Metal buildings come in all sizes and shapes. But they share the same qualities – durable, cost-effective, affordable, and flexible. Metal buildings are so durable; they can outlive their purpose.
A beginner chicken owner, with a very large backyard and who lives outside the city limits, wanted to build a coop. She began reading, drafting and looking at sketches of hundreds of coop designs. She already had an estimate of $400 for her project. Then, she finally realized that she does not need to spend a lot. After all, she was not building a summer home but a chicken coop!
It so happened that she had a metal building that was being used as storage for lawn equipment and paint cans. She came up with a bright idea of converting this metal building into a chicken coop.
She and her husband started cleaning the building with excess dirt, and to their surprise, it was very easy to do. All they needed was a bucket of water and sponge. Without expert help, they unscrewed some panels very easily and replaced them with a wood-framed door and walls, all screened to prevent entry of unwanted critters.
In the end, she spent less than $150 and the project took only three days. She was able to start raising chickens in the least amount of time and money possible.
And then there was the testimony of a lady who bought a house with an old metal building in the backyard. She actually thought it was ugly and useless. But when it was time to build a coop for her chickens, she successfully converted this “ugly” old metal building into a trendy chicken coop after finding out that it was still structurally sound.
The project took only a couple of days. Minus the cost of the drill, she only shelled out around $150.
These stories only prove that metal buildings are extremely durable and will remain in tip-top condition for decades. Today, through the use of state-of-the-art technologies, metal buildings have evolved from lowly garden sheds and warehouses to such applications including residences, churches, schools, offices and commercial establishments.
No matter what their detractors say, metal buildings are here to stay.
Archive for the ‘Agricultural Steel Buildings’ Category
Steel Farm and Ranch Buildings
Monday, April 16th, 2012Agriculture remains to be a major industry in the country. In fact, the US is the top producer of corn and soybeans in the world. Cattle meat and cow’s milk are two other major agricultural products.
If you want to start a farming or ranching business, you will definitely require a lot of structures to ensure the success of your venture. Ranch and farm buildings include barns, stables, machine and equipment storage, commodity storage, small hobby structures and sheds, rice dryers, cold storage structures, nut hullers, packing houses – to name a few.
You don’t have to look any further. American steel buildings can answer all your construction needs. American steel buildings combine steel’s tensile strength with computerized engineering and state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities to come up with structures that are strong, durable, flexible and functional.
Strength and durability are the major come-ons of American steel buildings. Every component of the building framework, from the primary to the ancillary elements, wall sections and roof systems, are pre-engineered using the latest computerized design technology. All sections fit exactly and perfectly, resulting in a building that is airtight and structurally sound and sturdy. The pre-engineering process also ensures that American steel buildings all national and local building codes.
The pre-engineering and prefabrication processes enable American steel buildings to have smooth and cost-efficient construction. Since all that is needed is to bolt the building components together, construction operations are fast and labor and materials costs are kept to a minimum.
Most farm buildings such as storage structures for machinery, equipment, livestock and farm commodities, should be spacious and high-ceilinged. American steel buildings are capable of clear-span construction with no need for load-bearing columns to obstruct movement. You get 100% usable interior space of up to 300 feet.
Although farmers, ranchers and other agricultural managers are usually outside doing physical work or operating machinery, they also need some kind of office to do their paper-work and other administrative tasks. American steel buildings may be incorporated with mezzanine floors or non-load bearing walls. And these walls can be dismantled when you need to alter the floor layout.
Modern American steel buildings are highly flexible and highly customizable, expanding their reach outside of the industrial and agricultural sectors. That’s why now you can see churches, temples, schools, offices, department stores, supermarkets and even residences, all made of steel.
The flexibility of American steel buildings don’t end there. If your budget permits, you may want to incorporate accessories and popular finishing materials to your structures. Insulation, skylights, cupolas, roof extensions, ridge vents, trims, gutters are all part of the long list of accessories you can choose from.
If you want durability, reliability, enduring performance and cost-effectiveness, choose American steel buildings for building your farming and ranching structures.
