Frame Types

Unlike any of our competitors, we allow you to price all building frame types. Select from Clear-span or Modular rigid-frame buildings. We allow you the full flexibility to choose Gable, Single Sloped or Offset Peak building shape. By far, we offer the widest selection of building and frame types. For options not available through the online system, you will need to request a special quote.

Clear-span Frames - A clear-span rigid frame offers strength and economy. Since no interior supports are necessary, this design is best when you require large areas of clear and uninterrupted space. Factories, warehouses and agricultural buildings are just a few building types that may utilize a clear-span frame building. A clear-span design does have size limitations. As the desired width increases, the frames will become larger and heavier to carry greater loads across the length of the frame. At some point the cost will outweigh the benefit. Even so, clear-span buildings are still effective for buildings as wide as 150' feet and wider in some cases.

Modular Frames - Modular frames use interior columns to evenly distribute the load; reducing the cost of both the frame and foundation of extra wide buildings. The economical advantages become obvious when a building width is about 100' wide or wider. As a result, almost all buildings 100' wide or wider have interior support columns. Modular designs are often used for large factories and warehouses.

Single Slope Frames - Single slope frames have high and low eave heights creating a roof that "slopes" from side to side. To select a single slope design, you specify one eave height and define the roof pitch. Single slope designs are frequently used for strip shopping centers, offices, and RV/Boat storage facilities.

Just about every steel building has at least one framed opening. It is not unusual for buildings to have several openings. Most openings are created for an overhead door, but can be used for the installation of glass fronts or other entries. Most other online sellers offer "field located" framed openings, which require cutting and fabricating on the job site. Metal Building Depot always provides factory-located openings unless your project requires something otherwise.

Our Commitment to Quality

Our vision is to remain the industry leader through innovative, and professionally based services and to provide trusted and practical steel building solutions at competitive prices. Years of research and development, engineering input, computer programming and superior web design have allowed us to provide to you, the most innovative, unparalleled on-line design and pricing system in the world. Organizations large and small look to us for innovative solutions - we provide you with effective solutions to manage costs and promote customer satisfaction with every building. Within the industry, we stand alone in our innovation of design and engineering procedures and our ongoing commitment to customer service. The result? Affordability and an unprecedented ability to meet your specific needs.

Independence and Integrity: How We Conduct Our Business - What we do is important, but equally important is how we do it. From the beginning, we have taken the view that keeping up with our customer's demands requires objectivity, fairness, open processes, an attitude of respect, and adherence to best design and engineering practices. And, in part because we have always been independently owned, these core values remain at the center of our business ethic. In short, we believe integrity and excellence go hand in hand and our autonomy gives us the necessary freedom to put that belief into practice every day.

Knowledge and Innovation: Why We Excel: Year after year, we pursue a rigorous agenda of pertinent, unbiased research, probing the complexities of steel design. As an independent structural fabricator, we have no hidden agenda, no conflicts of interest, and no outside "dealer network" to protect. We objectively analyze patterns of our competitor's sales tactics, and routinely adjust pricing based on current market values. We seek to understand the causes of rising costs. And, most importantly, we use what we learn as the springboard for innovation. Staying in the "technological" front enables us to develop practical, workable strategies that will assure our continued success.

Pricing Excellence: What True Customer Service Means to Us - We think our customers should derive a real benefit from our online "real time" pricing program. That's why we define great service as giving customers what they most need and want. Knowledge empowers we help customers better manage their own needs, make wiser choices and lower their costs. We understand the importance of convenience too, so we made this automated service available to you at your leisure, day in and day out. We make quoting a steel building easy through our on-line pricing system. Make no mistake about it; our system is light-years beyond anything on the market today. Building on customer input, we created a broad range of user-friendly Internet tools that deliver the unprecedented ability to self-manage the design, pricing and purchasing of a new steel building. These tools include online member areas, building-specific accessory information, lease and finance information, our proprietary password protected quote storage, and a customized secure purchase area with multiple deposit payment options including credit card, personal check, and finance options.

Quality Products: Why We Put Structural Integrity First - The reason is simple: Your safety is our highest priority. Nothing illustrates our fundamental commitment to structural integrity and quality building design more clearly than our own proprietary design system. For example, we never consider any design until it has been demonstrated on the strength of clear and convincing scientific evidence to be safe and structurally sound. While cost is an important consideration, we consider the price of a building only after its structural merit has been established. You can be sure that we build our structures around the most advanced engineering practices.

Special Order Buildings: How We Deliver Results - Quality planning planning that begins anew with each customer makes all the difference. Our design specialists know that each customer presents unique circumstances and challenges. So we customize each plan, taking into account all the variables considering the implications from every angle. We also help take the guesswork out of decision-making. Using customer-specific data, our building design team can model results based on past experience and current available options so customer decisions are always well informed. The result is a collaborative solution fine-tuned to address both the customer's need to manage costs and design considerations.

Calculated Thermal Values

Basically it is the reciprocal of the calculated U-Value. By definition it is the summation of all the R-Values for each of the building's components. This method of calculation does not consider the thermal short circuit effect of structural members, fastener population or the compression of the insulation at its structural members. It should also be noted that this type of calculation often indicates heat loss values for building envelopes that are lower than those actually found in the finished structure.

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.

Trim and Gutter

The trim on a steel building serves two essential functions, to close transitions and protect the building from the weather. Trim also adds to the appearance of a building. Our sculptured trim gives the building a refined, quality appearance. Trim covers corner and edge areas of a building. For instance, eave trim creates a transition from the roof to the sidewalls and roof to endwalls.

Most metal building companies often supply "box" or generic trim pieces. This trim routinely has to be modified to fit, as it is created as multi-purpose - and does not fit well on standard panels. We fabricate each profile to match the design of your steel building. We do a lot of work in the shop that will save you headaches in the field. We hem all exposed edges of our trim so it installs easily, fits neatly, and looks great for the life of your building. Our trim is easy to install and adds to the look and the integrity of the building.