Types of Frames for Steel Buildings

 Steel buildings are not all alike. The differences start with the basics such as the type of frame that you choose. A basic understanding of the different types of frames you can choose for your construction will help you make the best choice for your own building.

There are three main types of frames available for steel building construction. The most popular of the three is the clear-span rigid frame structure, which is very strong and durable. The other two styles, modular and single slope frames, each offer advantages for specific uses.

Rigid I-Beam Clear-span Frame

Clear-span frames require no interior support beams, which allows for a huge unobstructed interior suitable for nearly any application. You can build a clear-frame steel building in widths up to 300 feet and any length. Since the interior walls are not load-bearing, you can configure the interior of the building in any way that you want with the use of partition walls. That allows for an unlimited variety of floor plans suitable for retail space, office space, production facilities, and storage for commodities or heavy equipment—even airplane hangars. Even when you factor in the cost of heavier construction for wider buildings, clear-span construction is often the cost-effective option for larger steel buildings.

Modular Frames

Unlike clear-frame construction, modular frames make use of interior load-bearing columns to more evenly distribute the load of the entire building. A modular-framed building is a good choice if your prospective project is wider than 300 feet, and can be more cost-effective if your building will be wider than 80 feet, thanks to the savings you’ll realize in the cost of the building’s foundation. As the building width increases, so do the potential cost savings, which is why most buildings that are wider than 150 feet use interior support columns. A modular support system works very well for factories and other businesses that require extremely large steel buildings.

Single-slope Frames

Single-slope frames allow for a pitched roof, with one side of the building lower than the other. Pitched roofs may be a necessity in areas that get heavy snowfall, because they allow the roof to shed excess snow. When you order a single-slope frame steel building, you’ll specify the desired roof pitch. The most common roof pitch, ½:12, slopes downward ½ foot to every 12 feet of length, and meets the building codes for most cities. You can, however, specify a different pitch if your city’s building codes are different. Single-slope frames are a common choice for office complexes, strip malls and mini-storage facilities as well as many metal buildings for agricultural uses.

A steel buildings manufacturer can help you choose the best frame-type for your intended use.

What Do Steel Buildings Really Cost?

Steel buildings are considered to be the most cost-effective type of construction for industrial, storage and retail uses, but the price of the building itself doesn’t tell the whole story. When you purchase a steel or metal building for your project, you also have to factor a number of other costs into your calculations. But even with the additional costs, you’ll usually find that a steel building is considerably less expensive than any other type of construction.

Foundation

Steel buildings need a solid concrete foundation to properly anchor your building and stabilize it. There are some uses for which you may not need a foundation, but in most cases, it is not only recommended, but required by local building codes. The national average for a concrete foundation is about $6 per square foot.

Doors and Windows

The quoted price for your metal building usually includes the I-beam frame and metal walls. Insulation, doors, windows, louvers and skylights will add to the base cost of the steel building package.

Permit Fees

Depending on your location, you may have to pay a thousand dollars or more in permitting fees. These fees are highly dependent on local ordinances, so contact your local building code office to find out what fees you’ll have to pay for permits.

Land and Site Preparation

If you don’t already own land on which you can build, you’ll have to buy or lease a parcel of land that is approved for steel building construction. Your land will also need to be prepared for construction, which could include leveling, clearing and grading it. Again, local costs vary so check with a local landscaping or construction company to get an idea of local pricing.

Delivery Charges

Your building will have to be shipped to you. If it’s a large building, it could require more than one truck. Check with the company providing the building to find out what you can expect to pay out for delivery.

Assembly Costs

Unless you have experience assembling large-scale steel projects, you should hire a professional contractor with experience in erecting steel buildings to put raise your building. It will ensure that your building is put together properly.

Taxes

Finally, don’t forget to add in all applicable taxes to the total cost of construction for your steel building.

Steel Building Packages: What’s in the Box?

