There are a few companies that offer kits for pole barns that are supposedly user friendly. Rhino is one of those companies that have good reputations.
On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 = impossible, 1 = a stroll in the park), how hard would it be to put up a roof that would cover an area that would be 48’ by 36’?
And if you’ve done this, what sort of equipment did you have to rent and how did you get the uprights plumb? Did you do the grading yourself?
Thank you.
LOL, sorry but considering your title, and then asking degree of difficulty on a scale of 1-10 made me chuckle.
For people who have little to no construction back ground, I would say 11+.
With solid basic understanding and experience 7-8
When you say a roof, I am assume you mean how hard to set pre-made roof trusses that are 35’ wide?
Harder than it looks. Especially for anyone that has never done it before. But not impossible for someone that has a “feel” and understanding of basic building “tricks”.
You will need to rent a small crane. And know how to operate it. Not difficult but there is a learning curve.
Though it can be done without one as long as you have enough people. And know what you are doing. The Pyramids were built with just manual labor. Lots of manual laborers.
I could write an instructional manual but I am sure others already have and most likely can be found for free by searching the web. With pictures.
Thank you, gumtree. I think it’s wiser to just buy the barn along with the labor, but there’s always the little mental liar that whispers, “Shoot. That doesn’t look so hard. You could do that.” 
When we had our barn built there were 5 men in very good physical shape and a crane to lift the roof trusses. No way could 2 “inept” people manage it. There is a lot of precise measurements that need to be done, knowing how to build square, lots of lifting and experience with how things go together and how to use power tools. It was well worth paying someone to do the job.
For two people who aren’t in construction and don’t have the right equipment and tools already? 10+
Buy the kit and labor to erect the shell and roof it. Watch them–learn, ask questions without being pests, be polite and interested. After that, placing metal siding and finishing the inside is maybe a 5 on your scale. DH and I bought our farm with a 40x60 pole building in place already, but when we contracted the overhang to be built (12 x 24 feet of it), we watched, helped, learned. Then we added the other 24 foot section ourselves. Can’t tell the difference!
Have to agree with the others, building a pole barn is not something you want to tackle with no experience. Hire the labor to put things together, help and learn without hurting yourselves. It sure LOOKS easy in the hands of experts, which is greatly deceiving!!
Kind of like how an expert Farrier puts on those special, forge heated, roller toe with clips, wide web, pin stud shoes with rim pads in short order. Trying to copy that expertise in an hour on even one shoe, with no previous forge experience is an effort in futility. Farrier makes it look SO EASY, which comes from MANY hours of practice.
Hire the labor, probably several people needed to put up the kit, not just one. Even with machinery to aid placing the pieces, assembly is still “work”. Along with that the Experts know the tricks of construction, how doing things “this way” instead of ONLY doing what basic directions say, will make your barn more solid, last longer in good condition, in your location.
[QUOTE=Hermein;8250591]
Thank you, gumtree. I think it’s wiser to just buy the barn along with the labor, but there’s always the little mental liar that whispers, “Shoot. That doesn’t look so hard. You could do that.” ;)[/QUOTE]
Considering the amount of irritation that little voice telling me that skinning and processing a half bushel of peaches led to, I totally wouldn’t follow it into erecting a barn :lol:
Hire the labor. I grew up helping build a few pole barns. I only briefly considered building my new barn before hiring an Amish builder.
If it’s something you really want to do, you could probably do it. It would take months and there will be sections that you look at forever and say “That crooked bit there is my fault”.
It’s not a good first project though. Buy a run-in kit or a chicken coop kit and build that. Then you’ll have some of the skills and a better idea of whether you really want to commit 100s of hours to it.
Are the two people married? Because the cost of the divorce might make it worthwhile to just hire the work out. Just saying…:lol:
Are the two people married? Because the cost of the divorce might make it worthwhile to just hire the work out. Just saying…
So far, it’s still Mr. & Mrs. Ineptitude. I really should compare the cost of professional builders to that of a really vicious divorce lawyer who has a pair of balls hanging from her trailer hitch. Especially since my dh’s eyes bulged out when I mentioned that I was pretty sure that he could learn to drive a crane. (He has trouble parking his Prius.)
I’m so lucky to have you guys smack me around when I start hallucinating. :lol:
Ta.
I did my 24x36 barn just me and my dad. I was a 24-year-old college student at the time.
On the day that we raised the roof trusses, we invited several of my strong manly friends over to help and gave them pizza in exchange. We got the trusses done in a day. The rest of it, my dad and I did mostly ourselves with help here and there from a buddy or two.
