pole building without sinking poles

with the wretched layer of rock just below the soil here i am having trouble visualizing how to build a pole building. I can't imagine renting a jack hammer and I know that you can but the posts on top of a pier but having the post bolted to the pier seems so unstable. am I just being overly worried? I mean, houses are built 'on top' of concrete all the time, right.....

Hi Leah, I think the house in the "Hobbit House" thread is pole-on-stone. There is a quite a bit of info on the website for that house (which isn't technically PSP), so you might check it out.

Once you have it on a pier, it is no longer a pole structure. 

Maybe this will help.

The first pic is a pole structure.  It gets its structural strength from the poles in the ground.

The second pic is not a pole structure.  Since it doesn't get its structural strength from the ground, it has to be built into the structure.

that makes alot of sense paul. I just thave to remember that I  can't rely on the stability of the poles for the building which is sort of what I have counted on in all my 'in brain' plans. my ponies have only a hoop house for shelter right now and I need to erect something more stable, I can't believe it hasn't blown away yet, it has been insanely windy lately. I also still have those trusses to use after we make the long slow trip down here with them. I'm looking forward to having a real barn at last but geologic conditions here have forced me to alter my ideas.

Is the rock everywhere, or just in certain areas?

Dynamite?

Sue

We've got a lot of out buildings that are on rock piers. they're solid as can be. We drill into the rock and set a pin. Then we drill into the posts and pin bolt the pin to the rock. Below is a pic of one of the structures. For this one we even scribed the bottom of the post to match the bumps and crevices in the rocks.