Five Things to Look for in Quality Steel Buildings

With the growing popularity of consumer-grade steel buildings – the type you use for storage sheds, home offices, garages and workshops – there’s also a growing number of dealers capitalizing on the trend and profiting from selling low-quality buildings at so-called bargain prices. If you’re in the market for a new steel building for your storage, home office or other needs, how do you make sure that you’re getting a high quality structure that’ worth the price you’re paying? These tips can help.

The Right Gauge

Steel gauge is a measure of its strength. Unlike most gauges, the higher the number on steel gauge, the weaker the steel is. Many cheap steel buildings are made of 29 gauge steel. Look for steel buildings made of at least 26 gauge or lower steel to make sure that your building will stand up to the rigors of regular use.

The Right Coatings

Most steel for buildings is coated to protect it against corrosion, rust and other environmental factors, as well as painted with a color for appearance sake. Substandard steel buildings may be dipped and spray-painted, often with lower quality coatings that have to be renewed every few years to maintain their protection. Look for Galvalume steel or another high-quality protective coating for corrosion resistance, and for powder-coated color, which will last for decades without peeling or wearing away.

Blueprints and Engineering Diagrams

If you’re putting up a steel building in many counties or cities, the coding/zoning department will require that you file detailed, stamped architect drawings or engineering plans before they’ll issue a permit. Make sure you work with a dealer or manufacturer who can supply the needed paperwork and doesn’t charge you an additional fee for it.

Local Contractors

If you’re planning to hire a contractor to do the actual construction of your new metal building, look for a company that is associated with local contractors, or check with local contractors to find one that has experience with that particular style and brand of steel building. There are many advantages to working with a local contractor that has been trained and has experience in working with steel building from a particular manufacturer or in a particular style. Just think about how much easier it is to build something the second time, after you figure out all the pitfalls and places you could go wrong the first time around.

Ethical Business and Sales Practices

Be careful about websites and dealers that offer flashy “huge sales” and “steep discounts.” Steel buildings offer big profits for middlemen, especially those who are peddling low quality buildings for high prices. Get familiar with the sales tactics used by hucksters, and avoid any dealer who uses them in their marketing.

Steel buildings offer great value for most needs, but it’s important to know what you’re buying. Do some research to understand what goes into a quality metal building so that you know you’re getting the best quality building available for your budget.

Should Steel Buildings Be Insulated?

One of the things to consider when you’re shopping for steel buildings, whether for commercial, agricultural or personal use, is whether or not to include insulation in your steel building package. Choosing insulation will obviously add to the cost of your steel building, but it will offset other expenses – provide other benefits that may make it economically advantageous as well as making your building more comfortable.

The Role of Insulation

Insulation serves a number of purposes, especially in metal buildings. Because metal is such a good conductor of heat and cold, steel buildings are notorious for thermal transfer – that is, cold air from inside will move outside if it’s warmer outside and cold air from outside will move inside if it’s warmer inside. The end result is much higher energy bills for both heating and cooling. Depending on the temperature extremes in your area, insulation could save you hundreds – even thousands – of dollars a year in energy costs to heat and cool your space.

However, in steel buildings insulation also serves other purposes, some of which can reduce your cost of ownership and others simply make your building more pleasant to use. These purposes include:

Radiant Heat Barrier

Fiberglass insulation – the most commonly installed type of insulation for steel buildings – is “mass insulation”. It keeps your buildings cooler in warm weather and warmer in cool weather by slowing down the transfer of heat. That’s only one type of insulation, though. Reflective insulation, also known as radiant barrier insulation, prevents the transfer of heat by reflecting radiant heat back. That means that it will keep the heat inside in the cold weather and keep it from coming in during warm weather.

Moisture Control

One of the most common problems with steel buildings is moisture. Because they’re built to be weather-tight, steel buildings tend to hold moisture inside as well as keep it out. The right insulation can help prevent condensation and the accompanying damage due to moisture, including mold and mildew.

Sound Damping

Anyone who has ever weathered a rainstorm under a tin roof knows that metal conducts – indeed, amplifies – sound quite readily. An uninsulated steel building can be rather loud – echoes bouncing off the walls and outside sounds amplified to make them even louder. Insulation damps a lot of that sound by absorbing it, even if you don’t use sound-proofing. While that may not save you any money, it will certainly make your use of the building much more comfortable.

Steel buildings offer many advantages for just about any use, but if you’re planning and designing a steel building, it definitely pays off to add insulation into your budget.

