Five Tips to Make Steel Buildings More Useful

When homeowners need garages, storage sheds, home offices and other additions to their properties, they most commonly turn to steel buildings. If you’re in the process of planning your steel building project, take these tips into account to ensure that you get the most value and use from your metal building project.

Keep It Close

If your intent is to use your new steel building as a storage shed, locate as close to the main house as you can without impacting the overall appearance of your property. Steel buildings used as garages likewise should be located close to the home. Garden sheds, on the other hand, are best located close to the garden. Think carefully about where you are building your new structure and make sure that it’s as convenient as possible.

Supersize It, Please

Most storage and construction experts recommend that you choose a larger building than you think you’ll need. People, they say, usually underestimate the amount of space they’ll need for their storage – and once it’s built, you’ll always find more “stuff” that should be in storage. Add up the amount of floor space you think you’ll need, say the experts, then add 20 percent to that figure. Adding that extra 20 percent will ensure that you have the space you need for now and gives you room for expansion in the future.

Make It Expandable

If you’re building for agricultural use or for storage and have the land to do so, choose a steel building style that’s easy to expand. The most popular styles – arch construction steel buildings and Quonset buildings – are designed for easy expansion. In most cases, you just remove the rear or front wall, add another unit to the end of your current building and replace the wall or end cap.

Provide Easy Access

Getting in and out of your steel building is important, and in most cases, you’ll want to install both full-width doors for vehicle access and easy loading and unloading and a pedestrian access door so that people can go in and out without having to open the big door. It’s the ideal solutions for garages, as well as for equipment storage sheds where you can simply drive the equipment into the structure, but can also work inside the building with the main door closed.

Make It Pretty

Today’s steel buildings are essentially attractive, and they can be made even more attractive based on the style decisions you make. Choose a metal building that fits the overall style of your property so that it looks like a natural, organic part of the landscape. The end result will be an attractive, utilitarian structure that adds real value to your home.

Steel Buildings Make Great Hobby Workshops

Do you engage in a hobby that has outgrown your house? Has your wife sworn to throw you out of the house if she hears that power saw one more late night? Do your roommates gripe about the smell of oil and gasoline left over from rebuilding the motorcycle engine in the dining room? Some hobbyists just need more room than they’ll get in a corner of the basement of the spare bedroom. Steel buildings are a great solution for people who can’t work on their favorite hobbies in their homes for whatever reason. Whether you need more room for woodworking tools or a quiet area with good light to work on your painting, a steel building can be the ideal solution.

Who Needs a Steel Building Hobby Workshop?

Anyone who can’t find enough room to work comfortably in their home is a great candidate for a metal building workshop. A woodworking enthusiast, for instance, may need more room for lathes, power saws and other equipment than he has inside the house. He may also find that he needs to confine his working to hours when the noise won’t disturb the other members of the household. A standalone steel building can be custom-designed to meet the needs of a woodworker or any other hobbyist.

There are many other reasons why you might want a separate workshop for your hobby, whether it’s model railroading or martial arts. Here are just a few advantages of using steel buildings to fill the need for a hobby workshop on your property.

Noise Reduction Equals Family Peace

Some hobbies, like auto restoration, woodworking, stained glass grinding and music, are naturally noisy. Working in the house, even in the basement or attached garage, doesn’t provide enough insulation from the noise for most family members. When you move your workshop out of the house and into its own steel building – complete with soundproofing if necessary – you can enjoy your hobby more knowing that your family is enjoying the peace and quiet.

Working in Peace and Quiet

Of course, sometimes the problem is exactly the opposite. Writers, poets, artists, musicians and many other creative people work best when they have peace and quiet. That quiet can be difficult to achieve when you’re working in the same house with a busy family. Steel buildings are designed to be easy to soundproof and insulate, so they’re a great choice for artists and other creative people who need peace and quiet.