Steel Frame Buildings Offer Great Functionality For Agricultural Storage Facilities
Monday, February 20th, 2012People everywhere prefer to purchase fresh and good quality produce for daily consumption. By going around supermarkets, one can simply observe how consumers take their time in choosing food that they want to put on their tables. And for this reason, farmers make every effort to provide secure protection to crops and fruits they produce the whole year round.
With the prices of wood and brick constantly on the rise, agricultural owners are given a more viable alternative through the availability of steel frame buildings in the infrastructure industry. Manufacturers of pre-engineered components produce prefinished parts regularly to supply the local market. This ensures that builders can do their projects everyday of the year.
Steel frame buildings are great applications in setting up agricultural structures where owners can store farm produce securely and properly. With a column-free space, there is extensive room to stock harvested fruits, vegetables, and other crops before they are delivered to both local and international markets.
Owners have a range of options in selecting customized steel frame buildings for their farms through the assistance of experienced architects. Of course, depending on finances, structures – from basic designs to those that provide more functionality – can be prepared and are easily available to meet the the needs of agriculturists. In fact, they can be provisioned with a separate space to house farm animals.
Steel frame buildings as agricultural structures are built with strength and can sustain heavy rain, snow and other tough weather patterns. They have been tried on many occasions by destructive forces like typhoons, hurricanes and even earthquakes. Agricultural owners are assured that whatever they have harvested for the season will be provided with superior protection should weather become unpredictable.
Agriculturists may also decide to have another section installed to accommodate farm equipment. Everyone is well aware that tools and gadgets used around farms are quite valuable and indispensable. Owners spend much in procuring them and therefore they have to be secured within the premises. There are no better and more reliable platforms that can offer great protection and storage than steel frame buildings.
Steel frame buildings as agricultural structures can be erected fast and with lesser costs when compared to those that use traditional materials. In addition, only a few workers are needed to put them up because the pre-engineered materials are already shaped and pre-cut when they are brought to the site.
lAnd for the long-term perspective, steel frame buildings utilized as farms don’t need substantial maintenance through years of operational use. Simply put, there are huge benefits to be gained by using prefabricated structures.
Natural Ventilation for Steel Agricultural Buildings
Thursday, August 4th, 2011Modern steel buildings can be built for just about any purpose under the sun. Agricultural steel buildings are popular fixtures in most farms and ranches all over the country because they offer the best protection and security to livestock and produce.
If you are planning to build a horse barn, you should consider agricultural steel buildings as your best option. One important design consideration in horse barns is ventilation or air quality. Aside from light and sufficient living space, provision for fresh air is crucial.
Poor air quality in horse barns has been proven to be the leading cause of poor performance, illness and possibly death in the current horse population. However, the problem is, most horse owners usually fail to address this issue.
Agricultural steel buildings can be designed for proper horse barn ventilation to keep the air healthy, fresh, and moving inside the structures.
It is good to know that in favorable climates, natural ventilation for agricultural steel buildings has become an attractive option for maintaining a healthy and comfortable indoor climate.
This means that for steel horse barns, owners will not have a problem dealing with the rancid smell of ammonia from degrading urine, build up of dusts, molds and other pathogens, which causes a wide variety of respiratory diseases that may lead to the death of horses.
Farmers, ranchers and horse enthusiasts who own agricultural steel buildings may consider the following when designing their horse barns.
Consider sitting the ridge of your steel barn perpendicular to the summer winds. This way, wind-induced ventilation is maximized to the fullest. However, make certain that summer winds have minimal obstructions.
The shape of the steel barn is another issue. Naturally ventilated agricultural steel buildings are usually narrow with a maximum width of 45 feet.
Provide ridge vents. A ridge vent is an opening at the highest point in the roof. Agricultural steel buildings with ridge vents are naturally ventilated because they allow air to come in and flow out of the structures.
Consider also having doors at each end of the steel horse barn. These can be left full or half open, depending on the weather. For example, during cold days, don’t close all windows and doors to keep the horses cozy. Instead, keep them half-open, with enough space to keep fresh air moving in and replacing the stale air inside, without making the insides drafty and uncomfortable.
Strive for cross-ventilation in agricultural steel buildings – because fresh air could never hurt a horse.