How to Put Metal on a Pole Building

Pole buildings are usually built on farms to store hay, other animal feed and livestock. Pole barns require lumber and plywood, or steel sheets, that attach to poles. A sledge hammer and a shovel are also required tools. When constructing a pole building, you may opt for wood or metal poles. If your pole building has sides, they too can be wood or metal. Putting metal on your wood or metal poles can be accomplished via a few different methods.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 2-by-4 metal studs
• Tape measure
• Chalk
• Drill motor
• Drill bit
• Thread tapper
• 3-inch metal bolts

1. Use 2-by-4 metal studs, or stringers, for the sides of your pole building. Mark the metal stringers where they cross at the metal poles. Drill the stringers at the marks with three vertical holes.

2. Drill matching holes in the metal poles, and tap threads into the holes.

3. Place 3-inch bolts through the metal studs and into the threads in the poles.

4. Continue placing metal studs in straight rows across the sides of your pole building, as high up as you'd like to go. Attach the metal studs to each pole the same way.

Tips & Warnings

• A tap is a bladed instrument used to cut threads into a metal hole. Taps are circular bars of rigid steel, square-shaped on one end, with threads on the other.
• Make sure the bolts are the same size as the tapped threads for maximum holding strength.