Steel buildings serve many different uses in the residential, agricultural and industrial sectors, but the fastest growing sector of the steel building industry is in providing steel buildings for residential uses. While many homeowners look to steel buildings as storage sheds, pool houses or garden sheds, one of the most common uses for steel buildings in the residential arena is for use as garages.

Single family homes – with or without attached garages– are the epitome of the American dream. Garages were originally meant to provide a storage space and protection for your vehicles. The first garages were probably converted carriage houses, but by the 1950s, when car ownership became the rule rather than the exception in the suburbs, most new homes were built with attached garages or carports. Today, many owners of older suburban homes find themselves in the position to add a garage or carport, or replace an existing one.

Why Choose Steel Buildings for Garages?

Steel structures are strong, durable and versatile. As one of the strongest building materials known, steel is the ideal choice for a building that will protect what is probably the second most valuable investment in your life – your car or cars.

In addition to being strong, steel is flexible. Steel construction is designed to give slightly in response to outside forces, including hurricane force winds and earthquake tremors. The techniques used to build with steel make steel buildings the best choice in hurricane and earthquake prone areas. That’s nice to know when your garage is all that stands between your expensive automobile, boat or RV and a crushing wind.

There are many different styles and types of steel garages, many of them available as pre-fabricated kits that you can build yourself with the help of a few friends over a weekend. Many makers of steel builders also provide kits that can be erected on your property by a trusted local contractor. Either way, steel garages are more affordable than most other types of construction.

Cost is one of the best reasons for choosing a steel building, and the savings don’t end when the building is standing. Because steel is resistant to corrosion, resists rust and doesn’t rot, you’ll spend less time and money repairing your garage walls and roof. The powder-coating used to color and protect the sheets of steel used for steel buildings resists fading and staining and doesn’t chip or peel, which means you don’t have to lay out the cash to repaint your steel garage every four or five years. In fact, most steel buildings are guaranteed not to need repainting for up to 20 years.

If you’re in the market to replace your garage or build one, check out the many options and advantages available to you when you choose steel buildings to protect your vehicles. You’ll be amazed at the savings potential and variety you’ll have.

Steel Buildings Make Fabulous Greenhouse Grow Rooms

Building a grow room for tropical plants or for starting seedlings is a logical step when you can no longer contain your hobby growing on the few wire shelves provided by most indoor, portable greenhouses. Your choices at that point are few. You can take over a walk-in closet or unused bedroom, seal it off to prevent drafts from damaging your tender young plants, add climate control and ventilation and lighting and possibly invest in a hydroponic growing system. Or, you can take a look at all the advantages offered by steel buildings as greenhouse grow rooms.

Build the Size You Want

You can purchase prefabricated steel buildings in just about any size you want, from a small garden shed size to the size of two football fields tacked end to end. Steel building sizes range from 10 feet to 50 feet wide, and can be built as long as you want them. You can even add on to the length in the future if you decide to expand your growing capacity.

Steel Buildings are Climate Controlled and Weather-Tight

Steel buildings are prefabricated to fit together tightly, leaving no space for drafts to enter. When you choose one for a grow room or greenhouse, you’ll find that it’s far easier to control the temperature and moisture level because you don’t have to account for heat loss or moisture loss through the walls or ill-fitting joints. Steel buildings are easier and less expensive to insulate than wood or concrete buildings, making them a better choice for use as greenhouses.

Build with Plumbing and Electricity

When you modify a room in your house to serve as a grow room, you risk overloading electrical circuits or have to go to the expense of installing new electrical circuits. In order to get water to your plants or your hydroponic system, you’ll need to cart buckets of water or run a hose from a faucet to the room. Steel buildings can be designed complete with the conduits and openings needed for plumbing and electricity so that you don’t have to worry about taxing your household resources.

Take Advantage of Natural Light

Steel buildings are highly customizable. You can choose to build a completely enclosed grow room or take advantage of natural light by adding windows, glass and skylights.

If your gardening or horticulture hobby has outgrown its current digs and you need to expand, consider the many advantages of steel buildings as greenhouses and grow rooms before you make your choice. You’re likely to find that a steel building is the ideal choice for your needs.

