An introduction to pole barns

What exactly is a pole barn? For starters, an FBi pole barn, technically isn't a pole barn at all. It is a precisely engineered wood-frame structure suitable for a wide range of uses, from complex, high-end commercial buildings down to simple storage sheds.

Very few builders actually still use poles for columns. FBi was the first in the industry to start using square posts, clear back in 1958. Most of our competitors soon followed, hence the term "post-frame buildings."

However, our techniques continued to evolve. Square posts were replaced by precisely laminated wood columns in the 1980s, which provided superior strength and preservative treatment compared to solid posts. Then, starting in 2002, FBi was one of the first to offer steel-reinforced concrete Perma-Columns.

However, once a term becomes well known in the marketplace, it tends to stick. That's why many people still refer to wood-frame buildings as "pole barns" and we still use the term "post-frame."

Some post-frame builders now favor terms like "wood-frame" or "timber-frame." It doesn't matter to us what you call our buildings, just so long as you call us when you need one!