Shoddy pole barn build. Start over or live with it?

[aoxmox]

Hi all,

I ordered a 30' X 50' X 10' pole barn kit with 8" X 8" posts. Had an old friend (not very close) doing some work around the house and he offered to install it for me. He has is own business (long time) and I thought he knew what he was doing, but that turned out to be a judgement error. The barn is finished to the point that one half of the roof is installed. The other half has the purlins installed. This is the point where I found time (and my 100' tape) and started measuring his work. After measuring, I stopped work and we parted ways. Here is what I found:

• The building is out of square by 11" on the diagonal.
• 13 of the 14 posts are out of plumb. Several are out over 1/4" per foot.
• 26 gauge Galvalume roof - the half that he installed has 80+ screw "misses" where the screw missed the purlin and the threads are exposed. Also has 20 or 30 complete misses where the screw was removed and you can see daylight.
• One of the steel rafters seems to have taken the brunt of the squareness issue. The peak is about 11" off center and the rafter is noticeably disformed. One other rafter is off center about 2" or 3".
• He only used 1 60 pound bag of Sakrete per post (8" X 8").
• The purlins have numerous gaps between ends ranging from 1" to 4" to make up for the out of square issue.

Now that I stopped work, I need to decide to just live with this and install the other half of the roof myself. To a casual eye, the building actually looks pretty good. I plan to use the barn for trailer/boat/tractor storage and plan to build a steel garage next year for my real shop.

Or should I tear off the half roof, remove all purlins, square it up, and reinstall everything. I live in Florida and is easy digging sand. Plus, he only used 1 60 lb. bag of concrete, which will work in my favor should I go this route. I would leave the posts mated with the rafter and move them into position as a pair and brace them. Once all are in place, fill with 3 80 lb. bags each post. I see this as many hours of pretty hard work on my pre-retirement body. I have a small tractor to help me, and I would rent a lift bucket to remove the roof and purlins, then rent the lift again when time to re-install. I am used to doing projects like by myself, and have built several smaller pole buildings in the past. Also, I may add siding in the future and the squareness issue will come up again if I decide to add siding.

I am afraid if I leave it that I would notice these issues every time I use the barn and it would have negative mojo - for lack of a better description. I see the rebuild taking about 4 weekends and a few days off work here and there.

Any advice? I was prepared to start tearing down today but decided to ask out here for any input before I committed. I am kicking myself for letting it get to this point and not measuring earlier, but I have pretty aggressive job schedule. He had 2 other guys and worked 4 days to the point I stopped the work. He thought I was being a picky perfectionist and I told him all I wanted was reasonably square and no leaks. I have never seen a building this far out of square.

 

[jade97]

I don't know your financial situation, but if it were me, I would do whatever it takes to make it right. It would probably bother you every time you look at or think about it, if you leave it as is.....my worthless $0.02.

 

[Jinks]

Square it up.

 

[aoxmox]

Finances are not an issue. I estimate about $800 - $1500 to fix for equipment rental and replacing any unusable Galvalume. I am not sure what metal can be re-used, but I am inclined to replace all that he used so I am not having leak repair as a quarterly maintenance task. I may be able to reuse some of it if everything lines up right.

What bothers me most is that these kits seem to be a pretty easy build if you are square from the start. It would have been done today and I would be moving my stuff in this weekend, but now I am starting over. Arrrg.

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

Fix it.

 

[MarineScott]

Fix it. Squareness equals stability

 

[nadogail]

It's just a barn, maybe it will serve until you can put up a permanent structure. At present it is a training aid and temporary shelter.

I once heard of temporary building erected during WW1 that were still being used 40+ years later.

Repeat after me; It's just a barn.

 

[41plym]

One more vote for fixing it.

 

[LXCam]

Wow, yes you should fix it. If anything you could use the old roofing for interior wall covering (wainscot). Did he nail the structure together or screw, hopefully screw so you can disassemble without a fight.

Good luck.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

I don't know your financial situation, but if it were me, I would do whatever it takes to make it right. It would probably bother you every time you look at or think about it, if you leave it as is.....my worthless $0.02.

