Steel Building has Risen at Georgia Church

During the four nights leading up to the week before Christmas in 2009, approximately 1,800 people traveled to Glenloch Baptist Church, located just south of Roopville, GA, to embark on an outdoor walking tour of the little town of Bethlehem the way it may have appeared on the night of Jesus' birth.

Traveling past actors portraying lepers and beggars crowding the gate of the City of Bethlehem, participants persuaded soldiers to enter in order to register for the census. Beyond the gate, they navigated the marketplace as Mary and Joseph did more than 2000 years ago, while taking in the sights, sounds and smells of days gone past. Before them beckoned shops that sold bread, fruits and vegetables, oil and lamps, spices, and metal ware, as well as a weaver, basket maker and pottery shop.

All around families lived their everyday lives-eating their meals and tending to their animals. A couple named Mary and Joseph, who came to register for the census, took shelter in an animal stall, and Mary delivered a very special child.

At the end of the tour, visitors came upon a tomb. "There they heard about how Jesus came to earth as a babe, grew into a wonderful man who was also God, and gave his life for our sins," says Jo Creel, a member of Glenloch Baptist Church who is in charge of coordinating its creative arts programs. "The best part, which we save for last, is that he is no longer in the tomb. He is risen and lives in each of us who have accepted him as our Lord and Savior."

Creel and a dozen of the church's congregation began the work of transforming the grounds into "One Night in Bethlehem" during the late fall of last year, and part of that transformation included purchasing a pre-fabricated steel structure from SteelMaster Buildings, located in Virginia Beach, VA, to use as the tomb.

"We are always amazed at the creative ways that our customers make use of our buildings," says Michelle Wickum, the marketing director for SteelMaster Buildings. Each building utilizes a clear span design that offers 100 percent usable space along with the ease of construction that is provided by precision-made, pre-engineered building systems.

Creel says that visitors at the event are surprised when they learn what lies underneath the tomb's façade. "I don't think they realize that it is a steel building at all," says Creel. "If and when they do realize it, they are amazed."

The company's steel buildings include all the components necessary to erect a garage, a barn, a storage building, and even a building to be used as a makeshift tomb such as the one at Glenloch Baptist Church. The components are made to precise standards of accuracy for easy assembly, with pre-punched holes and only one size nuts and bolts for the entire building. The pre-engineered buildings are so simple to erect that more than 80 percent of customers construct their own building with huge labor cost savings.

The company's 30-Year Mill-Backed Warranty by ArcelorMittal (NYSE MT) ensures that the congregation at Glenloch Baptist Church can depend on the building during their production of "One Night in Bethlehem" for many years to come as they continue to entertain and enlighten members of their community in their mission to share their ministry with others.

The Old World Cafe's Steel Building

While we love to blog about our customer's steel buildings, it's even better when our customers do it themselves! We recently came across The Old World Cafe's blog and found construction pictures for their SteelMaster Building. The metal building will be used as a test shop for the “micro roastery” located in South Carolina. Construction of the steel building seems to be a one-man show. Check out the picture below of the arches built on the ground…

For this Couple, Steel's All Wright

In Rhinebeck, NY-roughly 400 miles northwest of Mill Run, PA-there is a mini-compound of three steel buildings situated together amongst many trees. One of the buildings functions as a home, the other a garage, and the third a studio.

The three buildings are pleasing enough to look at and all feature a Quonset-style form with arched roofs and many vertical windows that mimic the length of the trees that surround them. A passersby may think it curious that owners Andy Weintraub and his wife chose steel buildings instead of a more customary material like wood, but the Weintraubs had a plan. Whether they realized it at the time or not, that plan utilized ‘organic architecture', a term coined by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

A seven-hour drive from the Weintraubs' home would find them at Mill Run, which is where Wright's most famous structure can be found-one that many say best typifies organic architecture. Known as ‘Fallingwater' or ‘Kaufmann Residence', this private home was commissioned as a nature retreat for the owners, and Wright did not disappoint. By its definition, organic architecture is a philosophy which promotes harmony between human habitation and the natural world through design approaches so sympathetic and well-integrated with its site that buildings, furnishings, and surroundings become part of a unified, interrelated composition.

