Why Column Spacing is Critical When Building a Pole Barn

Building the highest-quality pole barns Iowa City has ever seen requires taking several important steps and fully understanding the nature of its construction. For example, the column spacing in a pole barn is one of those elements that few people understand but which can greatly influence how much it costs to design and build.

Column Spacing Can Vary

When building a pole barn, the column spacing is dictated by a variety of different elements. Typically, they are built between 6-12 feet apart. Closer spacing is usually done if the barn is a bit smaller or if the ground isn't as stable. Those extra numbers of columns can help to make the barn stand up more effectively and decrease the pressure placed on each column.

However, most builders will try to get your columns at least 8-10 feet apart for a variety of reasons. First of all, columns spaced only six feet apart are going to drive up the price of your pole barn by increasing the materials used and the man hours it takes to put up a pole barn. That said, many builders are reluctant to put up columns every 12 feet because it is usually harder. Doing so, though, will save you money. That said, it can create at tougher building experience for your construction experts and make them work a little harder than normal to preserve your structural integrity.

Structural Integrity is Important to Consider

While putting up columns every 12 feet will save you a lot of money on building your pole barn, it can be problematic if your builder is inexperienced. That's because they need to know how to use trusses and other types of building design concepts to create extra support for those columns. The main problem is the issue of building support and how fewer columns increases the weight that an individual column has to hold.

For example, if the roof weighs 2,000 pounds over a 24-foot square pole barn and poles are positioned every six feet, that would spread the weight over 10 different poles (as four of the poles are shared by at least two walls). This means they would support just 200 pounds.

However, if you increase the spacing to 12-feet and decrease the number of poles to just five, each post has to support 400 pounds. And while your posts should be easily capable of supporting that much weight, it takes a skilled pole barn builder to ensure that the weight is spread more evenly to decrease the risk of damage.

Getting Help With Your Pole Barns

So if you are trying to build the best pole barns Iowa City has to offer, then don't hesitate to contact a professional pole barn builder as soon as possible. These skilled experts will figure out a way to make your pole barn sturdy and keep your costs down as much as they can while ensuring that it remains a reliable building for storing your belongings.