pole barns

willie jones

can i build barn by setting post on piers instead of digging holes for post

Just Bill

Depends on local code, but probably. That is the better method, anyhow. Anything buried in dirt will deteriorate faster, especially wood. This method usually requires more bracing.

Bud Cline

This should prove to be interesting!

NancyNGA

When we were building our pole barn we found out that the planned back side was sitting on solid rock a few inches below the ground. The only option was to chisel out enough of the rock at each support to pour about a cubic foot of concrete into each, then sank J bolts into the concrete to fasten onto a Simpson Strongtie post base. There are other post bases that might work better, like these:

http://strongtie.com/ftp/catalogs/c-2011/C-2011-p062.pdf

BTW, one bolt turned out to be too far out of line, but there was still hope. We drilled a new hole and used epoxy with a straight bolt for that one:

http://strongtie.com/ftp/catalogs/c-2011/C-2011-p060.pdf

All other supports could be sunk into the ground. Our building was only 24X14 and one story high, though.

They have extensive strength and resistance charts on their website. You might check them to see if the specs are sufficient for your barn.