Pole Barn Poles vs. Columns

Looking at building a 40X64X14 basic pole barn for equipment storage. Had a 10 year old barn at the old farm, built by Blunier Builders. We really liked it. Built with columns made from 3 nailed 2X6s. Treated portion was buried in the ground. Seemed to work good. 3 laminated boards also seem to work well to hold trusses directly on top (center column board is slightly shorter, providing a notch), for 8' centers. I noticed that Blunier now promotes a stainless steel pier/bracket, but still uses the laminated columns.

Now, looking to build a new barn in central Ohio. Local builders here do not seem to be such big fans of the laminated columns. And they like trusses on 4' centers. One thing I really liked about the 8' centers was that no header board is required, which enables a 2' clear panel to let light in.

Any comments out there on the pros and cons of treated 6X6 poles and laminated 2X6 columns? Also any thoughts on buried poles/columns vs. piers options?

Thanks, Steve

You could notch the poles if you like notches.

I have a 60X88X16 pole building put up 10 years ago. Trusses are on 8' centers which was the max spacing for snow loading here (east central Wisconsin). 50 year snow load warranty. 10 skylights which provide all kinds of light even on cloudy days. No need to be turning lights on during the daytime. Ventilation is key to prevent condensation and moisture buildup that would do a lot of damage to your equipment. If you don't ventilate properly, you might just as well let your equipment sit outside. Mine has a continuously vented ridge and 2 foot side overhangs with vented soffits. This allows air to enter through the vented soffits and exit through the vented ridge. By going with 16' high sides and doors I can get my combine in with the hopper doors extended. Also made door(s) wide enough to accommodate the grain header so I can just drive or back the combine in without changing anything. Which you might want to do, especially if it's going to rain or you have to do some work on it, or both. 16' high sides necessitated 3 laminated 8" side columns. 6" would be OK for 14' but not for 16'. I believe laminated poles are better for both strength and absorption of pressure treating. I will also add, much to the chagrin of some bone headed posters, that I have a black roof. It facilitates heating for faster air movement and snow melting. And no, It doesn't get too hot inside if the end doors are opened. It's so high that the floor area of the shed is whatever the outside temp is. Nothing rusts inside my shed. Period. I did not need a vapor barrier under 5" reinforced concrete floor (12" at entrances) because my shed sits on a dome shaped sandy hill which unfortunately limited the length to 88'. Big door on each end, no side doors. Can push 16' high doors open and closed with one finger.

I live in a high wind and wet area.

I do not like piers because it gives the post a place to break.
I like 2x6 laminate because the boards are treated better.
So I built my shed with 2x6 laminate treated to .8 cca post.

The 4 foot trusses allow the purlins to be laid flat rather than be put in on end.
IE: easy and faster to install.

Marysville,OH
My Lester building is 3 2x6s, 10' truss spacing.
Columns set on poured concrete at bottom of a 24" dia hole.

Seems like you might do a little more shopping.

The rumor I heard awhile ago the large building companies like Morton went to laminated because good straight 6x6s without splits are getting hard to find in large quantities. Another rumor is laminated will flex more than solid 6x6s before they break. Only rumor so take it for what it's worth.

a laminated 3-2x6 pole is not as strong as a 6x6 pole in the flat direction--and you have to be sure the fasteners do not rust or deteriorate
With concrete piers you don't have to worry as much about rot on the poles

Laminated columns are kind of rare here. I only know of one guy that has them but he as several. They hold up well and are much cheaper than 6x6. In his case they are about the only choice other than steel as his building are really tall. You only have to pay for treated lumber on the below grade portion. All the rest is normal lumber. And this builder used a very good grade. At least the two outer pieces look to be #1, so probably stronger overall than the average 6x.

The YP treated stuff tends to warp badly. Laminating pieces let the carpenter overcome that by alternating warps.

Graber post uses laminated 6x6 posts.

My termite guy wants to treat the holes before they backfill and wants to spray ground before I put down concrete floor.

I don't think I'll live long enough for my laminated post to fail.

My builder used the 2x6 laminated posts. Finger joints are glued and offset. We have 16' walls and there just were not solid wood posts long enough for the ends of the buildings and this was a problem on the sides also. There was also a problem getting good treatment to the center of 6x6 posts. 2x treated boards of good quality hold up a long time in the ground. The science in support of laminate was all sound. Results are great.

my 24x140' morton storage building is built with the laminated and treated 2x6's in the ground and dimensioned the rest of the way up, trusses on 10' centers. they said it was cheaper then treated all the way up.

