To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

LEAN TO / POLE BARN PRESCRIPTIVE CODES/ TABLES

CDPLUCKER

Active member
Joined
Nov 28, 2012
Messages
29
Location
lynchburg va
So i am planning a pole lean to off the back of my garage for rough storage ( tractor etc. )

are there tables or rules for this style of constuction ? I am used to the perscritive codes for decks and rafters etc., but i dont have a good feel for post size and spacing, post to post beam sizes etc.

for reference it will be 32' long and 12' wide

Thanks !
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

petebob

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 13, 2008
Messages
73
Location
Graham, NC
In NC there is not. I'm building a pole barn at my house and the county required an engineer's stamp to get permit.
 

billconner

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 20, 2021
Messages
6,930
Location
Thousand Islands NYS
Well an open lean to might be built as a porch under prescriptive residential codes in US. But as petebob points out, pole barns generally need an engineer sealed design unless, in a state like NY, it's an agricultural building and then needs no building permit. Keep some rabbits for a while?
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
OP
C

CDPLUCKER

Active member
Joined
Nov 28, 2012
Messages
29
Location
lynchburg va
Aha ! call it a porch ! good idea

may just call city inspections and discuss with them, see what they let me do

thanks
 

Firebrick43

Well-known member
Joined
May 12, 2015
Messages
13,988
Location
West central Indiana
So i am planning a pole lean to off the back of my garage for rough storage ( tractor etc. )

are there tables or rules for this style of constuction ? I am used to the perscritive codes for decks and rafters etc., but i dont have a good feel for post size and spacing, post to post beam sizes etc.

for reference it will be 32' long and 12' wide

Thanks !
Is your current garage post frame construction? If not what is it. Some types such as a monolithic slab its very unwise to mix foundation types.

The common size post here for a building under 24' wide is 4x6 with an 8' spacing which would be perfectly adequate for your lean to.

Above 24' they typically use a staggered lamination of 3- 2x6 with the inground being treated if a perma column isn't used

If it is a post frame, nearly all pole barns that I have seen use the same header, post size and spacing as the original structure. The footing diameter is easily calculated using the weight of the framing and the snow loads per square foot, and then divide that number by the number of post that each has to carry. Then take the soil capacity of where you live and calculate how many square feet of footing under each post to carry that weight.

https://permacolumn.com/pdfs/perma-column-design-and-use-guide-with-calculations.pdf

They have a lot of load calculations in the perma column menu if you want specifics
 

Codyboy

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 31, 2019
Messages
1,621
Location
S.E. TEXAS
Aha ! call it a porch ! good idea

may just call city inspections and discuss with them, see what they let me do

thanks
Let?
So glad I don't have to deal with that.

My lean too's one each side are 14x32. Attached to the building. Has 6x6 post in the front corner concreted, 4x6 for the other 3 posts with the corner post concreted.
Double 2x6 header/rim joist bolted to the posts that are notched.
2x6 rafters about 3ft OC, 2x4 purlins about the same. Metal T panel for the roof.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_20250714_203528_Gallery.jpg
    Screenshot_20250714_203528_Gallery.jpg
    1.7 MB · Views: 17
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
Top Bottom