Category Archives: steel building homes
Are Barndominiums Safe in Severe Weather?
As barndominiums continue to grow in popularity, many would-be barndominium owners wonder: are barndominiums safe? These metal structures offer the perfect combination of living space with workspace and have various customization options to choose from at a fraction of the cost of a traditional house. And guess what? They also are incredibly durable and, in many cases, are safer than a conventional home. If you’ve been dreaming of becoming the homeowner of a barndominium but have held back due to questions around safety, prepare to have all your worries put to rest. Barndominiums stand the test of time and natural disasters in many cases, meaning you and your family can sleep soundly knowing you’re protected in an emergency.
Are Barndominiums Safe in Rain?
Unlike traditional homes that are built from mostly wood materials, metal barndominiums are constructed from steel frames and metal siding that keep them protected from water damage. This means these structures are also not susceptible to rot or other wood-related water ailments. When a heavy storm comes through, you can be at ease knowing that mold and mildew are not spreading through your home. The steel sheeting used in these metal structures is also galvanized, making them resistant to rust as well. As an added benefit, by protecting against water damage, the metal materials in this residential building also helps keep critters such as termites, ants, or other unwelcome pests away.
Are Barndominiums Safe in Lightning?
While lightning strikes are rarely a problem for any home, steel barndominiums may have additional safety benefits. It might be surprising to note that steel does not attract lightning. In fact, compared to other materials, metal has a lower electrical resistance. This means that if lightning does strike your home, the steel helps to spread out the heat of the strike and pass through the metal and into the ground. The steel materials used to build your barndo help protect the exterior, which also protects the interior. All your electronic appliances and the people inside are shielded from any harmful effects.
Are Barndominiums Safe in a Tornado?
Barndominiums are highly popular in tornado alley and rural areas, including Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri. This raises the question: are barndominiums safe in a tornado? It only stands to reason that homeowners living in this area of the United States would be highly concerned with the structural integrity of their homes. Barndominiums have an advantage over homes in the durability department. Constructed with metal, a barndo offers superior protection from severe weather. The steel structure of a steel barndominium has a higher wind resistance than a conventional wood frame home.
Tornadoes are rated using the Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale (effective since 2007):
EF0 – 65 to 85 mph winds
EF1 – 86 to 110 mph winds
EF2 – 111 to 135 mph winds
EF3 – 136 to 165 mph winds
EF4 – 166 to 200 mph winds
EF5 – over 200 mph winds
While the metal integrity of your home can endure a tornado, the windows and doors may not. Special windows have to be purchased that have a stronger design pressure rating. All that being said, it is still recommended that homeowners of barndos invest in a storm shelter in case of emergencies.
Read this story of a Worldwide Steel Building customer and how his building stood up to an EF2 tornado: Why Tornado Alley Chooses Worldwide Steel Buildings.
Are Barndominiums Safe in a Hurricane?
One severe weather event that includes various elements is a hurricane. Luckily, the barndominium has already proven to stand up to rain, lightning, and high winds. Hurricanes are categorized using the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. This scale is a 1 to 5 rating based on a hurricane’s sustained wind speed and estimates of potential property damage.
Category 1 – 74 to 95 mph winds
Category 2 – 96 to 110 mph winds
Category 3 – 111 to 129 mph winds
Category 4 – 130 to 156 mph winds
Category 5 – 157 mph and higher
Hurricanes designated Category 3 or higher are considered major hurricanes because of their potential for significant damage and loss of life. A barndominium is more likely to survive a Category 3 hurricane compared to a regular home. Similarly to tornados, while the structural integrity of your barndo is sound, the windows may not be. If you’re considering building a barndominium in an area where hurricanes are a concern, take into account the strength and durability of the windows and doors you select for your new home. Besides the risk of windows shattering due to strong winds, you also need to worry about damage from debris.
Are Barndominiums Safe in Fire?
A fire is a concern for any home, including metal barndominiums. While wood structures and steel structures can both last upwards of 50 to 100 years with proper care, wood building materials don’t compare to steel when it comes to outlasting a fire. No matter the cause, a significant fire can quickly take out the wood frame of a conventional home.
