Has anyone ever DIY'd a Menards pole barn kit?

[Shoester]

It looks like I've got a couple options (financially) when it comes to building my shop:

1) Hire a crew to supply and erect the pole-barn, but I won't be able to afford the concrete for awhile

2) Purchase a pole-barn materials kit from Menards and erect myself, using the labor savings to pour the concrete now

My only concern with DIY'ing the Menards kit is the difficulty level in getting the small details right with the metal. I really don't have any experience in dealing with metal construction, however I do have plenty of general building experience. Has anyone ever put one of these kits together themselves? How difficult was it?

Thanks!

 

[larry_g]

Ask to see their instruction sheets. I bought a building kit from https://www.mwbsc.com/ and it came with a detailed book of all the do's and dont's to do when building. You might contact them and see if you can get the booklet.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[brownbagg]

just buy a pole barn kit from your local lumber yard

 

[BURROWSMAN]

I bought a pole barn kit from menards. I spent a very long time designing it. I ordered it during the 11 percent week and put that towards the garage doors. My shop is 36x54x12. I did 90percent of the work by myself. Plus i have never framed anything before. The metal trim was the hardest for me but most of it only goes one way. The instruction sheets was just pictures. I would order one again

 

[WisJim]

Many years ago (mid 1990s) I built a pole barn shop building myself, no kit, but I hired a pole barn company to supply the posts, dig the holes, set the posts, and place a level mark on all the posts so I had a place to start the skirt boards that was level. The quality of posts they supplied was better than what was available at the local lumber yard, and they did their part of the work in one short day.

 

[NORDFORD]

If you are even remotely handy, you can pull it off. Plumb, level and square are very important.

Rent the equipment for the heavy lifting. This is no place to rush your safety. There’s no time to enjoy it if your handicapped or dead.

 

[larry_g]

When I put my building I bought a kit and we erected it ourselves. Looking back at what it cost to rent some of the heavy equipment and hire some help it was near a wash on what it would have cost to have the kit supplier erect it. They would have had it done in a couple of weeks and we spent neat 6 months getting it done.

Some thing to think about.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Flboater]

I just put up a 30x60x10. It was worth the $3600 to have them put it up.
It took them 5 days to erect it. Now they did not show up at the crack of dawn and work 8-10 hours, got rained out one afternoon. They where young kids.
Not something your doing by yourself. 4-6 of them and a skid steer to set the posts and trusses.

 

[Shoester]

I just put up a 30x60x10. It was worth the $3600 to have them put it up.
It took them 5 days to erect it. Now they did not show up at the crack of dawn and work 8-10 hours, got rained out one afternoon. They where young kids.
Not something your doing by yourself. 4-6 of them and a skid steer to set the posts and trusses.

Boy that is dirt cheap labor...what part of the country are you in?

 

[TractorJeff]

My neighbor bought a Menards kit, procrastinated all summer and fall on putting it up. Found some "winter" out of work pole building constructors and paid them to put it up in March before they went back to work. Took them about a week. Hardest part was the Building Inspector being picky about the holes and what was in them.

 

[richardwilken282]

I just built one. 36x40x12. Before you purchase make sure everything is included. When it gets delivered, make sure its all there. Other than that they really have it down. And they always seem to ship the very best lumber with them.

 

[Shoester]

I just built one. 36x40x12. Before you purchase make sure everything is included. When it gets delivered, make sure its all there. Other than that they really have it down. And they always seem to ship the very best lumber with them.

How did it go? Did it have any instructions? Glad to hear that they are sending good lumber.

 

[richardwilken282]

It went well. They do send a book that you can reference. If you are knowledgeable about how they are constructed its easy. keeping it square is key. I've built houses and pole buildings in the past, so I knew what i was doing.
Look at RR Buildings on youtube. He does a great job explaining the construction of a building start to finish.

 

[VtecGSR95]

I just went through this myself.....almost bought the kit from Menard's, but when it came down to it, they were about the same price as a pole barn company, some of the items were lesser quality, and they were going to take 2-3 weeks to get the material in, whereas the pole barn company had everything on hand, and delivered it 2 days after I placed the order.

I also wanted to save money and erect it myself. But, unless you work part time, have no kids, and lots of help around all the time for no cost, you're likely better off to hire it done. I hired mine out, cost me $7500 to erect (and this was cheap!), and this was a 40x64x16, 8 windows, 2 walk doors, and 2 overhead doors. I also had 2' overhang all around, and wainscoting.

But its a long journey.....the contractor would show up 3-4 days in a row.....sometimes with 1 helper, next time with 2 or 3! Very inconsistent, then gone for a few days. It took probably 2 months for it to be 100% done, and was very frustrating.

Here I am now, trying only to finish the inside myself, and its been a chore! The ceiling metal sheets were a bear to wrestle around, hard to find help on the weekends, its just so time consuming! I am glad I had someone erect it......wish I could afford to pay to have the inside done, but I am getting it real close now!

You just have to decide how much your time is worth....and how soon you want to be able to use it.

 

[Gsnake35]

I bought a pole barn kit from menards. I spent a very long time designing it. I ordered it during the 11 percent week and put that towards the garage doors. My shop is 36x54x12. I did 90percent of the work by myself. Plus i have never framed anything before. The metal trim was the hardest for me but most of it only goes one way. The instruction sheets was just pictures. I would order one again

Hi Burrowsman, researching online for a shop i plan on doing and came across your post as it is the exact same dimensions that i plan to build. Could you show a few pics? Of the plans too if you have them still. Thanks!

 

[Flboater]

Boy that is dirt cheap labor...what part of the country are you in?

Citrus County Florida

 

[Sherk]

I did it by myself for the most part. In retrospect I wish I had paid the $4500 in labor for my 24x36.

I rented a skid steer to dig the holes and had a buddy help with that. Mostly solo'd it from there. Setting posts (laminated columns in my case) solo isn't bad if you think it out first and have bracing ready.

I did have 4 guys from work over to set trusses and run purlins. Then my dad and I ran the steel roofing. I did the wall steel.

Took me about 4 months to finish with everything. Dried in for winter with 3 treated 2x8s under the overhead door to seal out critters. Concrete came early spring.

I would somewhat disagree with the quality materials statement, I got some junk in mine that I had to exchange. The local lumberyard would have been a better package but they charged more if you didn't get their preferred crew to put it up.

 

[RPH]

30’x72’x12’ from diypolebarns.com . Prints were clear and any misunderstanding was solved quickly with an email. High quality materials. My son and his buddy helped put it up.