Steel Building Advantages Over Pole Barns

Pole barns have long been a staple for construction on the American agricultural scene. Quality steel buildings are quickly displacing pole barns on the landscape nationwide for many reasons.

 Pole barns became very popular for two reasons - price and state of technology. Pole barns were renowned as the cheapest way to build an agricultural building and were about the only material of choice to construct the building with. Steel buildings have quickly supplanted pole barns for both price and durability.

 There are a number of disadvantages inherent with any pole barn structure. The poles of a pole barn are placed directly into the ground. This gives the structure no opportunity to be resistant to the heaving caused by flooding and frost. Pole barns are normally made with pressure-treated wood. This wood will shrink and warp with time. That is why pole barns are not a popular choice for a permanent structure. Steel buildings do not warp. Pole barn foundation frame members shift and they must be straightened about every six years for the going rate of a couple of thousand dollars. Pressure-treated wood poles using copper sulfate are not sanitary and can be poisonous to livestock. A steel building bolts to a solid concrete foundation and is highly flood and frost resistant. It is much more of a sanitary structure and its materials are not poisonous to livestock. 

 The combustibility of pole barns can increase insurance premiums more than twenty-five percent higher when compared to similar-sized non-combustible steel buildings.

 Steel building companies usually provide proper plans and documents for their buildings. Pole barns do not. This can cause problems in obtaining permits and ascertaining just how the structure is to be assembled. Steel buildings have parts that are sorted and numbered. Pole barns do not. Pole barn assembly is rigorous with many hours devoted to the sorting, cutting, and fitting of construction materials.

 The sheeting on pole barns needs to be reattached and re-painted on a regular basis. Pole barns have steel members that touch the wood making rust a prevalent problem. Steel buildings are coated with a primer that is highly resistant to rust. The re-sheeting of pole barns has to occur about once every eight years. With a fourteen-year lifespan for the building, this can cost over fifteen thousand dollars in total. Steel buildings do not need re-sheeting or re-painting over the useable life of the structure.

Pole barns are not recommended for occupancy because of their low resistance to fire. Many communities and localities prohibit pole barn installation. Steel buildings abide by even the strictest safety codes that any municipality may enforce.

The vast advantages that steel buildings have over pole barns should make it the structure of choice for your next construction project.