Pole Barn Builder — Post-Frame Construction on Your Property
You have the land and you need a big, dry building on it — storage, animals, equipment or a hobby shop — built by a licensed Minnesota contractor who is on site every day.
JMB Builders is a pole barn builder for acreage and rural lots in the north metro, around Zimmerman, and out to St. Cloud. One crew sets the posts, frames the trusses and purlins, hangs the steel, and sets the overhead and walk doors. Priced per project. Send photos of the site and the size you want for a first quote within one business day; a site visit follows to measure, check the ground and set the final number.
- Priced per project, one crew start to finish
- Photo quote in 1 business day, then a site visit
- Permit and engineered plans handled where required
- Licensed MN contractor BC809005
A post-frame building is posts set in the ground or on concrete piers, girts across the posts, trusses on a header, purlins across the trusses, and steel over all of it. No foundation wall, no stick-framed walls, no sheathing. That is why it goes up fast and why it is the cheapest way to cover a lot of square feet on a rural lot.
The building stands or fails on the first two days. Posts that are not deep enough, not bearing on a footing, or not treated for ground contact heave in a Minnesota frost cycle and the doors stop working. Trusses set off-layout show up as a wavy roof line. We lay out from a string line, check every post for plumb twice, and set trusses to a chalk line before the first purlin goes on.
We build the whole building: excavation and posts, framing, steel roof and walls, overhead and walk doors, trim and gutters. Concrete floor, insulation and interior liner are options on the same quote. Electrical is brought in from a licensed electrician when you want power in the building.
What you supply
- The footprint, wall height and door count you want, or the use you have in mind and we suggest a size
- Photos of the building site from the road and from the house, plus a photo of the driveway access
- Your steel color choices for roof, walls, trim and wainscot from the supplier's chart
- Utility locates called in before we dig (we walk you through it)
What JMB supplies
- Layout, post holes and footings, treated posts or concrete piers with brackets
- Girts, headers, engineered trusses and purlins, bracing and hurricane ties
- Steel roof and wall panels, ridge cap, closures, screws, trims and gutters
- Overhead doors, walk doors and windows set and sealed
- Permit application and engineered plans where the county or city requires them
- Concrete floor, insulation, liner panels and a lean-to as options on the same quote
- Cleanup and haul-away of packaging and cutoffs, photos of the finished building in your job folder
How it is priced: per project
Quoted in writing from your photos within one business day. What moves the number:
- Footprint and wall height — taller walls mean longer posts, more steel and bigger doors
- Number and size of overhead doors, walk doors and windows
- Concrete floor, or a gravel floor now and concrete later
- Insulation and interior liner steel vs. an open shell
- Site work: how level the ground is and how far the driveway has to be extended
- Whether the county or city requires engineered plans and how the permit is handled
- Distance from Zimmerman for daily travel and material delivery
Send the site photos, the approximate size and what you plan to keep in it. The photo quote is a range; the site visit turns it into a firm number.
How long it takes
Posts and framing: about a week for a typical storage building. Steel, doors and trim: another week. Concrete and insulation add days, and permit review adds weeks before the start.
How your project works
- 1
Send photos, get a written quote
Send three photos of the space and a sentence about what you want. You get a clear, itemized quote within one business day. We only come out to measure first when the job needs a tape measure — no pressure, no games.
- 2
Pick materials, or bring your own
We help you choose profiles and materials that fit the house and the budget, or match your existing millwork exactly — or you buy the door or trim yourself and we install it. Everything is confirmed before the crew is scheduled.
- 3
Clean, precise installation
The crew shows up on time, protects floors and furniture, and installs with tight joints and consistent reveals. Photos of the finished work go in your job folder.
- 4
Walkthrough and invoice
We walk the finished work with you. If anything is not right, we fix it before we call the job done. Then one invoice, paid by check or direct deposit — no card fees, no payment links.
Situations and options
Storage and equipment building
Open shell on a gravel or concrete floor with one big overhead door and a walk door. The least building for the most square feet. Trusses sized so the inside is clear-span for a tractor, trailer or boat.
Hobby shop building
Concrete floor, insulated walls and ceiling, liner steel and a slab that can take a lift later. Wired by a licensed electrician once the shell is up. Windows on the shop side for daylight.
Animal and hay barn
Open sides or sliding doors on the lee side, dirt or gravel floor, and a roof pitch that sheds snow away from the door side. Stalls and a tack room framed inside after the shell.
Garage-style pole building near the house
Wainscot in a second color, overhangs, gutters and a walk door and windows that match the house. Built to fit the lot setbacks and the driveway you already have.
Pole Barn Builder — Post-Frame Construction on Your Property: questions, answered
Do I need a permit to build a pole barn in Minnesota?
Almost always, yes. Most counties and cities require a building permit for a pole barn, and many require an engineered set of plans for buildings over a certain size or with a concrete floor. Some townships add their own setback and size rules. We check with your jurisdiction before quoting, handle the application and the engineered plans where they are required, and build the inspections into the schedule.
How deep do pole barn posts go in Minnesota?
Below the frost line, on a footing. The exact depth and footing size come from the code range for your county and the engineered plans when those are required. A post that stops short heaves in the first winter and the doors go out of square. We dig to the required depth, set a concrete footing or cookie in the bottom, and use ground-contact treated posts or concrete piers with steel brackets.
Can you build a pole barn on my property if the ground is not level?
Yes. Most rural lots have some fall. A little grade is handled by cutting the posts to a level line and building up the pad. More grade means a cut and fill with a skid steer before we set posts, and we tell you that after the site visit. What we do not do is set posts on fill that has not been compacted.
Should I put a concrete floor in a pole barn right away?
If you can, yes. Pouring the floor after the building is up is normal, but the door thresholds, the post bases and the grade all work better when the floor is planned from the start. If the budget says gravel now, we set the posts and the doors so a slab can be poured later without cutting anything.
What size pole barn should I build?
Bigger than you think, within what the lot and the permit allow. Tell us what is going in it — vehicles, a boat, a camper, a lift, animals — and how tall the tallest thing is. Wall height is the number people get wrong; a camper or a lift needs a taller wall and a taller door than a car. We size the building around the doors, not the other way around.
Do you quote a pole barn from photos or do you have to come out?
Both. Send photos of the site and the size you want and you get a first quote within one business day. A pole barn is one of the jobs where we then come out with a tape and a level to check the ground, the access and the setbacks. The site visit turns the range into a firm number before anything is signed.
Get a written quote for this job
Three photos and a sentence is enough. You hear back within one business day. Or text the photos to 763-204-2099.
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Read morePage reviewed September 24, 2026 · JMB Builders LLC, MN license BC809005 · All pole barns pages
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