Steel Equipment Storage Buildings

When it Comes to Building a SteelMaster, There is No Place Like Home.

Smack dab in the middle of the United States is Kansas, which is often called the Heart of America. When many Americans think of Kansas, most likely two things come to mind: the movie "The Wizard of Oz" and tornadoes. But for Robert Williams and his wife who currently live in Olathe, KS, this Midwestern state is their home, so much so that they purchased a 10 acre plot of farm land in Pamona, KS (about 45 miles from Olathe) on which they intend to live out their retirement years.

After the Williams family bought their acreage in Pamona, they decided to build a shop on the property for equipment storage. "Before we bought our storage building, we kept our tractor and other equipment outside in the weather," says Robert.

Kansas is situated in what many consider to be "Tornado Alley" - an area where 90 percent of tornadoes spring to life because it is where cold, dry air from Canada and the Rocky Mountains meets warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico and hot, dry air from the Sonoran Desert. The combination of these conditions along with atomospheric instability produces intense thunderstorms which can lead to tornadoes. Ninety-four tornadoes were reported in Kansas during 2010, and the record year for tornadoes in the state was in 2008 with 187 tornadoes confirmed.

With this information in mind, the Williams had to make sure that the storage building they bought could withstand the high winds that come with tornadoes.

"I saw a [SteelMaster building] and liked what I saw, so that is what we purchased to use as our farm storage building," says Robert.

For more than 28 years, SteelMaster Buildings, which is located in Virginia Beach, VA, has manufactured, designed, and supplied pre-fabricated arched steel structures to 40,000 customers located in every state of the United States, in 40 countries, and on seven continents around the world.

"SteelMaster Buildings are engineered for life," says Michelle Wickum, the company's director of marketing. "Our steel buildings are also built to meet the wind loads of their destination whether that's in Kansas or on the coast of Florida. They remain maintenance free for a lifetime thanks to the company's use of Galvalume Plus Coating which offers strength, superior corrosion resistance, and an attractive bright appearance that provides excellent heat reflectivity." Each SteelMaster Building also comes with a 30-year mill-backed warranty by ArcelorMittal (NYSE MT).

Along with the help of his wife and two friends, Robert erected the steel building in November 2009 and finished by building the end walls in June of 2010. "I built the end walls using 2×6 lumber and red metal siding," says Robert. "The floor was poured as a monolithic 6? slab with thickened sides that sit on piers that are 12? diameter and 5 foot deep. The piers are placed every 6 foot around the perimeter of the building. I am pleased that all the material supplied with the building fit as designed, and I am pretty sure it will stand up to most of the weather Kansas can throw at it."

 Robert has this to say to others who are about to begin construction of their own SteelMaster building. "Read the construction manual, and then call the technical department at SteelMaster and tell them the size of your building and question them about the best method of putting the arches together. Also ask them to explain why it is so important to put the small angles on the curved sections to keep the curved sections from growing as you erect it."

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.

Visit us for more information at SteelMaster Buildings

Quonset Homes

We often get requests from customers wondering if our steel buildings can be used as a home. Of course they can! Quonset hutshave been used for homes since WWII. Below is a great article that highlights several Quonset Hut homes (including a couple from SteelMaster Buildings).

10 Really Cool Quonset Homes

In this poor housing market, quonset homes are popular with new homeowners as well as for retirees looking for an affordable way to move to a warmer climate. A quonset hut is an arch-style steel building that was used in World War II for equipment storage. Since then, quonset huts have been used as a less expensive metal building for equipment storage in commercial and agricultural settings. In today’s housing market, quonset hut homes are a popular option mainly because they’re less expensive to build or buy than other types of homes, and can be erected in less time.

Visit SteelMaster Buildings for more information.

Steel Building for Malvern Police

Four years ago, Hurricane Dean destroyed the historic police station and courthouse in the St. Elizabeth parish of Jamaica. The Malvern police station is now being replaced with a prefabricated steel building from SteelMaster Buildings. Read the full article from the Jamaica Observer below.

