How Can You Make Your Post-Frame Building More Stable?

Keep Your Pole Barns Safe from Collapse

Whether initiating new construction or trying to restore older structures, the structural integrity of a post-frame building is always the top concern for contractors. Because post-frame building designs are simplistic, there’s little more than a structure’s frame providing the majority of support. Hence, ensuring that the frame is as stable and well-constructed as possible proves essential for the strength and longevity of pole barns across the Midwest. Anthem Built, a supplier of innovative post-frame building supplies, understands what it takes to make your post-frame building more stable. Call Anthem Built today to learn how!

Where is Your Frame the Strongest?

The strength of your structure is determined by the materials, designs and components utilized during construction or repair. As such, when discussing the structural integrity of a post-frame building, four major areas are considered: truss design, braces, fasteners, and foundation.

• Truss Design
  • Trusses bear significant loads and dictate how well the structure can withstand snow, wind, and the weight of the roof materials. By using high-quality materials and parts, like truss plates, your truss design enables open spaces for a building’s interior and reduces the risk of sagging roofs.
• Braces
  • The strategic use of braces significantly contributes to the longevity and safety of post-frame buildings. Specifically, wind load braces are designed to counteract the forces exerted by high wind, helping to prevent the walls from swaying or the frame from twisting. Corner braces increase the rigidity of the entire structure, fortifying the building’s corners against external forces that can lead to misalignment or collapse. Lateral braces support the sides of the building, ensuring that horizontal loads are properly managed. Additionally, cross-bracing further secures the structure by preventing lateral movement.
• Fasteners
  • It might not be the first thing you think of when increasing your structure’s stability, but high-quality fasteners go a long way; after all, they hold everything together! From trusses to wall panels, fasteners ensure wood can easily and securely connect to wood, steel and other materials. Using the right type, size, and material of fasteners for different parts of the building can significantly impact its overall durability and resistance to wind uplift, seismic activities, and even the daily thermal expansion and contraction caused by temperature changes.
• Foundations
  • For post-frame buildings, the depth and quality of the foundation play a crucial role in preventing the posts from sagging or heaving. Whether individual footings or a pre-cast concrete slab, your foundation must be strong enough to keep columns firmly in place. Placing columns on a concrete base or footings prevents uplift and protects your frame from wind and shifting soil. Related to your columns and foundation, Anthem Build provides products that improve and reinforce this crucial aspect of post-frame construction.

How Anthem Built Can Help

If you wish to make a new or existing post-frame building more stable, Anthem Built is happy to help! We produce innovative products to simplify post-frame construction and repair. Our components add strength and resistance to your building’s columns, ensuring overall stability. Some of Anthem Built’s unique post-frame building supplies include:

• Repair Sleeves – Made from galvanized steel, Repair Sleeves fit over weakened columns to reinforce them, restoring the strength of posts.
• Column Covers – The Column Cover fits over the exposed portion of a wood post, protecting it from further rot.
• Repair Socket—Anthem Built’s Repair Sockets can restore a column without a secure connection to a concrete foundation.
• Galvanized Grade Boards—Anthem Built’s Grade Boards connect the base of columns, straightening your frame and stopping columns from sinking. Because they are made of galvanized steel, our boards aren’t susceptible to rot.