I have seen flyers from companies whom sell outbuilding systems that they will deliver to you and you assemble them. Does anyone have any experience in any of these. I have been looking at this system in particular.

Here is an example of one of the systems I am checking out:

http://www.miracletruss.com/welcome.html

Here is an example of one of the systems I am checking out:

http://www.miracletruss.com/welcome.html

Unless you are a hobbyist or already specialize in building pole buildings, I would not recommend pole building kits. There are a great many factors involved in installing a pole building correctly. Many contractors that will sell you one don't even know how to do it right.

The best thing to do with any building project is to go to a well known engineer and ask him who he recommends to build a pole building, and why. Get lots of opinions before you select a builder.

Not all builders are the same -- for instance, many use nail guns, and some use a drill, hammer, and nails. Many use 16d nails to fasten their lumber to the posts. Some use 20d, and some even use 30d! Some build their own trusses on the jobsite with plywood gussets and glue. Most just buy manufactured trusses with staple plates. Some are reluctant to stray from their "standard" sizes. Others are flexible to offer you exactly what you want, like trusses that will support a 5-ton bridge crane system!

It also has a lot to do with the engineer you get. Afterall, unless it is an AG-Exempt building, the engineering makes or breaks a pole building.

What Adam fails to tell you is - he is an engineer - this makes his answer somewhat self serving.

Now to the point - if you want a pole building kit - shop for one from people who specialize in nothing but pole building kits. This excludes your local pole builder, as well as most lumber yards (they may sell kits, but few are specialists).

A quality provider of pole buildings will allow you to fully customize the building for dimensions and features. They will be able to provide full size blueprints, which are specific to your building. You should receive a fully illustrated construction manual, which walks you step-by-step through the construction process and they should provide Technical Support.

Some recommendations would include M & W Building Supply in Oregon www.mwbsc.com or Hansen Pole Buildings anywhere in the country www.HansenPoleBuildings.com.

The average homeowner who can and will read instructions is fully capable of constructing most pole building kits and will generally do a far better job than would most builders - because you as the building owner care.

Clydesdale1957 wrote: "What Adam fails to tell you is - he is an engineer - this makes his answer somewhat self serving."
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I install pole buildings. I am not an engineer. Interesting that you would comment on that. It is also interesting that you recommend M&W, as I competed against them for business when I lived in Oregon.

Small world.

You mentioned that "pole builders" are excluded from the list of people to inquire about a kit. Why is that? I offer installations, partial kits/installations (which are quite popular), and kits separately. And it has been my experience that people would rather not install the posts and the trusses, but would like to install the girts/studs and purlins, and finish the rest up.

Since the posts and trusses are such a critical part of the job, this is actually what I suggest to people looking to contribute to the project themselves. The idea is well received.

I confused you with "Clifton Berkey" who is an engineer.

I mentioned M & W as they have a good reputation, use kiln dried lumber as opposed to green, prefab trusses, etc. Generally seem to provide a higher class of pole building than most, certainly far better than their immediate Willamette Valley competitors anyhow.

Frankly, most builders are not qualified to provide building kits - unless they are engineers or are reselling someone else's engineered kit, the building provided is rarely adequate. On top of this, the end user is paying for the builder to mark up the materials.

A builder who would offer the services of setting posts and trusses for people who have purchased building kits, would probably have all of the business he would ever need, provided he charged appropriately. In most cases, builders who do this charge nearly as much to set posts and trusses, as they do to construct the entire building.

Don't get me wrong in this - I am not anti-builder, but am pro-consumer. If a builder is charging about 50% of the consumer's cost of materials for his labor, then both parties should come out happy (plus the cost of any concrete and any equipment needed for hard rock, plus out of area travel). When builders try to charge an unsuspecting consumer much more than this, it does rile me, as it should any legitimate builder. Contractors who price gouge, give the builders who do care a bad name.

clydesdale wrote: "I mentioned M & W as they have a good reputation, use kiln dried lumber as opposed to green, prefab trusses, etc. Generally seem to provide a higher class of pole building than most, certainly far better than their immediate Willamette Valley competitors anyhow."
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Your words sound a little presumptuos, here. The fact of the matter is that not all pole building installers construct the same type of building. Oh, on the outside they may all look the same, and to some people that's all that matters. I myself build my own trusses of 2x cores (either 2 cores or 3 cores), glued together with plywood gussets, and I would take that truss as a consumer any day over a staple plated "pre-manufactured" truss. Indeed, that's why I build them -- because people do want them.

For people who consider a pole building a major financial investment rather than just a garage or cover, I think we can both agree that the materials do matter. That is obviously why you tout kiln dried lumber. Personally, I hate using the stuff to build with, and frankly I think that pre-drilling the lumber and using 20d nails, rather than using a nail gun with 16d nails, is more critical than kiln dried versus green. Heck, some builders, Steel Structures America, use 30d nails! (I hope they pre-drill first!)

One thing I have learned through the years is to not get a hot head about my work over other builder, though. I simply state what I do compared to others, but I don't think it is ethical to be putting down others' work.

On to my comment about the engineering: I do feel that a good engineer, like Clifton Berkey, is an asset to the quality to a building. Last winter I put a building up for a guy that needed a 24' clear-span lean-to attached to a 28x52 four-sided building. Everybody else he talked to wanted to re-design or otherwise restrict his "needs" to their design. Until he called me. We did exactly what he wanted, and it was because Cliff designed it just as the guy wanted.

That's why I say that the engineer can be determine a lot to the structure. Not on common sizes, but on extreme designs or needs that most engineers will say "nyah, just call out manufactured trusses and forget it." You haven't really seen a pole building until you've seen some that Cliff has designed for me.

We built one together that stood 22' to the eave, was 225' long, 70' clear span trusses, and the posts were on 25' centers! With the right engineer, there are solutions, not restrictions. What engineer would even bother considering that job?