Long time lurker; I plan to finally get contractors out to give quotes so I can build in 2025.
I've read a million threads on pole construction vs stick built. My build will be limited by the budget, not codes. I'm aware that I will almost surely be able to get a larger building if I go with pole framing and little internal finishing. I can always build it out later. I don't have a ton of spare time, though, so I'm leaning towards a fully built out space (or closer to it).
Anyway... One of the things that keeps leaning me towards a stick frame is the area where the garage will be placed. It's lower than my house, and halfway to the low point of the property. When we have big rain storms, we nearly get a creek through the yard. This garage will not be IN the location where the "creek" forms, but the water gets to the creek somehow, and the garage will be in that path. We also get snow, in Maryland, not 4 months of drifts building up, but the wet stuff that'll dump occasionally, half melt, then freeze, then melt... When I look at pole barn construction, my untrained eye thinks there's opportunity for water ingress that a footer would help redirect. Additionally, if I put poles in the ground, knowing that they're in an area that gets wet, am I asking for premature issues with the poles? I think I have 20 more years at this house.
Either way, ground work will need to be done before the build, to level the pad site, so they should theoretically do some water management, but I'm confident that poles buried deep will still spend a lot of time soaking.
I've read a million threads on pole construction vs stick built. My build will be limited by the budget, not codes. I'm aware that I will almost surely be able to get a larger building if I go with pole framing and little internal finishing. I can always build it out later. I don't have a ton of spare time, though, so I'm leaning towards a fully built out space (or closer to it).
Anyway... One of the things that keeps leaning me towards a stick frame is the area where the garage will be placed. It's lower than my house, and halfway to the low point of the property. When we have big rain storms, we nearly get a creek through the yard. This garage will not be IN the location where the "creek" forms, but the water gets to the creek somehow, and the garage will be in that path. We also get snow, in Maryland, not 4 months of drifts building up, but the wet stuff that'll dump occasionally, half melt, then freeze, then melt... When I look at pole barn construction, my untrained eye thinks there's opportunity for water ingress that a footer would help redirect. Additionally, if I put poles in the ground, knowing that they're in an area that gets wet, am I asking for premature issues with the poles? I think I have 20 more years at this house.
Either way, ground work will need to be done before the build, to level the pad site, so they should theoretically do some water management, but I'm confident that poles buried deep will still spend a lot of time soaking.