New and different station for stressed-out Malvern police

MALVERN, St Elizabeth - It looks like a large greenhouse or perhaps a warehouse. But police personnel in Malvern aren't complaining.

Four years after Hurricane Dean devastated the historic police station and courthouse, the Malvern police are eagerly awaiting completion of a rectangular, prefabricated galvanised structure just adjacent.

Since Hurricane Dean, law officers in this quiet highlands town have operated from a small, cramped room once used for Petty Sessions Court.

"We are really glad for it (new structure) and looking forward to moving in," District Constable Clifford Findlay, who has served the Malvern police for 27 years, told the Observer West on Monday.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Derrick Cochrane, who heads the Police Area Four comprising St Elizabeth, Manchester and Clarendon, told the Observer West that completion date was set for the end of September.

"I am told that it is 1,800 square feet in size which from the perspective of the police is larger than their previous space," Cochrane said yesterday.

"It will be all inclusive and it will have living accommodation," the Assistant Commissioner added.

"This comes as a great relief to the men and women serving in Malvern who have been greatly challenged for too long and have given yeoman service over all those years of discomfort and inconvenience," Cochrane said.

Efforts yesterday to get word from the Ministry of National Security regarding the cost of the project failed. However, back in 2009 when the foundation for the pre-fabricated building was being built the project cost was estimated by ministry officials at $8.5 million.

Back in 2009, then chief of police in St Elizabeth, Superintendent Merrick Watson, championed the need for a "proper" police station for the Malvern police region.

Describing it as crucial, he said: "We are talking about a very large area between Santa Cruz and Junction, which, while it is not a high crime area has a lot of people residing there including many returning residents. They require the constant presence of the police as a deterrent. So clearly there has to be a police station, properly structured and staffed, up and running," Watson said then.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that the new building will not be used for court sessions.

The upper floor of the old building was a primary centre for court sessions in St Elizabeth prior to Hurricane Dean.

It’s unclear what is to be done with the standing shell of the old building. It dates back 120 years.

One man who will never forget the night the Malvern police station and courthouse collapsed under the fury of Hurricane Dean is barber, Cleon Fagan. He was sleeping in his shop as Dean raged. He awoke to find himself buried from toe to chest under rubble, including bricks and large stones from the neighbouring upper floor which housed the courthouse. He managed to dig himself out with a piece of steel and escaped with severe bruising and cuts.

SteelMaster Buildings offers you quality, durability and versatility within an architectural arch design that makes our structures the strongest on earth.

Life Lessons at a Steel

The proverb, "Make hay while the sun shines" is one that dates back to 1546, but the lesson to make the most of an opportunity when it presents itself holds an enduring value to all people, not just farmers.

But that is what Jim Countryman is. He's a farmer, and a grain farmer to boot, although advances in weather forecasting and modern technology afford him greater advantages than those available to his peers living during the 16th century.

Nonetheless, he took a literal approach to the proverb’s figurative meaning in 1991 when he broke ground at his farm in Moville, IA to build an underground trench silo that he used to hold corn silage to feed cattle.

He got good use out of the silo, which is 13' deep, 35' across, and 105' long, for a number of years because there were plenty of cattle milling about that needed to be fed. But times change, and Countryman's silo and many others like it have been sitting empty for a few years, a hollow shell with no purpose.


It occurred to him that wasted space is a wasted opportunity, so he decided to use the empty silo as storage for farming machinery - big farming machinery - specifically, three tractors, a semi truck, a combine, and two combine heads.

"We used to have a canvas cover over it, but many people who did the same had them blow away in windstorms," says Countryman. "I decided to put something up that was better constructed and would last longer."

He did a bit of research on the Internet which led him to SteelMaster Buildings, located in Virginia Beach, VA.

For more than 29 years, the company has manufactured, designed, and supplied pre-fabricated arched steel structures to 40,000 customers located in every state of the United States, in 40 countries, and on six continents around the world.

Michelle Wickum, who is the director of marketing for SteelMaster Buildings, says that their buildings and roofing systems are popular with farmers who depend on the quality of their structures to protect their biggest assets.