Steel buildings packages and kits are an economical, efficient and an earth-friendly way to expand your business, add storage space to your property or erect an enclosed structure for almost any purpose. If you’ve never worked with steel buildings and suppliers of steel building packages, it’s helpful to know what’s typically included when you buy a DIY steel building. Understanding some of the basics will help you choose your building, and from whom you make your purchase.

The Basics – What’s Included?

Most steel building packages include steel I-beams for the frame, pre-fabricated steel walls and roof, and all fasteners to assemble the building. In most cases, the quoted price will include the color of your choice for the walls and the trim, generally powder-coated for weather-resistance and coverage. Look for a company that provides commercial grade U.S. steel for the highest quality.

Your package should also include engineer-stamped plans, designed to meet your local code requirements, and anchor bolt plans to show exactly where each bolt and beam goes in the assembly of your building.

What’s Usually Extra

Generally, the price you’re quoted for your metal building will not include doors and windows, in part because there are so many different styles and materials from which to choose. In most cases, you’ll work with a contractor after your purchase to customize the building for your specific needs.

In addition, the quote for your steel building also will not include insulation, since that’s greatly dependent on local building codes.

Tips for Buying Steel Buildings

Direct communication is vital to the process of buying a steel building that will serve your purposes. Make sure that you can contact the supplier you work with via a toll-free number with any questions and to help you work out the details of your purchase. In addition, the company should assign a professional engineer or designer to work with you and help you make decisions about details such as insulation, venting and roofing choices.

Talk to the steel buildings supplier about your erection options. Many suppliers of steel buildings work with a network of contractors throughout the country and can recommend one in your area to do the work of putting your building up.

Finally, be sure that you are familiar enough with the local building codes that you can be sure your building purchase meets them completely, or at the very least, hire a local contractor or engineer to look over the plans for your steel building and ensure that they meet all the engineering and code standards for your location.

Why Steel Buildings Are Growing in Popularity

What makes steel buildings so attractive to so many people? There’s no doubt that steel buildings are becoming a popular choice for industrial, retail and other uses. From barns and garages to stores, office buildings and storage spaces, more and more people are choosing metal buildings rather than pole buildings, wood construction and cement block construction. Steel offers many advantages that make it an excellent choice for business construction especially if you compare it to more conventional construction.

Steel is economical. Buildings made of steel cost less to erect than a building made of nearly any other material. This is in part because steel can be prefabricated to exactly the right shapes and sizes for assembly. While steel buildings do require a foundation, they often require less of a foundation than comparable wood or cement construction, which adds up to savings for you.

Steel buildings are fire-resistant, which can reduce insurance costs. They also are resistant to pests, such as termites, which can destroy wood buildings, and to rot and corrosion. Powder-coated steel parts are attractive as well as resistant to weather and rust, which reduces maintenance costs. Steel buildings seldom need to be repainted.

Style is another reason that metal buildings are growing in popularity. While many low-cost economy model steel buildings are low-profile and blocky, there are many styles that are practically indistinguishable from wood, brick or stone buildings.

Steel construction is weather-tight, and resists most extremes of temperature. The combination of steel’s strength and flexibility makes it an ideal choice of building material in an area prone to earthquakes. In addition, the steel frame of the building protects its occupants from lightning strikes and does not interfere with television, radio, phone or wireless connections.

Finally, steel is an environmentally conscious choice. Steel buildings are often made from recycled materials and are nearly 100% recyclable at the end of their useful lives. A steel building can be disassembled and reassembled on another site if desired, which reduces the amount of natural resources consumed and the amount of waste added to the waste stream.

If you want to know more about how steel buildings can be the right choice for your construction project, contact a company that works with steel construction every day. They’ll be happy to answer any questions you have about steel and how it can be the right choice for you.

Steel Buildings Offer Many Advantages for Many Uses

Steel buildings offer many advantages for builders and users, especially for those who believe in the DIY ethic of self-sufficiency. The many styles of steel buildings, from the pole building to Quonset buildings and beyond, make them suitable for use in a wide variety of applications. You can choose to engage a professional work crew to erect your building, or go the do-it-yourself route using one of the hundreds of do-it-yourself kits available on the market. If you’re planning an expansion, a storage unit, an on-site office building, a barn or any one of dozens of other uses, a steel building may offer the flexibility, economy and durability that you need.

