Agricultural Steel Buildings Offer Long Term Benefits

Farmers replacing a barn or building garages for farm equipment often turn to steel buildings rather than building from wood – and with good reason. Steel buildings and steel building kits offer many benefits and advantages, both long and short term. If you’re getting ready to put up a new barn, an animal shelter, grain storage or other building on your agricultural property, consider these advantages and benefits of choosing buildings made of steel.

Lower Cost

Steel is a less expensive building material than wood or concrete, so your steel buildings start off costing less. You’ll save even more in site preparation costs because most steel building projects require very little in the way of a foundation. Most don’t need a dug foundation at all, and if you’re building a carport or animal shelter, you may not even need a slab foundation. That saves you both time and money in materials and labor costs.

Faster Construction

Because the parts of your metal building arrive ready to assemble – usually complete with pre-drilled holes for screws and bolts – your steel building will go up much faster than a comparable structure made of wood or concrete. In fact, depending on the size of your building, you may be able to have it ready for use in an afternoon or a weekend.

Do It Yourself

It’s common for farmers to erect steel buildings on their own, with the help of one or two hands to help out. Everything is pre-cut and pre-drilled, so you just have to muscle the pieces into place and bolt them together. In most cases, you don’t need any specialized tools or equipment – just basic power tools and, for larger projects, a hoist to raise the larger pieces into place.

Low Maintenance

The coating and finishes on the steel parts of these building kits prevent corrosion, rust and rot. Unlike wooden structures, which need repainting every few years to keep them fresh, steel buildings generally won’t require repainting or refinishing for 20 years or more. Most companies sell metal buildings in a wide range of powder-coated colors so you can choose a building style and color that looks good with your other buildings. And while appearance may not be everything, looking good is a nice little extra.

In addition to the individual benefits, steel buildings also offer long-term benefits for the planet. The steel used for building construction is nearly always recycled, so your new building will be using little in the way of new resources – and can be recycled again when you no longer need it, diverting the steel from the garbage stream and giving it useful life again and again.