Fallingwater is built on top of an active waterfall which flows beneath the house. The fireplace hearth in the living room integrates boulders found on the site and upon which the house was built - ledge rock which protrudes up to a foot through the living room floor was left in place to demonstrably link the outside with the inside. The stone floors are waxed, while the hearth is left plain, giving the impression of dry rocks protruding from a stream.

Now, while differences abound between Fallingwater and the Weintraubs' steel residence, the couple's concerted efforts to integrate the inside with the outside point directly to Wright's penchant for organic architecture. But why did the couple begin with a steel building?

"We spent a lot of money on our land and needed to build something that wasn't too expensive," says Weintraub, who bought all three buildings from SteelMaster Buildings in Virginia Beach, VA. "The nice thing about the SteelMaster building is that its simplicity is what allows you to do with it what you will. There are no interior posts or supporting walls so you can divide the space any way you see fit."

SteelMaster offers unique custom solutions for pre fabricated building applications such as architectural design, affordable steel housing, athletic facilities, salt storage, retail stores/business facilities, as well as specialty buildings such as bus stops, smoke shacks, doggie dorms, churches, and more.

"Whether it is a unique application for our standard metal buildings or a design that requires additional support from an architect or engineer, SteelMaster has years of steel building experience in solving building and design challenges," says Michelle Wickum, the director of marketing for SteelMaster. "This uniquely qualifies us in the industry to competently address questions and concerns, and then professionally create solutions that will work, structurally, functionally, and aesthetically."

Weintraub says both he and his wife have been actively engaged in building and designing their own homes for their entire marriage-which they will celebrate in August on their 50th wedding anniversary. Being that their SteelMaster home was the seventh that they have built, they had a good idea of what they wanted.

"The SteelMaster structures were designed by my wife and me, and we utilized the sweeping curves of the SteelMaster buildings," says Weintraub. "We wanted a low maintenance, eco-friendly residence and work space which also had some "character", and, to our minds, beauty. We decided to use natural materials found on the property within the house, including stone and trees."

Maintenance-Free is the Key to Steel Buildings

For the past 15 years, State Farm Insurance Agent A. Dean Chelton has hooked up a trailer to his truck and made the long trek from his home in Centerville, PA to Montana to go deer and elk hunting. In recent years, he traded in his canvas pop-up trailer for a fully-equipped travel trailer to bring on his annual expedition.

But instead of leaving it outside and exposed to the sun, wind, rain, sleet, and snow when not in use, Chelton decided it was time to buy a building to store it in. "I always keep my car parked in my garage, so it made sense to do the same for the travel trailer," says Chelton. "I just wasn't comfortable keeping it outside anymore."

When Chelton began researching his options for a storage building, he only had one stipulation-no wood. Already the owner of two wood storage buildings, he was weary of all the maintenance that they required. "I am tired of having to replace the roofs every so often, paint the siding, and a whole host of other things that have to happen to keep the buildings looking good," says Chelton.

During the course of doing research for a new building on the Internet, Chelton came across a picture of a SteelMaster steel building. "Right away I knew I had found my solution-the style was there, but more importantly, a SteelMaster building doesn't require any maintenance."

"With a SteelMaster buildings you don't have to treat it, paint it, or maintain it-all that is left is to enjoy it," says Michelle Wickum, SteelMaster's director of marketing. "The Galvalume Plus coating provides years of maintenance-free use, and the rugged resilient steel will take the bumps and bangs common to a working storage building. In addition, steel does not rot, warp, shrink, or split, and it is non-combustible. Steel's inherent strength resists fire, earthquake, and hurricane damage."

While constructing the building, Chelton hit a few snags along the way, so he called SteelMaster to see if anyone there could help him. "The people I spoke with at SteelMaster-from the receptionist to the salesperson to the engineer—they were all very well informed and provided terrific customer service," says Chelton. From the building itself to the people at SteelMaster, I couldn't be more pleased at how everything turned out. They are a top-notch company with a top-notch product."

In addition to storage buildings, SteelMaster's steel and metal pre-engineered buildings are designed for a broad range of residential and commercial applications including Garages, Workshops, Carports, Quonsets, Airplane Hangars, RV Storage, Military Buildings, Commercial Warehousing, and Industrial Storageas well as a wide variety of Custom Building applications including Athletic Facilities, Retail Stores, Churches, Bus Stops, Smoke Shacks, Doggie Dorms, and Correctional Facilities.