Styles

When you think of metal buildings, chances are you have an image of a drab, industrial style structure that sticks out like a sore thumb as pre-fab and dull. Nothing could be further from the truth. Updated technology has opened up the range of styles available in for steel structures and introduced new colors, new shapes and new trims that can make your steel building an attractive addition to your property.

Durability

New technologies have introduced steel coatings that are fade-proof, corrosion-proof and rust-proof. Those features add more than style and color to your building—they’ll save you the cost of maintenance over the years. In most cases, you’ll get years of use from a well-constructed steel building with no need for repainting or special treatment to remove rust or other chemical corrosives.

Weather Resistance

A well-constructed steel building is weather tight, so you won’t need to worry about leaking or wind damage. Depending on the style you choose, you can add insulation and heating options to ensure specific temperature and humidity conditions inside your building. Steel buildings with weatherization are ideal for use as on-site shops for your farm or craft business, small grocery shops, manufacturing shops, storage buildings or even a home office for your business.

DIY Steel Building Kits

If you have experience in construction, you can put up a steel building without the help of a contractor. If you’re not a DIY-er by nature, a steel building kit can save you money even if you hire a professional construction crew to do the actual erection of your building. For more information about steel buildings, construction options and features, contact a vendor of quality steel buildings online or in your area.

Going Green With Steel Buildings and Accessories

Steel buildings can be a green alternative to traditional construction if you need additional storage, retail, shop or other space on your property. Traditional industrial building methods consume a lot of resources that may not be readily apparent. If you consider only the amount of time spent in digging a foundation and pouring it along with the time it takes to actually construct a traditional building in contrast to the time it takes to raise a modern metal building, you’ll begin to understand why choosing a pre-fab steel building is a greener choice than traditional construction.

In contrast to traditional construction, and in addition to the substantial savings you’ll realize with a metal building, contemporary steel buildings:

• require less time
• consume fewer resources in the way of fuel for construction equipment
• leave a lighter footprint in terms of foundation requirements
• consume fewer resources for heating and cooling because they’re designed to be energy efficient
• are more portable, so you can take it down when you leave a property instead of leaving behind an empty shell

In addition to these factors that are common to steel building construction, there are options you can choose that make your choice even greener.

Friendlier Foundation

Instead of the traditional concrete foundation, consider a poured earth foundation. It’s as hard as concrete and extremely resistant to the elements. While it will add a bit more to the upfront cost of your building, poured earth foundations are stronger and retain more heat than concrete foundations, so you’ll save money on heating and cooling costs. In addition, a poured earth foundation is extremely low maintenance and requires fewer repairs over time than concrete. Other foundation options you could consider for a steel building are adobe, cast earth and rammed earth.

Greener Roof Options

Traditional roofing tiles are environmentally unfriendly. Many steel buildings form their own roofs, so you can do away with slate or wood shakes entirely. If you choose a metal building that requires a roof, consider shingles made from recycled tires or other synthetics that include a high percentage of recycled materials. If you want to be even greener, look into solar roofing shingles, which are designed to capture and store the sun’s energy and reduce your consumption of traditional electrical energy sources. Steel buildings are also sturdy enough to support a truly green roof – with plants, soil and drainage that give you additional growing space and reduce your carbon footprint in many ways.

When you’re looking into expanding your storage space, adding a garage or building retail space for your business, consider the many ecological advantages of choosing steel buildings and earth-friendly options to make your property greener.

FAQs About Steel Buildings

Steel buildings are growing in popularity with property and business owners who want a simple, cost-effective solution to storage and expansion needs. A metal building can cost less to purchase and erect than a wood pole building. Steel structures are designed to be low-maintenance, are fire-resistant and can be customized with a wide variety of options so that you get exactly the structure that will satisfy your needs. If you’re considering purchasing a steel building as a garage, barn, storage shed, equipment bay or for any other reason, the answers to these frequently asked questions may help you make your decision.