^^^ This^^^

It would probably bug the **** outta me. I' sure others would see it before/after and wonder what is the big deal. But it'll be right and you'll be satisfied, and really? No more reason than that to do it.

 

[MooreGarage]

We have a 50 year old shed on our property that the roofline slopes 6" from the front to the back in a 16' span. I don't know if it was built that way or if it sagged, but we've owned it for 21 years, and it was that way when we bought the place. It is an ugly old tin roof shed that looks like it was built with scrap lumber left over from building the house, but it has withstood many windstorms, snow load, etc and is still standing and still keeping my tractor dry, so I just keep ignoring its ugliness...

 

[Los_Control]

I just finished a smaller version 16' x 16' pole barn style garden shed ... I came out 1" off on diagonal .... I chose to leave it, is what it is.
What a pia to build the roof. Each rafter needs to be cut individually, then careful when screwing down the metal roof.

I am only talking 1" & it was a pain to work around ... 11" you will be cussing the job all the way, when finished you will still hate and cuss it.

 

[Bretny]

I would repair it. Your diagonal and posts are prety darn far out of line. have you tried to come A long things square? Since there's next to no concrete in the ground you cant mess the footings up. I would def remove all the metal roofing prior to this.

Start at one corner and get that post square and braced up real well while removing the lateral boards, then move on to the next. Then reinstall the laterals on the first.

 

[karoc]

Years ago when I was a commercial electrician working downtown on a new office story bldg going up, I think it was maybe 3 floors. After brick going up it was discovered that the bldg was 7" out of square. The bldg took up whole block and you just could not see it, I sure that there was some adjustments to cost but they did not tear it down.
If it was me I would leave the bldg and far as concrete around poles is really an option. I would remove the roof panels and just start over, even if it is just barn I wouldn't want any leaks. But I do agree that its just barn for storage.

 

[rburke65]

Me..?....I’d start taking it apart. The bad mojo and looking at that for the rest of my life....knowing that I could have corrected it for $800.....$1500....I’d sleep a lot better. Good luck aoxmox. Hey....take some pictures....

 

[CraigStu]

I am with nadogail. It will be fine. Some of those gaps in purlins can be closed up easily enough if they may be a strength issue. Look at all the joints for proper fasteners and add if needed. The roof being out of square will be a bit of a pain at the edges but it isn't any weaker than if it were perfectly square. Look at the roof to see if you need to add some more screws or did he install enough to make up for the misses. Seal the misses in the roof and move on.

 

[greg13]

You will spend more than $1500 in just equipment, let alone replacement materials. It's a storage building, you can make things fit. Most people will never see the mistakes and if they do they will find other mistakes too.

 

[rustyjames]

I would just finish it. Education is expensive. I don't understand how you didn't catch this mess before it got this far. Don't mean to beat on you, but when a column is 1/4" per foot out of plumb you should have noticed it and stopped the work.

 

[PCustoms]

Edit: math is hard before coffee!

 

[RPH]

Was working years ago setting up the equipment in a brand new 17 story building. I was up in the surgical area working on sterilizers. It came out that as they brought the wall up inside to carve out the suites. They were 11” short on floor space, never heard why, just were.
Hard call on the building but if just covered storage and not conditioned I would finish and use it for that. Lesson learned though.

 

[el monte slim]

If I were in the situation you describe, I'd fix the structure and make it right for my own peace of mind. It should be noted that I subscribe to Nick Offerman's work mantra: "Never half *** something when you can whole *** it instead."

 

[cbacres]

Sounds like you more or less made up your mind and have a plan for it. Id probably redo it myself also.
being in Fl, I’d want to make sure all was right with whatever wind bracing should be in place. As far as the missed screw holes, they have a screw just for those or you can use a trim screw. I had a few on the barn from 15 years ago and no issues with leaks. It’s just a matter if the exposed screw thread showing from below will bother you.
My vote is bite the bullet and getter done.
whatpart of Florida?

 

[Cougar]

I agree with fix it.

 

[PugetDude]

It will drive you crazy knowing it's so f'd up every time you walk into the building if you don't fix it. Now's the time to tackle it, before the rest of the roof goes on. Sounds like you have a solid recovery plan. Good Luck.