"The quality of a SteelMaster Buildings is unrivaled in the marketplace for its rare blend of strength, style, and simplicity, which gives people like Mr. Countryman endless application possibilities" says Wickum. "As a result of our advanced arch technology, there is no need for beams, trusses, or supports. It is just a wide open space, which is perfect for large farming machinery."

Another benefit of a SteelMaster roofing system that Countryman says spoke to him was the cost savings and practicality of being able to construct most of it himself.

"My hired help and I installed the roof," says Countryman. "It took us a week to put it on, and then we had someone else to install the overhead door. I like that the structure is self-supporting and also that everything is precut to size and comes with good blueprints and installation instructions."

Wickum adds that there is no need for Countryman to waste another minute worrying about windstorms.

"SteelMaster steel buildings are engineered to meet the wind loads of their destination," says Wickum. "As opposed to wooden structures, some steel buildings, like the ones sold by SteelMaster Buildings remain maintenance free for a lifetime thanks to the company's use of Galvalume Plus Coating which offers strength, superior corrosion resistance, and an attractive bright appearance that provides excellent heat reflectivity. Each SteelMaster building also comes with a 30-year mill-backed warranty by ArcelorMittal (NYSE MT)."

Countryman says that because there isn’t another building nearby that looks like his now that the SteelMaster roof is in place, he hopes the transformation of his silo will serve to show people what an opportunity they have in SteelMaster.

"They can see that these old silos can now be brought back to good use."

In addition to roofing systems, SteelMaster's steel and metal pre-engineered buildings are designed for a broad range of residential and commercial applications including homes, farm buildings, garages, workshops, agricultural storage, Quonsets, airplane hangars, RV storage, carports, military buildings, commercial warehousing, and industrial storage as well as a wide variety of custom building applications including athletic facilities, retail stores, churches, bus stops, smoke shacks, doggie dorms, and correctional facilities.

It's a World of Wonder a World of Steel

To the average person, walking through the gates of Walt Disney World near Orlando, FL is akin to being sucked into a vortex of sensory overload. There are oversized furry mice miming their way through conversations with children, teacups wildly being strewn about, and upbeat, sing-songy music blanketing the ears of wide-eyed visitors.

But there is another side to this utopian mega park, a side that is everywhere and nowhere depending on where you are looking, and it involves the "Hidden Mickey."

The first Hidden Mickeys were created as an inside joke between Disney employees who 'hid' Mickey Mouse's silhouette in the design and construction of the theme park and resort. There is no concrete number of how many exist, but estimates run well over a thousand. Many people, including Disney's employees who are dubbed "Imagineers" are on a constant hunt for Hidden Mickeys - for them, that is where the magic lies. Sure the rides and the kingdom and the shows are great, but it is what has been cleverly hidden in the infrastructure of the Magic Kingdom that intimates the essence of fun and wonder of the happiest place on Earth.

About an eight hour drive north from Walt Disney World is Gaffney, SC, and that is where Jeff Whelchel lives. A cursory tour around his property doesn’t hold the same kind of blinding excitement that is found at Disney - there are no princesses walking about or thunderous mountains to scale, but there is magic to be found if you know where to look - in a steel shed that Whelchel bought some 10 years ago.

"I needed a good shop for me, my son, and my father to work on some project cars we had purchased," says Whelchel. "We have restored a 1965 Mustang, and although my father has passed away, my son and I have a 1966 Mustang we are currently restoring and a 1995 Ford Truck and a 1955 Oldsmobile that are waiting to be restored."

He says he bought the building from SteelMaster Buildings in Virginia Beach, VA, which has manufactured, designed, and supplied pre-fabricated arched steel structures to 40,000 customers world-wide for more than 29 years.

"I went with a local SteelMaster representative and looked at a SteelMaster building that was already functioning as a fresh market," says Whelchel. "When I saw the building, I loved it, and I was sold. I constructed the building myself, along with my father and my son. I also added a masonry bathroom on the back of the building. Once we got the first set of sections in place, plumb and square, the process was quite easy. All the nuts and bolts it required were time consuming, but the excellent construction made it all worthwhile."