Location, Location and the Light

Some hobbies require special conditions to work out just right. Artists and photographers, especially, value natural light from the right direction. If your spare bedroom faces in the wrong direction or can’t be darkened sufficiently for your needs, a steel building can be the perfect solution. Steel buildings can be customized to suit your needs exactly, right down to deciding where you want your windows. Building a metal building from scratch also allows you to customize many other aspects and conditions – temperature and moisture control, for example, to protect valuable collections.

When you decide to build a separate hobby workshop using a steel building as your template, you can specify your floor plan and every other aspect of the building. For more information about fitting your workshop or studio into a metal building, contact a manufacturer of steel buildings with your questions.

8 Top Advantages of Steel Buildings

Whether you need more space for storage, a home office, a workshop, a retail space or nearly any other use, steel buildings are often the best solution to your needs. When you consider the many advantages of steel buildings as garages, storage sheds, small offices, kennels and more, it’s no wonder that they’re among the most popular choices in construction today. These 8 key advantages place steel buildings high on the list of most owners.

Affordability

Steel is one of the least expensive building materials available, so steel buildings start out at a lower price point. Because the components for metal buildings are delivered ready to put together, construction costs are much lower than for traditional builds, adding even more savings to the mix.

Ease of Construction

Steel buildings are easy to erect – so easy, in fact, that many owners do the construction on their own smaller structures. A steel building kit includes everything you need to construct the building and many homeowners can put up their own storage sheds or small garages with the help of a couple of friends.

Versatility

The interior span of a steel building is completely open because they require no interior columns or posts, and there are no load-bearing walls. That allows for maximum flexibility in designing exactly the floor plan you want and need.

Environmental Friendliness

Building with steel is environmentally friendly and ecologically sound. Most steel buildings on the market today are made with 100 percent recycled U.S. steel, so a new metal building doesn’t deplete natural resources. In fact, it diverts the steel from the waste stream, making a metal building a green choice.

Fast Construction

Once the plans are approved and your building components are delivered, erecting your building is a simple matter of bolting the frame and walls together and securing it to its foundation. That can be accomplished in a fraction of the time it takes to construct any other kind of building, so you can get down to business sooner.

Style

Forget everything you ever heard about ugly steel buildings. Today’s designs are stylish and attractive enough to fit right into even the most staid of neighborhoods.

Safety

Steel buildings are custom-engineered to meet the safety standards and building codes at the site where the building will be constructed. They’re strong enough to withstand high winds and heavy snow loads without crumbling.

Low Maintenance

Corrosion resistant finishes on steel buildings mean you don’t have to put a lot of thought, time or money into maintenance. Even the color on most metal buildings is guaranteed to stay new and fresh looking for as many as 20 years.

When you consider all the advantages of choosing a steel building for your storage, office or other needs, it’s more clear than ever why steel buildings are the most popular type of construction in the U.S. today.

Why Steel Buildings Are Best for Your Storage Needs

The one thing every homeowner has is stuff – lots and lots of stuff. When you own a house, your stuff tends to accumulate from year to year because, honestly, it doesn’t make much sense to go out and buy a new lawn mower and garden hose each spring and new snow shovels and ice melt each winter. That means, of course, that eventually, you run out of storage space in your garage or your basement and you need to add more storage space to keep all of your stuff. Steel buildings are among the best choices for expanding storage when you need more room.

Why Steel Buildings? Five Great Reasons to Choose Steel Buildings

Affordability

Steel buildings are an affordable choice for storage space. If you choose a steel building kit and do the build yourself, you can put up a steel storage building for considerably less than it would cost to build a wood frame or fiberglass building. If you choose to have your structure erected by a professional contractor, you’ll still save over having a wood building erected by a professional because steel buildings go up much more quickly than wood buildings.

Durability

When you choose a steel building for your storage needs, you can count on your building standing for at least 25 years. Most quality metal buildings come with a 20 to 25-year guarantee. Every steel building is engineered individually to meet the building codes in your area. Steel’s strength and flexibility make it the best choice for regions that see extreme weather. A well-made steel building will stand up to high speed winds and heavy snowfall without buckling.