 

[drivesitfar]

There are at least two benefits from tearing it apart and fixing it yourself. one you know it's built right and two if he (your shoddy builder) ever comes over to try and get paid for his work you can hand him a bill for your work to take it apart and rebuilding it.

i'm sure there are a few other reasons, but from your posts it sounds like it's just time and a little money to fix so post up some before and after pics if you have time and get r done.

good luck

 

[PoorUB]

I couldn't live with it! Rip it down and start over! I can't believe someone could screw it up that bad!

When I read your post I couldn't help but shout out "Oh my God!" When I read the part about how far off the building is.

 

[CaptPat]

Fix it

 

[Walkers]

Fix it!

 

[39Tudor]

Another vote for fix it.

 

[619DioFan]

I would do what was needed to make it right. let's say down the road you decided you want to finish the inside , put up some kind of sheeting , add cabinets , work benches , shelves etc. imagine how hard that would be with the building being all crookidy ( yes , crookidy is a word LOL )

 

[Patos]

Personal preference if you can live with it or not. For me I'd want it right and fix it.

 

[firebirdparts]

I'm wondering if it's 11" out at the ground rather than on top, and I assume it must be, as any reasonable person would measure there first. I guess it's a good thing you don't have any concrete in the ground. At this point it's a 100% malleable.

I am pretty selective (lazy) and so I would be scheming the whole time how to get the biggest improvement with the least effort. OCD is not an achievement, at least not for me.

 

[eastbaysubaru]

Fix it.

-Brian

 

[GirchyGirchy]

Since you don't seem enthusiastic about doing it yourself, pay someone else to fix the screwups.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Fix it and fix it right, especially if there's no issue with finances.

It might be a storage building now, but what about the future ? 30 screw misses that you can see...in Florida with rainfall in how many inches per year ? That's alot of leaking.

 

[Forgottonia]

Granted it sounds like terribly shoddy workmanship and I'm sure many will disagree, but it's a pole barn. So you can live with some imperfection. Still, you can square things up a bit without tearing the whole thing down. /jmho

• 13 of the 14 posts are out of plumb. Several are out over 1/4" per foot.
  • It might be a blessing that he didn't use much Sakrete to anchor the posts. You might be able to pull some of these posts a couple inches toward square at the top, and then dig down a bit and use Sakrete on the loose side to anchor them. It's still be out of square towards the bottom of the posts, but it'll help the roof out some.
• 26 gauge Galvalume roof - the half that he installed has 80+ screw "misses" where the screw missed the purlin and the threads are exposed. Also has 20 or 30 complete misses where the screw was removed and you can see daylight.
  • Wow, that's just sad. The guy had no clue. You can easily fix these but the top of your roof will look like hell with all the little patch marks. Probably start leaking at some point.
• One of the steel rafters seems to have taken the brunt of the squareness issue. The peak is about 11" off center and the rafter is noticeably disformed. One other rafter is off center about 2" or 3".
  • You're gonna have to do something about this issue. And it's gonna be tough to fix. You might end up disassembling this section of the building. Good luck.
• The purlins have numerous gaps between ends ranging from 1" to 4" to make up for the out of square issue.
  • Put sisters along side. It'll make things more structurally sound.
• The building is out of square by 11" on the diagonal.
  • You're gonna have to live with this. Not much you can do unless there's a lot of error in one of the corner post that you can move. (Unlikely. And very difficult.)

You might try to get the guy to help out with some fixes--on his own nickel. If he doesn't want to help, you might be justified in withholding some of his payment for the job.

 

[nh_yota]

Fix it or tear it down and rebuild it - don't leave it the way it is.

 

[bradpac]

That far out of square and plumb, I would fix it. mating up to it down the road or trimming out the inside or other things where you expect a square structure will give you headaches in the future. not to mention the extra stresses the tweaked framing members are in.

 

[BDT/NWMN]

The crappy smell of the satchel *** work will linger every time You look at, or think of it. Start over.

 

[Benw455]

Just fix it now. It will cost you sleepless nights if you don't fix it right. And if you ever decided to sell they will beat you up over the building.