Steel garages - which one? Pros / cons

[Eloquaint]

I'm trying to choose between an arch type, a local steel building company, and something like these guys:

http://www.gaport.com/

After doing a search on here I gather that I probably don't have enough local help to put up an arch building up myself.

I would eventually (when I could afford it) plan to frame in the walls to run electric and insulation, which also looks like it would be difficult with an arch building.

Comments on your experiences are much appreciated!

 

[green.bubbly]

I went with a local steel supplier for my house. For my garage/shop, I went with Mueller Steel building which was 45 minutes away. Their 24x24 kit is almost complete with all the work being done by myself and my oldest son. So far, the quality of the materials has been great and nothing is missing.

My main decision in going with Mueller is their reputation and the great help I received from their sales rep. I had damaged a sheet of tin and it was nice having them nearby to run over and pick up a new sheet of the same color. I ended up salvaging the piece and did not need to go but if I would have had to wait for an out of state company to ship a new sheet plus the freight, it would have been terrible.

The instructions were greatly lacking for a first timer but I was able to call the sales rep twice on Saturdays for help. My vote is for a local company whether it is part for a national chain like Mueller or a family owned company like Ideal Steel which is where I purchased the building for the house.

If you are going it yourself, get a set of sheet metal nibblers like these that I purchased form Harbor Freight. You will need a hefty compressor to run them. My little 5 gallon 2.4cfm could not keep up. But for cutting metal, there is nothing that works as good. I tried the sawzall, jig saw, skilsaw and shears. Get the nibbler.


Be careful if it is windy. Keep the sheets secured or one will fly off the stack and head straight to your car door.

$29.99 at Harbor Freight.

 

[brownbagg]

get a true metal building, those carports are not worth the money. I got mine from

www.acemetalbuilding.com

 

[Nighttrain]

2+ on brownbagg and green-bubbly. Compare the metal of the two. Guage of sheet metal and the post. If you are going to want the building for a while get the best material that you can.. I have a 40x60 Mueller all weld-up and a 24x32 Mueller barn that I built with wood post etc and attached their metal. You can beat the material. When i moved overseas for three years I had Carolina Carports install a 24'x30' carport and a 14'x 36' carport at my inlaws to store our camper and trucks. They did a good goob and are still standing 10 years later but do sway with the breeze a bit.

 

[David79z28]

I have heard nothing but good things about Mueller. They helped in fixing mine after the contractor I used screwed mine up...

 

[50cal]

I went with a all steel building and never looked back. The only thing I have changed from these pictures is added a purlin at 48 inches greatly increases the strength of door jams and gives support to wiring etc.

 

[autoclassicnut]

check out my posts here:

http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15772

and here http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35379


Now that it's up ...I love it. You are correct about needing help to construct it though,
wish I would have had more time and help.

 

[RascalRider]

I went with carolina carport 24X31 vertical roof garage and it turned out good. Guys came out and put it up in about 8hrs. I have about 9k in the building and slab.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=98049

 

[5lima30]

At my last house I had a garage with a roll-up door from Carolina Carports. I was happy with it. It survived numerous ice-storms, large tree branches, along with a wind shear. It's still in good shape and I feel was good value. BTW I had boxed eves and vertical metal vs. the horizonal type that you commonly see. YMMV.

 

[Eloquaint]

Thanks for the input guys, keep your experiences coming if you've got a steel garage! I'm going to bite the bullet soon ( I hope).

 

[cdenton]

Mueller. The best in the business.

 

[dmw56]

mueller. The best in the business.

Not!

 

[cdenton]

Well, there you have it.

 

[green.bubbly]

Not!

Care to elaborate? I got several quotes and thy were all in the same price range. The big difference was that the Mueller building was a lot heavier which is one thing I was told to look for from Ideal Steel. I have three rows of girts on my 24x24 where most have one. 26 gauge steel and not 29 gauge.

 

[dirttracker18]

If you plan to build interior walls to insulate later, why not go stick build in the first place? Seems like a lot of extra money spent.

I looked at this route myself and that was one of the reasons I decided not to go that way.

Now based on your location (which we do not know as it is not in your profile insulation may or may not be important. Steel buildings in cold climate tend to condesate between the insulation and the steel, this allows your insulation to get wet and make it useless. I know this because I am in a cold climate and have a number of friends with steel buildings with a variety of insulations.

Seems in a cold climate the only good way to insulate a steel building is spray foama nd that gets costly fast.

 

[49tandc]

I went with American Steel Arch - 40' X 54' X 16' tall Quanset hut shape. Windload is a big factor in my decision. I live in Florida.

I really like the clear span and arch. Only regret was I should have put it on a 4' to 6' block wall first, to give me straight sides. I loose a little usable floorspace because of the arch, but not an issue when cars are pushed up against the arches. A small tradeoff considering the shape/hurricanes down here. I'm very happy with mine.

49T&C

 

[Eloquaint]

I'm in Virginia. It doesn't get that cold here but cold enough that I want to insulate for condensation if for no other reason. I was under the impression that stick built was a lot more expensive. I'm looking at roughly 20'x30'x12' and plan to put in a two post lift down the line. So basically I'm trying to spend as little as I can for a decent building given the probably cost of the pad. I like the idea that I could theoretically take an arch building with me when I move though that would obviously be an immense task coupled with the move itself.