While fire is still a problem for barndominiums (especially if it gets inside), the steel posts, frame, and overall structure of the barndominium home are likely to stay intact. Steel weakens at temperatures of 500 degrees Fahrenheit and starts to melt at temperatures of 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. House fires typically reach temperatures around 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit. This is enough to weaken the metal frame but can still outlast wood materials. Steel is also fire-resistant, meaning your barndominium has a higher likelihood of being safe during extreme weather that can cause fires.
Build a Barndominium to Ride Out Life’s Storms
There are many advantages to choosing barndominium life as your forever home, including durability and safety in a variety of weather conditions. Metal barndominiums are low maintenance, cost-effective to build, have open floor plan options, have faster construction, and protect your valuables. When you want a durable, flexible design option to build your new home, a steel barndo may be the ideal choice. Get started creating your dream home by contacting Worldwide Steel Buildings. Our team of experts can help guide you through the whole process of building your own barndominium kit, from ideation to completion. Contact us today at (800) 825-0316.
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.
Got Questions? We Have Answers.
If David Olsen had a question, Worldwide Steel Buildings had an answer. It’s why the do-it-yourselfer was able to successfully assemble his own multi-purpose steel building on his property in Boulder, Colorado. “Whenever I needed help during construction, Worldwide Steel was always there for me,” says Olsen.
Olsen required assistance early on after his local municipal building department asked him to modify foundation plans. He reached out to his Worldwide Steel customer service representative who quickly provided adjustments to meet requirements. Later on, Olsen experienced some minor material snafus that were easily remedied by Worldwide Steel.
“Their responsiveness made a world of a difference,” notes Olsen. “I was able to count on them throughout the project.”
Olsen leveraged one of Worldwide Steel’s predesigned packages and utilizes his 2,000-square-foot facility as a garage, shop and storage facility. He wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Worldwide Steel to others. “They offer a hard-to-beat combination of product and service. I’m really happy about how my building turned out.”
Find out what other customers have to say about Worldwide Steel Buildings by visiting worldwidesteelbuildings.com. Then try out the free Worldwide Steel Buildings 3D Building Designer Tool.
Spark Your Imagination
Get a clearer picture of the steel building in your future with a little help from the satisfied customers of Worldwide Steel Buildings. Now available on our website are design examples created by our customers (with our popular 3D Building Design Tool) that served as the springboard for the steel building of their dreams.
You’ll feel inspired to take your design to the next level by viewing the plans of others whether you’re thinking of building a garage, workshop, house, barndominium or commercial building. Worldwide Steel Buildings hopes to help people get over the design hump by simply sharing the work of others.
“Sometimes it just takes a little spark to the imagination to complete a building design,” says Jeff Snell, president and CEO of Worldwide Steel Buildings. “And what’s great about our 3D design tool is that it provides a clear vision of the buildings that’s swirling inside the heads of our customers.”
So take a look-see at the other building designs today to get inspired for tomorrow. Go to https://www.worldwidesteelbuildings.com/design-examples/.
Try out the free Worldwide Steel Buildings 3D Building Designer Tool.
Singer Hits High Note With Steel Home
Bob Singer and his wife are really happy about their decision to relocate from Arizona to Hamilton, Missouri. In addition to the utter enjoyment of being near family – especially their eight grandchildren – the Singers are also very pleased with their choice of a steel house and garage manufactured by Worldwide Steel Buildings.
“Going with Worldwide Steel allowed us to build the home we wanted and remain in our price range,” tells Bob, who’s now in the process of building out the interior of his home. “The 3-D design tool on the website made it easy for us to take our ideas and transform them into reality.”
Today, that reality stands as a sturdy 48’ x 72’ steel building. It offers a 1,824 square-foot, three-car garage featuring 16’ walls that lodges the Singers’ full-size motor home, which serves as temporary living quarters while finishing off the home interior.
Speaking of the 1,632 square-foot home, it provides 12’ walls along with plenty of living space that includes: two bedrooms, two bathrooms, living room, dining room, den, kitchen, pantry and utility room. And, according to Bob, he plans to add second-floor living space down the road.
“My sister liked our steel home so much that she built one down in Arizona,” notes Bob. “Not surprisingly, she decided to go with Worldwide Steel Buildings, too. Their product and customer service set them apart from other manufacturers.”
To start tinkering around with a steel building of your own, try out the free 3D Building Designer Tool at WorldwideSteelBuildings.com.
