Where Can You Find Quality Steel Buildings?

Great, you’ve decided that a steel building is the perfect type of structure for your project.  Whether you’re putting up a metal building to use as a garage, a small business office or a hobby shop, you’ll find that you can find people who sell the buildings all across the nation.  Some manufacture them and sell to the public, while others buy the steel buildings from a manufacturer and resell them.  However you choose to buy yours, you’ll need to understand how the industry works before you can make an informed decision.  Here’s what you need to know.

The Details are Important

There are some important details that you’ll need to take into consideration when buying a steel building, and it’s important that the company you work with understands that you’re a new buyer.  For instance, you’ll need help with the design of your building, information about how to obtain local permits and deciding on how to erect it.  The size of the metal building will come into play, too.  You’ll want a building that suits your current needs, but you might want to leave some wiggle room in case you want to expand in the future.  It’s a good idea to deal with sellers who specialize in the size of building you want because they’ll have the experience necessary to talk you through your future planning for the building.

Customer Service is Key

When you buy steel buildings, it’s not a simple transaction.  You’ll not only need the company to help design the building and help in selecting the size, but you’ll need ongoing service until the steel building is erected.  If a company starts out by freely answering your questions and concerns, they’ll likely be there throughout the entire process.  On the other hand, if you have a hard time connecting with them at the beginning of the process, they may not be readily available when you need them down the road.

While it’s true that you should understand the basics of buying a steel building before you begin the process, it’s also important to buy from a dealer who will work with you until your metal building is up and running.

Small Buildings Can Benefit Small Businesses

As more and more people lose their jobs, they are starting up small businesses in record numbers.  But finding the space to run a business can be a challenge if there isn’t enough room in your home, or if you need a separate space for clients to visit.  Luckily, steel buildings are the perfect solution for small business owners who are looking to stake their claim in the new economy.  Here’s how you can put these new and improved metal buildings to use in your business.

A Private Work Space

It can be difficult to concentrate on an important project when the kids are fighting, the TV is on and the neighbors are constantly dropping in for coffee.  This can especially be a problem for freelancers like graphic artists and writers who work from home for most of the day.  But steel buildings present the perfect solution.  If you’re a one-person operation who just needs some away space, you won’t have to spend a lot of money on a large building.  Talk to a supplier about a small metal building that can be designed to suit your needs. 

An Office With  Traffic

Many professionals start their businesses in their homes, only to quickly realize that it’s just not suitable for clients to visit.  But the cost of renting an office space can be cumbersome to small businesses, especially if just starting out.  A metal building can be the ideal solution as you’ll be able to design it around your specific needs.  And you won’t have to worry about the look.  You’ll be able to choose from many colors and styles.  You can put the building on your home property and design it to blend in, or situate it on another piece of land and create a unique look suited specifically for your business.

A Retail Store

Who says that you have to lease an expensive space to operate a successful retail store?  If your property is ideally located, you can use a steel building to build your store, and you won’t be limited to what another person thought of as the ideal space.  Instead, you can design your store from the bottom up and create a custom space for your business.  Steel buildings have no posts, so you won’t be limited to a run of the mill interior.  And if you want to change the space to keep things interesting, you’ll have the ability.

Skip the high rent and design obstacles and look into steel buildings for your small business needs. 

Three Myths About Steel Buildings

There’s a reason that steel buildings are popping up all over the nation—they’re affordable, adaptable and sturdy.  But even while they’re gaining popularity with Americans, there are some persistent myths that need to be debunked. 

Myth: Steel Buildings Look Cheap

The fact is, it’s hard to distinguish between a steel building and other buildings on the property, such as garages and storage sheds.  That’s because these metal buildings come in a variety of styles and colors and manufacturers can face them with just about any type of surface material available.  Gone are the steel buildings of yesteryear with their towering unpainted steel structures.  Today’s steel buildings are attractive and able to fit beautifully into any environment.

Myth: Steel Buildings are Not Energy Efficient

The truth is that when a steel building is built properly, it’s one of the most energy efficient buildings in existence.  The seams on the buildings are fitted tightly in order to keep the heat out during the summer and in during the winter.  And if you need extra insulation, it’s easy to add.  The roofs on metal buildings are energy efficient and typically painted with a reflective paint that will help absorb the sun’s rays.  If energy efficiency has been holding you back from purchasing a metal building, it’s time to take a second look. 

Myth: All Steel Buildings Are All the Same

In fact, when you order a steel building, it will be engineered specifically to fit your environment.  Each region has building codes that must be followed and when you install a metal building, you’ll have to adhere to them.  What’s more, if you need special features because of a harsh climate, the steel building manufacturer will design your building to meet the need.  It’s important that if you buy a metal building that has already been built, you ensure that it meets your area’s requirements.

If you’ve bought into these steel building myths, it’s time to give them another look.  Today’s metal buildings have little resemblance to the old-style Quonset buildings on your grandfather’s farm.  To find out more about these functional and attractive buildings, contact a supplier that deals in quality steel buildings and get ready to be surprised.

Steel Buildings are Flexible

Steel buildings are becoming more and more popular all across the nation because they offer an affordable alternative to traditional structures.  But another benefit to metal buildings is that they are more flexible if their use needs to be altered in the future.  There are three ways that a steel building is more flexible than a traditional structure.

Metal Buildings Have Many Uses

Many people put up steel buildings to use as garages, but there are many other uses for the buildings.  Agricultural uses, such as barns, grain stores and equipment storage are popular on farms and many people use the Quonset buildings for those purposes.  Some people use steel buildings for small business spaces if they need a private workspace outside of their home.  Whatever the need, the various designs and sizes of steel buildings make it possible to find a building for every need.

Steel Buildings Can Adapt to Your Needs

Since there are no posts and beams in steel buildings, the layout of the interior can be changed as needed.  For instance, if you use a steel building as a modular home and have an addition to the family, it’s possible to rework the interior so that another bedroom can be added.  The possibilities are endless when you consider how adaptable metal buildings are.  Likewise, if you want to change the arrangement of an office, you’ll be able to since there won’t be any permanent structures in the way.

 Steel Buildings Are Engineered for Your Environment

Since steel buildings are engineered specifically for the site where they will be built, you can design them with the community, the slope of the land and the climate in mind.  That’s important if you have strict homeowner’s association rules to follow, or a tough climate that makes building reinforcements necessary.  No matter where you plan to build your steel building, you can have it made to fit the requirements.

These are just some of the reasons why steel buildings are gaining in popularity.  Be sure to learn about all of the benefits of building with metal buildings from a supplier who puts quality first.

Expensive Mistakes to Avoid When Buying Steel Buildings

Steel buildings are touted as being the most affordable type of construction for most uses, including residential, agricultural and commercial uses. From garages to complete homes and office buildings, steel buildings often are much more affordable than conventional construction. Most people, however, pay more than they should for a metal building because they make one or more of these common mistakes.

Buying the Wrong Type of Building

Before you buy any building, you need to know your needs, understand how you’ll use your new building and figure out which type of steel building is right for you. Before you ever start sopping, you should know how big a building you need, how many and what type of doors you need, where you want to put your building and what your building will do for you. You should know whether you’ll need permits, and whether you might want to add on to your building at some point. The more you know about what you want, the easier it will be for you to choose the right steel building for your needs.

Not Figuring Out All of Your Costs

No matter what the ad says, no steel building kit includes the entire cost of buying, transporting, insulating, finishing and erecting our metal building. In general, the quoted cost for your building will include the frame, the walls and the roof – that is, the shell of your building. Unless something is specifically included in your quote, figure that you’ll have to pay extra for it. The most common additional expenses for steel buildings include pouring a foundation, doors and windows, permit costs, delivery and erection costs.

Buying the Cheapest Building

Your budget is obviously a factor in deciding which steel buildings to choose from, but it shouldn’t be the only factor in your decision. Cheap metal buildings are often made of sub-standard steel, or may not include essentials that you need. When comparing prices for metal buildings, be sure that you figure out what you want first – then compare prices for steel buildings that offer the same features.

 Letting Yourself Be Pressured Into a Decision

If a salesperson starts pushing you to make a decision on the spot, walk out of the salesroom. Even an inexpensive steel building represents a significant expenditure, and you should take time to think it through, research the permits you’ll need and get quotes on steel buildings from several different companies. That huge discount he’s offering you to sign on the dotted line right now is probably not much of a savings at all.

The sheer number of companies that sell steel buildings can make your head spin. Take the time you need to reach a good decision so you’re sure to get exactly what you want and need – at the price you should pay.

Going Green with Steel Buildings

Steel buildings are a green choice in today’s construction industry. Whether you’re putting up a new garden shed or constructing a storage unit facility, building with steel offers many advantages for the ecologically minded individual or business. If the idea of steel buildings being a green choice seems incongruous, read on to learn how building with steel is an ecological choice.

Steel Buildings Are a Renewable Choice

Wood and other precious natural resources take a long time to replenish themselves. Building with wood depletes the world’s supply of natural resources. While steel is not in itself a renewable resource, most steel used in today’s construction is recycled. By using recycled steel instead of wood and other non-renewable resources, you reduce the load your new building places on the earth in a couple of different ways.

