How To Set Posts To Build A Pole Barn Yourself DIY

hey guys this is Paul from smart easy DIY today I wanted to show you how I set posts for a pole barn all by myself and how you can - if you follow the methods that I use now I have to warn you this is a little bit of a lengthy video but if you watch it all the way through hopefully it'll help you and give you ideas how you can set post by yourself so then before you get all setup and put the posts in the hole like I'm doing here first thing you want to do is make sure that your hole it's gonna work so I set a string up stretch it really nice and tight along whatever side I'm setting and you want to check your post hole make sure that it's gonna work make sure you have room in there to put your post right where it needs to go for Center and in my case that posts are ten foot on center that's how I measure off the last post to see for sure if it's gonna work and I use like 3/4 crushed gravel like that in the bottom I tack it down in the hole very good with a plate tamper just pack it down really well and then that will hold it good when it's getting ready for concrete what I do is I get ten foot two by fours and they usually run a little bit longer than ten foot so I'll mark them out but I'll show you here see as you can see they're they're about a quarter inch longer so I make one end perfectly even with the center of the post the previous post like this I'm showing you here and then I'll just overlap it a little bit and then I run one under and one over as like going down through there so first thing I do is get screw in that and to get it ready and then I prep this other end over here with another screw as you can see I stay in from the end a little and then I make a mark measuring from the other end right on ten foot with that and then I get my set up here got some screws screw gun level tape measure then I got this two by here that's for my prop to buy this was actually the first to buy that I put on when I bring the posts over so you want to stay back from the end there and put a screw in that don't put any on the other end just let that be how it is just have that ready to go and you can see how I brace those all and the inside those other posts going down the row there that's what I'm gonna do here once I'm all done so the idea is just to have that ready temporarily hold the post up or me so then if your string is already and everything then you're all set ready to set your post now the corner posts are a little bit of a tricky thing you have to get them set first I'm just showing you some posts and down the row here cuz it's easier for me to show it that way but the corner post is the trickiest he's got to get a perfect brace both ways you can see that one brace inside and out the other ones braced to the outside one away it's just because of getting the cement truck in there that was the easiest way for me to brace it so you have to think about getting cement in there and that will determine how you brace it what direction so you just get the post in the hole there try not to knock any dirt in if at all possible you usually get a little bit then what I do is just grab the post pick it up a few times make sure it's settled down really good you just kind of eyeball it and get as close to the string as you can so of course you can't let go of the post there as you can see because it just wants to fall over and so the next thing I have a screw gun with a belt clip on it that helps it really nice it can hang on my pants then that way I don't have to reach down and grab it afterwards so then what I do is I just put a screw in by hand screw it in a little bit that way I don't have to hold it and then the screw gun can they just drive it on in and all this screw is for is to hold the brace so it doesn't fall down as I'm fastening it you can see it's a little bit tricky this is when you get your hands really full so then that brace there since I already have a screw started in it I just screw it right into that post and that screw I put in before it just holds it from falling like I said and then that to by works really good for twisting it to make it square with the string and stuff and it just kind of gives you a lot more control of the post and then that just jammed into the ground like that on the other end that actually holds that post really pretty well if it doesn't you can always go back and push it a little bit but now you've got a lot more control over the post that you did to start with so then here's where you really need about five hands but it's doable to do it by yourself I've done it many times so that's what I'm showing you so that's where it's nice where you can just set your two bike back there on top of the previous one so that holds that end if you're doing it underneath you can put a screw under there about four inches under that last two by and then that'll be your support if you're underneath there so then the only reason I use a level for this is because I like to have it pretty much level it's not critical but that way your measurement is a lot closer to be an accurate you're 10 foot spacing measurement so then I just put that baby right on the mark and screw it in right there and then you can see that post moved a little bit when I push back on it but that brace holds it pretty well and now that that's fastened you just kind of check it again to make sure it's pretty square that kind of holds it but it might be good idea to hang on to that to buy as you're walking over to the other side and then you can just put that right in the center there and screw it in when you're all done of course you rechecked that measurement but now you just go back over and that thing is held pretty well so then here's now where you can have your bar handy and you can pry it back and forth you can kind of tell pretty easily looking at it which way it's got to go but you can check with the level then to but that's where you start prying off the edge and then you just start checking it and you repeat this process quite a few times just take it a little bit at a time then you measure to make sure that your mark is dead-on and in my case it was right on I measured back from the end of the building to just to confirm it then use that brace post there that I use that brace to buy and use that to twist it straight you want to make sure it's nice and square with the string so you can move it around with that because you got lots of leverage and then what I'm saying here is today is my birthday by the way when I'm studying this is August so it was my birthday and what better thing to do than to set posts on your birthday well anyway so yeah you just check it a number of times check it for in and out check it for sideways and then you use the bar and pry it a little bit at a time so you get it where you want it and if you take it a little too far you know there's no shame in that you just take it back a little bit then when you got it good I like to put a 2-byte down there just keep it up off a little because you don't want to move it again when the cement truck comes you want to have a little room to work so I put that to buy on there and then that braces it really well for that way then for this way once you make sure that it's square then you pound a stake in like that and then you can come back and double-check it and then if you got it right against a string where you want it in this level then what I do is I hold it put tension on it and then I drive a screw through the stake down there and hopefully it holds it right where it was so it's a little trial and error when you're doing it by yourself you got to come back and check it a few times double-check it a few times if you have to you can take this loose on the top part here and then I would recommend taking the screw right out and starting a new hole cuz if you only got to go a little bit it'll want to put it right back in the same hole and it won't want to move and I use a clamp like that and it works really good to hold that level on there I could do this from the start but it's just something that I learned that way it's kind of hands-free you can keep the level there and then once you're all ready then you just want to put another two by on the bottom like that to brace it really good most people don't do this but I like to do it just because when you parse the men in there you don't want that thing to move at all so anyways alright well I hope this it was helpful if it was give it a thumbs up and let me know how you did setting your own posts and maybe give me some of your ideas too and thanks for watching guys

Channel: Smart Easy DIY

Views: 514,231

Rating: 4.9300451 out of 5

Keywords: How To Set Posts For A Pole Barn By Yourself DIY, set pole barn posts by yourself diy, best way to set pole barn posts, set pole barn posts diy, pole barn house, pole barn construction, building a pole barn, build your own pole barn, setting posts by yourself, setting posts for a pole barn by yourself, how to build a pole barn, how to build a pole building, how to build a garage, build a shop garage pole barn diy

Id: vnLEh8QnRO4

Length: 6min 47sec (407 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 21 2018