Steel Building Exterior Finishes That Add Character and Value
We love the look of our steel buildings, and we want to make sure our customers do, too. Our sheet metal siding comes in a wide range of colors which you can “try before you buy” using our 3-D Building Design Tool.
But a steel building doesn’t have to look like a steel building if you don’t want it to. Our customers have the benefit and flexibility of using a range of other exterior options if sheet metal isn’t their preference.
Between siding options and exterior finishes in a variety of colors, your metal building can be designed to resemble traditional construction … without losing all the benefits that come along with choosing a steel frame structure.
Aesthetics That Match Your Vision
Having the flexibility to choose the look of your exterior walls can be particularly important when trying to match a look that may already exist on your property – or matching a new steel frame house to the surrounding neighborhood.
Worldwide Steel Buildings’ team has worked with many of our customers to design steel structures using a range of exterior finishes beyond metal wall panels, including brick, stone, stucco, and even wood siding.
Brick exterior
Bricks are one of the oldest building materials, having been used as far back as 7,000 BC. Brick is a durable and fire-resistant exterior finish option that provides a high-end, classic look with lots of curb appeal. Brick veneer is a good choice for a single family home, detached garage, or small business.
Stone siding
Stone (or faux stone like GenStone) provides a unique, organic appeal to single-family homes and certain commercial buildings. It is more durable and lower-maintenance than wood, and natural stone is likely to outlast most everything built today. Stone can camouflage the appearance of prefab metal buildings almost entirely.
Stucco
Traditional stucco is a very popular finish option especially in warmer climates thanks to its light-colored natural appearance. If you want your metal building project to gain even more energy efficiency and durability (stucco is resistant to fire, mold, rot and infestation, just like steel), consider stucco. Because the material now comes in pre-cut stucco panels, adding a stucco finish can be an easy way to enhance the appearance of your home, commercial building or recreational building.
Wood siding
Customers who want all the benefits of a custom metal building as well as the appeal of traditional construction often choose wood siding as a finish option. Wood offers a lot of variety in format (between shiplap, shake, shingle, tongue and groove and more) and customization (because it’s so easy to paint and repaint). Wood siding is also a comparably inexpensive and accessible finish option, and using it on a steel building kit negates some of its drawbacks (like a lack of insulation).
Strength You Can Depend On
Whatever exterior finishes you choose, you still get the strength and durability of our steel truss framing, backed by our unmatched 50-year guarantee. You also get the other benefits of our steel building kits, including full customization, clear interior spans giving you flexibility of interior layout, affordability, and ease of assembly.
Need some inspiration to get started on your project? Look at photos on the “Steel Buildings” tab, check out our 3-D Design Tool, or talk with a Building Consultant specialist to create a structure with the perfect look for your needs.
For more information about metal building kits contact us, or start designing your building with our online 3D Building Designer Tool by clicking the image below.
Beat the Heat: AC for Metal Buildings
Summer is officially here – but we don’t need to tell you that. Cities across the country have been experiencing record heat and high temperatures, and there’s not much relief in sight … fall is still months away. It’s hot out there!
Fortunately, air conditioning is available pretty much everywhere, and that certainly includes inside steel buildings. Each of our metal building kits is completely customizable to accommodate the specific climate control needs of your building usage. Keep in mind, when you’re considering an HVAC system for your metal building, an AC unit probably won’t cut it. It will get cold again (I know, it feels hard to believe) and you want to be prepared.
Flexibility to Incorporate Building Systems
Whether you want to air condition the office space within a hybrid warehouse/office structure, or provide climate control for your entire garage, workshop, or single-family steel home, you can plan and lay out your own HVAC (as well as power and other systems) for part or all of your building kit. Need a little help determining what your building needs? Our experienced customer service team can work with you to understand your HVAC and systems needs and customize your building kit to achieve them, with maximum energy efficiency in mind.
Design Elements to Help You Keep Your Cool
While a central HVAC heating system and cooling system is the primary means of keeping things cool in the warm weather (and vice versa), some of the most basic design elements can also be used to help manage climate and air circulation in your steel building:
- Doorways/openings: With clear span buildings 24-225 feet, our steel building kits allow for large garage door openings on multiple sides of the building to provide cross-ventilation. This is most often a consideration when designing the exterior walls of commercial buildings.
