Metal building (Mueller): Assembly tolerances

[s10xtremist]

After dealing with sketchy and deadbeat concrete contractors for 3 months, I'm (finally!) putting my shop together. I generally hold VERY tight tolerances when building or making things, especially when following engineered instructions. But, this building is kicking my **** in that aspect.

It's a 30x40x12 with 2:12 pitch and light end walls. The slab measured out to be very square, at least within my acceptable allowances (may have been 1/4" longer on one of the diagonal measurements). Measuring from the center of the 4" wide center beam to the back corners, the dimensions are spot-on 20'. Measuring from the center of the center beam to the front corners, one side is 1/4" short, the other is 1/4" long. I know I can elongate the holes in the corner uprights and shift them as needed, but is it really necessary for that 1/4"?

Also, I'm having a hard time getting all 6 uprights to be plumb. I have severe OCD when it comes to getting that bubble dead-centered between the lines instead of "just between the lines". The 3 uprights on the north wall need to lean one way, and the 3 on the south wall need to lean the other. We roped it to my neighbor's Ranger and pulled them to be very close, then tightened all the girt bolts and footing anchors, but it still moved back a little to where the bubble is approximately 15% past the line.

Is this something that can be "close enough", at least to my description, and I just over thinking all of this? Anyone have any tips/tricks to share?

 

[Charles (in GA)]

On a steel building everything should be slightly loose, completely assembled, then you pull the building plumb with come-a-longs or similar and sheet the building. Then you go around and tighten up everything. Thats what I was told by the guy who assembled my building.

Charles

 

[TMcCay]

I put up my Mueller building with only the help of my son and my wife. In the assembly packet it says to only tighten the bolts by hand until all of the frame work is up.
One piece of advice is to go to TSC (in my case it was a farm store named Atwoods) and buy several, I bought 6, of the heavy duty trucking ratchet straps. Mine I believe were 24 foot long and rated at 10,000 lbs. Attach these to the top of the corner beams and the bottom of the center beams to rack the building into square. There should be a diagram in the packet on how to do this.
Before I got all of the sheet metal up I had straps and chains crisscrossing all the inside of the building but the frame did come into square. Then put up all of the sheet metal before removing the straps.
Mueller does have some great help on the phone so don't be afraid to ask. I had to call them twice because the blue prints had some mistakes and weren't making sense to me and the guy on the phone confirmed my suspicions were correct. Hope all of this helps... Terry

 

[nehog]

On a steel building everything should be slightly loose, completely assembled, then you pull the building plumb with come-a-longs or similar and sheet the building. Then you go around and tighten up everything. Thats what I was told by the guy who assembled my building.

Charles

I think Charles is referring to the framing (red iron) without sheathing. Putting on the sheathing will set things and not allow it to move. Do the red iron work, with loose fasteners, align and square, and tighten. It may be necessary to slightly over square so that when things relax after your tighten and remove the squaring methods (I use a come-along to a fixed object, usually the base of an adjacent column) things will tend to then fall into the right alignment.

Once you sheath and roof, it is not going to change. Sheathing adds significant rigidity to the building.

 

[s10xtremist]

Apparently, I never got this "assembly packet" you speak of. My neighbor said he got a CD/DVD with his, but he can't find it now. Is there anything else mentioned in this packet that makes it worth seeking out? I'm particularly interested to know where the roof and wall sheets are positioned, as I don't recall seeing a detail on that in the drawings. But, now that y'all mentioned it, I have seen buildings with ropes/ratchet straps/come-alongs crisscrossing between various beams during construction. It makes sense to pull it straight for the sheeting, then tighten the bolts. I'll loosen the bolts again, ratchet strap/come-along everything into position, then continue on with the sheets. While I'm at it, I'll go ahead and elongate those holes in the end wall columns to get them on point.

Thank y'all for the help!

 

[readhead]

s10 I PM'd you. Give me a call. I erect metal buildings and I can save you a lot of time. Usually you want to erect the brace bay and get it plumb and square. Tighten everything up and everything after that can be installed and tightened. The brace bay can be pushed around with the rod braceing. We very rarely have to use come-a-longs or straps.
Leaving things loose can bit you in the ***. Something will get missed and we can't afford to go back and touch things again.
Keep in mind that the structure is braced as a stand alone piece. On most buildings the sheeting is not included in the reactions and is not providing the shear value you might think.

 

[s10xtremist]

Readhead, I got your PM. I'll call this afternoon when I'm off work and can look at the building while we discuss. Thanks for your reply.

 

[skamp]

Always awesome to see fellow members willing to go out of their way to help. This is why I love this forum.