Customizing Steel Buildings as Workshops

For the home hobbyist, steel buildings are a way to achieve the ultimate luxury – a home workshop that’s custom-fitted with everything you need all in one place. Why choose a steel building? Aside from the economic reasons – steel buildings are less expensive throughout their usable lives – they also offer an easy way to customize and build in all the little perks that make your crafting life easier. Whether your hobby is crafting pots, making cheese or tinkering with engines, when you choose a metal building to house your gear and provide you with a room of your own, you’ll have dozens of customization options to make your new workshop building perfect for you. These are just a few of the custom options you can discuss with a steel building manufacturer and designer.

Exterior Finish and Style

One of the common myths about steel buildings is that they’re unattractive eyesores. Nothing could be further from the truth. Today, you can choose from many different exterior styles, including brick or stone facing and vinyl siding. Even if you choose the steel exterior, you’ve got a range of colors from which to choose. There are even many manufacturers who’ll custom-blend paints so that workshops, garages and other outbuildings exactly match the main structure.

Insulation

If you’re located in a region that gets chilly or if you need a climate controlled room for your gear or collection, choose a steel building from a manufacturer that offers easy-to-insulate steel panels. There are many different ways to insulate, but snap-in steel panels that are cut to fit each wall are among the simplest to install and most effective.

Sound-Proofing

If you practice a hobby that makes a lot of noise, whether it’s your garage band or your power tools, your neighbors and family will thank you for your attention to sound-proofing. Many types of insulation panels also serve to soundproof the areas they enclose. And it works both ways – soundproofing is an absolute must if you’re planning to use your steel buildingas a recording studio, and helpful if you just want to shut out the noise of the outdoors so you can focus on your work.

Built-Ins

From storage shelves to work tables, built-ins are the types of customization that make your workshop fit you like a glove. When you design your steel buildings and have them pre-engineered, you can choose where you’ll want electrical outlets, openings for plumbing pipes and lights, and even bolt locations for workshop tables, benches and your major equipment.

If you’ve been practicing your hobby for any length of time, you’re certain to have imagined exactly what your own workshop would look like and include. If you’re ready to make it a reality, a manufacturer of steel buildings can show you how.

Five Ways Steel Buildings Save You Money

One of the most attractive things about steel buildings is their economical footprint. They’re the ideal choice for anyone who needs a structure for just about any reason. Steel buildings make great storage sheds, garages, home workshops and offices, small factory buildings, warehouses – you name it, and there’s a steel building configuration that works beautifully for it. Even better, steel buildings serve all of those purposes at less cost than any other type of structure, not just at first, but throughout their useful lives.

Steel Buildings Cost Less to Buy

Steel is among the least expensive construction materials available. It costs less than wood frame construction or concrete. If you’re looking at building kits, you might be misled into thinking that wood building kits are less expensive, but once you add in the cost of the wood – which most shed kits don’t include – your steel building kits are considerably less expensive.

You Save on the Foundation

While it’s less important in smaller buildings, larger wood-frame buildings like garages require a foundation to be put up safely. Most residential size steel buildings require nothing more than a poured concrete foundation, and many metal buildings put up for agricultural use don’t even require a concrete floor – just concrete piers to anchor the building securely to the ground. You can save hundreds and even thousands of dollars on the cost of having a foundation prepared for your steel building.

Save on Contractor Costs with Steel Buildings

Many metal buildings are designed for easy DIY construction – you don’t need to pay a contractor at all. For larger buildings, or for those without a DIY bone in their bodies, steel buildings arrive on your site ready to assemble. There’s no cutting, sawing or drilling involved – it’s like putting together a life-size erector kit. Because so much of the work is done in advance of the steel building arriving, you pay the contractors for much less time – small buildings can go up in a day rather than the several required for a wood-frame building. Count the savings yourself.

Maintenance Costs Are Negligible

Your wood shed or garage will need to be scraped, painted, stained and treated with all sorts of insect and pest repellents every couple of years. Steel buildings require none of that – the only maintenance that most metal buildings require is a good hose-down with a pressure washer every year or so. In general, steel buildings are also easier to heat and cool because they’re weather-tight and don’t transfer heat as easily as other construction materials.

Insurance Costs Are Less

Because steel buildings are fire resistant, corrosion resistant and pest resistant, they’re far less prone to the typical disasters that cost insurance companies big money. Add in the fact that most steel buildings are designed to be structurally safe in hurricane force winds and high snows, and you can see why insurance companies often offer lower premiums to insure metal buildings than buildings made of other materials.

Steel buildings save you money up front, and continue to save you money throughout their lives. Why would you choose any other material if money is important?

