Category Archives: Blog

Can I Build My Own Metal Building?

You know the pride that comes with doing something all on your own? Something challenging, that maybe you weren’t quite sure you’d be able to pull off? Now imagine feeling that way about something tangible. Something functional. Something big. Something like an entire building.

It’s more achievable than you might think, and with Worldwide Steel, it’s the last piece of the true DIY puzzle.

You dreamt your ideal metal building. Using the Worldwide Steel 3D Building Designer (with a little assistance and reassurance from our experts), you designed your own metal building. But can you really build your own metal building? Yep.

Consider this your pre-decision pep talk:

When you work with Worldwide Steel, yes, you can build your metal building with your own two hands.

Our prefab steel building kits are designed for DIYers like you — people who aren’t afraid to get their hands a little dirty, but don’t have construction experience. Barring any exceptional circumstances like disabilities or medical conditions, you can erect your building without hiring a crew, buying special materials, or worrying about making an irreparable mistake.

How? It starts at our manufacturing plant. Worldwide Steel manufactures all the materials that comprise our building kits at our own Midwestern plant, with all-American materials. No middle man, no brokers — just your design and our steel. Here’s what really makes the difference: we do extra work at the plant so you have less work to do on site.

Upon delivery (when all you need is a safe way to offload materials from our truck and enough clear space to assemble your building), you’ll find a lot of the work is done for you. The work that has to be done on-site is explained, step-by-step, very clearly, in the instructions that are delivered alongside your building materials.

You start by anchoring your building’s legs into piers. Then you’ll install the columns and attach a couple of your girts onto pre-welded clips. Again, all this will be explained and diagrammed in your instruction manual. Next, you’ll lay out the girders (the two halves that make up your steel trusses) and bolt them together, then bolt them to the legs you anchored. That’s the skeleton of your building. Then, you’ll frame in your doors and windows with well-packaged, clearly labeled materials.

You’ll notice perfect hole alignment at every step of construction. That’s because we pre-weld our trusses on jigs at the plant, for exemplary precision.

After that, it’s all sheeting and finishes. Worldwide Steel buildings have no sheet metal-to-sheet metal connections: it’s all sheet metal (which is just for aesthetics and sealing) to steel secondary members (attached with self-tapping, self-sealing fasteners). That means superior strength and durability, plus additional peace of mind for you. Roof panels go on just as easily.

Sure, that’s the short version, but there really isn’t much more to it.

From the beginning, we’ve prioritized design perfection and material quality to make the construction process simple. Step-by-step instructions, pre-punched, pre-drilled and pre-welded materials, and Quinton Ayler, our full-time customer support person is just a phone call away (816-779-7518).

There’s no need for advanced skill, experience or general contractors. We have customers every day who grab a buddy or two and have our buildings completed in just a few weekends.

Last but not least, we make sure to include some insurance with your building kit. You’ll find extra closures, framing, bolts and more, just in case anything rolls away or gets forgotten in yesterday’s pocket.

Still skeptical? Check out some of our customer stories and see what people like you accomplished with Worldwide Steel. Then let’s talk! Give us a call at (800) 825-0316 or request a quote online.

Celebrating the Holidays in a Metal Home

Our customers prove over and over again, at every time of year, that living in a metal home or barndominium can be just as warm, cozy and comfortable as living in traditional construction. That’s true around the holidays, as well.

If it’s your first holiday season in a metal home, you might be thinking you need to celebrate and decorate differently than you did before. After all, how can you hang lights and wreaths outside when you can’t hammer in nails to hang them from? Worse yet, will your loved ones worry a holiday celebration won’t feel the same in a metal home?

This is the winter you can prove them wrong. A metal home is a home, plain and simple.

In fact, the winter holidays are one of the best times to live in a metal home, because steel construction makes decorating and gathering easier than ever before.

Let us show you what we mean:

Hanging Christmas lights on a metal roof?

Okay, so we won’t try to tell you hanging Christmas lights on a steel roof is fun, necessarily. But that’s true about any roof, right? As long as you’re up there on a ladder, a metal roof might actually make hanging lights easier. Know why? It’s magnetic. That means no more fumbling with nails or plastic clips. If you already have lights to string, you can buy magnetic clips and just pop them onto your roofline and string the lights from there. If you need new lights anyway, you’re in luck — they actually make magnetic lights now. Isn’t that awesome? Not only are they a breeze to hang on a metal home, but they ensure your lights are all pointing in the exact same direction, which means your Christmas lights will be perfectly positioned. Metal hooks are also good for hanging wreaths, stockings, or whatever else you use to decorate.

Gathering with friends and family?

First of all, celebrating with loved ones is about the people, not the place. Gather the people you love in any old building — steel, brick, wood or straw — and that’s what matters. But because a metal home gives you such an opportunity for enormous clear span and a truly open floor plan, you can actually gather more people together in one room than you could in most traditional homes. No more deciding who has to eat on the couch in the living room! Break out the folding tables and celebrate with everyone you love in one place.

Baby, it’s cold outside?

No problem. Metal homes, properly insulated, can do a better job of maintaining temperature than traditional construction, thanks to the conduction properties of steel. It’s also less likely to develop any cracks where critters looking to escape the cold could make their way inside — a common occurrence in many homes during winter.

Expecting a snowstorm?

You can sleep easier in a metal home. Steel is less susceptible to water damage and less likely to be damaged structurally in the case of a heavy snow load, wind speeds or fallen tree limb. Just salt the walks before guests arrive and focus on the fun parts.

