Steel buildings

[Dani D.]

I'm considering purchase a pre-frab. steel building, and I was wondering if anybody have one of these and what their experiences are.
Thanks

[GeekMom]

Are you thinking shed-size? We set one up (6' x 8') in Houston on a cement slab. Had to sand and re-paint the roof after 2 years because of the rust. After 8 years it looked like garbage. Lawn mowers and weed-eaters can do a real number on it. Dented easily and rusted quickly. May have just been the (lack of) quality as we didn't get the most expensive, but I expected better wear than we got. YMMV, though.

[lrogers]

My current shop is a steel building, 12'x15'. This was not the type you get at Sears or Home Depot/Lowes. The frame was galvanized "c" channel and the steel panels were heavy gauge with baked on finish. The building was fairly straight forward o assemble and has held up very well. I added 2"x4" framing in side so I could install finished & insulated walls. The building came with a double insulated door. The only real complaint I have with it is low ceiling height (7'). As a note of interest, this building suffered NO damage during hurricane Ivan.

[gmack5]

There are a lot of steel buildings in the area where I now live, I think primarily because they are Termite proof and there is a tremendous concern, locally, about Termite Problems.

I don't remember having to submit a certificate of compliance with respect to Termite Precautions when I sold 3 different homes while living in the Chicago area, but all property sold in this area must have such a certificate before the property can be sold.

[dave40261]

Same rules apply as with anything else. You get what you pay for. If you use a good quality building like Larry mentioned above, they are fine. You will end up putting up some kind of wood inside at some point, just so you can attach stuff to it.

Oh, and the plastic covered insulation systems they offer with them are very easy to tear up/can hold moisture/get dirty and are hard to clean... etc.

my $.02

[ExYankee]

I have an non-insulated steel roof and my 16x24 shop and the other day it REALLY rained here in Tennessee and the roar of the rain on the roof was deafening, I had to grab my muffs just to be able to think.

[Jim Boyd]

quote:Originally posted by ExYankee

I have an non-insulated steel roof and my 16x24 shop and the other day it REALLY rained here in Tennessee and the roar of the rain on the roof was deafening, I had to grab my muffs just to be able to think.

My 30x30 pole barn was like that until I insulated it. Pretty much made it sound proof!

[n4yyn]

I just had a steel shop building put up late last year with an insulated roof. It's not real noisy in the rain and the only problem I have is with condensation. I had some skylights put in - actually transluscent roof panels - which of course don't have insulation. On those panels, when the bldg is cold and it's pretty humid, as the building warms up - from sun or heater - the moisture condenses to the point where a couple times it actually seemed like rain!! I'm going to try plastic on them to see if a 'vapor barrier' helps. So if you're planning a bldg with skylights, ask the builder about condensation problems beforehand... Other than that - it's great - skylights especially (don't need lights at all during the day)!

[DUD]

I have priced steel buildings for about a year and a half. If I had bought one then it would have been great. However with the price of steel They have gone out of site. Bill