Adding Garage door to pole barn.

[bigbrand0105]

I have a 30' x 60' pole barn with a 10' x 12' door on the Gable end and would like to add another garage door (i know should have done it when i built the barn but plans change!!) My posts look to be 8' on center and trusses are 24" on center. Still not sure if I want to add door on the Gable end or the side of the barn. That being said I only have about 7' 6" between posts. With a proper header is removing a post even a option? If so can a new post be set on top of concrete? If i opt to go with a 7' wide door can I hang the header off of the existing posts (don't know that i would have room any other way). Sorry if stupid questions as you can see I am not a builder....

Any advice or ideas would be helpful!!!

 

[Hot Rod Grampa]

Yes it can be done but you need to have many more details to get any practical answers. 7' wide overhead door is very limiting on what you can move through there. Almost not worth it. Move a post and rebuild the header? Yes but not without engineering to determine loads and stress calculations. Gable end might be easiest but again you need to know what style of trusses are on the end, how much headroom do you have? Enough for a 16" LVL? Setting a new post on top of the concrete would not be adviseable. Most barns have the post bottoms below the local frost lines to prevent heaving, and the floors are poured on grade and are allowed to "float". You should seek advice from a local pole barn builder to help with the re-engineering of the structure. Pay em for their expertise and you can still do the work yourself if you choose to.

 

[GTFiero]

With proper bracing you can remove a post and install a heavy LVL as stated above. Your right, allot of work, but not impossible for sure. I have doors on the side of the barn, see photo) and all the builder did was post at the door sides (10’ & 18’ doors) and put in a heavy LVL with three 2x12” above. Two 2x12 outside the post and one inside, the same as the rest of the building. Without measuring, the LVLs are very stout. Our trusses are 2’ oc.

In our case we get up to 160” snow yearly. I have seen no issues at all since the 2016 build with the overhead doors or structure around them. Oh, and the post are 60” in ground on 2’x2’x2’ pads, 48” frostline here.

 

[Captain Spaulding]

You need a ground imbedded post for the lateral support.

I did this very thing to my building. I moved a post about three feet so I could put in a 10’x10’ door. Actually replaced the post since it was on the gable end so it needed to be longer at the new location. Needed a bigger hole than I expected to raise the new pole since it was up in the trusses and bracing on its way up. Had planned to move the pole, then cut the opening, but I quickly figured out the opening being there made the job of moving the pole much easier.

Fortunately that end of the building didn’t have concrete yet.

Took a neighbor and I less than a day to get the pole moved and the framing done. Hired a crew for the concrete floor I added at the same time and door installation.