Post Frame Builders in Northern Colorado

Close, but not quite. The name pole barn goes back to barns framed on round poles or solid timbers set in the dirt, while a post frame building uses laminated columns, trusses and bracing engineered for the site's loads. That engineering is what lets the method carry insulation, interior walls and big doors for a shop, an arena or a home. Our pole barns are built the same way, so you get the engineered frame either way.

Mainly when you need a clear span wider than wood trusses handle well, or a commercial building with an overhead crane or heavy loads hung from the frame. A red-iron frame is welded steel anchored to a full concrete foundation, while a post frame building stands on its own columns and is easy to insulate and finish because the girts and purlins are wood. For most farm, shop, garage and storage buildings post frame is the better match, and we point you to the right one when we quote.

Each building is engineered for the design snow and wind loads the county sets for your site, which run heavier in the foothills and mountain towns than on the plains. That means sized trusses, closer purlins and girts, wind bracing and doors rated for wind. Metal roofing and siding stand up to hail, and heavier-gauge or hail-rated panels add margin. Footings go below the frost line the county sets and are designed for the expansive clay common along the Front Range.

It depends on what you are building, so each one is priced from your plan rather than a chart. The footprint, wall height and the snow and wind loads at your site set the frame, and doors, insulation, liner panels, concrete and grading on clay or uneven ground add from there. Describe the building and its use, and you will get a call back from a local builder with a free quote.

Usually, yes. Most need a building permit, plans engineered for the site and inspections, issued by the county or by the city when the parcel is inside town limits. Some counties exempt qualifying agricultural buildings, and the Larimer County foothills sit in a wildfire hazard area with its own construction rules, so we check what applies to your parcel before we design. We handle the plans and the permit paperwork.