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Lil'John

Lil'John

Former #278
Joined
May 20, 2020
Member Number
488
Messages
1,048
Loc
Walking to the Rubicon
Title is short: anyone have any reviews or recommendations for steel shop manufactures. Focus on quality and stand up time. It seems like all of them have 'issues' with delivery times.

I thought I'd spin off from this thread:
irate4x4.com

Small enclosed 'shop' in an 'open' car port, bad idea?

As part of the 2024 new year, I want to get some 'cheap' covered storage to partially hide projects and keep them out of the weather. And I want semi weather proof area to do mild car work. Security isn't part of the plan nor is tool/parts storage. Short: Is putting a small(10'x25') fully...
irate4x4.com irate4x4.com

A quick browse on ebay found three manufacturers:
Duro Buildings steel
Steel Factory Mfg
Simpson

The first two had a common issue: promise a schedule, fail to deliver, and then rely upon the fine print of 'no guarantee of delivery time/no refund'.:homer: While this part sucks, I'm not worried about it too much.

I'm more worried about quality. And if DIY install isn't available, time to prop it up.

My general understanding is there are only a few actual manufacturers pushed out through MANY distributors.

FWIW, I'm out in Georgetown, CA(ie El Dorado county). I know of one distributor but we don't get along well:homer:
 
SomeGuyFromOlympia said:
pole building
it really doesn't get any easier

bang/.buck is high
Click to expand...
Not trying to dismiss this out of hand but that was an answer for the other thread. It is not an option for my circumstances; I don't like thought of burying lumber in ground, I will probably have many 'fire prevention' measures that will boost it considerably, and it will have under floor leakage.

In this thread, I'm hoping people will give experiences with various manufacturers and/or distributors to help me and other people.
 
Lil'John said:
Not trying to dismiss this out of hand but that was an answer for the other thread. It is not an option for my circumstances; I don't like thought of burying lumber in ground, I will probably have many 'fire prevention' measures that will boost it considerably, and it will have under floor leakage.

In this thread, I'm hoping people will give experiences with various manufacturers and/or distributors to help me and other people.
Click to expand...
I concreted my stuff, no contact with the ground.:confused:
In fact it was code
25+ years, and everything is still great, I will do it again on the next one

So you are looking for those bolt together overpriced kits, gotcha :beer::grinpimp:
 
Check with your local building department before you buy a ready to go kit, even if it is stamped by the manufacturer. In our local area, there are special foundation and wind/snow requirements that the kits generally dont meet. Just to be sure you dont end up with a kit you cannot put up.
 
I have an American Steel Carports brand shop and carport. The local distributor is in Colusa, CA and the company is based in TX. I have a dealer nearby me in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Prices have been going up.
I am happy with my shop and carports. They can adjust quite a bit and have an online configuration tool. Once my slab was in place, they had the building up in 3 days.
They have engineers in TX that can make sure the structure meets your local code requirements.
 
My father in law had a Rhino metal building, well put together complete kit. No idea on current pricing or availability.
 
Murray Sheds is local.. they don’t have much online presence.. seem to work mostly word-of-mouth.

Seems the “office” is over at the fruit growers on Missouri Flat rd.
 
Don't you have to find a local(ish) company that's already engineered for your local codes? Otherwise you'd have to get them approved by your local dept.
 
The way I build a pole barn is a little different than probably any of you have ever seen. I dig a 18" trench to the frostline, I pour a 18"x18" spread footing, all the posts are anchored to that footing, then I dry stack block between the posts and get it to the bottom of what will be the concrete floor. I put 2" of foam insulation on the outside of the block then backfill. When the floor is poured the concrete will flow in the block and you end up with a pole barn with footings and insulated. I also put a vapor barrier and 2" of foam board under the concrete, with pex for a heated floor.
I have 2 pole barns, the one that was here when I bought the house and the one i built and it's night and day difference to heat in the winter.
Where the foam has the square cut outs is where the hoists go, I poured the concrete 10"-12" thick then ran a PVC chase for power and air on each hoist.
I wouldn't build a barn any outer way, I spent 2 years planning every detail... and there plenty of details in this build.
 

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Gdogg said:
The way I build a pole barn is a little different than probably any of you have ever seen. I dig a 18" trench to the frostline, I pour a 18"x18" spread footing, all the posts are anchored to that footing,
Click to expand...
You had me up to here but I can't quite visual this step:

Gdogg said:
then I dry stack block between the posts and get it to the bottom of what will be the concrete floor. I put 2" of foam insulation on the outside of the block then backfill.
Click to expand...
Is the outside edge of the block even with the outside edge of the posts? Then the 2" foam is throw in.

Gdogg said:
When the floor is poured the concrete will flow in the block and you end up with a pole barn with footings and insulated. I also put a vapor barrier and 2" of foam board under the concrete, with pex for a heated floor.
I have 2 pole barns, the one that was here when I bought the house and the one i built and it's night and day difference to heat in the winter.
Where the foam has the square cut outs is where the hoists go, I poured the concrete 10"-12" thick then ran a PVC chase for power and air on each hoist.
I wouldn't build a barn any outer way, I spent 2 years planning every detail... and there plenty of details in this build.
Click to expand...
Where is the build? I'm a bit curious. But I'm also not certain my county/state would allow it.:homer:
 
Lil'John said:
You had me up to here but I can't quite visual this step:


Is the outside edge of the block even with the outside edge of the posts? Then the 2" foam is throw in.


Where is the build? I'm a bit curious. But I'm also not certain my county/state would allow it.:homer:
Click to expand...
Yes, you don't care how the inside lines up, just make everything flush on the outside then the foam lays up against it.
When the build inspector seen it he asked what I was doing.... I told him and he responded with "they all should be this way"
He then told me to call him when I'm done, I said I'll never be done, he said just call when you're done. I've never call him, lol and never heard anything from them.
 
