The Steel Building Process – One Client’s Real Life Experience
I live in northern Kansas and I needed a building built. I had a 40-50 year old machine shed that had been converted into a pole barn on the property. The people we bought the property from had added a concrete floor. The building was an absolute piece of junk. It only had one garage door in it. It was rusted and dated. I looked into painting it and got several quotes, but the painting costs were outrageous. The cost to paint it was going to be $13,700 due to the rotting and the condition of the siding. The cost for the new building was $14,200.
Finding a Company
I looked at pole barns and other steel buildings and read some of the testimonials. I called 8-9 different companies. To be honest, when I called to talk to some others, they transferred me around. I left messages places and never got responses. Many of them never bothered to even call back.
Choosing Worldwide Steel
When I reached Derek at Worldwide Steel, he was extremely easy to talk to, answered all of my questions, and gave me quotes. He sent me brochures, I looked at the quality and different things. It was pretty evident right from the beginning that he was customer service oriented. I felt very comfortable with Derek. He followed up several times and we talked over the course of maybe a month and a half before I figured out what I wanted for sure. He walked me through the process and the warranty was excellent.
The Storage Garage
I bought a 30×56 building because I already had the pre-existing concrete pad from the old barn. It’s a garage – three full garage doors plus a toy door for bringing in the lawn mower, ranger, etc. I will be using it for equipment storage – a boat and two vehicles.
The Construction
I originally had a local contractor take down the old building and do some concrete work. The contractor gave me a ridiculously low price to build out new building as well. When I called Worldwide to talk with them about the contractor’s plan, they were able to give me helpful tips and explain to me exactly what needs to be done as far as the construction of the new building. They also got me in touch with a contractor who could go through the process seamlessly.
Instead of trying to build it myself, I hired a contracting crew that was recommended by Worldwide Steel and is one of their number one contractors. I was extremely pleased with them. They came out and built it in five days. They worked with the insulation company and were very professional. They did a super job!
Changes along the Way
Worldwide Steel is extremely customer oriented. From day one, when I finally decided the size of my building, they sent me blueprints for the building based on what I had told them I was hoping to get from the building. I could email and call and was able to completely customize and revise the blueprints with the help of worldwide employees.
Communication Was Key to a Seamless Job
Anytime I had questions, anytime I would call, I never talked to anyone from Worldwide who wasn’t overly helpful. From the littlest question to the receptionist, it didn’t matter who I was talking to or what I was asking. I had no hiccups along the way. I added the insulation package per the salesman’s suggestion and I have been extremely happy with it. The tiny issue that I ran into with the insulation company not sending enough insulation was immediately handled by Worldwide Steel and only postponed the whole process by half a day. The contractor didn’t charge extra for the additional time since it
wasn’t my fault. I’ve stayed in touch with our sales rep since then and have bragged continuously about how easy the process was and how seamlessly the project went.
Worldwide Steel’s Customer Service Is Amazing
Worldwide will build you whatever you want. You give them what you want and you can either put it up yourself or hire one of their exceptional contractors to take care of the job for you. Derek has obviously never pressured us. I can’t emphasize the customer service level enough.
My One Regret
I wish I could say more. We just love the building. The only thing that I regret was that we didn’t include the mezzanine for additional storage. I would recommend that to anybody. Much better warranty than anything else and I was impressed from the very beginning.
If you’re planning on building a garage, shed, large barn, or other structure, make sure to call Worldwide Steel first. We’ll make it painless. Call and talk to one our helpful salespeople at (800) 825-0316 or contact us online. We’ll make sure your steel building is exactly what you wanted!
How Do You Build a Steel Garage 900 Miles from Civilization?
At Worldwide Steel Buildings, we are proud of our processes that make building a steel structure of any kind, anywhere, as painless and streamlined as possible. However, for one of our customers, timing, communication and follow through were of utmost importance. Here is his experience in his words:
A Challenging Location to Build a Steel Building
For most people, any undertaking of a construction project requires major consideration with regard to time money and frustration. Most would prefer to leave these challenges up to a general contractor and in the end, enjoy all the rewards and just write the check.
