| There are so many companies selling steel buildings it | | | | exact percentage but an I-beam style steel building |
| is hard to keep them all straight. When it comes | | | | uses quite a bit more concrete than the "other" steel |
| down to it, all we are looking for is a steel storage | | | | buildings. |
| building that will fit our needs, the best prices and a | | | | A quick note about engineered drawings: |
| no hassle deal. Right? How do you know if you are | | | | I-beam style steel building manufacturers tell you that |
| getting the best steel building price? That part is | | | | stamped engineered drawings are available for about |
| easy; all you have to do is compare the prices | | | | $600. Don't let them fool you - they do include |
| between steel building companies on the building size | | | | stamped, engineered drawings for the structure but |
| that suits you. Now comes the "good deal" part. | | | | they do not include the stamped drawings for the |
| All steel structures are not created equal. | | | | concrete footings and slab. You will have to go to |
| Most steel buildings require the use of a heavy | | | | another engineering company and buy them |
| I-beam as the main frame support. The I-beam | | | | separately. This could add up to $2000 dollars to the |
| frame supports are spaced 20' - 25'apart. Between | | | | cost of your steel building. |
| the frames are horizontal supports that are called | | | | Now what makes the "other" steel building prices |
| 'girts" on the walls and 'purlins" on the roof. Girts are | | | | better than the I-beam style? |
| often spaced up to 10' apart and purlins are | | | | The "other" steel building style uses a tube frame to |
| sometimes spaced 4' apart. This leaves only the | | | | support the building. Lighter weight tube framing |
| exterior "skin" of the building for support. That is why | | | | weighs much less than I-beams and in most cases a |
| oftentimes cables or rods need to be used as | | | | lifting device is not needed to stand the frames. |
| x-bracing in this style of building. Take away or break | | | | Don't let the light weight part fool you; this style of |
| the cross-tied cables and rods and you are left with | | | | building can actually use more steel. Tube style frame |
| a steel structure that may not perform very well in | | | | system spacing can be as little as 4' apart depending |
| adverse weather conditions. | | | | on the required roof loads. The girt span on the side |
| I-beam style steel structures are often what some | | | | wall never exceeds 5' and the purlin span on the roof |
| may call a "good deal" because they may seem to | | | | does not exceed 3'. You will not need the cable |
| be lower priced. One reason the up-front price is | | | | cross-ties on this style of building. This frame system |
| lower is because they actually use less steel than | | | | can stand alone. |
| "other" steel building styles because of the framing | | | | The weight of the tube framed structure is evenly |
| spans as explained earlier. Don't get me wrong - this | | | | distributed throughout the frame. This means the |
| style of steel structure has been around forever but | | | | massive concrete footings are not required. In many |
| it seems lately many manufacturers are 'stretching" | | | | cases a simple 12" x 12" perimeter footing along with |
| things out a bit too far. | | | | a 4" slab is all that is required. You will save quite a bit |
| The installation cost of an I-beam style building can | | | | of money on concrete. |
| easily exceed that of the "other" building styles. | | | | And the engineered drawings for the "other" style: |
| Heavy duty forklifts or some sort of lifting device is | | | | Stamped engineered drawings and structural |
| needed to stand the I-beam frames even on the | | | | calculations are available for $650 and - guess what? - |
| smaller buildings adding to the cost. | | | | They include the engineering for the concrete footing |
| Massive concrete footings under each frame are | | | | and floor. Wow. |
| needed to support all of the weight that is funneled | | | | Take some time to perform a complete comparison |
| to each I-beam frame. A standard perimeter | | | | between steel building styles so you can have honest |
| concrete footing is also needed in addition to the | | | | steel building prices at the end of your search to help |
| other footings to support the angle iron that holds | | | | you make your decision. |
| the bottom of the panels in place. I don't have an | | | | |