On The Farm

I don't know of any farm operation that could get buy without barns for equipment storage, feed storage or any other general warehousing needs. Many older farms are now removing old wooden structures and replacing their old buildings with new steel structures. While the old antique tractor may look good in front of the old barn, many are weary of storing precious items in an old rotten structure. Steel is stronger, straighter and will last eons longer than wood. In a home, wood is fine. Houses are designed so that the wooden structural components do not have direct exposure to the elements, but on the farm it is often hard to prevent the outside from coming into the barn.

Insulating Against Radiant Heat

Traditional forms of mass insulation, like fiberglass, are effective in preventing heat transfer by conduction and convection, but they less effect on radiant heat. Between 80 and 90% of the radiant heat striking fiberglass will pass through or be "emitted". Radiant transfer typically has as much impact on the temperature in a building as conduction and convection. For more information on radiant barrier facings click here.

Frame Features

Connection Clips - Specially fabricated clips are designed to securely connect structural components. Many companies supply only blank plates that must be cut, drilled and/or welded to components before assembly can begin. In some cases it may require many hours of work to connect required clips. Metal Building Depot details and supplies each clip and placement to every building manufactured. We factory weld all clips onto rigid frames and guarantee the correct placement of all component connections. Don't waste your time and money attaching clips that should have been factory located.

Structural Bracing - Most buildings under 60' have sufficient diaphragm action or "panel shear" that provides all the bracing needed to stabilize the building. In some cases of high winds, seismic or snow loads may cause more stress than panel shear can handle, so additional reinforcement may be required. In these extreme cases we will employ the use of X bracing to reinforce the frame. In situations where X bracing cannot be used a wind column is an excellent addition to strengthen a vertical rigid frame column. A portal frame is sometimes used in extreme load circumstances. Portal frames are fairly expensive and only necessary in rare circumstances.

Roof Pitch

The angle of a steel building's roof is determined by roof pitch. Roof pitch indicates the rise vertically for every 12 inches of travel horizontally. Our online system allows you to choose up to a 6:12 pitch. There are many considerations with both higher and lower roof pitches. Higher pitched roofs may add to the cost of the building, but can add performance to a building in a heavy snow region. Additionally, you can take advantage of extra space above. High-pitched roofs are less likely to leak and can add style to your building.

Low-pitched roofs require less material and therefore cost less. Also it is easier to heat and cool a building with a low-pitched roof. One major advantage of a low-pitched roof is expandability. If you ever add-on to your building you will be able to add more space while keeping the loss of headroom to a minimum.

Perm Rating

The perm rating, or permeance, is a measure of the amount of water that passes through one square foot of material per hour. The lower the perm rating, the more effective the barrier. A facing material with a perm rating of 0.1 or less is considered excellent. Anything with a rating above 1.0 is not considered a vapor barrier.