Structural Design

We design and manufacture pre-engineered steel buildings, and offer you a number of advantages over conventional construction techniques. Steel buildings are inexpensive and incredibly tough. Our bolt-together design is assembled quickly without any specialized skills. Each rigid frame is comprised of two or more columns supporting a rafter across the width of the building. In most steel buildings, endwall bearing frames support one-half the load of a rigid "main" frame. In most situations, we utilize the more economical "bearing" end frames. Adding an expandable endwall or rigid frame is only a click away. Unlike any of our competitors, we allow you to choose the endwall condition of your building. Depending on design considerations, our endwall rafters and columns may be either hot rolled or cold-formed.

The space between the rigid frames of a steel building is referred to as a "bay."- an 80' long building has been divided into four 20' bays by spacing the frames 20' apart (4 x 20' = 80'). This configuration is described as "four bays at 20." A 100' building could be configured with four bays at 25 (4x 25' = 100')

Endwall bay spacing is usually determined by the building width. You can add one or more framed openings to most buildings. Endwall bay spacing can usually changed to accommodate your needs without changing the price.

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.

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.

Why are steel buildings so popular?

That's easy. Price. All around price. They are less per square foot than any other known form of construction, and can be erected quickly, offering its owners faster access to their new building. We are seeing more buildings sold for residential use. People are putting up shops and garages faster than you can count. As rural America gets divided into smaller ranches, we see the increase for barns, arenas, horse stalls... etc.