Low Cost of Ownership

Once your building is set up, you’ll have very little in the way of maintenance costs. Unlike wooden buildings, steel buildings don’t need periodic repainting. They’re not prone to mold, mildew or insect infestation, and most have corrosion proof coatings to help them resist rust and weather corrosion. And because steel buildings are fire resistant and safer in general, you’ll usually spend far less on insurance than you would to insure a new wood or concrete building on your premises.

Environmentally Friendly

Yes, steel is an ecologically sound choice for a storage building. Most steel buildings are made with 100 percent recycled U.S. steel, so you’re not pulling resources from the earth for your storage needs. A properly insulated steel building is easier and less expensive to heat and cool, and if you should decide that you no longer want the building, you can simply disassemble it and sell it to someone else instead of sending it to the landfill.

Appearance

Today’s steel buildings come in a wide variety of style and color choices, so it’s easy to choose a metal building that compliments your property and increases your property value rather than becoming an eyesore.

If your collection of stuff has outgrown your garage or basement, consider one of the many styles of steel buildings for your storage needs. They’re more affordable, attractive and greener than most traditional types of structures.

Are Residential Steel Buildings the Wave of the Future?

Steel storage buildings have become a familiar sight throughout the country. It’s not unusual to see steel buildings used for storage or as garages, and they’ve always been popular in agricultural areas for grain and equipment storage. Steel barns and riding arenas are not unusual, nor are steel buildings used as churches. Now, homeowners are beginning to realize that all of the things they love about steel buildings for utilitarian uses are equally as advantageous for residential steel buildings.

If steel isn’t the first building material that comes to mind when you think of building a house, maybe it’s because you’re not aware of the many benefits of steel buildings. These are just a few of the reasons that a metal building may be a great choice for your next home.

Cost Benefits

Affordability is one of the primary benefits of steel buildings. Not only are they generally less expensive to build, metal buildings also nearly always cost less to maintain over time. If you choose to live in a home built of steel, you’ll save money in at least five ways:

Lower materials cost: Steel is one of the most affordable construction materials on the market.

Lower construction costs: Since all of the parts of your steel building are prefabricated and ready to bolt together, your construction crew spends much less time working on site. That translates to lower construction costs for your building.

Lower energy costs: Steel buildings are easy to insulate and feature energy-efficient roofs. The tight fit of the joints and seams increase weather-resistance and make them easier and less expensive to heat and cool.

Lower insurance costs: Because steel buildings are naturally fire-resistant and less prone to damage from insects and weather events, insurance costs are nearly always lower than they are for other types of buildings.

Lower maintenance costs: The ongoing cost of ownership for steel buildings is a bargain. Powder-coated steel doesn’t need to be repainted, nor is it prone to damage from insect and animal pests. Because steel buildings are built to meet all the applicable local building codes, they’re less likely to need repairs after storms or suffer damage from heavy snow loads.

But What About the Looks?

If you’re concerned about living in an ugly house, you haven’t looked at steel buildings lately. Today’s metal buildings come in a wide range of styles and colors, and can be customized further to meet community standards and appeal to any aesthetic.

Living in a steel house may not be for everyone, but residential steel buildings are a growing trend. If you’re considering building your own home, check out the possibilities of choosing a steel building as the framework for your new house.

Build Red, White and Blue with Steel Buildings

A steel building kit offers many advantages to the homeowner who wants to increase his storage space, free up his garage or add a home office or workshop to his property. Steel buildings are cost-effective, durable, low-maintenance and versatile enough to suit nearly any use. There is one little-discussed advantage of choosing a steel buildings instead of a fiberglass or polycarbonate building from the local big box store. It’s patriotic.

That’s right. Steel buildings are generally always made with 100 percent recycled U.S. steel. The prefab pieces of the typical big box store garden shed, by contrast, are often made in manufacturing plants overseas. When you choose a 100 percent U.S. steel building, you’re buying American and helping to support a proud U.S. industry.