First, you’re not removing more resources from the earth. The metal in your steel has already been used once and can be used again. Reduce, reuse, recycle, right?

Secondly, by reusing metal in a new steel building, you’re diverting the metal from the waste stream. Our landfills are rapidly becoming overfilled and we are in danger of crowding ourselves out of our own planet. When you decide on a steel building, you’re helping to keep more waste out of the waste stream.

Finally, because you’re using steel, your building can be recycled at the end of its useful life. In many cases, your metal building can be disassembled and reassembled on a new site, bring recycling to a whole new level. Even if your steel building is dismantled and not rebuilt, the steel in it can be recovered and recycled to make components for new steel buildings or any other items made of metal.

Steel Buildings Are Engineered for Energy Efficiency

Forget what you may have heard about steel building being hot boxes in the sun and refrigerators in the winter. Today’s metal buildings are precision engineered and designed to be energy efficient. Reflective roofs can reduce heating costs, while the tight construction reduces heat transfer from indoors to outdoors, making steel buildings easier to heat and cool. In fact, steel structures can be as much as 80 percent more efficient than traditional wooden or concrete buildings.

Steel buildings are ideal for many residential uses, including garden sheds, home offices and garages, as well as for retail spaces and manufacturing concerns. If you’re considering expanding your space, take a close look at the advantages offered by steel buildings for your project.

Steel Buildings House Your Home Office with Style

If you’re a professional, the choice to work from home can save you a considerable amount of money over a few short years. Unfortunately, sharing your residence with your office space can leave your family feeling a little cramped – and can put a strain on your professional relationships as well. One very practical and affordable solution is to check out the advantages that steel buildings offer for professionals who work at home.

A Separate Space

One of the biggest difficulties of maintaining a professional office in your house is keeping your business and home life separate. If you don’t have a room with a separate entrance, your customers or clients will have to traipse through your house to get to your office. If you do have a room with a separate entrance, your need for that room may take precedence over family desires to use it in a different way. Erecting a separate steel building addresses both of those issues. You can have a professional office that doesn’t encroach on your family’s living space.

Enforce Work Time

When you work from home, it’s very tempting for family members to interrupt you and wander in and out while you’re trying to work. Even if you’re not with a client – or if you never have clients to your home office – the interruptions can greatly impact your ability to get any work done. When your office is in a separate building, you signal that you’re “going to work” – a signal that can be just as important for you as it is for family members.

Steel Buildings Are an Affordable, Versatile Solution

Constructing a new building on your property can be pricey and complicated, especially if you have to concern yourself with digging a foundation and permitting and all the rest of the mess that goes with it. Steel buildings don’t require complicated foundations. In most cases, you can erect a metal building large enough to serve as a professional office on a slab foundation or even a pier foundation. That cuts a huge chunk of the construction costs out of the budget and can lift many restrictions that prevent you from putting up other types of buildings.

All over the country, businesses are coming to the conclusion that it makes sense to allow employees to work from home. Whether you work from home for your employer or have a business of your own, steel buildings can provide the ideal solution to working from home without cramping your home life.

Steel Buildings Are a Farmer’s Best Friend

Steel buildings have long been used by farmers around the country for decades, and they’re more popular than ever for multiple agricultural uses. Metal buildings offer versatility, quality, economy and durability in an easy-to-erect package that is custom-engineered for your property and your use. Steel buildings offer many advantages that you won’t find in any other type of construction, including easy maintenance, long life and resistance to just about anything that might damage them. These models of pre-engineered steel buildings offer flexibility, durability and all the advantages you expect from high quality construction.

Quonset Steel Buildings

The classic military design is still one of the most popular designs chosen for heavy duty industrial uses. The rounded roof and sloping walls provide maximum strength and protection from the elements. Q-model metal buildings shed snow easily, making them ideal for use in northern regions that experience heavy snowfall. They come in widths from 20 feet to 100 feet and in unlimited lengths, so there’s plenty of room to store everything you need under cover. They’re especially popular for equipment storage and grain storage.

S-Model Steel Buildings

S-model metal buildings are a slightly modified version of Quonset metal buildings with round tops and high, straight sides. That small modification allows farmers to pull heavy equipment up to the side walls and make use of the full width of the building for storage. The rounded roof provides maximum height for most of the building width, making it easy to use lifts and heavy equipment. The lack of interior support beams and posts gives you plenty of space to drive and maneuver equipment around inside the building. This model is ideal for equipment and grain storage, and can easily be adapted for use as a dairy barn or animal housing.