SteelMaster Buildings are known for their durability, versatility, and ease of construction. They are known to withstand hurricanes, never need any maintenance, and for being affordable. But, would anyone go so far as to call the building full of magic or wonder? Whelchel would.

"The fact is my father, my son, and I did most of the work ourselves, and the three of us have the same initials," says Whelchel. “When I poured the entrance ramp up, we each put an initial in the concrete that is a reminder of the great times we all shared (along with a lot of sweat) - I made the "J", my son made the "S", and my father made the "W". Not only did we personalize the building, but it serves as a constant reminder of the great bond we all shared, the memories we made in "OUR" building, and it is a wonderful memorial to my father, whom I love very much."

There probably have been many people who have been inside of Whelchel's SteelMaster building who hadn’t a clue of the "Hidden Mickey" that sat right under their feet because they were too distracted by the unique steel building or the cool cars being restored. But a world of wonder is there in that space, silently telling the story of a love between three generations of men who share a bond stronger than the steel that sheltered their many moments together - and there isn't a Fairy Tale around that can tell a story as magical as that.

SteelMaster Featured in Inside Business

After being honored by the U.S. Senate Productivity and Quality Award for Virginia as one of 12 companies to watch, SteelMaster Buildings was featured in Inside Business.

A new initiative that recognizes Virginia's thriving small businesses has named two Hampton Roads companies among its "12 to Watch" for 2011. They are SteelMaster Buildings in Virginia Beach and Aromas Specialty Coffees & Gourmet Bakery in Newport News and Williamsburg.

The U.S. Senate Productivity and Quality Award Program for Virginia launched the initiative this year, honoring the inaugural 12 on Sept. 8 at the 29th Annual Virginia Forum for Excellence in Richmond.

The companies are “on the cusp of major growth,” Virginia SPQA Board Chair Jo Rohr said in a press statement. To qualify, they met rigorous standards from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. They will receive Criteria for Performance Excellence training, mentoring and scholarship participation in Virginia SPQA's Discovery Program.

We asked the local winners - one a Peninsula coffeehouse, the other a Southside firm that manufactures, designs and supplies arched steel structures throughout the U.S. - what to watch for from their companies. Here’s what they said :-

Rob Poellnitz

Vice President

SteelMaster Buildings

www.SteelMasterUSA.com

“We are seeing significant growth in our international markets and are currently working on some interesting projects in Haiti, Africa, Costa Rica, Peru and Uruguay. We have just completed our first two Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified projects, an animal shelter in Austin, Texas, and a manufacturing facility in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

“We are also expanding into new markets with two different housing projects in New York, (which were recently) featured in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Daily News.”

WWII Aircraft Restoration Soars in Steel

For people who are not familiar with warbird restoration, a conversation with Tom Reilly will leave their head spinning with his cyclonic references to numbers and letters that together form a powerful torrent of history.

A warbird is a term used to describe vintage military aircraft, typically from the World War II era, and Reilly has been restoring them for 40 years.

More specifically, he has performed 34 major restorations which included ten B-25s, three B-17s, one B-24, one F4U Corsair, a P-40, and nine T-6 (SNJ) aircraft.

To the average layperson, what all those numbers and letters boil down to is that Reilly knows his stuff, which was evident to the legions of people who visited the Flying Tigers Warbird Restoration Museum in Kissimmee, FL.

In 1985, Reilly bared the belly of his passion for bomber-type aircrafts when he opened the doors to this popular attraction where visitors could get a bird’s-eye view of a restoration in progress as well as his vast collection of aircrafts and related memorabilia.

Some 20 years later, Hurricane Charley ravaged the museum to the point that Reilly had had enough of the weather’s seemingly endless assault on Kissimmee, which is a suburb of Orlando.

"I shut the business down after Hurricanes Charley, Frances, and Jeanne tore through the place, one right after the other," says Reilly. “It felt like Kissimmee had a big bull’s eye on it that every hurricane was gunning for."

But for Reilly, when one door (or in his case, a hangar) closed, another one opened, which is why now he can be found in Douglas, GA heading up a intensive restoration project for a company he founded called the B-25 Group on the North American Aviation XP-82 Twin Mustang prototype. This aircraft is only one of two that still exist in civilian hands, and he and his team have been working on restoring it to fly once again since 2008.

