Steel Frame

Metal buildings are strong. It is the nature of their design. Because they are built to survive the harshest conditions, you can rest assured that you investment will last for years to come. The basic design provides great structural stability, even in an earthquake or windstorm. The rigid steel frame reinforces the secondary structural framing system. Any building is only as good as its foundation. A steel frame is the ultimate starting point for your building.

The last thing you need to worry about is the structural integrity of your office, shop or storage buildings. An advantage with pre-engineered buildings is there are no roof shingles for you to worry about replacing later. A smart investment is one that requires the least amount of cost now and in the future. Steel frame buildings are just such an investment.

If you have questions about steel frame buildings, just turn to an expert. There are many qualified steel building manufacturers to answer any question that you may have.

Heat Transfer

Effectively controlling temperature in a steel building requires insulation to be present along exterior walls and roof. When a temperature differential is present in an enclosed steel building, heat will work from warmer areas to colder areas until the temperature in the building has stabilized. At the point of thermal stabilization, the cooler (and heavier) air will be present at lower elevations and warmer air will be present at the roofline. The function of insulation is to help stabilize air temperature at more desirable levels. When it is hot outside, preventing heat from transferring into the building is the goal, and of course in the winter we want heat to remain inside.

Heat transfer occurs in three ways:

Conduction : Occurs in a solid or liquid when heat from one object is transferred by touch to another object. An example of this occurs when a pot on a stove will heat up by conductive heat transfer from an electric coil.

Convection : Occurs with the physical movement of air. There are two types of convectional heat movement. The first is natural, where hot air rises displacing the cold air and moving it down. The second type is forced or mechanical convection. This occurs when an object, like a fan, physically moves or "forces" the air to move.

Radiation : Occurs when an object is warmer or hotter than the air around it. For example, the sun, which is hotter than everything around it, radiates heat waves that travel through the air and is either absorbed by or reflected by the surface it comes in contact with.

Benefits Of Pre Fabricated Metal Buildings

Reasons people choose one thing in place of another are normally are obvious and easy to recognize. Choosing the right kind of steel building system can be a little more difficult. All pre-fabricated metal buildings are not created equal. There are many elements of design and customization that make them very different and the differences are not always obvious. Please brows our preferred vendor listings. There you can find in-depth information about many quality-building suppliers.

Regardless of your intended purpose, whether to store equipment or use as a metal shop building, pre fabricated steel structures offer many advantages. Insulation and temperature control options and extras like customized paneling and many color choices add uniqueness and style.

The main advantage of a pre fabricated metal building is its simple assembly. Steel Buildings are shipped complete with all the accessories and hardware needed for construction. In many cases, you could have a steel building delivered and erected before most conventional builders could complete the initial planning.

To learn more about the benefits of pre fabricated metal buildings, contact a manufacturer. Along with a price quote, they can give you an idea of the customization options and floor plan styles available. Top companies provide the advice of skilled professionals to assess your needs to match you with the right building.

Ridge Vent

Ridge vents come completely assembled for ease of installation. Ridge vents supplied by Metal Building Depot are of a low profile design to provide gravity type ventilation. Because gravity ridge vents are designed to allow free airflow, some penetration of water during blowing rains is to be expected. Standard available finishes for the ridge vents are polar white and galvalume. Other colors may be available at an additional cost. Nominal ridge vent length is 10'-0". Ridge vents are available with 9" and 12" throats. Bird screens are provided as a standard. The ridge vents can be ordered as continuous or single units. Exterior parts are 26 gage painted or galvalume. Interior parts are all made of G90 galvanized steel. The substructure consists of 10 gage saddle straps with interior baffles of 24 gage steel. Lifter arms and damper slides are made of 18 gage steel. Manual operation is through activation of a pull bar which is attached internally to bell cranked type lifter arms connected to the damper with Teflon coated pins through the damper slides. Dampers are spring loaded to remain in the open position until the pull bar is operated and locked in the closed position. Dampers operate in a vertical manner. Each vent is opened by a pull chain that extends approximately 12" below the roof unless noted otherwise on the order documents. Other opening mechanisms are available at an additional cost upon special request. Ridge vents should not be placed closer than 5’-0" to the endwall steel line to allow room to properly flash the building. For example, a 90’-0" long building with ridge vents required the entire length should have no more than (8) units. The ridge vents are available with the following accessories:

Condensation Control

The condensation process occurs when warmer moist air comes in contact with cold surfaces such as framing members, windows and other thermally conductive accessories, or the colder region within the insulation itself (if moisture has penetrated the vapor retarder). Warm air, having the ability to contain more moisture than cold air, loses that ability when it comes in contact with cooler surfaces or regions. When this happens, excessive moisture in the air is released in the form of condensation. If this moisture collects in the insulation, the insulating value is decreased.

In dealing with condensation, air may be considered to be a mixture of two gases-dry air and water vapor. One thousand cubic feet of air at 75°F can hold up to 1.4 pints of water. At 45°F, it can hold only 0.5 pints.

Relative Humidity is a percentage measurement of the amount of water vapor present in the air in relation to the amount it is capable of holding at that temperature. Therefore, 50% Relative Humidity would mean that the air is carrying only one-half of the total amount of moisture that it could be holding at that particular temperature. Cold outside air is usually much drier than warm inside air. Therefore, you can lower the Relative Humidity by bringing in outside air to mix with and dilute the moist inside air. At 100% Relative Humidity, the air is "saturated."

The temperature at which the air is saturated and can no longer hold additional moisture is called the dew point temperature. Whenever air temperature drops below its dew point, excess moisture will be released in the form of condensation. Condensation problems are most likely to occur in climates where temperatures frequently dip to 35°F or colder over an extended period of time.