What do you know about the engineered steel buildings?

[HT413]

some metal buildings can be built without a concrete pad - they're really just 'pole buildings' where each corner and maybe one column along each length are concreted in. tell the mfgr what you're looking to do and they'll steer you in the right direction. then just put in some stone and you're done (stone first, really). that's prob your cheapest option if money's tight. you can keep the stone a few inches low and add the concrete when $$ allows. before my teaching days I was a geotechnical engineer (dirt / foundations engineer) and used to design / build these by the dozen for water and power companies in NJ. just remember to keep that stone low or when you go to add the concrete later you'll have a few ton of stone to move by hand.

of course this may only work in a farm / rural setting - if you're in suburbia I'd doubt the bldg dept would love that idea lol

 

[YY1]

My 30x26 metal building has no concrete footing anywhere.

It is anchored with "mobile home" screw augers.

It ain't goin nowhere.

It is 120 MPH wind certified with a whole bunch of 145 MPH upgrades (namely upright spacing and material thickness, but no 145 cert).

 

[soundhd]

All I can tell you about all metal buildings is that if you put one up, make sure you insulate the ceiling in some way that condensation does not form on the inside of the roof panels.....my neighbor has and older one and he has to keep everything covered with plastic because the ceiling sweats so bad it's like it is raining at times.....(he's to cheap to insulate) (LOL)

 

[YY1]

Wow, somwthing must be wrong with that install, or your friend's soil retains a lot of moisture.

I'm in HUMID FL, and neither mine or my brothers does that.

 

[wannadrag]

Wow, somwthing must be wrong with that install, or your friend's soil retains a lot of moisture.

I'm in HUMID FL, and neither mine or my brothers does that.

They all do it in the colder climates if they dont have that insulation up tight to the tin.The cold storage end of my building does it mainly spring and fall.It gets cool at night and in the morning when the sun hits it sweats.All sand ground here so its not really the moisture in the ground.

 

[YY1]

Hot/cold cycle- gotcha. Not too much of that here