36x36 Steel Building Tips

[wulfman]

Grandpa has donated his unassembled 36x36 steel building so I've got my grading done and am getting bid's on the footings. I've got a tractor with a backhoe, Should I do the footings myself? Just never done it.

As far as setting up the building, what are some of things I want to consider before erection and slab? I'm thinking I can get the larger members up with a gin pole and the tractor along with a few steel workers!

Thanks in advance.

[Nat]

You are a little short with the information. If the side walls are 24' high and the coloums weigh 1500 lbs you may be in trouble, but if 10' high and weigh 100 lbs much easier. Need more info. If you have freinds that are ironworkers they can tell you how heavy the stuff is and how hard it will be. I am an old ironworker, or steelworker as most people now say it and we are a pretty tough and resorcefull bunch, so I doubt that it will be to hard to erect. I wish mine was 36'x 36.
As far as the footings go only you know how much experience you have on the backhoe. You realy can't dig then wrong if dug in the right place, but much overdig will cost as much in extra concrete as it would to hire a pro to dig them. A friend of mine was going to dig his himself with my dad's little Ford 1500 tractor which had a loader and a hoe. He ended up using 4 yards more of concrete than he should have used, and at todays price per yard of concrete, here if is 88.00 per that would go a long way towards paying a footing man to dig and pour them. HTH, later, Nat
BTW welcome , Nat

[wulfman]

Thanks Nat. The building is only 16' high in the center - Side walls somewhere around 12'. Prelim quote on digging the footings is only $500. I've got about 2000 feet of trenching experience on my backhoe - I can dig straight and approx the right depth. I'll have to look into forming them up and pouring myself - I've just never done it but I've seen it done many times.

[Pat]

Is there some reason why you need to form up the job? If the site is level you should be able to dig the trenches and pour in the raw trenches (unless you are really sloppy with the equipment you shouldn't pay more for extra crete that the cost and hassle of forms.)

Do make sure that the grade of the land the building will occupy is sufficiently above the surrounding area for drainage. If you anticipate any internal loads (heavy stationery machine or whatever) then thicken the slab there. Just dig a trench where the stress will be concentrated. The side walls of the trench should NOT be vertical where the walls meet the surface of the dirt. Round or slope these trench walls to distribute stress. Same story if you anticipate and load bearing walls.

Don't forget plumbing. You might not put in a toilet or shower or have a basin or sink in mind now but it is simple and cheap to rough in provisions for those feature and not use them while it can be darned expensive to retrofit them later.

I too have a metal building with 12 foot walls and 36 ft width. It is 48 ft long and has a 21x48 shed roof attached along one side. The shed roof is 3:12 pitch and the main gable roof is 12:12 pitch and is 30 ft high at the peak. I did a brick covering of the front wide and brick wainscot with vinyl above elsewhere so it seamlessly matches the house to which it is attached. From the outside you can't tell it is a steel building but on the inside the I beam columns and roof trusses sort of give it away. I made 1/2 of it into a 3 car garage and the other 1/2 is a two story shop.

Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[roypat2126]

what are some of things I want to consider before erection and slab?

Wulfman,
A couple things for your slab. By all means include rebar in footings and wire mesh in floor (stretch it out and hammer it flat as much as possible befor tying to the rebar) Block it off ground ensuring it's 2" down from floor surface. Measure and install your anchor bolts (use washer and adjust nut at height you need for the supports) while crete is still 'wet' and for metal siding, build in a 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" "notch" around top edge of slab. This allows siding to sit within parimeter of slab, then ensure your wall supports are installed at the notch edge and not at full slab edge.

Also figure total wall length using the number of metal panels you will use (figure in overlap) and add 3" to slab width/length. This will save cutting and trimming you'll need to do if siding is shorter or longer than your slab.

If sheathing outside walls, or installing girts, include this thickness for placing wall supports (and anchor bolts) so that the siding "fits" into the notched slab.

Best of everything with the new space. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Roy

[warringt]

I have a 30 x 50 foot steel building on my property that is uninsulated. What is the most cost effective way to insulate one of these buildings? It is 14' high at center and is 1:12 pitch roof. It has two 16 foot-wide doors on one long side.

Mark
West Grove, PA [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Pat]

Hope you still care.

It is tough to beat fiber glass batting for cost. You'd need chicken wire to hold it in place. backing goes toward the inside of the bld.

Pat