VikingsGuy
Well-known member
I have several questions about pole barns for those who have - and maybe ever some HT contractors who build - them.
For clarity when I say pole barn, mine is 32x48 with 6x6 engineer laminent posts, 10 ft walls and engineered trusses every 8 ft oc. The posts are not in the ground but rather bolted to the concrete pad via metal U braces. The pad was poured with extra thick "footing" portion around its exterior to support the poles. The slab was insulated, but the building is not - it is just for equipment storage at our cabin and adjacent land. It is in northern MN so we get all 4 seasons to full effect.
The pad was poured in August and the structure was supposed to be built by Oct 1 - thereby beating winter weather. The steel, posts, and trusses were delivered in late Sept in expectation of an Oct 1 build. Unfortunately, for a wide range of excuses, my builder didn't show up until late February. By then the steel, posts, and trusses had spent the late fall and most of the winter tarped over and on the ground. And the concrete pad was not only covered with 4 ft of snow but under that snow (which was easily removed by a bobcat snowblower) was a full inch of rock-hard ice. During their 3-day build temps were -10 at night and +10-12 in the day. So this leads up to my questions/concerns:
1. To get through the ice to put down the post "braces" and the 2x6 base "sill" boards they used some type of ice melter granules around the periphery to break up the ice and facilitate ice clearing for installation. The pole "braces" and sill boards were attached to the concrete with expanding concrete anchor bolts.
a. Will the drilling into the concrete and tightening of the anchor bolts in the concrete be adversely affected due to installation during this cold weather?
b. Will ice melt residue hurt the steel bolts and braces over time?
c. Will the ice melt residue hurt the pressure-treated sill boards over time?
d. Will the concrete itself be compromised by the ice melt residue as my understanding is that you shouldn't put that stuff on new concrete for a full year?
2. 10% or so of the trusses and posts show some light surface black "mold"?? in spots. I assume this is due to the long period of laying at the job site but is there any reason to worry about this now that the structure is up and these boards will now be dry with plenty of airflow (no enclosed walls, insulation, or ceiling to limit airflow)?
3. Now I have 1 inch of rock-hard ice covering every inch of my 32x48 concrete floor totally encased by a finished pole barn including being bounded all around by 2x6 sill boards. At some point, this spring that is 1500 gallons of water give or take. I would prefer not to chip it away or use ice melt granules as I don't want to mar the new surface. At the same time, I don't want to create a 1" deep swimming pool to fester as the weather warms (and we aren't around to squeegee out as it melts. As the pad was new, I am not even sure after it settled that it is graded well enough for water to flow towards the front garage door. Any thoughts on a graceful way to manage this during spring thaw?
4. I am worried about kids, guests (or even me) damaging the metal wall sheets with ATVs etc. from the inside when moving them around/parking/etc. After things dry out I would like to put up some plywood on the walls to protect them. But if I am going to do that I would just frame in and insulate to minimize mice and moisture in the void between the steel and the interior plywood. If I don't plan on heating it now and don't add ceiling and attic insulation, any reason wall insulation on its own would cause condensation problems for now?
Thanks for any help/insights you can offer. Your thoughts will educate my thinking when I call the builder to haggle over the final payment in light of the less than desirable scenario I find myself in.
For clarity when I say pole barn, mine is 32x48 with 6x6 engineer laminent posts, 10 ft walls and engineered trusses every 8 ft oc. The posts are not in the ground but rather bolted to the concrete pad via metal U braces. The pad was poured with extra thick "footing" portion around its exterior to support the poles. The slab was insulated, but the building is not - it is just for equipment storage at our cabin and adjacent land. It is in northern MN so we get all 4 seasons to full effect.
The pad was poured in August and the structure was supposed to be built by Oct 1 - thereby beating winter weather. The steel, posts, and trusses were delivered in late Sept in expectation of an Oct 1 build. Unfortunately, for a wide range of excuses, my builder didn't show up until late February. By then the steel, posts, and trusses had spent the late fall and most of the winter tarped over and on the ground. And the concrete pad was not only covered with 4 ft of snow but under that snow (which was easily removed by a bobcat snowblower) was a full inch of rock-hard ice. During their 3-day build temps were -10 at night and +10-12 in the day. So this leads up to my questions/concerns:
1. To get through the ice to put down the post "braces" and the 2x6 base "sill" boards they used some type of ice melter granules around the periphery to break up the ice and facilitate ice clearing for installation. The pole "braces" and sill boards were attached to the concrete with expanding concrete anchor bolts.
a. Will the drilling into the concrete and tightening of the anchor bolts in the concrete be adversely affected due to installation during this cold weather?
b. Will ice melt residue hurt the steel bolts and braces over time?
c. Will the ice melt residue hurt the pressure-treated sill boards over time?
d. Will the concrete itself be compromised by the ice melt residue as my understanding is that you shouldn't put that stuff on new concrete for a full year?
2. 10% or so of the trusses and posts show some light surface black "mold"?? in spots. I assume this is due to the long period of laying at the job site but is there any reason to worry about this now that the structure is up and these boards will now be dry with plenty of airflow (no enclosed walls, insulation, or ceiling to limit airflow)?
3. Now I have 1 inch of rock-hard ice covering every inch of my 32x48 concrete floor totally encased by a finished pole barn including being bounded all around by 2x6 sill boards. At some point, this spring that is 1500 gallons of water give or take. I would prefer not to chip it away or use ice melt granules as I don't want to mar the new surface. At the same time, I don't want to create a 1" deep swimming pool to fester as the weather warms (and we aren't around to squeegee out as it melts. As the pad was new, I am not even sure after it settled that it is graded well enough for water to flow towards the front garage door. Any thoughts on a graceful way to manage this during spring thaw?
4. I am worried about kids, guests (or even me) damaging the metal wall sheets with ATVs etc. from the inside when moving them around/parking/etc. After things dry out I would like to put up some plywood on the walls to protect them. But if I am going to do that I would just frame in and insulate to minimize mice and moisture in the void between the steel and the interior plywood. If I don't plan on heating it now and don't add ceiling and attic insulation, any reason wall insulation on its own would cause condensation problems for now?
Thanks for any help/insights you can offer. Your thoughts will educate my thinking when I call the builder to haggle over the final payment in light of the less than desirable scenario I find myself in.
