Any advice on metal buildings/garage?

[extremetoy1]

While building my house I will be adding an unattached garage, I was wondering what some of you have and the cheapest (most economical) way to go about it. I will have a pad poured (concrete floor) what type of structures do you have and any advice you would do different. thanks

 

[oldIron]

I did a lot of looking a few months back on this. There are tons of metal buildings for sale out there, and they look nice for the right price as well. I have found that I can build a stickbuilt detached for a similar amount of cash though. With the metal buildings, they really tried high pressure sales to get me to buy. You know "we are selling in your area and need a site for display and can give you a great price, but the price will only be good today" kinda crap. Turned me right off to most of them. THe freight to New Englad was a killer as well, if you are closer to one you can probably do well. Some of the steel buildings are truss type and some are I-beam. Depending on who you talk with, their design is obviously better than the other guys. Snow load up here was a concern as well. You will want to get an idea of building codes you need to meet for a detached structure in your area and confirm with the building company.

Good Luck

 

[fsusteve]

I have a friend who just did a steel bldg, final cost was about $25k more than block or stick would've been but we have hurricane codes that come into play here. Fawker's hot in summer, cold in winter, I'm going CBS or stick, they cost about about the same here.

 

[ATLcrusher]

We're just about to finish a detached three-car garage - for our purposes, I wouldn't have even considered a metal structure. But it depends on your intended use...

 

[extremetoy1]

Like I said any advice on any building will help. why not a metal one? I will be housing a spray booth in on of the bays- for painting cars and other things (my business) building the spray booth is the easy part.....

 

[SteveO]

Like I said any advice on any building will help. why not a metal one? I will be housing a spray booth in on of the bays- for painting cars and other things (my business) building the spary booth id the easy part.....

Are you talking about a Quonset type like this?

If so, they're hard to wire, insulate and aren't overly efficient for adding shelving. You also end up with a lot of dead space along the walls so the usable area is less that the square footage of the pad. That said, they're durable, nearly mantainence free and hold up well to heavy snow, winds and will last forever. .....Steve

 

[Capt. Jim]

Mine is a detached garage, frame with wood siding to match the house. Withstood 3 direct-hit hurricanes so far, except for a fallen tree that cut the roof in half.

I highly recommend a minimum of 10' ceiling height. I also added an extra panel to my double garage door, making the clear opening height 8'9"" instead of 7'0".

Provide for good cross-ventilation. Make it secure and if your house is wired with an alarm system, extend it to your garage too.

 

[Cookiemonster]

Do you have wolf problems?


















































If not try straw..................

 

[Cookiemonster]

Actually a few years back I had a steel building all lined up but had to squash all plans due to a career change & the need for start up cash.

 

[haystax]

Steel buildings are only cost effective if you are talking large spaces like 60x100 or larger and tall eave height. For a small garage with a couple low bays then wood frame or wood post construction should be cheaper and easier. Block would be best but there is a lot of labor cost in laying block. Steel buildings shine in labor savings only, materials are higher now than in the past. If you can bolt two peices of steel together and aren't afraid of heights, you should be able to build a prefab kit no problem, it's just a big erector set.

 

[ATLcrusher]

Mostly for the reason identified by others in this thread. Also, ours has finished space above, so that was another consideration.

Went with 10 ft. ceilings and eight foot doors, poured extra piers in two of the bays to accomodate a lift(s) in the future and put an engineered floor system in so we didn't have to use any poles to support the upper level. The header over the garage doors is a massive LVL - something like 4" x 18" x 35'! It's also fully insulated and drywall is going in Monday

 

[firetruck41]

Helped a buddy put up a 36' x 48' steel frame building, it had steel columns and steel trusses that gave a clear span across the 36'. It is 12' tall and the trusses have are about 2 feet tall and follow the roof angle, so the center of the building is about 16'-18' tall w/out obstruction, the garage door also follows the roof angle, so when he puts in the two post lift, he won't have to close the door to lift a vehicle. He is going to side it with T-111 to match his house. I don't think it was cheaper than pole barn or stick built, but it is what he wanted.

 

[cruisermedic]

i helped my dad put up a 24' by 40' stick frame garage with a reg size door, a large roller type slide door, and a 20' rollup door. with a cement floor. i think his cost was ~7000 for the garage. im not sure what the pad cost him as a friend did it. that cost is no in sulation and no wiring. but those things are easy enough and cheap enough to do later. roofing, all lumber, door hardware, and siding was included.

other wise best advice is to build the biggest one you can afford and have room for....dad didnt think he needed the size he built but youd be amazed how fast i fills up.

 

[-Spike-]

I built a 1200 square foot (40'x30') garage on my property. I looked into metal pre-fab, and went with conventional 2x6 construction. The money looked about equal, but insulating a metal building is a bitch, and it's damn near impossible to find a stud to hang stuff on. Plus I ended up with a residential look, rather than commercial. I have 10 foot walls, a 10 foot garage door, and scissor trusses so the ceiling rises to 12'6" in the center. The whole thing cost me about 14 grand, with the pad being 5 grand or so, with no plumbing. I haven't insulated or drywalled it yet. Prices have gone way up since then (2 years ago) so I'd expect to pay about $20K today.

