How to Square a Square Pole Building

Installing doors, windows, siding and interior finishes require square walls to ensure a proper fit. A squared square pole building ensures the edges of interior and exterior panels align with structural supports and all door and window openings will sit true in the building. Squaring before pouring the pole building footers or digging holes for poles ensures the rest of the building will finish square.

Things You'll Need

• Four wooden lawn stakes
• Sledgehammer
• Roll of 1/8-inch twine
• 100-foot tape measure

Instructions

1. Push the tip of a wooden lawn stake into the ground. Hit the stake four to five inches into the ground with a sledgehammer.

2. Tie one end of a roll of 1/8-inch twine to the stake. Hook the end of a 100-foot tape measure between the twine and the surface of the wooden stake. Pull the tape measure across your lawn. Place a second stake in the ground at the building's width. Tie the twine to the second stake. Install two more stakes in the same manner to mark the four corners of the building, with twine tied to each one to mark the perimeter of the building.

3. Hook the end of the tape measure to one corner stake. Pull the tape measure diagonally across to the corner opposite the stake. Pull the tape measure tight. Read the number aligned with the corner of the stake facing toward the center of the opening.

4. Move the tape measure to an opposite corner. Repeat the process to read the length of the other diagonal. Note the measurement.

5. Adjust the locations of the stakes until you have equal diagonals. The foundation of the pole building sits square when you've achieved this.

References

• APB Pole Barns: Squaring Building Lines
• Mother Earth News: Erecting a Pole Building