Lets talk Post Frame/Pole Barns

Lets talk pole barns! I didn't see a thread about buildings so thought I'd start one. Don't worry about Hijacking this thread...lets talk about anything. I'll start out with this question. I'm finally going to have a post frame building built this year. Has anyone ever had any experience with Strat-O-Span ? Their pricing is good, looks like a decent building for the money. Even though they were founded in 1899...I'm having trouble finding ANY conversation regarding this company on line...good or bad?

The arbor is built using rough sawn cedar 6x6 posts and 2x12's. The swing is cypress and I bought it on line. All in all, it was an easy build, very sturdy and the swing is well built, comfortable and easy to assemble. If you have any more questions PM me again.

The attached picture is of the barn with the doors installed and concrete aprons/patio poured. I'll get a picture up soon of the swing I built for those asking to see that.

This post is not getting a ton of interest but I thought I'd share our decision regarding our barn for those who have PM'd me with questions. We decided to build an 80'x 40'x16' tall. It will have two insulated 12' wide 14' tall overhead doors on one side and one 12'x14' insulated OH door on one end. As you can see in the picture there's one walk door and a couple of windows on one side and a few other windows not shown in the picture. In the corner where the walk door/window is will be a 12'x14' family room with some furniture. On the outside of this family room will be a row of upper and lower cabinets with a sink and fridge. Behind this room will be a small bathroom. The upper window shown is because above the family room there will be a loft where most of my hunting clothes/equipment will be kept. The 16' height allowed me to have this extra space above the family room. The rest of the building will be for boat/equipment storage. I just got the triple wall insulated stainless steel 8" chimney installed for the wood burner and plan on having (1) 125K BTU Hot Dawg unit heater for those times we need some quick heat to take the chill out. The barn has an insulated liner panel ceiling at 16' and will have insulated walls with 5/8" plywood on the lower section. I've not made a definite decision yet on how to insulate and finish the walls? Money is becoming an issue and a full liner panel wall was out of the question from a cost standpoint. It also didn't fit my needs well. I would rather have plywood that I could mount shelves or hang things from than spend the money on a full liner panel interior walls. Over all I'm happy with the progress. The next step is to have a lot of fill dirt brought in so I can spread it around the exterior. That will allow me to bring in the rest of the CA6 rock and compact it on the interior so we can get ready to pour the floor. Elevations have been a hurdle from the start. The site was not the levelest site in the world but it's where the building needed to be. If anyone's contemplating building a post frame/pole barn and you have questions, feel free to ask. BTW...I have no idea how the picture of the blue barn showed up if you hit next on my picture? That's just a picture of a barn that I looked at months ago that obviously had some snow/weight damage Can't figure out why it's showing up on my post?

Lakeshiner, I have to retract that PVC venting comment I made, I was wrong. Apparently, years ago you could vent a Hot Dawg with 3" SCH. 40 PVC but not now. I can think of 3 locations where their vented in PVC and have been working well for years. But the Modine instructions clearly say do not use PVC or any other type of plastic material.

I thought my Hot Dawg said to use the stainless based on the vent rating but now I'm going to have to look over the manual again and double check.

By the way, in regards to my original post/question about Strat-O-Span buildings. After some further checking it turns out they do not have the most competitive pricing. What they do is estimate the labor, and then when asked to confirm the total amount and send an actual contract for the TOTAL amount....they refer you to there "builder" for pricing and any travel expense he may have. It's a family owned business and they seem like nice folks. But being structured to sell building materials only is not very conducive to the buyer who wants a post frame building actually built. Maybe for the guy who is going to build a 30x40 or smaller with some buddies over the summer they'd be a better choice.

Lakeshiner, if your heater is a HotDawg, it's designed to use PVC pipe for the exhaust. Use Sch 40 PVC to vent it either out the roof or side wall. I'm leaning toward Lester Buildings for our barn. And have decided on a 40'x 80'x 16' with a liner panel ceiling and insulated walls. We're hoping to firm up all the details with the Lester rep. within the next week. Then the work starts, I've got a lot of site prep to do.

6/12 pitch on my 40x30 snow slides right off. I believe they run the flu out the gable side wall to avoid snow damage

I use a Hot Dawg propane heater in mine. Biggest issue is that my exhaust pipe got bent from snow sliding off the roof. Last fall I installed a snow bar to prevent this from happening. Same damn thing happened this year, lot of good that did!! That stainless exhaust pipe is pricey too. I have to figure something else out this year. Just wanted to pass that along, vent out a gable end if you can and you would avoid that issue.

Thanks for recommending Schley, I just sent them a request but not sure they'll be willing to travel down here to us? We're app. 30 miles south of the WI, IL line. Our building will be 48 x 80 x16 with an insulated liner panel ceiling and walls. If anyone else has a comment about a post frame builder you've had experience with in our general area, feel free. I'm thinking about installing a wall to divide the building for heating purposes. 30' of the 80' length would be cold storage. The rest will have (1) hot dawg 123K heater and wood burner on the inside. Anyone heat there building with wood? What type of insulation do you have? Unless someone talks me into something different, I'm planning of blown R-38 in the ceiling and fiberglass R-19 in the walls.

I agree with a 6/12 pitch roof minimum to avoid snow buildup, and if it does, should slide off during warm-up.

I live in Phelps WI and I had Schley builders put up my 42 x 63 x 14 ft side walls pole building. I had over 2 feet of snow on the building this year and it hled up great. They custom build them and are very reasonable in cost. Highly recommend them Schley builders 715-546-3634

Yeah I agree. It does seem like most post frame builders base design skimps on the roof... posts on 10' centers and a 3/12 or 4/12 pitch roof. All of them will gladly include posts 8' OC and trusses 4' apart if you ask for the extra cost. Utah, I agree, doubling up the trusses like that has got to be better, just don't see many done like that around here ( Northern Illinois). Even though the building is costly, the real shock from a money stand point came with the concrete cost. Anyone had an experience with Strat-O-Span builders? There from around the west central part of Illinois /St. Louis area.