How Much Do Steel Buildings Cost?

While the material costs for a steel building may be higher than the costs for a wooden pole building, other savings make up for the difference. Because steel buildings are easy to install, many buyers keep costs low by doing the assembly themselves. In addition, steel buildings are nearly maintenance-free, which will save you the cost of repainting and repairs for the entire time you own the building. Because steel buildings can be taken apart and moved, you may also save the costs of constructing another similar building if you move to another location, you just have to deconstruct it and put it up on a new foundation.

What Are Steel Buildings Made From?

Companies that make the components for steel buildings generally use heavy-gauge, American-made steel, but may use other types or grades of steel if your project requires it. You may also be able to purchase windows and trim materials that are made from steel or PVC, depending on the manufacturer and style.

How Energy Efficient Are Steel Buildings?

Steel buildings are weather-tight. The energy efficiency is entirely dependent upon the insulation options that you choose. With an insulation package, your metal buildings will be extremely energy efficient, saving you even more money over the course of your ownership of the property and building.

Are Steel Buildings Safely Constructed?

Because steel-framed buildings are fastened together with screws and bolts instead of nails, they’re actually far stronger than wood buildings. In addition, steel won’t warp when it’s exposed to weather and time, so the connections stay solid and tight, keeping your building as strong 20 years after you build it as it was the day you finished putting it up.

How About Looks?

Steel’s come a long way. Once upon a time, metal buildings were the ugly duckling of the construction world. Not anymore. High-tech has introduced powder-coating in a wide range of colors so that your new steel building will be as attractive as it is strong. Manufacturers offer many different styles, including Quonset hut construction and gambrel roof buildings, so that you can choose the style of steel buildings that look best on your property.

Steel Buildings Vs. Conventional Buildings

One of the most important choices you’ll make when you decide to put up a new structure on your property is what kind of material you’ll use. The two most common types of construction are wood-frame buildings and steel buildings. Each offer advantages and drawbacks that you should consider in making your choice. Steel buildings are increasing in popularity for use as garages, barns, storage sheds and much more. When you examine the differences between the two types of buildings, you’ll understand why.

Metal Buildings Are More Flexible

Wood frame buildings tend to be complicated in both design and construction methods, making it difficult for anyone not experienced in construction to build in any degree of flexibility. Steel buildings, on the other hand, are designed to make the most of available space and often feature modular construction for maximum flexibility. This is especially true of industrial steel buildings, which can be modified easily with adjustable walls and dividers to create new rooms and offices, or shelving to create additional storage. With the right accessories and options, you can turn a steel building into anything from an airplane hangar to modular classrooms for a school.

Steel Buildings Are Energy Efficient and Climate Controlled

Insulation installs easily in steel buildings, which are designed for snap-in construction. Smart design makes it simple to install heating, cooling and humidity solutions as well – usually for a fraction of the cost to install the same systems in a wood-frame construction. Windows and vents in steel buildings guarantee excellent airflow to help you avoid sick-building syndrome.

Quicker Construction Means Less Cost, Faster Productivity

Metal buildings are designed to go up fast with minimum preparation. The foundation for your building will be entirely dependent on the size and style of the construction. In many cases, your site will require far less preparation than a similar wood building would need. And since time is money – especially in the construction business – the fact that a steel building goes up in a fraction of the time it takes to build a wood-frame building saves you big. To top it all off, you’ll get your building into use that much faster, which means that you can get in business sooner.

Steel Buildings Require Less Maintenance, Provide More Value

Steel buildings keep saving you money even after they’re built. They’re more energy-efficient and require less maintenance. Because they’re fire-resistant and resistant to most pest and environmental damage, you’ll save money oninsurance costs as well. No matter how you look at it, metal buildings provide the best value for your money.