purlins, and 30"OC 2x6 girts. I did an insurance inspection on a farm recently where we had put up one of the machine sheds over 40 yrs ago, that eave was still straight as a string, and that is because of the way we installed the posts.