Our situation in Juneau has additional considerations. First, we live in a remote community 900 miles away from major shipping ports and access is by boat or plane only. Along with our geographical location, we live in a rainforest that receives approx. 120 inches of rain yearly and annual snowfall that can reach 200 inches. All of this provides for approximately 5 months of sensible building time in a calendar year, so a commitment to a timeline and follow through is essential.
Expectations Were Set Low Due to Previous Experiences
Having lived here for 30-plus years has demonstrated that even the best of companies and corporations from the lower forty eight have and are unable to overcome the many challenges that Juneau presents. And for them to oversell and under execute is more often the norm rather than the exception.
All that said, to maintain control of all factors, I decided to be my own general contractor, designer and banker. And with the help from my lovely assistant and wife Pamela, would construct and build our new garage. I knew what I wanted, where I wanted it and how much I could spend.
(Our 3D Building Designer tool helps you get started on the design of your steel building project!)
Worldwide Steel Was Great from the First Contact
After a year of research and planning, I sent out emails to over a dozen steel building providers. This email contained what I would consider a comprehensive list of details and overview of my project. For comparison’s sake, I was patient and waited for many to respond. Perhaps comparison is the wrong term, for it was more of a contrast as replies came in.
Right from the start, Worldwide steel and more specifically, Mr. John Turner, immediately responded, providing information, answering questions, going over options and discussing details. The information Mr. Turner provided seemed to be more confirmed, confident and backed by firsthand knowledge and industry experience than did others who replied.
Communication Was Convenient
In short order, I knew exactly who he was, what he did and how he could help me with our project. Although there was a three hour time difference, Mr. Turner gave me multiple points of contact: email, phone numbers, etc., and I was encouraged to reach out at any time, after hours and on weekends. Other companies literally took months to return any reply, or deferred me to someone else, or someone would have someone else call me back, or sent me to an automated voicemail tree.
The Construction Process Was Seamless
After deciding to go with Worldwide Steel, John and the team at Worldwide put together a seamless chain of events and efforts from architects, engineers, logistics, shipping departments, finalizing plan details and setting up time schedules, as well as providing necessary plans, documentation, and certifications needed for the local permitting process.
At Worldwide I had one contact, John Turner with a direct line, who always answered the phone or called me back within minutes. But more importantly, John was always in line and up to date with the specifics of my project and its progress. I never felt as if my little garage got lost in the day-to-day shuffle of people being too busy to take the time.
My Steel Garage Is On Schedule and Under Budget
As a result of John and the many others at Worldwide, my little garage has become a reality. We are currently on schedule and under budget working on interior and final details. We are able to look back on this project and experience in a positive light (the wife and I are still talking to each other).
If an honest and truthful recommendation based on deeds, performance and proven abilities was ever deserved, well, my hat’s off to Mr. John Turner and the team from Worldwide Steel. Good job!
See more steel buildings our customers have built on our testimonials page.
If you have a steel building in your future, trust the experienced team at Worldwide Steel Buildings. Call us at (800) 825-0316.
How a Steel Building Turned an Outdoor Pool into a Year-Round Retreat
At Worldwide Steel Buildings, we’re always amazed at the uses our customers come up with for our outstanding buildings. Check out this steel building kit that makes swimming a year-round activity. Here’s what the customer had to say about it:
The steel structure is incredibly strong and stable. We can get up to 1.5 feet of snow in our area and the frame can easily handle that weight load. We also can get high winds here and the structure hasn’t budged an inch.
It is also very unique in appearance: the frame inside of the pool space has a geometric look that blends well with the rounded style of our pool. Externally, the frame has a clean look and gives very nice ‘curb appeal’. The steel frame design itself makes it very easy to safely mount any kind of accoutrements we’d like in the space (lights, wireless speakers, things like that).
This structure, combined with the polycarbonate siding we chose, gives us a pool space we can use all year. We can cool the building with our fan system during the summer and warm it with area heating in the winter.
We couldn’t be happier with how the project turned out. We have a pool house we can use anytime, any season, and this is something that really adds value to the investment we made for our pool space. We can’t wait to do some swimming when it’s snowing outside!
Again, thanks for all of your help with this, it took quite the effort but really turned out sensational! Thanks, Rob H.
To see more metal buildings our customers have built, and what they have to say about them, visit our testimonials page.
If you’d like to learn more, give us a call at (800) 825-0316 or download our building planning kit and get started below:
