Steel Building Kits Into Greenhouses: Let’s Get Growing
If the supply chain issues brought on by recent global events have you thinking about ways you can become more self-sufficient by growing your own vegetables and crops (or the warmer weather and sunshine brought on by spring have you craving freshly-grown fruits and ornamental plants), and you want to give your plants more protection from the elements and local wildlife than a standard garden provides, it’s time to start thinking more seriously about building a greenhouse. Greenhouses allow you to grow vegetables and crops, fruits and ornamental plants that wouldn’t normally thrive in your climate year-round, and with Worldwide Steel, they’re easier to build and maintain than you might think.
Before you start building your greenhouse, however, you have a few choices to make:
Choose your purpose: Are you planning to grow for personal use, or for production, on a more commercial scale? Vegetables, fruits, flowers or other plants? While Worldwide Steel Buildings’ focus is primarily on production greenhouses, for both hydroponic and non-hydroponic grow facilities of all types, we are able to manufacture greenhouse buildings in all shapes and sizes. Our custom steel greenhouse building kits can be adapted to any climate, conditions and purpose.
Choose the optimal location on your land: Careful greenhouse site selection lets you optimize its productivity. In short, you want to choose a location that allows the most sun exposure. “Your plants need at least six hours exposure to sunlight for photosynthesis. The process is necessary for plants to grow healthy and bear fruits or flower. The best sitting direction largely depends on the season you want to grow plants,” says Garden Nurturing. If you plan to grow year-round, choose an east/west-facing ridge. “Lining up the ridge of the structure to run east to west maximizes light interception especially during November to January. The direction will help crops heat up more quickly after cold nights.” If you plan to grow crops primarily during summer, choose a south-facing ridge, as this direction will “generate an equal amount of light to each side of the structure and help reduce too much heat temperature.” It’s also important your site has access to electricity, water and heat.
Choose the size of building you need: The scale and variety of plants you plan to grow will drive most of your greenhouse square footage decisions. Consider than usually, 40 percent of a greenhouse floor area is needed for aisles and walkways. Work aisles should be at least 18 inches wide, and it’s often recommended to save space for a three-foot to five-foot main aisle down the center of your greenhouse (and potentially around the perimeter as well, depending on its size) for carts and hauling in larger plants and materials.
Choose your glazing material: Glazing is the covering around your greenhouse frame that lets sun and heat in while keeping the elements out. Glass is the most traditional glazing material, but it is also the most expensive and the most fragile. Plastic sheeting is inexpensive, but deteriorates quickly. Worldwide Steel Buildings generally recommends polycarbonate glazing, because it’s less expensive than glass, is lightweight but durable, and retains heat better than both glass or plastic.
Choose your manufacturer: Worldwide Steel custom greenhouses can be designed to your exact specifications and come with a 50-year warranty, so you can rest assured that they will stand the test of time. Because our columns and framing are made from 100% steel, our buildings aren’t susceptible to wood rot, insects or other elements. Main frames can be delivered in traditional galvanized steel or painted with a choice of secondary framing in galvanized tubing or wood. Worldwide Steel Buildings’ greenhouse design allows wider column spacing then the standard 5′-6′ spacing, giving you more space and light. Our complete framing kits allow you to use the solid or transparent glazing panels of your choice, and we can coordinate directly with our polycarbonate panel supplier if you’d like a more complete custom greenhouse package.
It’s the perfect time of year to start designing your steel greenhouse. We can help you put together a structure that fits your needs now and for decades into the future. Give us a call today at (800) 825-0316 – our experts will help you get growing.
Home Sweet (Metal) Home: Living in a Worldwide Steel Building
Home ownership has long been a major part of the American Dream. As the decades go on, though, there are more and more reasons to think owning a home might not be attainable. The financial considerations are massive, urban sprawl and developer monopolies reduce choices, and the environmental impact of building a traditional wood construction residence is enough to make some would-be builders reconsider.
But there’s another option.
More and more people are making a new smart choice and building a metal house … a Worldwide Steel metal house, to be specific. Here’s why:
Save money
When you build a metal home with a Worldwide Steel kit, you’re saving money right off the bat (the national average build price for a steel building home is $70-90 a square foot, compared to $110-130 for conventional wood construction). You’re also saving money during the build process (our building kits go up a lot faster than traditional construction, no matter how elaborate your interior) and over the life of the home. Steel requires much less maintenance than wood and siding, it lasts longer, it costs less to insure, it’s fire-resistant and non-combustible, it’s less susceptible to infestations and won’t ever mold or mildew.
Make it your own
You don’t have to choose from a developer’s portfolio of model homes to plop in the middle of a hundred other beige cookie cutter builds. With Worldwide Steel, your imagination (… okay, and the laws of engineering) is your only limit. We offer open concepts with clear spans, multiple roof pitches, dormers, wrap-around porches and a variety of colorways. Check out our Online 3D Building Designer to begin designing your own floor plan.
Work with the earth and the elements
Metal homes won’t rot, warp, split, shrink or decompose, they’re less vulnerable to termites, bore bees and other pests, and they’re a lot stronger than wood construction in the face of fire and natural disasters, meaning your steel home can stand up to the elements like a champion. Beyond that, it’s a green alternative. A metal home uses less heat and air (when insulated correctly) when you’re living in it, and is environmentally-friendly during the build process (a 2000 square foot steel house is made of the equivalent of about six junk cars … compared to the 40-50 mature trees for a comparable wood house).
What sets WWSB steel and metal homes apart?
A lot of companies that claim to offer steel and metal houses are actually selling wood-framed buildings with sheet metal siding … a “solution” that doesn’t really solve much of anything. Not only do you lose many of the benefits outlined above, but you run into issues with cord bracing, wind bracing and truss depth. The requirements for each of these mean you’re going to lose space and aesthetic appeal on your interior finish. But not with Worldwide Steel. Our tube leg steel buildings work perfectly as residences because there’s no need to build perimeter stud walls, trusses don’t intrude into the living areas, there’s no cord bracing in the walls that intrude into the interior, and no trusses to work around.
Plus, working with Worldwide Steel means working with a team of experts that really cares about your metal home – from the design process to the build to your years spent living there. Want to learn more about cord bracing, wind bracing and trusses? Want to just trust us on all that and dive right into designing your house? We’re ready to get started. Call us at (800) 825-0316.