SteelMaster Honored as Roaring 20

SteelMaster Buildings was recently honored as one of Hampton Road’s Roaring 20. The award recognizes the region’s fastest growing companies that are making significant contributions to our local economy. Read the full write up from Inside Business below…

SteelMaster Buildings

Founded 1982

Business type Manufacturer of arched steel buildings

Based Virginia Beach

Website www.SteelMasterUSA.com

Revenue 5 percent increase in 2008, 6 percent increase in 2009, 30 percent increase in 2010

Employees Numbers not released to public

Whether it’s a luxury home in the Hamptons or a bulk-food warehouse in earthquake-ravaged Haiti, SteelMaster Buildings has sheltered its customers since 1982, and it continues to grow in the U.S. and abroad.

Founder Rhae Adams styled his products after the “Quonset huts” designed for the Navy during World War II.

SteelMaster’s distinctive metal buildings – with their arched structures and corrugated steel exteriors – have been used as garages, carports, airplane hangars, warehouses, government facilities, farm storage buildings, even an animal shelter in Austin, Texas.

Today SteelMaster is forging commercial opportunities overseas. The company hired a full-time international business manager in 2006.

The following year, SteelMaster enrolled in the Virginia Economic Development Partnership’s VALET class, a highly selective, two-year exporting program.

International sales – in Taiwan, South Korea, Malta, Angola and other areas – now make up 20 percent of business, compared with less than 5 percent in 2006.

“It was the exception rather than the rule,” Vice President Rob Poellnitz said of SteelMaster’s prior exporting efforts. “About five years ago, we made that a focal part of our business.”

Poellnitz is one of three vice presidents that run SteelMaster’s corporate office in Virginia Beach.

The company’s management ranks have endured upheaval and tragedy in the last decade.

Adams is no longer active in the business, according to Michelle Wickum, marketing director. In the mid-2000s, he passed CEO duties to retired Landmark Communications executive Donald “Pat” Patterson, who guided the ailing company into a new era of promise. Patterson died in 2008.

He laid the foundation, however, for current growth, including a focus on new U.S. clients.

Poellnitz, along with vice presidents Anthony Bueno and Karen Willis, are expanding SteelMaster’s residential and “green” business.

This year, two of the company’s custom-designed homes appeared in The Wall Street Journal and the New York Daily News.

It also completed its first two buildings certified as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design projects.

“SteelMaster Buildings,” Poellnitz said, “is poised for continued growth.”

- Teresa Talerico

Find a Steel Building in Your State!

Have you seen the state pages on SteelMaster’s website? Customers can now find steel buildings in their state via interactive maps. The website displays both a map of the United States as well as an international map for our customers across the globe. With over 40,000 steel buildings on the ground, the maps are a continuous process and will be updated until all of our metal buildings photos have been added. Click on the image below to see the maps…

Letters from Our Customers – XIII

Once you are a satisfied SteelMaster owner, we invite you to join our Partners in Steel referral program.  The program is designed to encourage you to refer friends, family and neighbors to SteelMaster that are interested in purchasing a steel building.  In addition, we will contact you if we have someone in your area that would like to see your building and speak with you about your SteelMaster buildings.  The letter below comes from Chris W. in Emigrant, MT when he signed up to be a member of Partners in Steel.

Our building is a 25 X 40 with three skylights and our own custom designed and framed end walls. We chose the X Model for its different lines (not so industrial or agricultural looking) and its superior snow-load capacity. We live in hilly / mountainous terrain in the Rocky Mountains at 5200 feet elevation, and needed a place to store our garden produce (and tools) in a non-freezing environment through the colder months. We designed the building to include such storage by pouring a 6-foot concrete retaining wall in the north gable end, and backfilling soil to that level. We build a loft for storage of garden equipment with an entry at ground level on the north end, which also serves as the ceiling for our cool root cellar storage area. We will have a workshop in the middle section, and more loft and general storage in the south one third of the building. It is the end of September and we are still finishing the interior, and have furthe r landscaping to do outside.

We began our site preparations in late June, formed the footings and poured the concrete. Once the footings cured we erected two of the building’s panels at the north end, formed the retaining wall tying it into the first erected panel, and poured the wall the end of July. By the first week in August we had assembled the panels in workable sections, and began final assembly of the complete panels as we erected them. It took 3 men and a 13-year old 4 days to get all the panels in place and assembled together.

Once the brackets were installed, we grouted the panels to the foundation, laid in our drain tile around the foundation, back filled, and began constructing the gable end walls and interior.

Bottom line: We are pleased with the structural strength and the aesthetics of our building and will recommend SteelMaster to others.

For More Information About Steel Buildings Visit Steelmasterusa.com

SteelMaster Buildings Now on Google+

Are you on Google+? You need to add SteeMaster Buildings to your circle!

Not only is it a great way to keep up with our most current steel building projects, but we also offer exclusive discounts for our followers. You can view photos of our steel building projects, interact with other fans and watch our videos.

SteelMaster Serves PIN Breakfast

Having been a part of the Hampton Roads area for 30 years now, SteelMaster likes to give back and support the community. One of the organizations that we often work with is People in Need (PIN). Throughout the year, SteelMaster Buildings is a part of several PIN events including PingPong for Poverty. Volunteers from the company (along with family and friends) have also helped with PIN’s weekly Pancake Breakfasts. Check out the picture below to see the team that helped cook breakfast for those in need this past weekend.

 For More Information About Steel Buildings Visit Steelmasterusa.com

Letters from Our Customers - XII

We often receive letters from our customers telling us about their experience with our company, and we greatly appreciate their feedback and love to hear the stories of their buildings.

Below is a letter that we recently received from a couple who was very pleased with their purchase from SteelMaster.

THE ROOKERY - SteelMaster Quonset Hut

Our hangar is built on a pad where WWII Quonset Huts housed Army Air Corp aircraft at John Rodgers Field, which was the first airfield in Hawaii, now also called Kalaeloa Airfield, which is 10 miles from Honolulu International.

Rudy retired at 37 as an ARMY helicopter commander, so the hangar is reminiscent of his Korean experience, although the airfield is now co-joined with Barber’s Point Coast Air Station. The hangar is nested within the Outdoor Naval Air Museum, with numerous army vehicles surrounding it, so the SteelMaster building may be new, but it is nostalgic, none the less. In addition, there is a Viet Nam era Huey UH1 Helicopter that Rudy also flew.

The Quonset is called THE ROOKERY (an aviary for raptors) because it houses RAPTOR TANGO (our experimental aircraft) that we both fly (we also love to tango, hence the name).

We moved out of the Kalaeloa two story WWII hangar (cathedral like), which was an executive military hangar and used for Army Chinooks, now home to many experimental aircraft builders. Since they are creative builders, they were constantly examining the construction of our hangar and consensus is “It really looks great….didn’t think it would go up as quick.” There are two other competitor steel buildings there, but the consensus is the SteelMaster building is top on their list. We have a louver on each end, and the building remains comfortably cool all day in Hawaii. . . . a great design and is completely water proof!

Steel Building has Risen at Georgia Church

During the four nights leading up to the week before Christmas in 2009, approximately 1,800 people traveled to Glenloch Baptist Church, located just south of Roopville, GA, to embark on an outdoor walking tour of the little town of Bethlehem the way it may have appeared on the night of Jesus' birth.

Traveling past actors portraying lepers and beggars crowding the gate of the City of Bethlehem, participants persuaded soldiers to enter in order to register for the census. Beyond the gate, they navigated the marketplace as Mary and Joseph did more than 2000 years ago, while taking in the sights, sounds and smells of days gone past. Before them beckoned shops that sold bread, fruits and vegetables, oil and lamps, spices, and metal ware, as well as a weaver, basket maker and pottery shop.

All around families lived their everyday lives-eating their meals and tending to their animals. A couple named Mary and Joseph, who came to register for the census, took shelter in an animal stall, and Mary delivered a very special child.

At the end of the tour, visitors came upon a tomb. "There they heard about how Jesus came to earth as a babe, grew into a wonderful man who was also God, and gave his life for our sins," says Jo Creel, a member of Glenloch Baptist Church who is in charge of coordinating its creative arts programs. "The best part, which we save for last, is that he is no longer in the tomb. He is risen and lives in each of us who have accepted him as our Lord and Savior."