Wnen I was still a builder the company that spected the building we put up supplied all glue lam posts, treated on the bottom 6ft, and micro-lams for the plates. All trusses 4ft on center. There were no crooked poles or plates to deal with. We also did conventional stud walls on Alaskan slabs for smaller buildings that were insulated.

I would definitely put in good termite barrier.

I did my house, no termites did not do garage, they were there within a year.

Yea-But, his termite will rust setting outside and the seat will soak up and get his butt all wet.
Loren

(quoted from post at 12:38:56 10/17/19) Looking at building a 40X64X14 basic pole barn for equipment storage. Had a 10 year old barn at the old farm, built by Blunier Builders. We really liked it. Built with columns made from 3 nailed 2X6s. Treated portion was buried in the ground. Seemed to work good. 3 laminated boards also seem to work well to hold trusses directly on top (center column board is slightly shorter, providing a notch), for 8' centers. I noticed that Blunier now promotes a stainless steel pier/bracket, but still uses the laminated columns.

Now, looking to build a new barn in central Ohio. Local builders here do not seem to be such big fans of the laminated columns. And they like trusses on 4' centers. One thing I really liked about the 8' centers was that no header board is required, which enables a 2' clear panel to let light in.

Any comments out there on the pros and cons of treated 6X6 poles and laminated 2X6 columns? Also any thoughts on buried poles/columns vs. piers options?

Thanks, Steve

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Give Graber Oak Flooring in Glenford, OH a call. 740-659-1480. They are associated with Graber Post in In that Geo-TH,In referenced. I am on their schedule for a 40x72x16 with perma columns under each post. On top of the perma colums are 3 ply 2x6 laminated posts and trusses 4' on center with a double 2x12 top header. They have 4 crews building for them and are currently scheduling 4 months out from the date of signing the contract.

Graber beat two other places I quoted by near $10K when comparing apples-to-apples (at least as much as possible). My father has been in a number of the buildings they have sold and put up and saw nothing about their work that looked to be short changed. Additionally, everyone locally I have spoken with familiar with their work all had good things to say about them. If you can visit their showroom, they have 3 fairly new pole buildings storing supplies that show their work.

https://www.grabersoakflooring.com/

In my experience there is no such thing as a solid post that is perfectly straight with no twist. When I put up my building, I had to chisel notches in a couple of posts so they didn't excessively bow the girts. Laminated posts are going to be pretty straight and should stay that way.

The truss spacing is irrelevant IF the building has been PROPERLY ENGINEERED to handle the snow load for your region. If the building hasn't been engineered but is rather cobbled together from stock components, then the more trusses the better. (My building has trusses 2' OC.)

My brother used to put up post frame buildings, and he liked to set the posts on piers as it allowed him to pour the floor before putting up the building.

Our 1983 pole building, now office, at work has the 6x6 posts starting to rot off at the ground. I just studded walls between on the concrete to hopefully fix that. So my last building I put up has the perma columns, concrete in the ground up to 3 2x6?s. I?m hoping when there?s some kind of problem with that one it?ll be someone else?s problem!

Here?s a way to look at it. Walk into an old barn. Some were built post and beam. Some were built laminated rafter. Granted the laminated served the horseshoe design better than posts, but there are plenty of laminated gambrel barns. If you have experience with laminated and laminated is available and cost effective go with it. Plenty of pole frame specific contractor in the Mn area use laminated posts. I tend to see local lumber suppliers still filling with solid post. I personally like the laminated idea, but have done both.

Termite not terramite!
Termites eat wood.
Terramite eats dirt.

Mark,
The amish build barns with trusses and posts on 9 ft.
My first barn has trusses on 2 ft. 30x40x10

Planning on another pole barn, 30x40x14 trusses on 4 ft, laminated posts on 8 ft.
I think it may be difficult finding 6x6 posts long enough to build taller pole barns.

I saw a video where the laminated posts were notched out to fit truss. That would be a nice way to secure truss.

do not know what you have for machinery but 14ft is way to short for the stuff today

A 6 x 6 pole will measure 5.5" x 5.5". Putting together 3 2 x 6 would give a 4.5" x 5.5" pole or an inch thinner for I would think less strength? I would think tjhat laminating things they would use 4 pieces and come up with a full 6" measurement instead of a 4.5" measurement. Do they some way make them come up to the 5.5 x 5.5 inch of a standard pole? If not what way do they turn the poles? Years ago used 4x 6 for poles. But door side was only 12' tall and a lot of rest was only 8' tall.