(Note: Foundation options featured are only available as part of building packages. Pole Barns Direct does not sell components individually at this time.)
Post Protection
Even though treated posts are manufactured to defend the wood against natural decay and insect damage, Pole Barns Direct offers a couple different Post Protector products that can provide added security to the foundation of your building.
Post decay is caused when three conditions combine:
- Oxygen
- Temperatures between 40-100 degrees F
- Moisture
The combination of these three conditions creates an environment that allows soil fungi to feed on the wood, causing decay. While chemical treatment helps make the posts a less suitable food source for the fungi, Post Protectors create an additional barrier that eliminates soil-to-post contact and prevents the fungi from getting to the post in the first place.
Post Protectors
Post Protectors are plastic sleeves that completely cover the bottom of the posts, shielding the entire in-ground portion. Post Protectors are formed with a special plastic polymer that can sustain up to 450 years of geo-application life. Post Protectors feature wide horizontal ribs that protect from uplift forces, as well as vertical ribs that allow any moisture to evaporate. Post Protectors also help prevent any of the preservative chemicals from leaching out of the posts, keeping the treatment in the wood while keeping micro-organisms out.
Grade Guards
Grade Guards are 30” plastic sleeves that slide over the posts to battle post decay right where it most commonly starts – at grade level where the soil, air and moisture combine. They are the least expensive post protection option.
Post Protectors are available for 6×6 treated posts, as well as laminated columns.
Post Protectors are designed to look great in a variety of settings, even on exposed posts. Their tan color helps them blend in with the post and not become an eye-sore like some other methods of post decay prevention.
Post Alternatives
Looking for something besides standard ground-set posts for your post frame building?
Pole Barns Direct offers a few different products that combine the cost efficiency of post frame construction with the structural benefits of a concrete foundation.
Drill-Set Sturdi-Wall Brackets
Drill-Set Sturdi-Wall Brackets are heavy duty anchors used to connect the wood posts to an existing concrete foundation. The brackets are fastened to the concrete using a hammer drill with a masonry bit and concrete fasteners, and then the posts are set inside the brackets.
Wet-Set Sturdi-Wall Brackets
Wet-Set Sturdi-Wall Brackets are installed while the concrete foundation is being poured. They provide the strongest post-to-foundation connection without the time-consuming process of drilling into the concrete.
Pre-Cast Perma-Columns
Pre-Cast Perma-Columns are a 5’ pre-cast concrete column that keeps the wood post completely out of the ground. The wood column is attached to a U-shaped steel bracket made of ¼-inch steel with ½-inch thru-bolts and ¼-inch lag bolts. This bracket is robotically welded to steel reinforcement that runs the entire length of the column. (Diagram) The concrete section of the column extends 3’ into the ground just as a regular post would, creating a permanent foundation for your post frame building. Perma-Columns come pre-assembled, making installation simple.
