Pole vs stick cold storage only

[Mikaman]

I'm having a new house built by a general contractor. It will include an attached garage & workshop (insulated, heated etc) and I also want a 3-car detached garage. The detached garage will be used ONLY for car storage -- so it will NOT need to be insulated, finished inside, heated, etc.

My contractor has suggested pole building for the detached garage, as a way to reduce cost (he is actually working up quotes for both pole building and stick-framed). I've never owned a pole building before. It sounds OK to me, but am I missing anything?

My building lot is in a nice neighborhood, and has deed restrictions that require masonry on the front & both sides of all structures. To match the house, the detached garage will have stone veneer on the front, and stucco sides. The contractor says this is no problem with a pole building, he can put any type of exterior on a pole building, stone, brick, stucco, or siding.

So, is there any reason NOT to use a pole building for this detached garage? Again, I do NOT foresee any need to finish the inside, insulate, or heat this garage (I will do all my work in the attached garage & workshop).

Thanks,
Mikaman

 

[SteveU]

No reason not to use a pole type structure. We have a finished pole building which is used as a counseling office and a regular pole building which is only insulated in the front where my shop is, the rest of it is open to where you can see the siding, roof & trusses. You can't tell the office is a pole building just by looking at it, once it is built & finished on the outside it will be just like any other building. If in the event you ever do want to insulate it it is a simple matter to run 2x4's between the posts to staple insulation and sheetrock or plywood to. I would recommend going with 2x12 headers if you get much snow, my barn was originally built with 2x8 headers & made it thru 4 major snowstorms over almost 30 yrs before collapsing & was rebuilt using 2x12's which should be good for my lifetime & beyond. The price difference between the 2x10's they were going to use & the 2x12's which I specified was less than 200 IIRC on a 100'x40' building & was well worth it for peace of mind.

 

[rburke65]

I have had a 32'x40' pole building since the early 80's and it isn't finished....used for cold storage like yours. It will probably last another 25 years without any problems. I think you will be fine taking this road.

 

[WNYflyer]

Not familiar with veneer stone and stucco on a pole structure type building but anything can be done if detailed/designed correctly. But since you are doing stone and stucco I few thoughts on a pole structure

- Make sure the building is engineered by the building supplier and make sure he knows the locations/extent of the stone as well as stucco. This way he accomodates the weight of the stone as well as limits the deflection/movement of the building under wind load because of the use of a brittle material such as stone.

- Be careful of the perimeter foundation/slab system and how the stone ends/terminates at that location. Any foundation/slab movement due to frost heave, etc. you don't want cracking your stone. Ask about the different foundation/slab systems for the two types of buildings, one maybe better than the other especially if frost is a consideration.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Honestly, I'll predict that within 5 years, you'll be fixing up that detached garage as a primary workshop. I'd build it as such.

 

[Red05GT]

If you're located in a nice deed restricted subdivision with typical neighbors, you
can bet they will start complaining if they see a pole structure going up. Yes you
can detail a pole structure to finish out almost identically with a stick structure,
but the savings in doing this disappears in comparison with stick building on a foundation.
We recently built a pole structure in a small town. Local code requirement for pole
buildings were 18" diameter holes, 48" deep, with 12" thick footer pads in the bottom
of holes, and anti-pullout rebars through the base of posts below slab. With the
contractors subs i.e. excavator, footer crew, foundation already on site, I believe the
stick cost would be a wash with a pole structure. A few extra dollars spent now will
not be missed or regretted in a couple of years.

I agree with NUTTSGT, plans change with time.