Metal buildings

[Richard Wolf]

So I'm thinking it's time to retire. The game plan is to move to North Carolina, buy a house and erect a shop on the property. I don't have the time or ambition to put up a stick building. I'm thinking about a metal pole building or a steel arch building. The Arch type building is very attractive in price and ease of installation. I would like to hear from people that have experience with these types of buildings for the pros and cons.

[Thomas Canfield]

I can't speak to the prefab metal buildings, but I had a 16x24 stick built shop with gambel roof/attic storage on concrete slab ready to move in a month from start of concrete. To me, a stick built wall building is much easier to adapt for use later rather than the metal fuilding. Often the metal will require a stud wall inside for attaching interior walls or supporting cabinets.

[Matt Meiser]

Even a wood pole barn will need interior framing of some sort if you want to finish it or really even use the walls. Metal structure will only make that more difficult. It might be quicker for the initial construction but slower inside. Pole barns are popular around here because they don't need a full 42-48" footer.

[Steve Keathley]

A good friend of mine built a steel arch metal building for his shop. It turned out great. Just put roll up doors on at least two sides for air flow, and spend a little extra to have the inside sprayed with foam insulation. That's money we'll spend in the south.

[Von Bickley]

Richard,

Pole buildings are pretty common around SC. We had a pole building put up around January 2006. Our building is 30X36 with a leanto porch on one side. The porch is 10X36. We went in our building and put in a bedroom, kitchen and bathroom that we lived in while we built our house. Worked out pretty good because I now have a kitchen and bathroom in my shop. I put a 400 amp service on the building and fed the electrical system to the house from the shop.

Our pole building 30X36 with a 10X36 porch, 3 windows, 1 roll-up door, 2 service doors, concrete poured and finished for building and porch, and the building insulated in 2006 was about $16,800.00.

Our building was put up by Hoover Buildings in Lexington, SC. http://hooverbuildings.com/

Wishing you well on your project. What part of NC are you looking at?

[Richard Wolf]

Thanks for the response.

Von, that sounds like you had a great plan. We are planning to move somewhere between Charlotte and Greensboro, NC.

[Bill Rabbino]

My workshop is a metal building 36'x72' in NC, the panels were heavy to work with and there were 6000 bolts that have to be tightened at least twice and they can be challenging to insulate but I have been happy with it.264883

[Richard Wolf]

Bill, you have some nerve to think that you can post a picture like that of your shop and think that's the end of it. Let's see some pictures of the inside and so detail information. Looks great.

[Bill Rabbino]

264916264917264918264919264920264921264922The lower level is uninsulated and has radiant slab for heat, my son lives on the upper level and it has spray foam insulation with a Mitsubishi multi head ductless heat pump system.

[Richard Wolf]

Thanks for the pictures Bill. Great looking shop but it does look like it was a bear to put up. Where is it located and what are you building?

[Bill Rabbino]

Weaverville NC, just north of Asheville, I am making some wall cabinets for my office the photo with the panels was taken when we were putting the ceiling in my son's apartment We attached a grid of 2"x1/2" wood strips attached to 2"x2" purlins that were attached to the ends of the building bolts with 5/16" couplers and 8" bolts. The bolts spaced the purlins away from the metal so that the spray foam insulation could be applied.264943

[Joe Shinall]

I bought a house without a garage and needed something cheap and quick. Friend down the road was selling one of those metal carports. Bought it for $200, 16x20 with 7 foot walls and arched with a 10 foot ceiling in the middle. Poured a slab, put it up, studded it in and closed it in with Hardie siding and french doors and ran a panel to it. For less than 3K I have a 16x20 shop now.

[Jim Andrew]

I put up a steel frame building, 50 x 80 for a farm storage building in Kansas. Bought it from Worldwide building sales, Peculiar MO, and it was not an easy project. Lucky thing was I have a friend with a construction forklift, which was about the only thing that could have made putting the frame together easy. But there was a lot of drilling and screwing, and time involved. I bought fiberglass insulation with the plastic layer for the roof, made putting the metal roofing a lot harder. You need a calm day, which in Kansas is rare. If I were going to finish the inside, the walls would not be bad, because it has purlins on 2' centers, horizontal, which you could insulate and screw metal, waferboard, or sheetrock to. And I would just hang a suspended ceiling from the framing.

[Chris C. Davis]

Good information. I am also about to build a new shop. My daughter and grandson moved back home and I am getting kicked out of my old shop. I received the quote for my 30' x 50' building last week and it was almost double what I expected. I was planning on a 12' eave and a 10' lean-to on one side to house my old wood mizer. My builder told me that the lean to was what caused the price to go up because it was not part of the suppliers normal kit. The building was a "red iron" traditional framing building. Has anyone had experience with the alternative building systems? Can anyone recommend a Houston / Conroe TX based contractor? I just need the Building and foundation done. Everything else I can do my self.

[Greg Bender]

Richard,
I'm in the area you mentioned, I'm 36 miles north of Charlotte, right near Lake Norman. You might be surprised to find alot of houses that already have shops. This area has a large concentration of racing teams from Nascar,NHRA, and the various open wheel divisions. I personally do not have a seperate building, just made my basement big enough to fit a fair size shop in it. If you need some info on the area let me know.
Greg

[David A Anderson]

I finished mine back in March. I did all the work myself except the actual cement pour. It went really well for me. It cost $35k, but being in the city added about $3500 in fees and permits. If you don't have to deal with that it can be done for less.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?196726-Building-my-shop

David