According to the project website (www.xp-82twinmustangproject.com), they have made significant progress in bringing the XP-82 back to flying status, having completed the left-hand and right-hand fuselages, both engine mounts, top cowlings, horizontal, elevator, both aft fuselage extensions and verticals, center flap, and landing gear. They are heavy into the rebuild of the ailerons (four), rudders, and center section. Nixon’s Vintage V-12s has both right-hand and left-hand engines complete, and MT Propeller delivered the two propellers, a right-hand and counter-rotating left-hand.

It was earlier this year when Reilly realized there was one big piece of the puzzle he desperately needed before he and his crew could continue to properly restore the XP-82 - space.

They initially had set up shop in a Quonset hut-styled WWII hangar located north of the Fixed Based Operator at the Douglas Municipal Airport that was built in 1940 and used as a flight-training base for 10,000 men during World War II.

"That hangar became so full that we had to have our own facility when we started assembling," says Reilly. "I knew I wanted the new building to have the same Quonset hut look and to be made of steel, so I started contacting companies that sold what I was looking for - and SteelMaster Buildings was one of them."

For more than 29 years' SteelMaster Buildings, which is located in Virginia Beach, VA, has manufactured, designed, and supplied pre-fabricated arched steel structures to 40,000 customers located in every state of the United States, in 40 countries, and on seven continents around the world.

"I was talking to four or five different steel building manufacturers, and quality and price were definitely things that I was comparing," says Reilly. "But ultimately I went with SteelMaster because of the comfort level I had dealing with a salesman there named Rob Cass. I was impressed by how straight-forward he is and how knowledgeable he is about the buildings. He didn't give me any high-pressured sales pitch, but with a product that is manufactured as well as a SteelMaster building is, that type of nonsense isn’t necessary."

According to SteelMaster's Director of Marketing Michelle Wickum, most customers assemble and raise their buildings without a contractor, which adds to their cost effectiveness.

"Our buildings are sensibly designed so that assembly is straightforward and uncomplicated - you definitely don’t have to be someone of Mr. Reilly's skill level and expertise to put it up," says Wickum. "There is only a one-size nut and bolt system to work with, and an easy-to-read and detailed construction manual, YouTube videos, and of course people like Rob Cass are always available to assist during any phase of the assembly process."

Four of Reilly's employees had his SteelMaster Buildings up in no time, and he is there almost every day with his crew working on the restoration of the XP-82.

"I am constantly thinking about this aircraft and planning for the next step and then the step after that," says Reilly. "We are getting the restoration perfect, right down to the smallest detail."

Reilly and the crew found some interesting notes on the prototype parts prior to restoration, apparently between co-workers to communicate with each other between shifts during the war, such as "426 AD 4-6 rivet goes here" (complete with an arrow) and "John, I will have the tickets for you tomorrow for the theatre."

Reilly's crew documented and saved the graffiti to reapply it to the newly painted interior surfaces, and they have even gone as far as spectrographing the different colors of paints throughout the interior of the aircraft, duplicating the colors exactly. They also found and purchased the original WW II 442 head-style rivets to use in the restoration.

"I have been doing this work for 40 years, and I can't imagine ever not doing it. But, I had never be where I am without the many, many people who have helped me and lent their support throughout this journey, especially when it comes to this project - it's been the greatest ride ever."

Steel Yourself Now, for Snow is Sure to Come

If last year's winter snowfall reports are any indication, Old Man Winter can be a fickle foe, wreaking havoc on the lives of unsuspecting folks living throughout the United States as if by whim.

But then there are those areas where Old Man Winter is definitely expected and typically welcomed, one of which is New York’s Catskills Mountains.

Ron Fischer owns a home in the Catskills and generally appreciates all the area has to offer during the winter months, but he admits; the snow can be troublesome at times. This thought was very much with him as he recently began exploring the various buildings he could construct to store the yield of his trade - sculptures.