Steve

 

[TMcCay]

Call Mueller. I was given a notebook of information and instructions. Then 3 sets of blueprints arrived in the mail. I would be asking my salesman where all of the info is if you bought it from them and not a third party sales company.

I had nothing but a good experience with my dealing with them and would recommend them to anyone.

 

[readhead]

There is usually a set of plans in the warehouse box when the building is delivered.

 

[nehog]

Apparently, I never got this "assembly packet" you speak of. My neighbor said he got a CD/DVD with his, but he can't find it now. Is there anything else mentioned in this packet that makes it worth seeking out? I'm particularly interested to know where the roof and wall sheets are positioned, as I don't recall seeing a detail on that in the drawings. But, now that y'all mentioned it, I have seen buildings with ropes/ratchet straps/come-alongs crisscrossing between various beams during construction. It makes sense to pull it straight for the sheeting, then tighten the bolts. I'll loosen the bolts again, ratchet strap/come-along everything into position, then continue on with the sheets. While I'm at it, I'll go ahead and elongate those holes in the end wall columns to get them on point.

Thank y'all for the help!

Basically that is what I did... I used straps (it was quick and easy) to pull things together (they also helped steady things up) and straighten things. I did not have to elongate any holes--all holes and pieces lined up as they were made without modifications. The only thing that I had to do about holes was to drill four holes that the company forgot to drill, a minor issue.

A SPUD wrench is really a good idea. I have a spud ratchet that I like, but an adjustable or fixed spud wrench will be very useful in lining up holes too.

s10 I PM'd you. Give me a call. I erect metal buildings and I can save you a lot of time. Usually you want to erect the brace bay and get it plumb and square. Tighten everything up and everything after that can be installed and tightened. The brace bay can be pushed around with the rod braceing. We very rarely have to use come-a-longs or straps.
Leaving things loose can bit you in the ***. Something will get missed and we can't afford to go back and touch things again.
Keep in mind that the structure is braced as a stand alone piece. On most buildings the sheeting is not included in the reactions and is not providing the shear value you might think.

All of Readhead's comments are very insightful and useful. I suspect that his vast amount of experience helps in not needing straps and such as much (I found my straps very useful and not a big problem at all to put on.) In my case, my building is three bays, with the center bay being the brace bay.

 

[readhead]

We have only used straps in extreem conditions. Not all buildings are built to the same quality.
It is a good idea to shoot the column locations in case some need to be shimmed. If they are shimmed be sure to grout under the base plates.
Two spuds will really help things along. Sometimes it takes two to move things into place. You should never have to drill any holes.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Some of the discussion may hinge on whether the building has cable or rod cross bracing (bay bracing referred to by readhead) or is diaphragm braced, in which case there are no cross braces, and the sheet metal serves to brace the building.

Charles

 

[readhead]

Diaphragm braced buildings are pretty few and far between these days. Manufactures could not rely on installers to install the sheeting properly.

 

[nehog]

Diaphragm braced buildings are pretty few and far between these days. Manufactures could not rely on installers to install the sheeting properly.

Ain't that a fact!

 

[s10xtremist]

Well, I've been working late every day this week, and had a lot going on this weekend. I just managed to get out there today for a few minutes to loosen the bolts I had tightened and ratchet strap the uprights to nearly-perfect plumbness. Readhead, I still plan on calling you, I just didn't wanna call late in the evening or on a Sunday.

I should have mentioned in my first post that the reason those two dimensions were off is because of the anchors being about 1/4" off of their marks. One wall corner has them 1/4" inward, the other is 1/4" outward. I figured it was easier to elongate the holes in the column since it is much thinner metal than it would be to elongate the holes in the 3/8" thick anchor plates.

My building IS "diaphragm braced". The building of this size that I was originally quoted for was about $3,000 higher. When I was about to cancel my order to save up more funds (after first downsizing the building, then realizing it wouldn't be tall enough), my salesman "made a call to the engineers because their design programs are more advanced and can probably find a way to make my building without the heavy end walls". Whatever the case, he called back a few days later saying that they can make my building to my requests, meet the windload requirements, and it wouldn't be a penny more than what I was quoted for the smaller building. I guess my building being diaphragm braced is the trade-off. My neighbors building is a much smaller 24x30x10 with 1:12 and same wind rating, and it has heavy end walls with cables/turnbuckles. Now that I've learned a little more about these things, I can see why they probably didn't even mention the light end walls for his building. It's ok, I can handle a few extra steps if it means my columns and all will be "perfectly" plumb an square, especially when it saves me $3,000.