Steel Building

[nemisis633]

Hey Guys,

I'm in process of building a new studio and was presented with the idea of using a steel building as the outer shell. Obviously there is a tremendous cost savings in doing this, and the interior would be built out using the usual techniques.. double framing etc...

Does a steel building give you any crazy problems? I know I see guys building studios out in warehouses all the time. Is it doable?

Thanks in advance,

Jon

[quincyg]

don't know of any disadvantages. advantages would be strength and fire resistance. i suppose future modifications to a steel structure could be difficult. you also need to know what you're doing when tying in wood members to girders. i didn't think steel structures were much cheaper. stick framing will cost you about $40 sq/ft in san francisco area. including sheathing.

[reflexon]

I am doing this for my studio/house now. Got a quote of 10/sf for the building(22' eve height). The savings isnt huge but its there. Metal buildings arent difficult to modify when they are done. You also get your structural drawings from the metal building manufacturor to permit with, possibly saving some money on an additional engineer.

[nemisis633]

Thats the type of pricing I keep seeing, around $10/sf and they say roughly another 10-15/sf for a full installation.

[NathanEldred]

Originally Posted by nemisis633

Thats the type of pricing I keep seeing, around $10/sf and they say roughly another 10-15/sf for a full installation.

Jon, does the $25 sq ft (with install) cover the cement slab and electrical install?

[nemisis633]

The pricing included the slab.. not sure on electrical??

[Chris Kress]

I always wondered about a metal building's ability to be a huge RFI shield?

[Bassmankr]

And lightning attractor LOL

[666666]

Recently I parked my car under a "metal" car port at a friend's house. The car port frame was made of aluminum it appeared... with some type of sheet-metal skin for the roof. I got out of the car, closed the car door and the resulting sound was unbelievable. The sheet-metal roof panel of the car port resonated severely at a very low frequency, set off by the sound of the car door closing... it was downright scary. It sounded like a 99 inch concert bass drum being hit with 100 pound mallet... and it resonated for like 5 whole seconds. It was so crazy I had to open and close my car door again for kicks... I almost couldn't believe it. This is a pre-fab mass-produced type carport... I can't believe that they did not pay attention to acoustics when designing it... this thing rumbles like thunder every time you close the car door... it's insane... I mean, it REALLY sounds like thunder... you'd swear a thunderstorm was approaching.

Anyway... if this is any indication of how a "metal" building might respond, I'd be VERY careful. Do your homework.

[tmcconnell]

I was involved in the design and construction of a EMP proof (EMP being the biggest Electromagnetic burst ever created - full spectrum) building once. Thin conductive sheeting was attached to the metal posts and beams, and then copper stakes 6 feet long were pounded into the ground at 6 foot spacing all around the building, and attached to the steel frame.

Net, cell phones did not work, radio stations could not be picked up, and the potential of the independent ground at all locations was the same. It was pretty cool.

The close spacing of the stakes is needed to prevent ground current from traversing the building structure. You could probably use copper pipe not solid stakes - but I do know that corrosion is a factor. The building is, at that point, an excellent lightning rod, but the current knows where to go and its not to anywhere inside the building. Some communications lines were independent of that entire grounding system, and those were exposed to lightning.

Ground current is an amazing thing. You can pound in two stakes a 1/2 mile apart and connect them with a wire, and huge low voltage current will flow throught that wire as the differing ground potentials at those points resolve themselves through the lower resistance wire connecting the stakes.

So, I guess the bottom line is, with a steel structure, you can indeed make a big rfi shield, and likely get some grounding advantages too relative to ground loops - but.... you better study up ... because the issues are big - and I'm no expert. ted.

[andrew22]

same is my thinking, as its quite a good idea to save the money and invest it at other portion of the building, like that of A/C cooling system or interiors.

[pdlstl]

Very doable Jon!

I recently moved out of an 1875 sq. ft. commercial space and am in the process of finishing out a 16'x24' metal building into a small two-room facility behind my house. 10' sidewalls with a 13' peak.

I paid $6000 for the structure. It is extremely solid construction. The corner and peak columns are 1/2" steel as are the beams running from corner column to peak column. Everything else is 8" Z and C purling running longways down the 24' length. With the beefiness of the red iron used, I would feel comfortable in this building in high wind situations. The sheet metal might, possibly peel back. But with the number of screws used in construction I would highly doubt that. The superstructure however, ain't going nowhere. It is a Mueller Metal Building. I believe they are situated around the U.S.

This price included 3" roll insulation, an 8'x8' roll up door, a 3'x7' solid core metal pass thru door and 3 windows.

This was originally built as a garage for two Harleys I owned.

I'm doing room within a room construction and it looks as if it's going to work out fantastically for me.

The 3" roll insulation does help with thermal insulation but even when the building was empty, it really knocked down the reflections which would have existed with bare metal.

And before everyone chimes in, the current construction is being performed within the wonderful criteria provided by the helpful people here at GS.

On edit* My slab was about $1600 and structure erection was another $1500. Total about $23 and change per sq.ft. And remember when comparing to stick framing, figure in 10' sidewalls and a 13' peak. This allows me to have 9' ceilings in my rooms.

[avare]

Originally Posted by pdlstl

Very doable Jon...
...On edit* My slab was about $1600 and structure erection was another $1500. Total about $23 and change per sq.ft. And remember when comparing to stick framing, figure in 10' sidewalls and a 13' peak. This allows me to have 9' ceilings in my rooms.

Thanks for sharing your experience and buidling budget with us. Would add your location to your profile please? Without location, the costs are meaningless.

Andre

[Northward]

We've done a few of such structures. Works just fine.
Then we build floated concrete bunkers under.

The steel building is just here to 'shelter' and 'hide' the various bunkers of the studio or lab. We usually use the space in between to put airco engines, various ducts and noisy technical systems. The LARIA research lab facility is basically a pretty massive pneumatic floated factory under a big steel framed light structure.

It's a well known and used technique, but usually used in industrial projects. You can't have these big structures anywhere you want and certainly not in a town or residential area. They're usually pretty ugly / lifeless looking.

Good stuff though. Not always that cheaper though. Price of steel is changing a lot lately.

[pdlstl]

@Avare - Certainly. Sorry to have overlooked this. As my profile now indicates, I'm in North Texas.

@oirthward - Fortunately, my building is small enough that it just looks like a large garage in my neighborhood. But you're certainly correct, they are not the prettiest structures around.

Also, I just noticed the original thread is three years old! Well, hopefully I was able to help anyone planning on going this route.

Earl

[TML]

Of course you'll be insulating yourself from the outside world. When sun comes in and out from the clouds, it can cause the structure to ping and make noises.
Tim

[pdlstl]

Well hopefully, with the interior framing, air gaps, double 5/8" fire rated drywall (including ceiling) and insulation I feel an occasional ping to be only a minimal problem.

Earl