Creel and a dozen of the church's congregation began the work of transforming the grounds into "One Night in Bethlehem" during the late fall of last year, and part of that transformation included purchasing a pre-fabricated steel structure from SteelMaster Buildings, located in Virginia Beach, VA, to use as the tomb.

"We are always amazed at the creative ways that our customers make use of our buildings," says Michelle Wickum, the marketing director for SteelMaster Buildings. Each building utilizes a clear span design that offers 100 percent usable space along with the ease of construction that is provided by precision-made, pre-engineered building systems.

Creel says that visitors at the event are surprised when they learn what lies underneath the tomb's façade. "I don't think they realize that it is a steel building at all," says Creel. "If and when they do realize it, they are amazed."

The company's steel buildings include all the components necessary to erect a garage, a barn, a storage building, and even a building to be used as a makeshift tomb such as the one at Glenloch Baptist Church. The components are made to precise standards of accuracy for easy assembly, with pre-punched holes and only one size nuts and bolts for the entire building. The pre-engineered buildings are so simple to erect that more than 80 percent of customers construct their own building with huge labor cost savings.

The company's 30-Year Mill-Backed Warranty by ArcelorMittal (NYSE MT) ensures that the congregation at Glenloch Baptist Church can depend on the building during their production of "One Night in Bethlehem" for many years to come as they continue to entertain and enlighten members of their community in their mission to share their ministry with others.

Steel Carport Unlike all the Rest

In almost every town self storage units can be found for those who are looking. While the buildings themselves typically appear to look basically the same, Joan Lucas of Denver, CO knows that just because you’ve seen one self storage unit, doesn’t mean you’ve seen them all. Differences abound, and include the way the buildings are constructed, what materials are used, and the quality of those materials. The same can be said about carports.

As the past president of the Colorado Self Storage Association, Lucas is aware of the importance of building any structure with an appropriate, sturdy, durable material. When she decided to add a carport to her home driveway six months ago, she set about researching which company delivers the best product and decided upon SteelMaster Buildings in Virginia Beach, VA. What follows is a Q & A with Lucas where she explains the Who, What, Where, and Why’s of her newly built carport.

Why did you feel like you needed/wanted a carport?
 I was tired of shoveling snow off of our cars.

How many vehicles do you have that you park under the carport?
 We have two vehicles, but only park one under the carport.

 

What led you to buy a carport from SteelMaster Buildings in Virginia Beach, VA?

 Since I work in the self storage industry, I asked some of the suppliers which companies were good.

Did you put the carport up yourself or hire someone to do it?
I hired a contractor.

How long did it take for the contractor to complete the carport?
It was finished within one week of when he started construction.

How has your experience been with the carport?
Excellent.

Is there one particular instance that stands out in your mind where you were happy that you decided to add a carport?
As soon as we put my car under it the first night!

How was your experience working with SteelMaster?
Excellent – Truly Excellent!

According to Michelle Wickum, the director of marketing for SteelMaster Buildings, excellence is the standard the company works diligently to maintain. "SteelMaster Buildings has been in business for 28 years, and during that time we have amassed thousands of satisfied customers, including buildings located in every state in the United States, on six continents, and in more than 40 overseas countries," says Wickum. "Our customers deserve the best that steel has to offer, and that is what we deliver."

Wickum says that the SteelMaster prefab carport is unique to other carports on the market due to its ability to withstand all climate weather conditions while utilizing technology and the simplicity of the design perfected with the company’s buildings.  Their carport features a clear-span, single radius, low-profile arched structure that is supported by a 14 gauge beams and posts system and is available in sizes from 12 feet wide up to 20 feet wide and 18 feet to 40 feet in length.  Height for the steel carport varies from 9 feet to 15 feet depending on the width and length of the selected carport. SteelMaster also offers carports that are completely customizable to a customer’s specific needs. In addition, SteelMaster buildings and carports never have to be treated, painted, or maintained due to a Galvalume Plus coating.

The SteelMaster standard carport has been used for traditional application such as car shelter, truck covers, RV and tractor coverage, and farm equipment protection.  However, the company has designed steel carports for a variety of custom applications including bus stops, tram covers, smoke shacks, metal walkway, and boat lifts.