Five Important Facts About Steel Buildings

How much do you know about steel buildings? Steel has rapidly become the preferred building material for structures of all sizes and for many different uses. While many people think of steel buildings as factory buildings and warehouses, they’re playing an increasing role as retail space, office buildings, storage buildings, garages, barns, churches – in short, just about any use you can imagine. If you’re considering a steel building project for your property, here are five important facts you should know.

Most Steel Buildings Only Need a Slab Foundation

While it’s not true of every steel building – particularly large, multiple story ones – most metal buildings don’t need a dug foundation. Depending on the intended use, you may only need a poured slab foundation or even a pier foundation to set the wall supports in place.

This makes steel buildings the ideal choice for do-it-yourself handymen who only have to pay a contractor to pour a slab and prepare it for building. The cost savings are substantial.

Steel Buildings Provide the Most Flexible Floor Plans

Because most metal buildings don’t require interior supports or posts, the entire interior is open space. That allows you to make use of the entire square footage inside the walls rather than giving up some of it to columns and posts. For churches and entertainment spaces, that means that there’s no such thing as a bad seat. In garages, it means you have more room to maneuver vehicles. In office and residential steel buildings, it means you can divide up the space however you like without regard to load-bearing walls.

Always Check with Your Local Code Office or HOA Before Purchasing a Steel Building

Some cities and towns do not allow steel buildings within their boundaries or restrict steel buildings to specific zones. Before you put down a deposit for your metal building, check with your local code and zoning office to be sure that you’ll be able to build at your proposed location. While you’re at it, get a copy of the local standards for steel buildings. Your building supplier will need them to make sure that the structure you buy will meet all the applicable regulations for the place you want to build it.

The Lower the Gauge, the Thicker the Steel

When buying steel buildings, you should always look for higher quality materials. Steel is measured in gauges. The best advice on purchasing metal buildings is to look for buildings made of at least 24 gauge steel. It’s important to remember that when it comes to thickness, the lower the gauge number is, the thicker the steel walls are. Thus, a building made of 24 gauge steel is stronger than one built of 28 gauge steel.

Doors and Windows Cost Extra

The cost of your steel building will almost always include openings for doors and windows that you specify. It will almost never include the doors and windows to fill those openings. Understanding exactly what comes standard with your building can help you plan appropriately for other expenditures.

Steel buildings can be the solution to your storage, office, living, retail or other needs, but it’s important to understand as much of the process of ordering them as you can. The more you know, the more likely it is that you’ll get the best bargains.