If you’re getting ready to celebrate your first holiday season in a metal home, cheers! We can’t wait for you to experience just how sweet a metal home can be. If you’re tired of just thinking about your metal home project, now is the time to reach out to the team at Worldwide Steel. We’ll help you start designing the building of your dreams so it can be ready in time for next winter. Contact us today to take advantage of 2021 pricing! Call (800) 825-0316 or request a quote online.

5 Reasons to Choose a Custom Worldwide Steel Airplane Hangar

Like most passions that require a heavy investment of time, commitment and finances, there’s something about the transition from renting to buying that just feels good. For pilots, buying that first aircraft is almost always a milestone. The one that makes you feel like a real pilot rather than someone who just dabbles in flying. The step that confirms this isn’t just a hobby you might outgrow or lose interest in. This is for life.

In aviation, there’s another monumental transition after purchasing your own aircraft: When you make the choice to take ownership of where you keep that aircraft.

When should you build your own aircraft hangar?

You should consider building your own hangar after you’ve done the math and realized renting hangar space just isn’t the best choice anymore. Or maybe you’re running a business that’s dependent on your personal aircraft and don’t want any aspect of that  business to be at the mercy of someone else’s decisions. 

When you design and build your own hangar, you get to choose where you want it located, include all the features you could possibly imagine, and enjoy 24/7 private access with no chance of hangar rash (unless you’re building a hangar for multiple planes … in that case, just factor in some additional square footage to stay safe and comfortable). 

Sounds like a dream come true? For our customers, it has been. Designing your own hangar from the ground up means you can customize it to your individual needs — the size of your airplane (down to wingspan and tail height), the way you use it (are you loading it up with goods for regional flights? Flying customers with deep pockets to and from business meetings? Enjoying the freedom of destinationless joy rides?), plus additional space for equipment storage, utilities, facilities, even living quarters. 

How to start designing your own metal hangar

With all that choice can come a bit of uncertainty as well, especially for first-time builders. You know how important this project is, and you don’t want to mishandle any aspect of it. At Worldwide Steel, we understand the gravity of each and every decision, and work with you to shoulder the responsibility of each and every consideration — so the entire process is enjoyable and rewarding for you, not stressful. 

Here are just a few aspects you’ll need to consider when building your own hangar, and why Worldwide Steel is the right partner for this project

1. Material quality. A hangar isn’t just an investment in and of itself — it’s literally protection for another investment. That means it isn’t a place to cut corners or make guesses. Worldwide Steel is an ideal partner in this respect for four primary reasons.

• First, unlike some other metal building companies, we’re the manufacturer of our products, not just the broker. 
• Second, we offer an industry-leading 50-year structural warranty that guarantees the materials and workmanship of your hangar will be defect-free for decades.
• Third, we’ve been doing this a long time. We have expertise in things you may never think of on your own — like how an aircraft hangar needs to be built on a significantly thicker concrete slab than a metal building that isn’t designed to support so much weight on such a small surface area, or things to watch out for when choosing a site (like grade and soil quality).
• Fourth, we’re an APOA Lifestyle member, which means we have access to information on the latest aviation regulations, new advancements in the industry and more. If there’s a question our years of experience building hangars doesn’t answer, we can reach out to the world’s largest aviation community for support.

2. Accessibility.  One of the most important choices when designing a hangar is its doors. Worldwide Steel offers three types of doors that are often chosen for hangars:

• Traditional bi-fold doors fold in half when opening, like an accordion. They open outwards, which means you don’t have to account for interior space to accommodate them — your plane(s) and equipment can take up the entire interior.
• Hydraulic doors operate like a standard garage door on a house. They open upwards and rise as a single unit. Some customers appreciate that they can be built with windows to let in light. They do take up vertical space when they’re open, so hangars with hydraulic doors need to be designed slightly taller than they would otherwise be. 
• Stack doors aren’t a super common choice, since their size is constrained by the overall width of the hangar and limit the space in which a plane can maneuver straight in and out of the building. Think of a barn door that slides along the wall to open. The upside of stack doors is that they can be opened manually, in case of a power outage. Sometimes we recommend a fly-through hangar (with doors on both sides) that has bi-fold or hydraulic doors on the front and stack doors on the back, so you’re covered in case of emergency.

3. Customization options. Because Worldwide Steel manufactures hangars ourselves, you’re not limited to off-the-shelf components. The customization options are almost literally endless.  You can check it out yourself with our 3D Building Designer, which lets you test out hangar ideas visually before committing. The tool even lets you add a little guy and a personal aircraft for scale. Fun, right?

4. Big ol’ clearspans. Yes, that’s the technical term. But really. With available clearspans from 24′ through 100′ wide — no need for columns — our hangars can be designed to accommodate everything from a helicopter or single-engine to a small fleet of jets. That also means you can factor in space for everything you’ll need to maintain and repair your crafts, like ramps, stairs and lifts.

5. Hassle-free assembly. Worldwide Steel building kits use a pre-punched truss system that bolts together easily, which makes assembly a snap. Often, you won’t even need to rent heavy equipment or hire a crew to erect your hangar. For larger structures, however, some customers have found having access to a forklift or tractor makes the process even easier. 

When it’s time to level up your passion for planes, it’s time to get in touch with the team at Worldwide Steel Buildings. We can’t wait to get started on your custom aircraft hangar — just give us a call at (800) 825-0316 or request a quote online.