Arched steel building...yes or no?

[MotorSeven]

Still looking for something to live in while i build the log house. A trailer is out of the question(been in one for the last 3 years). Since i want a workshop anway, i am considering building that first and living in one end. How many of y'all have put together an arched steel building? I did a search and read a couple of posts that don't recommend them at all, and others that had no problems. I am thinking a 30x50 would give me both living space and work/storage space...........can anyone else chime in? I do understand the difficulties of wiring and insulation, but the interior enclosure would be designed to be removed when the house is finished.

RD

 

[EddieWalker]

Are you talking about those extremly ugly quanset hut looking buildings? I've heard both about the quality of them. I'd really check on prices for other buildings, including pole and stick frame if money is the biggest issue.

Your idea of living in part of the building is a solid one. Lot's of folks do it and it with great results.

Eddie

 

[billbill1]

I built a 40 X 60 arch top 6 years ago. It is like a fortress but very difficult to build. I have sliding doors (that I hate, overheads would be much better) but I like the shed very much. They claimed that a 4 man crew could erect my building in 3 to 4 days and it took me 6 weeks building it after work and on weekends. I used pvc conduit to wire mine and that wasn't too bad, I put outlets every 8' and a 100 amp 220v breaker box. The only 220v that I use is the air compressor. I set mine up where you can drive straight through with the boat and leave the boat hooked up at all times (for emergency fishing trips) There are pictures of my shed in past posts (sorry, it won't let me post a picture)

 

[jeffinsgf]

My experience is similar to Bill's. I put of a 40 x 76 SteelMaster building. It isn't as easy as the marketing people say it is, but it requires less skilled labor and less equipment than stick built pole construction or red iron.

My SteelMaster goes straight up 6 feet before the arch starts, which virtually eliminates the loss of space which is the normal criticism of this style building. As for "extremely ugly", I think that might be overstating the case just a little. They're different, but not necessarily ugly.

I had an inch and a half of 2lb density foam insulation sprayed on the interior of the entire building. That was pricey, but has made a huge difference in the comfort of the building both winter and summer. We finished 600 sq ft. as our office. The rest of the building is split half and half as warehouse for our company and storage for some of my toy--- eh, tools.

 

[Paddy]

I knew some who built one as an underground home! The fill was thin on top. Last I saw, it was still standing

 

[PineRidge]

Are you talking about those extremly ugly quanset hut looking buildings?


Eddie

Eddie I think these buildings can be compared to a piece of art.

Some see a piece as handsome and others see the very same piece as wasted energy. Guess I'm trying to say that just because I may not agree with the looks of the building ugly may not be a good description for it. I'm sure that you didn't mean for it to come out that way either.

I'm sure more than a few TBN members already have one of these structures on their property.

 

[EddieWalker]

While I understand that we all have diferent tastes in what's attractive in a building, and it's not my intention to insult those who like the look of these buildings, I don't know of any other way to describe them. I guess practical, efficient and unique might be some good PC terms that I could have chosen, but I'm still of the same opinion of how they look.

I might have a different aproach to these things, because I think everything is for sale. One day I will sell my place, or whoever inherits it will. Having a building that adds as much equity as possible is a huge factor in what I do and how it's done.

Mueller, Inc. - Steel Buildings and Metal Roofing has a really good website for comparing metal building kits. I did one of there kits and was very impressed with how easy it was to do on your own. A crew can have it done in a day or two depending on how big it is.

Just to show how **** I am, I don't really like the look of most metal building either, but with the frame and roof, you have the basics for what can be a really nice building that can add some serious equity to a piece of land. Just put a nice siding on it and you can have a beautiful building.

General rule of thumb is that a shop or barn adds about half of what it costs to the value of the land. Build a $20,000 barn and you should get $10,000 more for you place when you sell it. Of course, if you do it really nice, that formula is meaningless. Do it bad, and it will lower the value of your land.

Please don't think my opinion means anything, or that I'm directing my comments towards anybodies buildings. I'm all for variety and if it's something you like, wonderful. If you haven't bought one and are still looking, then I'm of the opinion that you should keep looking.

Eddie

 

[InlineDieselFan]

Debbie agrees with Eddie, we looked at a house that had one of these quanset hut style buildings as the shop, she said if we bought the place I would have to tear it down. The type that jeffinsgf, has looks like a normal building, and to me would be worth the extra money.

Please no one take offense to the above commnets, I am sure a lot of people would not like Debbie's choice of the incredibly bright yellow house we live in, and yes I still keep my mouth shut on that, so no one tell her. And I warn any friends that come over to be careful on house color comments.

Now onto the question of living in one. you would definitly need to build some sort of room/s to live in, otherwise I think it would be extremely cold, or you would spend a lot of money heating the place.

If you were to insulate the shop, seems like a real nice way to go. How much money would that add, and then would it be cheaper or easier to got to a pole barn?

Other options, can you build a room in the shop to have a bit of 'space' and park the trailer inside the shop, for cooking and sleeping? May be easier cheaper?

steve

 

[Highbeam]

Eddie, the buildings just have great "Personality". My wife hates them too. I got the no way in **** look when we saw one going up on a neighboring property.

 

[George2615]

In my part of the country we have severe winters. I have seen many quanset hut type arched buildings within 20 miles of me and 80% of them have caved in, usually in the middle. I would guess they couldn't handle the snow load. Every one I have seen that caved in has been replaced with a regular pole barn type structure. Maybe where you live you would not have that problem. I'd go with your 30x50 conventional type workshop pole barn. Wire it, insulate it, live in it, and when your house is completely built so you can move in you'll have a nice workshop.