Fabric shell buildings

[rd_macgregor]

I've read a lot of threads about the relative merits of pole barn construction versus stick built/balloon framing or steel frame buildings, but I haven't read much about steel-framed tensioned fabric buildings. Do any of you out there have personal experience with this type of building for equipment storage, livestock or hay?
Thanks,
Bob

 

[Reyer Farms]

I bought last year but have not put it up yet. I put up a high tunnel by same manufacturer last year. Goes up quick. Very pleased with materials. I bought from Farmtek.

 

[Looking4new]

I've got two shelter logic fabric sheds. One for the tractor is the SUV one with a hip roof barn design. It sheds snow great!
I also have one for the Heep. It is called a 'garage-in-a-box and it doesn't shed snow so great. You have to use your roof rake to clear the snow off it after about 3" if you want it to stand up.
I am buying another SUV one this year for the Heep and the one for the Heep will be for garden toys.

 

[DFB]

There is a landscape business in my little town (I worked there for a while) has had a half dozen of these type buildings in assorted sizes for many years. One is an equipment shed, one is a salt shed big enough to dump salt into and work a loader. One is a workshop/base shelter for the help and its heated with wood stove for a bit of comfort...not much heat mind ya And the largest is set up wooden on knee walls it can easily house 4 full size plow trucks with full sanders under it before a storm. They've ALL been there a long time...easily more than a decade now. The small equipment shed collapsed after a brutal winter 2 years ago but everywhere across New England folks lost pole framed greenhouse type buildings that season.

I had my own also a 12 X 20 while I lived in Maine. Overall I was happy with it as a storage shelter. Anchored down with added ratchet straps in each corner it survived high winds and coastal Nor' Easter snowstorms. They can condensate some when closed under certain conditions and it is a prudent move to remove excess heavy snow.

 

[Slummer]

Have a look at this web site: Cover-Tech Inc. - Portable Garage, Instant Portable Garage, Portable Carports, Shelters, Storage
I have a 14 x 30 with the optional 9 foot high doors on both ends. Located in Northern Ontario so it's got a pile of snow beside it now, sheds snow really well. Great company to deal with. My dad and I put it up in a day last summer -- directions were excellent and even had extra small parts. Cover fits like a glove. They make lots of different sizes depending on your needs.

 

[BeezFun]

My neighbor has 65'x160' fabric building for an arena. I liked his and I put up a 50'x160' fabric building that's about 1/3 stalls and hay storage and the rest arena. Mine has 9' wood walls, steel trusses sit on top. They're nice, almost don't need lighting because they're so bright. The real clincher for us is they are considered temporary structures so we don't pay property tax. If I'd built the same size pole barn it probably would have cost me $3K a year in taxes.

 

[dave1949]

Have a look at this web site: Cover-Tech Inc. - Portable Garage, Instant Portable Garage, Portable Carports, Shelters, Storage
I have a 14 x 30 with the optional 9 foot high doors on both ends. Located in Northern Ontario so it's got a pile of snow beside it now, sheds snow really well. Great company to deal with. My dad and I put it up in a day last summer -- directions were excellent and even had extra small parts. Cover fits like a glove. They make lots of different sizes depending on your needs.

Thanks for posting that. I always wonder how satisfied people are with fabric buildings in heavy snow areas. Others have said the round tops are best for snow, compared to gable style.

14x30 with doors at each end would work for me. I need a place to keep driveway spreading sand dry. I have a sand pit on my lot but no place to keep it in winter under cover. The other end would be nice for firewood.

 

[rd_macgregor]

Thanks, all, for the replies. I was actually referring to the full, barn-sized buildings, not the small garage-style ones. I had a Selter Logic one a couple of years ago, but couldn't get to it reliably to remove the snow, so it collapsed in the first winter (I should have gotten a round-topped one!). For years, Cover-All was probably the big name in the kind of building I'm interested in, but a decade or so back they had some spectacular collapses (attributed to a design defect) and went under from the lawsuits.
I have an prejudice in favor of real, solid buildings, but the fabric ones are a bit less expensive, seem to last well and are really bright inside, so I may consider it. I'd be looking at something in the range of, say, 35' x 80' with concrete floor, and would use half for hay storage and half for equipment storage.
Bob

 

[DFB]

Thanks for posting that. I always wonder how satisfied people are with fabric buildings in heavy snow areas. Others have said the round tops are best for snow, compared to gable style.

My experiences suggest the round style is slightly better for shedding snow. I had a gable design. Snow sometimes can get hung up at the eave. Either type still can retain snow mostly its a wet heavy snow that can cause problems. Any sag in the cover will allow buildup (we use both designs as commercial greenhouses) usually just a tap with a broom from the inside gets it to slide off. Also realize large amounts snow can eventually buildup all along the sidewalls after multiple snowfalls...that may or may not create some issues too.

 

[BeezFun]

For years, Cover-All was probably the big name in the kind of building I'm interested in, but a decade or so back they had some spectacular collapses (attributed to a design defect) and went under from the lawsuits.

Norseman bought the Coverall assets. Some of the former Coverall folks started their own companies, I think one is Britespan. Both are up in Canada. They both have websites that show you the size and profiles of their buildings. For equipment and hay storage, you'll need to put up walls of some kind, otherwise you have no ceiling height near the sides.

 

[Slummer]

If I was going to put up a larger fabric building, friends of our family own Calhoun Super Structures. Check out their web site. Fabric Buildings by Calhoun Super Structure - Home
I think they now manufacture their own truss system and I know that they make their own fabric cover because I had them make a custom sized cover to go over a boat. It's heavy as H%$ but it sure doesn't blow away.

 

[slowzuki]

I've priced them here a few times and the truss style with an actual snowload rating are pretty darned close to the cost of a pole building. An ag use pole barn here can get a tax exemption already.

The single pipe ones are hit and miss, they collapse sometimes and the cheap ones usually have cheap covers. I was planning on a 30x90 but have backed off plans now in favour of a pole barn.