- Windows: Another obvious, but important element: Worldwide Steel Buildings’ clear span designs also allow you to place windows to maximize (or minimize) natural light and ventilation based on your specific building site. Homeowners in particular should consider the climate aspects of their prefab steel building kits. When the weather is pleasant, don’t underestimate the power of opening those windows to circulate some fresh air!
- Ceilings/roofs: The open design of our building kits means you can customize the ceiling height and roof pitch to allow heat to rise to the top of your building, vent out of your building and away from your belongings, equipment – and from you. Our building kits also allow ductwork to distribute warm and cool air throughout every square foot of your building.
- Insulation: While much of the energy-efficient climate control is inherent to the properties and design of your steel building, insulation systems make a major impact, too. Whether you opt for loose-fill, blown-in, batt and roll, reflective insulation, radiant barriers or spray foam, your building can accommodate it.
Let us know how we can help you design a building with an adequate heating and AC system, so your new project stays comfortable all year round. And for now … stay cool!
For more information about the benefits of Worldwide Steel metal building kits, contact us today. You can also start designing your building with our online 3D Building Designer Tool!
The Benefits of Using Recycled in Your Building Kit
If you’ve owned a steel building in the past, or even if you’ve just been researching building options, you probably already know some of the benefits of steel: strength, durability, value … those big, tangible benefits you’ll appreciate regularly as you use your building over the years.
But did you know steel is the #1 most recycled material in the world? According to the Steel Recycling Institute, between 60 and 80 million tons of scrap steel are recycled every year by North American steel mills into new steel products and components. In fact, scrap steel is a primary ingredient when producing new steel.
Our building kits at Worldwide Steel Buildings are made of approximately 94 percent recycled steel, all of it steel scrap sourced from American steel mills. Using recycled metal gives our customers all the great features of steel – lighter yet stronger than other building materials; resistance to all types of weather; flexibility of design; and more – with the added benefits that come along with recycling scrap metal.
Among the benefits of recycling steel are:
- Performance. Because of steel’s properties, it doesn’t lose strength between raw materials and reuse.It can be repeatedly recycled from one use or product to another without compromising structural integrity or performance.
- Environmental impact. Recycling steel reduces the amount of natural resources consumed and CO2 emissions produced involved in creating steel products, because reuse uses less energy than creating from scratch. Those energy savings mean recycled metal has a smaller footprint on our environment and our planet, and uses fewer of our most valuable resources.
- Economy. Not having to produce new steel for every new product also reduces the cost of steel products to consumers – enhancing the already great value of this high-quality building material. Maintaining the current steel recycling rate also provides demand for the growing U.S. recycling industry.
- American manufactured. Worldwide is proud to use exclusively materials produced by the American steel industry in all stages of the production process. That means – because U.S. steel mills use largely recycled materials – that buying recycled steel is an important part of keeping money and jobs in our country and our communities.
(Read more: American Iron and Steel Institute Sustainability Fact Sheet)
Be sure to check out all the custom styles, finishes, and other options we offer, and give us a call to let us help you with your next (recycled) steel building project!
For more information about our metal building kits and the benefits of recycling steel, contact us today. You can also start designing your building right now with our online 3D Building Designer Tool by clicking the image below.
Champions of Business: Championing Our Customers’ Goals
Worldwide Steel Buildings was recently honored by the Kansas City Business Journal as one of its 2018 Champions of Business. This annual program recognizes companies based in the Kansas City area that contribute to our community’s economic strength and quality of life.
We are particularly proud to be a Champion of Business because the qualities the selection panel looks for are the same thing we believe allow us to provide a great product and great service to our customers:
Innovation
Our commitment to create steel buildings customized to each customer’s exact needs drives us to constantly find new and innovative ways to deliver on that promise. This includes our 3D Building Designer tool, which we developed to help you design every aspect of your dream building before you order. It also includes our approach to designing and manufacturing our steel building kits for easy DIY assembly to streamline budget and timeline. And, it’s why we love working with our customers to make their unique building ideas a reality – you are part of our innovation team!
Strength and Stability
Just like our building kits, Worldwide Steel Buildings starts from a solid foundation. We own and operate our own manufacturing facility so we control every aspect of quality and fabrication to meet your expectations. We work hard and smart to ensure you are getting an outstanding value, backed by our 50-year warranty. Our focus on giving customers a great product and great service with great value has kept us going and growing for 35 years, so you can be sure we will be here when you need us.