Steel Buildings Add Value to Your Property

If you’re looking for a quick way to bring some added value to your property, take a look at all the advantages that steel buildings offer to homeowners and business owners.

Storage Structures in Good Repair Add Value to Property

Home buyers consider extra storage space to be a major plus when they’re looking for a new home. A storage shed in the back yard adds value by increasing the storage space available. Steel buildings offer even more value than wooden or fiberglass structures – they’re rot-resistant, don’t attract termites and other pests, and are extremely low maintenance. You can usually choose steel buildings in styles and colors that match or complement the main structures on the property, making them an attractive addition.

Steel Buildings Offer Potential for Dreams and Expansion

Even an unfinished steel building can be a major selling point for your property. Most people have some secret dream – they want a wood workshop to which they can retire, or they’ve always dreamed of having a pottery studio in the backyard. For some, that steel building will be their future home office or the yoga studio they’ve always imagined having. You don’t need to provide wiring or anything other than a clean, attractive shell. The imagination of your potential buyers will fill in the rest.

A Steel Building Reflects the Care You Take of Your Property

Despite their low maintenance needs, steel buildings maintain their attractive exteriors and interiors for years. As time goes on, wood sheds get tatty looking, with peeling paint and rundown corners. Steel buildings, on the other hand, always look new with a minimum of effort. The powder-coating used to finish and color steel doesn’t fade, resists rust and keeps its color for decades. Years in the future, the steel outbuilding, shed or garage will bear silent witness to the care you lavish on your property and suggest that the rest of the home is cared for as well.

According to rental and real estate agents, lack of storage space is one of the main reasons that buyers walk away from an otherwise attractive property. Pre-fabricated steel buildings are one of the easiest ways to add attractive storage space to your property without sacrificing precious interior square footage. Whether you’re staying put and need the extra space for yourself, or trying to make your property more attractive to buyers, a well-made steel building is guaranteed to add value to your property along with the additional storage space.

Top Five Uses for Agricultural Steel Buildings

Steel buildings have a long history of use in agriculture. While pop culture celebrates the old wooden red barn as an icon of the family farm, steel buildings of many kinds have actually been the most popular type of construction on farms for decades. It’s been a very long time since neighbors gathered together to raise a wooden barn in a weekend.

These days, the sounds of a barn-raising are more likely to be the sounds of power drills and rivet guns securing steel to steel than the pounding of hammers, and the old red barns have given way to long-lasting and virtually indestructible steel buildings. From animal shelter to grain storage to barracks, there are many uses for steel buildings on the modern farm.

Equipment Storage

The most common use for a metal building on the modern farm is to store and garage equipment. Tractors, balers, wagons, rakes and mows all need somewhere to “live” when they’re not out in the field earning their keep. Steel Quonset buildings are a time-honored solution to providing garages for farm equipment. They provide high roofs, plenty of maneuvering space to park equipment and lots of space for both motorized and manual farming equipment.

Barns

The old-fashioned barn hasn’t faded away. It’s just been updated to use more durable materials. Steel barns are more structurally sound and weatherproof than traditional wood structures. Built to code, they’ll withstand hurricane force winds, shed feet of snow without crumpling and stand even through earthquakes. Steel is fire resistant, making them safer for livestock, and weather-tight, making them easier to insulate. There’s no need for a dug foundation, and can be easily built with a dirt floor.

Animal Shelter

Aside from barns, farmers with herd animals need to provide shelter in the paddock or pasture – a place where animals can get out of the sun, rain or snow. You’ll still see lean-to wood sheds built over feed stations and water troughs here and there throughout the farmlands, but it’s much more common to see an open-ended steel building, similar to a carport, stand out in the middle of the field.

Grain Storage

Steel buildings provide ideal grain storage facilities. They include steel silos and Quonset buildings, which provide ease of maneuvering and access for harvest equipment. A large steel building with double doors provides easy access for equipment to drive right in and unload.

Spring Houses

Steel buildings also provide an excellent alternative to the old-fashioned spring house, once used to store perishables and serve as a butter and cheese house. Instead of building a wooden structure over a spring these days, farmers can build a weather-tight, climate controlled steel building that provides the ideal temperature and humidity for storage, as well as for butter churning and cheese making.

If you’re replacing an old wooden structure on your farm or agricultural property, take the time to explore how steel buildings can do what you need more affordably and efficiently than other types of construction.

Why Animals Love Steel Buildings

From cattle barns to dog kennels, steel buildings are often pressed into use to house animals. There are many advantages for choosing a steel building to house horses, cattle, dogs and other animals. They’re economical, attractive, easy to maintain and easy to configure for your use. Check out the advantages of steel buildings for use with different types of animals to see how steel is an advantageous choice for your needs.

Dog Kennels

Steel is an ideal choice for housing dogs. Pre-fabricated and pre-engineered steel pieces fit together snugly to eliminate drafts and leakage, providing a weather-tight shell that’s easy to insulate. The wide-open floor plan allows for many different configurations to create a kennel that works best for your needs. Concrete floors are the ideal foundation for a steel building. For dog kennels, concrete floors are easy to keep clean, which is a major consideration.

Horse Training Arenas

Riding trails and outdoor paddocks are great in most weather, but indoor training arenas can help accustom your horses to competing indoors. Steel buildings also make ideal horse barns, equestrian training areas, buildings for hay storage and other equestrian uses. Steel buildings are weather-proof in hurricane force winds, and fire resistant, so your steel horse barn or arena provides a safe, comfortable home for your horses.

Livestock Shelter

If you put livestock out to pasture regularly, you know how important it is that your cows, goats and sheep be able to find shade when it’s hot and shelter from wind and rain when it blows up a storm. Open steel buildings provide needed shelter at low cost and minimal maintenance. Outfit them with feed and water troughs to create a comfortable livestock shelter that provides everything your livestock needs.

Pigeon Coops and Dove Cotes

If you raise pigeons or doves, a steel building can provide the perfect solution to housing your birds. An insulated and well-ventilated steel building maintains the temperature the birds need for their health, and the spacious floor plans available allow you to configure the inside to best suit your needs. There’s plenty of room for cages, feed storage and equipment storage – and the buildings are attractive enough that even suburban neighbors won’t find them offensive.

Whether you want to build a dog kennel with an indoor run for a single dog or a horse barn to house a score of horses at your facility, steel buildings are a modern alternative that offer many advantages to traditional wood construction. Learn more about the options available for steel building construction from a manufacturer or supplier of steel building kits.

Advantages of Agricultural Steel Buildings

Agricultural steel buildings have come a long way from the ubiquitous Quonset buildings that once dotted the landscape of the Midwest. Those steel buildings, modeled after the Quonset huts that were used by the military for garages, barracks and storage in the 1930s and 1940s, were economical and long-lasting. In fact, many of those buildings – often bought from military surplus after World War II, are still standing and in everyday use on farms throughout the agricultural belts. Modern agricultural steel buildings often take their design principles from the arch construction used in Quonset buildings but they have many distinctly modern advantages.

Pre-fab Construction Makes Steel Buildings Easy

Most metal buildings today are pre-engineered and the pieces manufactured before they are shipped. There’s no need to weld and cut steel to size nor to drill holes in steel. Construction is a matter of bolting the pieces together through pre-drilled holes and standing them on the foundation or bolting them in place. Much like the old-fashioned barn-raisings, anyone putting up a steel barn today can gather a bunch of friends or employees and put it up over the weekend.

Powder Coating Increases Longevity

Today’s steel buildings are usually made of powder-coated steel. The powder coating makes the metal resistant to corrosion, including rust.  Powder coating also comes in many different colors, which means your steel buildings are much more attractive than agricultural steel buildings used to be.  In addition to being corrosion resistant, these buildings are also fire resistant, weather resistant and resist infestations of insects and other pests.

Attractive As Well As Durable

In addition to many color options for today’s agricultural metal buildings, you also have many different style and architectural choices. You can choose from silo styles for grain storage, Quonset buildings, which are ideal for equipment storage and garages or from a variety of attractive arch-construction styles with straight walls, which can serve any purpose from housing animals to becoming a roadside stand.

Flexible and Portable

One of the major advantages that steel buildings have over similar wood constructions is the fact that metal buildings are portable. Unlike wood buildings, when you’re done with a steel building, you can simply disassemble it and rebuild it elsewhere. Since these buildings have a life expectancy of upwards of 40 years, you can easily sell the building to another farmer, who can then reassemble it on his own property. Compare that to the cost of demolishing a stick-built barn or concrete building and it’s easy to see how big an advantage this is.

