A couple summers ago I decided it was time to build a new shop, I already had a 24'x36'x8' garage but found the space to be insufficient for my needs, so I designed a 30x40x12 pole barn style, metal sheeted building for storage of 1 Cummins and 1 Ford f-150 gasser and my welding/fabrication shop. I didnt take many pics but will try to show what all is involved with this process, after preping the site the job took 7 days till completion.

Step one

Site preperation- Remove any and all old junk layin around

Remove the top 8-10" of topsoil from site, my shop was to be 30x40 so I removed soil from a 32x42 area.

Bring in road base ( I bought 3/4 minus that packs well) Level out the road base leaving it aprox 4" higher than original ground as after compaction it should end up being close to original grade.

Set up a transit or lazer level and get the roadbase to grade within an inch.

Rent a vibrating plate compactor.....the bigger the better, compaction is best if the metrix moisture is around 20-30%, spend 4-6 hours compacting till it is obvious that the compactor has done all it can do, at this point you shoud be able to drive a pickup on the base without sinking in no more than 1/4"

 

Step two

Set up your layout of where the poles will be placed, take some time here to get this right as once you place the poles you are obligated.I have a 8' center to center spacing on this shop .

Set all 4 corners corners first,use a 16p nail with some red flag tape tied to it, in my case the shop is to be 30x40 so that will be my outer measurment of the poles. Set one corner marker the measure out at a 90* angle to set the other corner marker, at this point check your squarness by using the 30/40/50 method aslo known on a smaller scale of 3/4/5 here is how it works with one side being 30' and the other side being 40' then the angle accross from those marks will be exactly 50', use of stakes and string lines here is a big help till you get it just right then you can drive the nail marker. Now with two sides known do the exact same thing to establish the other two sides. When all 4 corners are marked do a diagnal check, these 2 measurments will be identical if you are square...........if not square try harder till it is.

With all 4 corners set you can now set the other markers on 8'centers

The end wall where my garage doors are is a little different on pole placment, my goal was to have 2 doors at a width of 10' each, so my spacing on these is exactly 10' inside to inside for the poles. Also dont forget about a walk door as you will need to put a pole in place for that too, mine had an inside to inside measurment of 38" for a 36" door.

 

Step three

Rent a auger, the one I had was a Honda 8 hp unit with a 12" auger on it, it had a 10' long driver with a gearbox head driven by an incased flex shaft with throttle and engage lever at the head.

Place the drill auger tip right on your marker nail and drill down 3', I painted a red marker on the auger for my depth.

Clean out all the tailings from the hole till you are at solid ground, move all tailings to the outside of the perimiter so it wont be in your way.

 

Step four

Placing the posts

My post are rough cut 6x6 pressure treated wood.

Set the 4 corner posts first.The side wall posts are big,heavy and very awkward so this will be a 2-3 man job. set one corner post and get it plumb, check two sides 90* from each other to insure plumb is accurate, pour a couple bags of sackcrete in the hole and place 2 kicker stabilizers, use concrete stake at ground and a double headed (duplex) 16p nail at the 6x6.

Place another pole at a corner and measure out the propper length of where its edge is supposed to be, get the post plumb pour sackcrete and install kickers, do the same on the other 4 corners and double check diagnal measurment.....make sure this is corect, if not the whole thing will be a mess.


With the 4 corners now in the correct place, run a string line around the outside of the 4 corners up about a foot above the ground, use this string line as a guide so your walls will be straight, HINT keep post about 1/8" away from string and dont fudge the string otherwise you will end up with a big bow in the wall. Place all the other posts in properly , mine are on 8' centers other than the door post I described earlier.


Here is a pic of what the pole layout will look like when done, by the way that is me on my knees , son-in-law with red shirt

 

Step five

Using the lazer level or transit, re-esstablish a reference line for level on all posts, mark the posts on all 4 sides with a heavy pencil and a square, now establish where the top of your concrete will be, I like to have my concrete above ground level so there is never a drainage issue, mark the posts with that grade and nail yer form boards to the outside of the posts, this form will stay in place and be used as the bottom girt for screwing the metal siding on.In my case I chose to go with 6" of concrete 6 bag mix with fibermesh for strength. Dont forget to put the date and your child or grandchilds foot print in the freash mud.

 

Step six

Time to frame up the job, I ordered prefabed trusses 3/12 pitch with a 30' span.

Concintrate on only the inner poles at this time, dont worry about the end gable trusses yet. One truss at a time stand a truss up on each side of the 6x6 with the bottom of the truss resting on the concrete floor, then use some 6" roughcut pine ( since it is 6" just like the poles) and nail in some spreaders on a 4' spacing. This will give you a truss on each side of the pole and become a double truss acting in tandem.

Get all the trusses in place like this so they will all be ready to hoist into place.

 

Step seven

With all the trusses standing up (except the end gable trusses) start at the peak of the truss and measure all the way to the tail on 2' centers and secure 2x6 hangers for the ease of installation of your perlins when the trusses are in the air.

 

Step eight

The trusses are almost ready to be hoisted to ther official height but befor you can do this you must first allign the peaks of all trusses , to do this run a string line from the ends of the building , measure from corner to corner and find exact center and tie the string at an inch above the truss peak and run the string to the opposite end of the building and do the same, then using a sledge hammet line up all the trusses with the string line, at this point with the trusses in a straight line you need to nail in a spreader 2'6 rough cut between the 2 trusses for each pole, by oing this the tandem truss assembly will slide right up the 6x6 when hoisted and retain its intended position and keeping the peak of the truss still in a straight line.

 

Step nine

Hoisting the truss assembly- I purchased 2 boat winches with flat strap 30' long, then I made 2 post caps that fit a 6x6 post with a nylon roller on top of it, place the roller cap on top of 2 posts opposing one another then bolt the 2 boat winches onto the outside of the two 6x6 posts, run the winch strap up and over the post roller and down to the truss and secure the hook about 1 foot from the tail of the truss.

With the 2 winches and post rollers in place take 2 people and simotainously raise the truss assembly up to the premarked elevation of the 6x6, nail the truss into place on both sides thru the truss and into the 6x6. Remove the winches and post rollers and move on doing the same method till all the trusses are in place.

End trusses-

End trusses arent built in an assembly but only go on the outside of the 6x6 posts, hoisting them up can be done in the same fassion as the tandem truss or if you have a center post you can use one winch from the peak of the truss

Here is a pic of one truss assembly going up to its final destination

By the way thats me with the red jacket on.......check out the funny hairdo hehehehehe

 

Step ten

With all the trusses in place now you need to concintrate on the girts of the structure. Girts (2x6) are placed on 2' centers for screwing the outer shell (metal) onto. I built a story pole from a 10' long 2x2 with exact measurments of where the girts were to be placed, with the story pole in hand I got a ladder and went around to every 6x6 pole and transfer the marking to the 6x6 then with a heavy pencil marked the location with a square on all 4 sides of the 6x6. This made nailing of the girts easy and they all ended up being at the propper elevation. I then nailed every girt up till all 4 sides of the building were stabile and secure.

Note: Make sure 6x6 posts are still plumb as you can still move them somewhat as you go up, this is important so you truss spacing will allign when you get on the roof.

Warning: I did my complete truss perlins before I did the wall girts and it was a bit shakey to say the least, please I highly recommend doing the wall girts before you put people up on the trusses

Here is a pic of my team doing truss perlins (2x6)