Giving Back
Most importantly, we are committed to being a great place to work to help our employees and our community thrive. As our owner, Jeff Snell, told the Business Journal: “Having an enjoyable place to work is part of the culture, but on top of that, we want our employees to feel empowered to make decisions and make the right decisions based on the customer experience and pride in their work.”
We take great pride in being able to give back to our community through creating jobs and contributing to the local economy. Also, by using exclusively American-made steel, we are not only ensuring high quality of our steel buildings, but by serving our customers in a way that supports our country’s economy as well.
This recognition couldn’t have happened without our tremendous employees and without the support of you, our customers. Thank you for your trust and confidence in us – you are our “Champions of Business”!
Check out our Champions of Business profile here. And as always, call us at any time with questions or to discuss your next project.
For more information about metal building kits contact us, or start designing your building with our online 3D Building Designer Tool by clicking the image below.
What Does it Take to Be an AWS Certified Welding Fabricator?
When you take a look at Worldwide Steel’s website or any of our materials, you may notice the words “We are certified by the American Welding Society (AWS) as a Certified Welding Fabricator.” For our company, it’s a source of pride and a recognition of our commitment to manufacture steel buildings of the highest quality. But what does it mean to our customers? It means top-quality craftsmanship at the hands of a master metal fabricator, a commitment to excellence in every building kit we ship, and peace of mind as you embark on your new building project.
Top-Quality Craftsmanship
Commitment to top-quality craftsmanship is a full-time priority for Worldwide Steel, and that commitment is evident in our Certified Welding Fabricator designation.
To be designated as a Certified Welding Fabricator (CWF), companies go through a rigorous and lengthy process. Contrary to popular belief, it isn’t about one single employee being a certified welder. It’s less about the skills of the individual employees, and more about the culture, knowledge and capabilities of the company as a whole. The first step on the path to CWF designation starts with an application documenting quality processes, personnel experience, and capabilities. Then, an AWS expert reviews the company’s quality manual and recommends any improvements needed. Next, AWS performs an on-site audit of the manufacturing facility and another detailed review of the quality manual. The company then must undergo a problem-solving exercise and make any changes needed to meet the AWS’ industry-recognized standards to produce the highest-quality steel fabricated structures.
Commitment to Excellence
Becoming a CWF not only means we employ an experienced welder/fabricator team with the experience, knowledge, equipment, and capabilities to ensure the strength and durability of our structures. It also means we constantly maintain and improve our quality processes across our fabrication shop, and participate in yearly quality reviews, to keep our certification year after year. It takes time and dedication to maintain these high standards – that’s why only about 200 companies the U.S., Canada, and Mexico combined have earned this select designation.
Peace of Mind
At the end of the day, what really matters to our customers is that every weld in your steel building is durable, strong, and can withstand whatever weather conditions, loads, or special uses you require.
At Worldwide Steel, we ensure each and every construction project our customers undertake goes exactly according to its blueprints, and that comes down to precision. Much of the precision of the metal building components is thanks to the welding process while the steel is still in the warehouse. When your trusses, girts, sheet metal and other metal products are all handled by an experienced welder, using a mix of hand tools and power tools and MIG welding and TIG (or GMAW) welding, as the situation calls for, you can feel confident that they’re welded precisely and made to last.
Our steel buildings are backed by an unmatched 50-year warranty – and by the expertise and quality commitment of our Worldwide Steel Buildings employees. This means that not only are you getting an affordable steel building kit customized to the needs of your home or business, you are getting the highest quality our industry has to offer.
So when you see the AWS CWF symbol – just like the Worldwide Steel Buildings name – you can have the confidence and peace of mind knowing your structure will maintain its integrity and appearance for years to come.
Worldwide Steel has almost 40 years of experience in designing the highest quality stainless steel building kits for a variety of building designs and uses.
Let one of our skilled, professional staff members help you customize a high-quality steel building kit, or check out our 3D building designer tool to draft your own design. Either way, we will ensure your product is of the highest standards.
For more information about metal building kits contact us, or start designing your building with our online 3D Building Designer Tool by clicking the image below.