Of course, that’s only one of the many benefits of building with steel. Steel garages and workshops are higher quality and provide longer service, require less maintenance and are inherently greener than the typical storage building offered at the big box home improvement stores. Take a look at the top features of metal building construction.

Strength and Flexibility

Steel is the generally acknowledged as the strongest building material available. A properly designed steel building will withstand heavy snow loads and high winds. In fact, since steel buildings are designed to meet your local building codes at the time you place your order, your metal building will stand up to the weather and environmental conditions in your region.

Durability and Longevity

The original arch steel buildings were created for housing soldiers and their equipment during the world wars. After the war, many Army surplus Quonset buildings made their way into the heartlands to serve as grain and equipment storage for farms. You’ll still see some of them dotting the landscape. The arch construction used for today’s steel buildings allows for a great deal more variation in style, but today’s buildings are just as durable. When you erect a steel storage building, you can expect to get a lifetime of use from it.

Maintenance and Cost of Ownership

Steel buildings require very little in the way of ongoing maintenance. The components of your steel building will be powder-coated with your choice of color and be protected with treatments that resist corrosion and rust. The color won’t fade or peel, so you won’t have to repaint it every few years. As long as you inspect it for any damage to the coating and clean it every year or two, your building will remain attractive and worry-free for years.

With all those benefits, the fact that you’re buying American is just the icing on the cake – but isn’t that everyone’s favorite part? Before you decide on your next building project learn more about the many advantages of steel buildings.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Steel Buildings

Steel buildings are growing more popular for storage, home offices, agricultural uses and even residential uses. Buildings made of steel offer many advantages and a few disadvantages. Understanding what you can expect from a steel building can help you decide whether a metal building is the right choice for your needs.

Economical

Steel buildings are more affordable, both in up front costs and in long term maintenance. This is especially true of small steel structures that can often be erected as a DIY project by the homeowner and a friend or two. While the up front costs are typically comparable to a similarly sized wood frame building, the reduced costs of construction and maintenance quickly make steel buildings the more economical alternative.

Sustainable

For those concerned with sustainability, steel buildings are a very green option. Most steel building kits are made with recycled steel, giving them a green edge over buildings made from wood, one of the earth’s slowest renewable resources. At the end of its usable life, a steel building can be disassembled and sold or melted down and recycled yet again, reducing the waste that ends up in landfills and the waste stream.

Durable

The usable life of a steel building easily tops 50 years. Many of the old-style Quonset steel buildings erected shortly after World War II are still in use around the country, and today’s manufacturing methods make modern steel buildings even more durable and long-lasting.

Low Maintenance

The typical steel building requires very little in the way of maintenance. Most are delivered with a protective powder coating in the color of your choice, generally with a 20-year guarantee. A wooden building will need repainting up to five times during that same time period. Steel buildings are also usually treated to be rust and corrosion resistant, and don’t attract insect pests the way that wood buildings do.

Noisy

Steel buildings can be noisy because steel doesn’t absorb sound as easily as wood and other materials. That can be easily ameliorated with insulation and interior fittings, though. With added sound-proofing, in fact, steel buildings make excellent sound studios and practice rooms for musical artists and bands.

Drafty

Because steel buildings often feature wide-open floor plans, they can be drafty and cavernous. Just as with the noise factor, however, this can be ameliorated with interior fittings, such as insulation and wall panels. Proper design will take draftiness into consideration to reduce and lessen the tendency.

Steel buildings can be the ideal solution to storage needs or provide additional space for a home office or workshop. Get to know the characteristics of a typical steel building to decide if it’s the right choice for you.

Agricultural Steel Buildings

Steel buildings are an increasingly popular option for agricultural uses. While metal has been a popular choice for grain storage and silos on farms for decades, improved technology and design has increased the use of steel buildings for many other purposes on farms large and small. Today, you may find steel buildings in use as livestock housing, dairy barns, equipment storage, grain storage, equestrian barns and even riding arenas. Steel offers a number of advantages as the building material of choice for agricultural buildings.