“I looked at wood sheds that are online and also ones that are built by locals in the area,” says Fischer. “They were generally too small for my needs. Stylistically, wood seemed to make the most sense in this rural area, yet I personally prefer steel structures, even in the country, and even though our house is a small, white clapboard, 19th century wood structure. I looked at pole-barns that are made of steel, and they just looked so fragile, and I hate to say, cheap looking. I thought about re-conditioned steel storage freight containers that you can buy, paint any color, and have delivered to your property, but they also were too small.”

He eventually settled upon purchasing a Quonset hut, although he admits he did not know much about them at first.

“I only knew how they looked, which I liked,” says Fischer. “Truth be told, SteelMaster Buildings was the first company I looked at when going online, and Roy House, the great salesman he is, sold me my building from the clearance sale department right there on the spot - and I have to admit, I felt a little foolish buying a building without doing any research. But, since I was thinking of this as an art experience, I figured I would just let intuition lead the way and go for it…and I am not sorry.”

For more than 29 years, SteelMaster Buildings, which is located in Virginia Beach, VA, has manufactured, designed, and supplied pre-fabricated arched steel structures to 40,000 customers located in every state of the United States, in 40 countries, and on seven continents around the world.

From the beginning, Fischer knew that he was going to use the SteelMaster building more as a roofing material and build a wood frame inside for structural support, even though the building is rated for
his area.

“People up here have many stories of buildings of this type collapsing under the weight of snow that can accumulate (we are located at the top of a mountain in the Catskills, near two very popular ski areas),” says Fischer. “I wasn’t going to take any chances.”

According to Michelle Wickum, who is the director of marketing for SteelMaster Buildings, Fischer never had anything to worry about.

“All SteelMaster Buildings are rated for the wind and snow load requirements for the county in which they will be located,” says Wickum. “The unique arch design of these steel buildings provides security and durability against fire, snow, and hurricane-force winds, while remaining aesthetically pleasing. Also, you don’t have to treat it, paint it, or maintain it. With a SteelMaster building, you just enjoy it. The Galvalume Plus coating provides years of maintenance-free use.”

Another benefit of a SteelMaster building is that most customers assemble and raise the arches to complete the construction of their building without a contractor, which saves people a great deal of money.

“All of our steel buildings come with an easy-to-read and detailed manual to aid in the construction of your new metal building,” says Wickum. “We have posted many how-to videos on our YouTube channel to help people along in the process. Also, our customers should always remember that their SteelMaster Building Specialist and our Customer Service Representatives are available should they have any questions during any phase of the assembly process.”

Fischer admits that he is currently feeling some pressure to get most of the building constructed before the first snow of the season falls.

“I would like to say we will be finished with the building before the winter sets in, but again, up in this area the winter comes early and strongly,” says Fischer. “I for one do not want to be up there, especially working outside, so I guess it won’t really be finished until late next spring of 2012. But, we will have enough completed by the end of November to be comfortable that it is structurally sound for the winter months.”

Once winter passes, Fischer already has plans in place for how he is going to customize the building to his needs and aesthetic leanings.

“I am having extruded aluminum louvers fabricated that are designed to let air into the building but not water,” says Fischer. “These louvers are really meant for high-rise buildings, but not only will they be functional (I don’t expect to enter the building that much so I did not want to deal with opening and closing louvers for different weather conditions) but they, like the SteelMaster building, are really cool looking. The ends will be made of wood (I will be using the SteelMaster end wall sections that came with my building, as shelving units inside the building) to go along with the interior aesthetic of the building, which will have extensive wood supports. There will be an 8′ x 16′ wood deck in the front facing a pond that is on our property, and I am planning on attaching a sun shade structure to the wood deck. I decided, if I am going to build a storage space for my sculpture, I should have a little fun with the project and deal with it as if I were making a sculpture, and not just a building.”

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 homes, farm buildings, garages, workshops, agricultural storage, Quonsets, airplane hangars, RV storage, roofing systems, carports, military buildings, commercial warehousing, and industrial storage as well as a wide variety of custom building applications including athletic facilities, retail stores, churches, bus stops, smoke shacks, doggie dorms, and correctional facilities.