Gdogg said:
The way I build a pole barn is a little different than probably any of you have ever seen. I dig a 18" trench to the frostline, I pour a 18"x18" spread footing, all the posts are anchored to that footing, then I dry stack block between the posts and get it to the bottom of what will be the concrete floor. I put 2" of foam insulation on the outside of the block then backfill. When the floor is poured the concrete will flow in the block and you end up with a pole barn with footings and insulated. I also put a vapor barrier and 2" of foam board under the concrete, with pex for a heated floor.
I have 2 pole barns, the one that was here when I bought the house and the one i built and it's night and day difference to heat in the winter.
Where the foam has the square cut outs is where the hoists go, I poured the concrete 10"-12" thick then ran a PVC chase for power and air on each hoist.
I wouldn't build a barn any outer way, I spent 2 years planning every detail... and there plenty of details in this build.
Click to expand...
You do a footing like that then anchor wood posts to the footing underground? That's strange.
 
GLTHFJ60 said:
You do a footing like that then anchor wood posts to the footing underground? That's strange.
Click to expand...
Yep, Why not?
a typical pole barn just has the posts in the ground like a fence post left to rot. The way I did it the posts aren't touching any dirt. This barn is night and day difference from a typical pole barn.
 
Gdogg said:
Yep, Why not?
a typical pole barn just has the posts in the ground like a fence post left to rot. The way I did it the posts aren't touching any dirt. This barn is night and day difference from a typical pole barn.
Click to expand...

Gotcha, I must not have understood then.
 
FWIW, part of the reason I'm looking at brand/manufacturer is to keep an eye on craiglist/facebook market place for abandoned projects. Thus I'm concentrating on iron, steel, etc.

Gdogg said:
Yep, Why not?
a typical pole barn just has the posts in the ground like a fence post left to rot. The way I did it the posts aren't touching any dirt. This barn is night and day difference from a typical pole barn.
Click to expand...
I like the way you think. I may ask my building dept to see if it may fly. My concern over standard pole barn setup is pole rot; my parents fence lasted maybe 20 years and most of the posts were uphill on pretty steep incline. Granted, I'll probably be dead well under that so I wouldn't give a damn:homer::flipoff2:

Andrew S said:
A post-frame builder I follow on YouTube uses these brackets, either bolt on to a footing, or wet-set into piers, for all his builds. No wood in the ground either way. That bracket supplier in particular has all the certifications needed up to and including residential building usage.

SWP66-600x497-1.gif
SW66-600x497-1-300x300.gif
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Those are a pretty penny. OTOH, I haven't priced Simpson hardware in decades so no idea how on point they really are:homer:
 
If you read my thread about how I built my barn I had a buddy with an iron worker take some angle iron and make the brackets to tie the posts to the footing. They were something like the post above ^^^^ but 1/4 thick and I used hilti's to anchor them to the concrete. I built the barn as tough as I could.
 
Gdogg said:
Yep, Why not?
a typical pole barn just has the posts in the ground like a fence post left to rot. The way I did it the posts aren't touching any dirt. This barn is night and day difference from a typical pole barn.
Click to expand...

Some offer post savers.. basically a plastic sleeve that covers the buried portion of the posts
 
arse_sidewards said:
Does it actually work or does it do like concrete does and make the post rot faster because it traps moisture?
Click to expand...
Honestly don't know.... I'll check in a few decades? :flipoff2:

I guess they won't use them any place outside... no lean-to's, etc. Only in enclosed areas.
 
I have a buddy who is a professional builder, he probably does more building in one year than some guys do in a lifetime. He told me not to cover posts in the ground, that only traps moisture and rots the post faster as mentioned above.
 
Andrew S said:
A post-frame builder I follow on YouTube uses these brackets, either bolt on to a footing, or wet-set into piers, for all his builds. No wood in the ground either way. That bracket supplier in particular has all the certifications needed up to and including residential building usage.

SWP66-600x497-1.gif
SW66-600x497-1-300x300.gif
Click to expand...
We have those on 2 buildings at work (6' poured wall with those on top of the wall and a standard "pole barn" structure on top of that).
I don't know what they cost (I heard "not cheap"), but they work great.

Aaron Z
 
aczlan said:
We have those on 2 buildings at work (6' poured wall with those on top of the wall and a standard "pole barn" structure on top of that).
I don't know what they cost (I heard "not cheap"), but they work great.

Aaron Z
Click to expand...
Can you please share some more info on the building with the 6' poured walls? I'm thinking about building on the side of a hill and roughly estimate the back wall would be about 6' high to get it above grade. I'm trying to decide if i put the post on top of the wall, or to the inside of the wall. I would then backfill against the wall like a basement.
Thanks!
 
jeepnmatt said:
Can you please share some more info on the building with the 6' poured walls? I'm thinking about building on the side of a hill and roughly estimate the back wall would be about 6' high to get it above grade. I'm trying to decide if i put the post on top of the wall, or to the inside of the wall. I would then backfill against the wall like a basement.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Not sure how much there is to share, it's got a footer down below the frost line, then poured walls on top of that (with rebar in the footer and in the walls tieing everything together) and a floor poured on the inside.
It's then got 18-20ish foot tall pole barn style walls sitting on top of the poured walls (with posts in those brackets every 4', girts every 2' going up the walls and standard 5 rib "pole barn" tin on the girts), a header at the top of the wall and 2 piece trusses across every 2' with standing seam roofing on the roof.
It's got a king beam down the center that the center of the trusses sit on, then insulated panels on the ceiling/walls.
With how they laid out the internal walls, it's effectively clear span (there are 4-5 steel posts that the king beam sits on and they are all snug against a wall).

Aaron Z
 
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