Category Archives: Steel Building Kits
Back to Basics: Construction Safety at Your Steel Building Site
Worldwide Steel building kits are designed under the assumption that you’re going to want to erect the building on your own, maybe with some help from a small crew of friends or a local contractor. So even if you’re not in the construction business, as long as you have some common sense and a couple more sets of arms willing to help you get the walls up, you can DIY the entire build. Most of our customers don’t even need to rent a crane or any other heavy equipment!
Our trusses are pre-punched, our sheet metal attaches to purlins and girts with self-drilling, color-coded screws, and we include a step-by-step assembly manual to guide you through your unique building process, start to finish.
But – and this is a big but – just because our steel buildings are simple to erect doesn’t mean they’re accident-proof. You’re working with huge, heavy sheets of metal and tall steel beams, so safety rules still apply. Here are just a few we consider non-negotiable:
Wear personal protective equipment (PPE)
The right clothing and equipment can mean the difference between a bandage and a hospital stay on a steel building construction site. Here’s what you’ll need to wear:
- A hard hat. Everyone on or near the steel building construction absolutely must wear an OSHA-approved hard hat, all the time. Even if you’re not actively building, there is always a risk of head injury due to falling objects.
- Boots. Always wear sturdy work boots. They should have good ankle support and no-slip rubber soles. We strongly recommend steel toe boots for peak safety.
- Gloves. Some of the sheet metal building materials can be sharp on the edges. Wear work gloves to protect your hands from lacerations.
- Goggles. Again, make sure they’re OSHA-approved and have a pair handy for anyone who is using a drill or a saw.
- Masks. You don’t need a mask when you’re working with steel, but you should have them on hand for when you’re working with insulating materials or wood trim.
Eliminate as many fall risks as possible
To us, this means doing as much work as you can on the ground. Then lifting and installing the components (like walls and roofing) once they’re more complete. For the times when you absolutely need to be up high (every job has these, of course), you can continue to mitigate your risk. Things like ladder safety and avoiding roof work in windy or slippery conditions can go a long way.
Communicate with everyone working on the project
Whether you’ve hired help or just convinced your buddies to help you raise the walls on your steel building, everyone on site needs to take the project seriously. This means wearing the correct PPE, knowing how to handle the building components and erect the steel framing, and paying attention to what’s going on around them. Keep emergency numbers and a first aid kit available near or on site, and be sure everyone around the project knows where they are.
Keep the job site clean
Sound silly? It isn’t. A picked-up construction site can have a direct impact on your safety. Not only will clear work areas prevent falls and falling objects, they’ll allow clearer exit paths in case of an emergency (like a fire). This means keeping all your work surfaces clean and dry, sealing containers that you aren’t using, keeping all objects and tools off work surfaces, stairways and out of hallways, and putting all your equipment away when it isn’t in use.
Admit when you’re out of your depth
Thanks to all the resources available today, there’s a lot that can be DIYed. But sometimes, aspects of a steel building project really just call for a professional. Think complicated electric or HVAC installations. Don’t be afraid to call for assistance when you think you need it. You’ll end up safer and with a better building in the end … and yeah, you can still say you built it yourself!
For more information, safety protocols and steel building recommendations, download a copy of our Steel Building DIY Instructions. This guide comes with every metal building kit we send out, but we decided to make it available to you before you buy, too. It’s a sneak peek at the building process and a good way to figure out how much help you’ll need from a Worldwide Steel expert.
We’re here to help. Give us a call at (800) 825-0316 or contact us here. Let’s have some (safe) fun bringing your building idea to life!
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.
Your Worldwide Steel Building Project: Five Things to Consider Before You Start
Worldwide Steel builds are designed to be easily assembled. We also provide dedicated support from your planning phase through your project completion. However, when all’s said and done you’ve a substantial project on your hands. The decisions you make before breaking ground will affect how you feel about your project for years to come. Here are five questions our experts recommend you ask yourself (and come up with good answers for!) before you make any commitments:
- How do I plan to use the building? Seems simple, right? Worldwide Steel building kits are largely comprised of the same components. However, being in need of a house, a garage, an aircraft hangar, a horse arena or something completely outside-the-box will determine what you need from your building kit. As impossible as it may seem right now, it’s a good idea to think about how your needs for the building might change over the years to come.
- Does my steel building need to be purely functional, or are aesthetics important too? With Worldwide Steel Buildings, you are able to customize and make your steel building look as traditional or as custom as you desire. If you just need a structure for storage, you probably won’t spend much time thinking about how it looks. If you’re building a structure for commercial use (where “curb appeal” has value) or as a residence, you want it to look nice. We recommend starting with the easy-to-use 3D Building Designer tool. From there, our team can help you choose features and materials: mezzanines, cupolas, sliding doors, porches and overhangs, to name a few.
- What are the loading requirements in my area? Buildings of all material makeup should be designed and engineered to meet wind loads, snow loads, and seismic specs. These factors taken into consideration during engineering will help insure a long economic life for the building. At Worldwide Steel, we take these loading requirements very seriously. We provide stamped engineered drawings from a licensed engineer in the state the building is being delivered. This validates every building we deliver is designed to its exact local snow and wind requirements and allows us to back your building with a 50-year structural warranty.
- Will I be erecting this DIY or will I hire a crew? Worldwide Steel building kits are manufactured with the DIYer in mind. Our trusses are pre-punched, bolt together easily and have the purlin and girt clips factory welded for construction ease. Your sheet metal attaches to the purlins and girts with colored, self-drilling screws that are flanged and self-sealing to prevent leaks. Every building comes with a step-by-step assembly manual to guide you through the building process from start to finish. Most of our customers can erect without the need of renting a crane or other heavy equipment. Our customers do find it’s easier and quicker to have a three-man team working together once you reach the sheeting stage of construction. When you have people working on different walls, you can finish much more quickly.
- Do I really know how much this is going to cost? When you work with Worldwide Steel, the short answer is always a resounding YES. Unlike some other steel building companies, you’ll know up-front what your final bill is likely to be. We understand how important entry costs and finish costs are to achieving budget accuracy. We do everything in our power to help you stay on budget and get the steel building of your dreams, without compromise. This means our trained building consultants help you design your structure at no additional cost, we offer our structural warranty directly (not through a broker, so claims are handled directly by WWSB). In short, we go out of our way to provide a fair and honest pricing experience from the moment of inquiry.
If you have other questions or considerations, or you just want to talk through your project with a no-BS expert, call the WWSB team at (800) 825-0316.