Advice on Steel Buildings – Before You Choose One

Are you considering a steel building purchase? Steel buildings offer many advantages for nearly any type of use. They’re relatively low in cost, easy to maintain and can be erected quickly. Before you make a final decision about which metal building or steel building style to purchase, there are three important things to consider.

Cost vs. Quality

Many dealers of metal buildings offer unbelievably low prices. The problem is that those prices are just that – unbelievable. While steel buildings are far more economical than most other types of construction, if you find a dealer offering them at prices far below typical, be wary. They may be cheap because they’re – well, cheap. Do some serious comparison shopping to get a good feel for how much you should be paying for the steel building you want, but don’t necessarily choose the lowest priced package. Look for quality – it will last longer and cost you far less in the long run.

When you’re comparing one metal building with another, be sure that you’re comparing comparable packages. Figure out what you want in your building and ask for a quote on the same package from several different suppliers. That way, you’ll get a fair comparison rather than comparing the price for a bare bones building with a steel building that includes all the trim and accessories you need.

DIY vs. Erector

It’s tempting to believe that you can put the building up yourself – who doesn’t want to play with a life-size Erector Set? It’s important to be realistic, though. Smaller buildings, including storage sheds, garages, greenhouses and workshops, are good candidates for DIY construction, which can save you a considerable amount of money. If you’re not reasonably handy with an electric drill and pouring cement or if your building is much larger than a single car garage, it makes more sense to engage a professional erector to put your building up.

Take advantage of the professional expertise of your building supplier. Ask how reasonable it is to consider erecting your steel building yourself. If you have doubts, get a recommendation for qualified erectors in your area and find out how much the erection will add to the cost.

Permits & Code

Before you sign a contract for a steel building, check with your local code and zoning offices to determine what permits and approvals you’ll need. The zoning laws in your town may limit the size and configuration of your structure, and you’ll need to make sure that the steel building you choose meets all the relevant codes for your area. You may need to provide certified engineering plans and blueprints for approval, so be sure to work with a supplier that will provide those.

Steel buildings offer so many advantages that it’s hard to imagine choosing any other type of construction for your needs, but it’s important to do things the right way. Check with your local authorities, comparison shop wisely and be sure you consider all the relevant costs before you sign a contract.

What Steel Buildings Offer for Recreational Facilities

It’s easy to see why metal buildings have been the standard for recreational facilities for a number of years now, but you may not realize all the advantages that steel construction offers for recreational buildings today. New technology and the growing importance of green building have increased the benefits of building with steel in the recreation industry. Whether you’re considering a new facility, renovating an older one or building an addition to your current facility, steel buildings are structurally solid, energy efficient, cost effective and safe.

More Versatile

One of the most important advantages offered by steel buildings is their versatility. The strength of steel makes it easy to build large, open indoor spaces without the columns and supports that wood frame buildings require for structural stability. That makes metal structures ideal for use as stadiums and skating rinks, as well as for indoor tracks, tennis and volleyball courts and gymnasiums. In addition, steel buildings are engineered to be easily expandable, a real boon for a business or organization that has to start small, but intends to grow as its membership grows.

Aesthetically Attractive

When it comes to appearance, metal construction offers much more than most people realize. Even cheap steel buildings have come a long way in the looks department. They’re no longer metal boxes or hoops sheathed with corrugated steel. Some of the top architects in the nation have turned their design skills to working with steel and stunning masterpieces. Even budget-priced steel buildings are available in many styles and colors, and can be customized with trim and custom exteriors that fit attractively into their environment.

Cost Effective

When you’re building a commercial sports or recreational sports facility, cost is always a consideration. Steel has long had the advantage as a cost-effective building material, not just during construction but over the entire life of the building. Because steel buildings are pre-engineered and ready to assemble, they take less time to erect. That cuts construction costs substantially, and allows for quicker occupancy so that the new facility can start producing revenue. Steel buildings are more energy efficient so they cost less to heat and cool, and they require far less maintenance, which cuts maintenance costs over the life of the building. Finally, because steel is fire-resistant and safer to occupy than wood and other construction materials, owners of steel buildings often spend far less to insure their properties.

Environmentally Friendly

Most steel used in building today is recycled, so steel buildings reduce the use of finite resources and divert waste from the landfills. They’re also recyclable – when a steel building reaches the end of its usable life, the materials used in its construction can be recycled and used again. In addition, buildings of steel are more energy efficient, so they use less fuel and require less energy to maintain, heat and cool.

Whether you’re building a commercial sports facility, a riding arena or another type of recreational building, take a close look at all the advantages offered by modern steel buildings. Understanding those advantages will make your decision to use steel much easier.