Help me decide on a steel building

[supermanotorious]

So I've been doing lots of research and haven't quite decided which to purchase. I prefer the "all panel" models like Viking over the arch style models like Steel Master. I'd like to spend no more than $15,000 on the building itself and will self install. I'll hire someone local to pour the concrete and will have a pit for automotive work. For overall size I think 2,000 sq feet or less is fine and for shape I could go square or rectangle. I'd like to be as cost efficient as possible. Do you recommend any sites? Have any experience with a manufacturer?

 

[supermanotorious]

dang it all, you can get so much more arch style building for about half the cost of the panel building, I have to decide if square footage is more important than aesthetics

 

[pRoFiT]

Arch style, oh yah ugly look. My friend has the Viking style structure, im so envious! if you got the money

 

[anickode]

I'm sort of a fan of the steel Quonset hut style buildings wthat still have the straight walls but the curved transition into a peaked roof.

They don't just look like half a culvert plopped on the ground, and provide more usable floor space since the walls don't curve all the way down to the ground.

The full-arch style are difficult and impractical to build shelving and work benches in. And they're ugly.

If insulating and finishing the inside is a consideration, panel construction is FAR easier to work with than any arched style. And an old school steel-over-wood pole barn is the easiest of all.

 

[supermanotorious]

excellent suggestions guys, I'm going to consider all, I'm leaning towards the panel style, all steel construction if I can afford it, pole barn is not out of the question though

anyone find any DIY plans for all steel? I figure I could put together a "kit" on my own and that should save over anything "pre-packaged"

 

[scatteredsun]

My buddy built an awesome shop with three shipping containers in a U shape with a roof over the concrete courtyard area.

Cut some doors in the containers and used those for storage and electrics and uses the courtyard as the garage. All cost less than 15k

 

[anickode]

excellent suggestions guys, I'm going to consider all, I'm leaning towards the panel style, all steel construction if I can afford it, pole barn is not out of the question though

anyone find any DIY plans for all steel? I figure I could put together a "kit" on my own and that should save over anything "pre-packaged"

Maybe, maybe not. By the time you put figure out every little detail, and put together a bill of materials, you'll have considerable time invested.

Then there's the cutting issue. Most steel suppliers will charge by the cut for anything cut to order. Full 24' lengths of metal are unwieldy and heavy to maneuver uncut without equipment, then cutting notching, drilling holes... It's a BIG undertaking to start from scratch.

 

[supermanotorious]

well doggone it all, I now have the equity and got a quote from a referred concrete outfit, I don't have enough at the moment to make it all happen, I should by July though

so I have some time to do research and what not

dunno if you saw my post on "the new digs" thread but I scored a free air conditioner for the shop so I do want something I can enclose and insulate, that being said it doesn't have to be air tight, will only run the a/c when I'm working

 

[supermanotorious]

still wrasslin with this, I wish it were easier to find plans online cause I think there are savings to be had by putting together the "kit" myself

additionally the concrete guys I wanted to use are not willing to pour their mix in to forms I build so I'm looking for another concrete outfit

there is a great article in the latest Family Handyman or Popular Mechanics on how to build forms so between my old man's Kubota and 5-ton dump trailer, and our combined skill sets I'm confident leveling and preparing the form and there are savings to be had there too