Pole Building Site Preparation

When your project is a go and it’s a matter of getting going this step is likely the first step in construction of a pole building. Pole building site preparation is the process of making the location of the building ready for construction.

In my case my builder provided me a list of items and requirements to get the site to their preferred specifications. This will probably vary depending on your situation so I won’t cover the exact specifics in this article. In simplest terms the site needed to be leveled and covered with 4 to 6 inches of 2B stone.

Excavation

I really feel like this day marked the official start of this project, sure there was a lot of preparation work and paperwork but this just felt real. The front end loader showed up and before I knew it dirt was moving.

One of the first items to do before beginning to dig was to mark the “top of stone” location and go from there. This mark establishes where the top of the stone layer will be and soil was excavated to allow for the 4-6 inches of stone. Keep in mind that the top of stone is not the top of the concrete floor. Top of concrete will likely be 4-5 inches higher. Once that is all established it’s time to dig in.

Using a laser level on a stand makes the job of making things level so much easier. Most contractors doing excavation should have something like this but if you are into DIY you can find real nice ones online. Personally I bought one from Huepar off of Amazon. The kit came in a nice carry case and the sensor makes using it outside in the light very easy.

My location has a slight slope to it which meant that there would be a bank on one side and a hill on the other. Much of the dirt removed from the one side was moved to the other to level everything out. In some areas the sod just needed to be removed. None of the soil was removed from the location, it was all just relocated.

Stone Work

After the soil was excavated the 2B stone was brought in and the site started to take shape. The site took more stone than was originally estimated due to the slope and the desire to raise the floor height.

There was no shortage of rocks from big rocks to boulders, there was no end. I decided that I would create a rock retaining wall to clean up the area and keep the area level. I am no expert in this but I am pleased with my work. The TJ with its winch was an extremely handy rock moving tool.

Wrapping it Up

The site preparation took only a few days. The rock wall and cleanup of the area took longer but I slowly worked away at it. Now that the site is ready it’s a matter of waiting for the materials to arrive and construction to begin. The wait from the completion of the excavation to the arrival of the materials was nearly 2 months. In that time I continued to work on the small details of the area.