It was an arduous process, but now I look at it every day and I’m proud of what we accomplished.
However, 36x48 would likely be significantly more difficult because of the extra 12’ of truss. I imagine then you’d also be working with 6x6 instead of 4x6 posts, and those are HEAVY.
[QUOTE=Hermein;8249195]
On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 = impossible, 1 = a stroll in the park), how hard would it be to put up a roof that would cover an area that would be 48’ by 36’? [/QUOTE]
Just reread the OP, and this line caught my eye, to make me laugh hard. Don’t know why I missed it before. If you have to ask “how hard” in relation to large projects, you need an Expert. Your post relating to husband driving his CAR is a BIG giveaway on “Don’t do this at home!”
How big are the trusses and how high up?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/20892581@N04/3557610027/in/dateposted-public/
I helped a friend raise this barn with no crane. Using leverage, ropes, and someone on a ladder raising the trusses wasn’t difficult, although it wasn’t easy either!
Someone has to sit on the top and hold everything in place while someone else screws it all together.
[QUOTE=enjoytheride;8251555]
How big are the trusses and how high up?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/20892581@N04/3557610027/in/dateposted-public/
I helped a friend raise this barn with no crane. Using leverage, ropes, and someone on a ladder raising the trusses wasn’t difficult, although it wasn’t easy either!
Someone has to sit on the top and hold everything in place while someone else screws it all together.[/QUOTE]
That type of roof is made with a ridge pole/beam and rafters. The span looks to be around 12’. Totally different beast when using 36’ wide pre-made trusses.
[QUOTE=Hermein;8250591]
Thank you, gumtree. I think it’s wiser to just buy the barn along with the labor, but there’s always the little mental liar that whispers, “Shoot. That doesn’t look so hard. You could do that.” ;)[/QUOTE]
Your welcome. lol.
One of the hardest part of building a pole barn is the layout. Setting the 4 corner poles “Square” to each other is very tricky even for experienced people. Far more difficult than it looks. “Only” being a couple of inches off square makes for a world of problems. Especially when you get to the roof. You can “cheat” the rafter and other things only so much “into square”.
But that requires a fair bit of experience and some math. If the rafters are not set/spaced exactly on the mark and the roof is being sheeted for shingles, the plywood will come up short to nail the the rafter and “nailers” will have to be used. If the building is out of square the rafters will be also. You will end up with the sheeting having to be cut to fit. Very time consuming. Cheating shingles into square is an art.
If metal panels are being used an out of square roof makes for a lot of problems and an unsightly roof when finished.
But if you can a contractor to put up the building and set the roof trusses so everything is square. Doing the finish work, like siding and such is not that difficult. Save a fair bit of money. I would bet there are lots of U-tube videos to be found showing how things are done.
That being said, you might want to re-read Horsepoor’s comment.
My husband and I built our dinky little shed row barn ourselves. He’s construction/carpentry savvy. I’m not, but I consider myself a “can do” person. I always figured if I had the desire and patience to build something and a good plan, I could totally do it.
All I can say is thank goodness my husband knew what he was doing, because there is NO way I could have built that barn myself. On a scale of 1-10, it would have been a 100+++++ difficulty level for me with similarly inept help! Our barn is nowhere near as complicated or large as what you’re talking about.
And yes, we’re still married, but only because I was relegated to the roles of “hold this” and “hand me that,” which I accepted with relief!
It’s always really windy when you are sitting on top of a building trying not to fall off…
We just got a delivery from IKEA for a chair and desk that requires some assembly and I am having trouble with this!
If by “inept” you mean that you have difficulty with IKEA furniture, then you definitely should not tackle a barn kit! :lol:
[QUOTE=King’s Ransom;8252706]
We just got a delivery from IKEA for a chair and desk that requires some assembly and I am having trouble with this!
If by “inept” you mean that you have difficulty with IKEA furniture, then you definitely should not tackle a barn kit! :lol:[/QUOTE]
Don’t feel too bad. I find some of those “kits” a bit problematic also. Not as much the finished project. More so in the written directions. I am a “visual” person so I wish they would include less verbiage and more pictures and arrows.
They should hire a “laymen” like myself to review and or rewrite the directions. So other “laymen” can easily understand how to go about things.
My father was not much of a handyman but he tried, bless his heart. When I got my first new bike for Christmas it came in a box. I was around 8 and couldn’t wait to get it on it and show it off to my friends. After about 2 hours of him reading the directions, me getting more and more frustrated with his ineptitude he took a break and made a cocktail. He was of the “Mad Men” generation.
While he was on break I put it together by just looking at the picture on the box and hit the streets.
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