Need more storage or work space on your farm? Pole barns are a great choice. By manufacturing metal supports and framing in the factory and assembling it on site, steel building suppliers can help you put up a wood-sided pole barn in no time. Total costs are relatively low, and you get a building that should last 20 to 30 years or more.

Buying a pole barn isn't as simple as picking a design out of a catalog, though. Here are a few considerations to keep in mind.

What will you use your pole barn for?
Deciding exactly what you'll use your new pole barn for will help you spec out exactly what size you need and what extras to purchase. Be specific: if you're using it for storage, what do you need to store – vehicles, equipment and tools, fertilizer, produce? If it's for livestock, what animals, how many, and for how long?

Who'll build the foundation?
You'll need a flat concrete foundation in place to support your pole barn. Depending on who you choose to buy from, you may need to hire a separate contractor to handle this step, although some steel building suppliers may offer to pour your foundation as part of their installation process.  If you have a general contractor you're familiar with, it's worth having them price out the job so you can compare the costs.

Where will you locate the building?
The available space may impact the size of the pole barn you can buy, as well as your overall costs, so evaluate your options carefully to avoid steep grades and heavily wooded areas. More generally, your location will dictate the snow and wind codes the barn will have to withstand, which are critical to specifying and pricing your building.

Who are you buying from?
The steel building market – which includes pole barns, along with larger buildings like arenas, garages, hangars, and the like – includes several different types of sellers. You may work directly with building manufacturers, or with resellers, or even with general contractors who sell steel buildings a sideline to their primary construction business.

No one approach is the best – as long as you compare several options. Using BuyerZone's free request for steel building price quotes, you can get in touch with up to six different steel building suppliers. Talk to each of them and describe your needs, including your intended application, installation needs, and location, and you'll be able to compare detailed price quotes to get the right pole barn at the right price.

Or, read more about what features to look for in a pole building