Build a Pole Barn for Animal Shelter: I Built A Pole Barn For Under $3,000
(Page 5 of 6)
February/March 1995
By Ellen Franklin
Ridge Row
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This is where that little snag I mentioned about the trusses not being exactly alike gave me a problem. When I got up on the support boards running along the top of the truss joists and sighted down the ridge of the roof, I could see that the peak of each truss was not in line. There was about a two-inch variance (some to the right and some to the left) of dead center. I located where the center of the two end trusses should be by measuring from the eaves and dividing by half. At the true center point of both end trusses, I put a tall nail and stretched a string between to give me the true centerline of the building. Then I shimmed, trimmed or inset purlins as needed to bring the peak of each truss out to where the string intersected it.
Storm Clips
Storm clips are positively the greatest invention since round nails! I used about 300 of them in this building. I put one everywhere one would fit. We have very high winds in our part of the country, and I had no intention of having my nails pull out in one of our famous sand blasters. I gave special attention to the stringers because they were nailed to the telephone poles. Telephone poles are treated with creosote and creosote is mostly oil and oil causes things (like nails) to slide. Storm clips hold nails in place. I have heard them called by several names and there are several brands, but take a look at the photographs in the Image Gallery to the right for just a few applications
Roofing
Galvanized roofing doesn't have nailing holes in it, so you have to punch through, which can bend a lot of tin, nails and an occasional thumb. Another recent invention is the screw-in roofing nail. These fit into a special tool that attaches to an electric drill. Ask for them at your hardware or lumber store. I bought these because I reasoned that if a nail goes in straight it will come out straight with the first good wind. This is true but it isn't the best reason to buy them. The best reason is to save many man-hours of labor. I am sold on these screws since I have tried them. By the way, they don't look "self-tapping," but they are.
Tin roofing comes in long sheets that will run down a whole half-shed from eave to ridge. This makes for best weather tightness, but I prefer to overlap two or more (8-12-foot) pieces, as you can adjust for mistakes at the overlap and don't have to cut the metal to precise length, which takes a lot of hacksaw or tin snip time. If you do have to cut roofing, hide the cut edge under an overlap or ridge cap.
First, lay the bottom sheets of tin along the eaves, channels heading up and down and lower edges even, sticking out a few inches beyond the eave line. Lay the top sheets to overlap the upper end of the lower ones by at least six inches. If you live in windy and rainy country, overlap by a foot or more and/or install a rain gasket or a wide ribbon of clear, waterproof adhesive caulking between overlapping sheets. Also, use gasketed roofing fasteners or lay a blob of caulk under each screw or nail before you drive it home and then put another blob of caulk on top.
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