Perma-Column for pole barn?

Butch(OH)

Well-known Member
Not tools but many experts here.
I am having a pole barn built and one of the suggested upgrades was what the builder called "no wood below grade" construction. He uses a system developed by Perma-Column. Obviously (I think?) better over the long run than simply sinking poles in the ground but also more money. Anyone used it? Value? The is not going to be a shop w/concrete floors but a farm barn with dirt floor for machinery storage. Thanks in advance.
Perma Column
 
Sounds like a GREAT idea !! I have some 35 yr. old pole buildings that now have the poles rotting off. Concrete pads like that look to be a better answer from the start.
 
Like the sturdy- wall better then the column. But depends what type soil you are building it on. We just put the poles in the ground , but we have sandy soil here and the poles are for ground contact and are 12x12s. Been thru couple of small hurricanes with no damage. Hope it stays up for a long time as Not getting any younger to be able to replace. Never been unhappy about spending the money for ours, Its was well worth it and wish I had another.
 
We used Perma columns on a loafing shed /composting barn I helped build 6 years ago. I would do it again seeing the abuse they have taken over that time. Good product!
Andy
 
Built in 2008, no complaints so far.
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I would use them if the cost is not too high. ANY post in the ground will eventually rot. It just depends on how long it takes to do it. The better posts may last 50 years but if they are in the ground they will eventually rot. Cheaper post may not last 15 years.

The cost to repair down the road is HIGH. Also if your sire gets much wind I have seen sheds/barn blown over after the post rot just below the ground level.

Look at RR ties. They are the heaviest treated thing around and they rot laying in gravel. I know they are usually some junk timber but it still proves the point.
 
A whole lot of buildings put up in the 80s are rotting off 5-8 inches below the surface around here.

I think the permacolumns are a good idea.

That said, I used the standard laminated treated wood on my shed the builder offered a couple years ago. We will see if I regret that in a decade or 2.

Its a cost vs benefit deal we all have to face.

Paul
 
Understood, I am ,,,, uh, getting up there in years and the kids will likely end up up with it after my departure but long before the poles rot. I think that 80's treated wood was superior to that EPA approved stuff we buy today also? only similarity is they still put green dye in the tank.
 
Its just a different material, before 2003, it was Copper Chromated Arsenate, C.C.A. .40 or the .60 (40 year and 60 year respectively). ACQ and the other treatment, may not be ground contact, but C.C.A. is and you can order or obtain it for AG purposes. C.C.A. was in use for years and was fine til fools made picnic tables with it or used it for the kitchen counter or something, LOL. I used to handle trailer loads of it fresh from the treatment plant, lot of fresh material, crystallization, so I used gloves. Enviro whackos must have helped push C.C.A. aside with the EPA.
 
What I would like to know, is the best way of dealing with the rotted off pole. Do you try to put in a Perma-Column below it, or are there other ways to fix it?
 
I used perma columns in a new equipment shed. I am happy with the decision after about four years. For anyone that lives near the coasts, you can find marine pilings that have a very strong treating solution. They should hold up far better than the weak CCA treated poles available from lumber yards.
 

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