P-Model Steel Buildings

Vertical walls and a pitched roof give the P-model metal building a familiar profile that will fit into any residential setting, including garages, workshops, back yard shops and commercial shops. This model also is perfect for use as a farm store where you can sell produce, dairy and other farm products.

A-Model Steel Buildings

The A-model is a hybrid that combines the pitched roof of the P-model metal building and sloped walls of the Q-model steel building. The combination provides maximum protection in high snow areas along with maximum style. It’s the ideal choice for garages, hunting camps, workshops and livestock shelter as well as storage for commodities and grains.

Farmers love steel buildings for their versatility, their durability and their strength. Whatever the use, there’s a steel building that’s ideal for it.

Can People Really Live in Steel Buildings?

Steel buildings make great garages and storage rooms, but can people really live in steel buildings? For more and more people, the answer to that question is a resounding yes. Faced with the high costs of traditional construction and the high quality and style of modern steel buildings, more and more people are making the choice to erect a metal building instead of a traditional wooden building. If you’re considering a new home but haven’t decided on the specifics, consider these advantages and benefits of steel buildings as single family homes.

Affordability

The primary point in favor of steel buildings is their affordability. Steel is one of the most affordable building materials available, so your new home starts out at a lower price point from the very beginning. Depending on the specific laws in your community, you may not need to dig a conventional foundation. Most steel buildings only need a poured slab or pier foundation. That cuts out more of the cost. And since you don’t have to dig a foundation and because pre-engineered steel buildings erect far more quickly than traditional construction, you’ll save money on the construction costs as well.

Energy Efficiency

Metal buildings are precision-engineered to be weather-tight and highly energy efficient. You’ll save money on energy costs as well as reducing your carbon footprint. In addition, because the steel used in a prefabricated steel building is nearly always recycled, you’re saving non-renewable resources, making steel buildings a greener choice.

Attractive Finish Options

Long gone are the days of ugly metal buildings. Today’s steel buildings come in a wide variety of style and finish options, including the most popular colors for homes across the country. The various styles of steel buildings include rounded roofs and pitched roofs, straight walls and sloped walls. Each of these options provides particular advantages for residential use.

Open Floor Plan

One of the best benefits of steel buildings is the open floor plan. Steel buildings don’t require interior support columns or beams, so the interior space is completely unencumbered. That means you’re free to create any interior floor plan your heart desires, from one huge open room to any other configuration of rooms and corridors. And because there are no load-bearing walls, you can change your mind in the future without having to do expensive rebuilding and redesigning.

If you’re exploring different options for a new home, consider the many advantages that steel buildings have to offer.

Modern Designs for Small Steel Buildings

Steel buildings are a popular option for small home additions. They’re a common choice for garages, garden storage, pool houses and home workshops. The wide availability of substandard steel buildings in past years has, unfortunately, given metal buildings a bad reputation in some circles, leading to them being banned by homeowner associations and code departments in some towns. That’s a pity, though, because modern steel buildings are attractive, high quality structures. If you’re considering a steel building on your residential property but your town or community doesn’t allow them for reasons of appearance, you might be able to sway the zoning board with information on how attractive steel buildings are today. These are just a few of the design options available for steel buildings.

Quonset Steel Buildings

The prototype for arch construction steel buildings are the Quonset huts originally developed for use during World War I. The arched buildings dotted the landscape throughout the Midwest and Northwest for decades and are the most common image most people see when they hear about steel buildings. Even those “relics” have undergone major updating in recent decades. Most Quonset buildings today can be ordered in your choice of color finishes and sizes to make them more attractive.

S-Model Steel Buildings

The most popular style of metal building in the country today, S-model steel building feature rounded roofs and straight walls. The straight walls overcome the biggest disadvantage of Quonset buildings – the awkward space tucked up against the curved walls. They’re the ideal choice for garages, boat storage, airline hangars and other types of vehicle and equipment storage. The wide-open interior space also makes them an ideal choice for use as residential homes.

P-Model Steel Buildings

P-model metal buildings feature straight walls and pitched roofs, approximating a modern house design. Add a few custom options and you can easily adapt it to fit into any modern landscape. Choose from many designer colors to match your home or pick other cladding options, including stone, brick or wood facades. P-models are also a good choice in high-snow areas because the pitched roofs shed heavy snow, making them safer and stronger.

A-Model Steel Buildings

The A-model steel building is a cross between the P-model and the Quonset steel building. It features a pitched roof and sloped walls, a design that is specially engineered to withstand heavy snow loads. A-model steel buildings are the perfect choice for garages, barns, residences and equipment storage in areas with extreme weather.

If you’re uncertain about which models of steel buildings will suit your needs best, talk to a manufacturer of metal buildings. Their customer service representatives will have all the answers you need.