Site Your Building

• 1). Research all of the possible building sites for your pole building. The best site will be the flattest, driest one.
  
  
• 2). Look at your potential sites within the context of their surrounding landscape. If you can, observe the site over the span of a year to determine its winter access, susceptibility to spring runoff, accessibility during the wet season and environmental sensitivity. Try not to build anything on sites used by wildlife.
  
  
• 3). Dig a test hole when you have decided on your site. If you hit bedrock a foot down, reconsider. The strength of a pole barn comes from having the bases of its poles buried deeply into the ground, so sites with shallow bedrock are not the best for pole building.
  
  

Lay Out Your Building

• 1). Site your building using a tape measure and level. Orient the front of the building with the direction where you will be accessing it most frequently. If you are using plywood for sheathing or flooring, space the poles accordingly, 8 feet apart. A building that measures 16 feet by 32 feet would have 12 poles: four at the corners, one in the middle of each of the 16-foot sides, and three at 8-foot intervals along the 32-foot sides.
  
  
• 2). Lay out posts along the center line of your building if you are using joists or rafters that require center support. If you are roofing with trusses, you may not need these center supports.
  
  
• 3). Test the soil to be sure that you can dig down deeply enough without hitting bedrock. Rather than digging all the holes, get a 5-foot piece of 1/2 inch rebar and drive it down into the soil with a small sledgehammer. If you can sink the rebar down 4 feet without hitting bedrock, then you have enough soil to bury the base of a post.