For more information about how steel buildings are especially suited for agricultural uses, contact a manufacturer or dealer who specializes in metal prefab buildings.

Steel Buildings Offer the Best Value for Storage

One of the biggest problems with living in a typical suburban home is the lack of storage. Unlike older homes, tract-built suburban homes were often built with no attics, and typically, the basements were finished to serve as family rooms and playrooms. That left precious little room for putting away the summer patio furniture during the off season or storing lawn and garden equipment when it’s not in use. It’s no wonder then that the most common building project in many suburbs are storage sheds and garden sheds. If you’re tired of parking your car on the street because the garage is stuffed with the lawnmower, snow blower and six sacks of lawn seed and fertilizer, it might be time for you to take a look at the advantages and value that steel buildings offer for extra home storage.

Steel buildings are common in many rural areas, where they serve as grain storage, barns, tractor garages and animal shelters. They’re becoming popular in other areas as well for use as garages, carports and storage sheds. There are some very good reasons why steel buildings are so popular for use as storage sheds and garden sheds.

Steel Buildings Are Less Expensive to Build

For those concerned with budgets, steel buildings are an excellent choice because they generally are less expensive than building with wood. Wood buildings usually require some sort of foundation. Most small steel buildings can be erected on bare ground or on a simple concrete slab foundation. That reduces the upfront cost of a steel building even further.

Steel Buildings Are Earth-Friendly

The ecologically-minded favor metal buildings because they’re commonly made with recycled steel, which means they put less strain on the Earth and use fewer natural resources than stick built construction. And unlike wooden buildings, a steel building can be disassembled and moved when it’s not in use anymore, making it possible to sell them when you no longer need them.

Low Maintenance

Another major advantage of steel buildings is the fact that they’re very low maintenance. They never require painting, resist rust and corrosion and don’t get infested with termites, ants or other creatures. That saves you even more money over time.

Attractive Designs

Steel buildings come in many attractive styles and designs. Most companies offer a variety of colors, usually powder coated for long life. You can choose from many different options of trim, including gutters, eaves, doors, windows and even shutters.

Steel buildings offer many advantages for the homeowner that needs extra storage. If you need to expand your available storage, check out the huge variety of styles and options available.

Can You Paint Steel Buildings and Other FAQs

Steel buildings are among the most popular backyard structures for storage, garages, barns and other residential uses. For the homeowner who needs a little extra storage space, somewhere to park his car or a hobby workshop that’s not in his basement, steel buildings are a logical option. They’re generally less expensive than similar-sized wood construction, last longer than a wooden building and can often be erected by a reasonably skilled DIY enthusiast. If you’re considering a steel building for your property, here are the answers to some of the questions you may have.

Can You Paint Steel Buildings?

It’s certainly possible to paint a steel building, but it’s seldom necessary. In most cases, you can purchase metal building kits in a range of colors that match most homes. You can order your steel building with a powder coating of the color of your choice, often with a guarantee that the paint job will last for up to 20 years. Powder-coated steel doesn’t rust and is resistant to staining, so it won’t need painting for decades. Simply wash it down with a hose or pressure washer to remove dirt when it’s needed. The only reason to ever paint a metal building is if you want to change its color sometime down the road.

What Kind of Tools and Equipment Do I Need to Put Up a Steel Building?

If you purchase a pre-engineered steel building, you usually won’t need anything beyond basic home power tools to put it together. Generally, a power drill will be helpful in tightening bolts, and if your building is a large one, you may need a hoist to lift the walls or panels into place.

How Long Does It Take to Put Up a DIY Kit?

The actual length of time it takes to put up a DIY metal building depends on many different factors. One of the most time-consuming parts of the process is setting the foundation, if you need one. For smaller buildings with a dirt floor, you may not need to dig or pour a foundation at all. Once the foundation is in place, most homeowners can put together a steel building kit in a weekend with the help of a few friends.

Steel buildings are often the ideal solution to storage and space needs. They’re suitable for use in any climate, and are inexpensive to build and maintain. For more information about whether a steel building is the right choice for you, contact a supplier or manufacturer of metal building kits.