-Spike

 

[stanley]

if you are a cheapskate call your local electric company and ask if they have any old poles. A builder I know has a huge pile of old poles which he uses to construct pole barns and other neat-o buildings. they have been giving him the old power pole for free, the wood ones that is.

 

[bkfj40]

if painting is your business, as you mention above, then you probably know that you'll need a fire supression system. Depending on the building size, you might need to sprinkle the whole thing. The advantage of a metal building is it is classified as non-combustible, unprotected. How much paint are you planning to store?

If you already have a pad, you're pretty much stuck with a stick built, block, concrete, or metal stud building...steel buildings have isolated columns and would require a larger pad footing at each one of the columns. Usually, you also need to address the thrust at the bottom of the columns. This can be accomplished with hairpin bars or the like....

Lastly, what is your budget? that is what is really going to determine what you put in there....


bk

 

[ScottFJ40]

I am having a 30x30 built right now. Look at the specs, and get many proposals. I was suprised at the price differences between the buildings with the same specs. I got 6 proposals, and am going with these guys,
http://www.fettervillesales.com/ and am getting this style, only with the lean to on the right side.

I'll pour the floor after the building is up. I am probably going to extend it back another 10 or 15' eventually, here in Harford county MD, you can only go half the sq/ft of the living space in your house.
The house I am building is an 1800 sq/ft rancher. I could claim the 1800 sq/ft in the basement, but my tax rate would go up.
The only other option would be to build a breezeway attaching it to my house, then it's classified as an addition, and you can go bigger.

Total installed cost for my 30'x30' with an 8'x30' leanto, sliding doors front and back, 2 windows and a ridgevent is $15,700. Hopefully I can get the cocnrete poured for 3 grand or so.

 

[extremetoy1]

I am having a 30x30 built right now. Look at the specs, and get many proposals. I was suprised at the price differences between the buildings with the same specs. I got 6 proposals, and am going with these guys,
http://www.fettervillesales.com/ and am getting this style, only with the lean to on the right side.

I'll pour the floor after the building is up. I am probably going to extend it back another 10 or 15' eventually, here in Harford county MD, you can only go half the sq/ft of the living space in your house.
The house I am building is an 1800 sq/ft rancher. I could claim the 1800 sq/ft in the basement, but my tax rate would go up.
The only other option would be to build a breezeway attaching it to my house, then it's classified as an addition, and you can go bigger.

Total installed cost for my 30'x30' with an 8'x30' leanto, sliding doors front and back, 2 windows and a ridgevent is $15,700. Hopefully I can get the cocnrete poured for 3 grand or so.

I like it, I will look at what they have to offer, 3 grand for a pad is a good deal.

 

[fj40charles]

I got my metal building from www.muellerinc.com They were able to get me what I wanted.. I wanted "I" beams for the main and end wall supports. Most of the cheaper buildings will not have load bearing end walls and will use "C" purlins for end walls. Get 10' to 12' walls and get 4/3 pitch.. Building looks better and you won't have any problems if you want to install a lift.

Most companies will quote you a low price, but when you add up the options like,
size of rollup door, insulation, ridge vents, gutters, walk through doors, it can really add up quickly. Mueller provided me some 5/8" "J" bolts that were tied to the rebars in the footing..... I made a template and mounted these "J" hooks because I didn't trust the concrete guys to get it right. There is no way these are going to pull out.

My concrete was more expensive than the building. You will need some additional concrete for any additional parking you may need.

Also, buy in February.. That is when all of the metal building manufacturers start having their "spring" sale. 6-8 week lead time is normal. Buying a standard size (30x30, 30x40) will generally be cheaper.

 

[hooptie]

dayum i like this this a 2 stall horse barn?

i was looking at these when i considered moving my horses to my yard when i lived in NH-- i would still do it but have to wait until i move... different colors, of course i love this though http://www.mortonbuildings.com

I am having a 30x30 built right now. Look at the specs, and get many proposals. I was suprised at the price differences between the buildings with the same specs. I got 6 proposals, and am going with these guys,
http://www.fettervillesales.com/ and am getting this style, only with the lean to on the right side.

I'll pour the floor after the building is up. I am probably going to extend it back another 10 or 15' eventually, here in Harford county MD, you can only go half the sq/ft of the living space in your house.
The house I am building is an 1800 sq/ft rancher. I could claim the 1800 sq/ft in the basement, but my tax rate would go up.
The only other option would be to build a breezeway attaching it to my house, then it's classified as an addition, and you can go bigger.

Total installed cost for my 30'x30' with an 8'x30' leanto, sliding doors front and back, 2 windows and a ridgevent is $15,700. Hopefully I can get the cocnrete poured for 3 grand or so.