Equipment Storage

Tractors, tiller and other farm equipment represent a substantial economic investment, so providing proper protection is important. Steel buildings withstand weather better and are more economical to erect than traditional wood structures. In many cases, a property owner can have a small equipment storage building up and ready to use over the course of a weekend. The wide doors and unencumbered interior makes arch-frame steel buildings an ideal choice for equipment storage.

Animal Housing

Steel is also an ideal choice for housing animals. Steel barns are less flammable than wooden barns, even those constructed with fire retardant lumber. Many steel building manufacturers specialize in designing horse barns and animal housing from steel. A properly built steel building with a sprinkler system can cut insurance costs by as much as 50 percent because of the fire resistant properties of steel buildings.

If you choose to design your own horse barn, you’ll find that metal building manufacturers can provide one to fit any size or budget consideration, including steel buildings with lofts built above the main floor to store hay and modular floor plans that allow you to reconfigure the interior at need.

Equestrian Arenas

In addition to barns, horse farms also often use steel buildings as horse arenas. Depending on the climate, metal buildings used as arenas may provide full coverage or just overhead coverage to protect against inclement weather. Enclosed metal arenas allow equestrians to train year round in any climate. Steel buildings are an economical choice for horse arenas because of their low maintenance costs and flexibility.

Dairy Barns

Dairy farms are turning to steel buildings more and more often because they offer a number of important advantages. Cross-ventilation in steel dairy barns reduces the fumes from waste and decreases the incidence of birds, flies and other pests. The reduced pest and fume levels increase the comfort level of the cows, which respond by producing more milk. Steel dairy barns are also a more flexible option than traditional wood buildings and pole barns. They’re easy to expand as the dairy herd increases and can be configured with many options to increase efficiency.

Check with a supplier of steel buildings for testimonials and advice about choosing steel buildings for your agricultural storage and animal housing needs. Steel is an economical and practical alternative to other traditional types of agricultural buildings.

Need a Guest House? Consider Steel Buildings

Guest houses used to be far more popular than they are today, but it may be time for them to make a comeback. Pre-fabricated steel buildings bring the cost of a small guest house within easy reach of most homeowners. If you frequently have house guests or are facing the prospect of a long-term “visit” from a parent or adult child, a steel building guest house could make it more fun and easier on everyone concerned.

Couch-surfing has become a way of life for people who tour for a living – and many people in various cities regularly make their couches and spare bedrooms available for visiting poets, musicians and convention goers. Adult kids returning from college can be both annoyed and an annoyance when they try to fit their new grownup ways into the household routine, and older adults are often far more comfortable having an aging parent living nearby without living in the house. Even if your intent is to rent out the room for a little extra income, there are a lot of advantages to basing your guest house project on highly customizable steel buildings.

Getting a Permit Will Likely Be Simpler

If you’re building a residential structure, you’ll will very likely need permits from the city or county before you can start building. When your guest house is a steel building, the permitting process is simpler. The building engineer will work to ensure that your building plans meet all permitting requirements for your local zoning board. And because most steel buildings don’t require a dug foundation, the permitting process generally works more quickly and easily than if you were building a standard building.

Steel Buildings Are Cheaper and Faster

Once you’ve prepared your property for construction, your steel building will go up very quickly. If you contract with a professional, your guest house may go from packed on the pallet to ready-to-finish in the course of a day or two. In most cases, it’s advisable to let a pro tackle the poured foundation, but you can save construction costs by doing the actual construction of a pre-fab steel building kit with your friends or a few neighbors. Even the process of wiring and plubming is easier with steel buildings. Your metal building components can be pre-drilled for electrical conduits and plumbing pipes so your plumber or contractor doesn’t have to do it.

A steel guest house may be more expensive than the typical small steel building, but it will be far less costly than a full addition to your home. If you’re considering adding living space to your property, take a serious look at the advantages offered by steel buildings as free-standing guest houses.