Blind Man Builds a Steel Building

We receive many questions about the ease of construction of our steel buildings.  One of our customers in Florida demonstrates the true ease of construction that comes with a SteelMaster Buildings.

Bob Krokker built a 12,500 square foot SteelMaster in Citrus County, Florida that is used as a workshop for teaching woodworking classes to other blind people to allow them to become skilled carpenters.  His goal for these individuals is for them to take their craft and return home as journeymen and to pass the trade to more blind people.  Krokker and his apprentices build wood chests, hutches and cabinets.  Krokker works with the Wishing Well Center, a sort of school and community center run by Blind Americans, Inc. in Hernando, Florida.

Krokker was a successful contractor for custom-built homes in Clearwater until he lost his sight to diabetes and glaucoma nearly 25 years ago.  After the loss of his sight, he embarked on  a two-year tour of the United States, looking for a program that helped the blind to become more independent that he could model after.  After finding one in Texas, he returned home and received a grant from the Florida to pay for the new SteelMaster steel workshop to house his project.

With the help of Jim Miekka, a 42-year old blind man from Hernando, Krokker completed the SteelMaster structure by fastening the workshop structure with our one nut and bolt system.

SteelMaster steel buildings include all the component parts necessary to erect a garage, workshop, storage building or a building for any purpose.  These components are made to precise standards of accuracy for easy assembly and are pre-punched and pre-drilled holes with only one size nut and bolt for the entire building.  Our prefabricated steel buildings are so simple to erect that over 80% of our customers construct their own buildings which means huge contractor cost savings!

Here are the 3 steps for constructing a SteelMaster steel building:

    Build Your Arches – assembling your steel building is safe and easy with 70% of the work done on the ground.
    Raise the Arches – in most cases, no heavy equipment is required to raise up the arches for your steel building.
    Fit Arches Together – Our precision built steel arches fit together perfectly.  The precision overlap of the arches provides more steel integrity at critical connection points, ensuring the easiest-to-assemble, strongest, best fitting arch system available.

For More information About Steel buildings and If u have Any Reviews and Complaints Fill Steelmaster Complaints Form

The Art of Steel

I like surprises, and I experienced one over this past weekend.

My surprise didn’t show up in the form of a party or a winning lottery ticket. There weren’t balloons or noisemakers or any hoopla at all—there was simply a conversation by email.

The person I exchanged emails with is Julie Clark who lives in Rising Fawn, GA with her husband Bruz. I contacted her to get some information about her SteelMaster building, which she uses for storage. What I ended up learning was unexpected and fascinating—Clark is an artist, and her medium is blacksmith and metal working.

What I know about blacksmithing is that it was a common form of employment for men some 200 years ago, and their end result was typically wagon axles, plowshares, swords, and horseshoes. Back then, the blacksmith heated iron or steel, pounded, shaped, and cooled it over and over again until it became what it was meant to be.

Nowadays, the same heating, pounding, and shaping process still goes on, but the end product is typically considered art—with both men and women delivering the mighty blows toward creation.

I was intrigued, so in addition to asking her questions about her SteelMaster storage shed (made by SteelMaster Buildings in Virginia Beach, VA), I delved a bit into her own drive to dabble in an art form that requires a lot of fire, smoke, and tools. Here is the interview:

BHW: How long have you been a blacksmith and metal working artist, and what got you into working with that material?

JC: I grew up with horses, and after I graduated from college in 1987, I went to farrier school to learn how to shoe. We made all of the horseshoes in a coal forge, which led to my interest in blacksmithing as an art form. I didn’t begin making art full time until the mid 90’s.

My husband, Bruz and I spent five years building our own house, and during that time I obtained a two-year degree in welding at a local community college and began playing around with metal work and sculpture.

After we finished the house, we built my shop, SpitFire. Both combine timber frame and post and beam joinery, using a lot of steel brackets to join the timbers. I took the welding classes to gain more knowledge about welding in order to feel comfortable about welding the brackets that hold up the house.

My husband is proficient in wood working and I love metal, so it is a fabulous combination. I have my work at InTown Gallery in Chattanooga and also participate in craft fairs, and I also teach a blacksmithing class at the John C. Campbell Folk School in North Carolina.

BHW: What key components do people typically have in a blacksmith shop, and do you have those in yours?

JC: If by components, you are referring to structural, I would have to say a hoist is key. We installed an I-beam with an attached hoist that runs the full length of my shop. I use it often.

With metal working, fire is always an issue, and even though oak timbers are the support material, the floor is concrete and my interior side walls are concrete and corrugated metal.
Our building has a clear story with windows, which let in much needed natural light and adequate ventilation comes from being able to open both end doors, allowing wonderful air flow. Plenty of outlets are a must as well, especially for a metal working shop.

If by components, you are referring to equipment, I have various things, to suit my mood. If I am in the mood to forge, I have a propane forge, 250# anvil, post vice, treadle hammer, little giant power hammer, and various other tools. If I am in the mood to weld up a sculpture, I have various welders, plasma cutter, oxy/ace torch and a nice large layout table. Often times an artist will either specialize in blacksmithing or metal working. I am fortunate to have skills and interest in both areas, but when I teach, I always tell my students that you do not need all of the things that I have to get started. You can do a lot with just a few key items, such as a gas forge, small anvil, small welder, and a few tongs and hammers.

BHW: Where did you work on your art before you built the blacksmith shop?

JC: I paid my dues for a number of years in a tiny wooden shed, 10' x 12', with a gravel floor that used to house shavings for the horses. I cleaned it out and my husband ran electricity to it. I called it Sparky. I actually loved it and would not have traded my time in it for anything.

I think it is important to work one’s way up to a nice space. I appreciate my new shop, having worked so long in Sparky!

BHW: When did you decide that you wanted to build another stand-alone shop?

JC: When we built the shop, I did not really account for storage for steel. It is not my nature to accumulate huge quantities of steel, or scrap, because I can’t function in clutter. But, after completing the shop and working in it for a couple of years, I knew I needed a dry space for bar stock and sheet metal. What I did accumulate ended up on the floor of my shop, and I had to always step over it. I also have to say, that it was important to find a small building that fit in with my beautiful timber framed shop. The little [SteelMaster] Quonset hut is a perfect addition. My husband and I are huge believers that a structure, no matter what its use, has to be attractive as well as functional.

BHW: When you realized you needed a place to store your metal and you decided to go with a Quonset hut, what led you to SteelMaster?

JC: We were on a trip in North Carolina, and while on a little country road, we drove past a tiny little Quonset hut that looked like a little garden shop. I did not realize that a hut could be so small, so when I got home, I Googled “Quonset hut”.

A few companies came up and asked for dimensions in order to give a quote. SteelMaster was the first to contact me. The person I talked to was so nice; I never even got quotes from the others. Simple kindness really does pay off.

We followed the instruction for building a form for a pad and had it poured—it took us about four days to put up the frame. We were totally amazed at how easily it went up and that all the bolt holes matched perfectly. We have talked it up so much that a couple of friends came by, and they are thinking about building one.

I would highly recommend SteelMaster. We received follow up calls and my husband had a question about the anchor brackets and received very helpful and friendly answers from someone at the company.

BHW: What is it about the old military-style Quonset huts that you like? Have you seen them in various places throughout your life, or is this an image that you have from movies/TV/etc.?

JC: Good question. I am not really sure, but I have always known about the old military style Quonset huts and thought they were a cool structure. I find the arch visually appealing, and I am familiar with the strength of the arch in construction as well having marveled at the ancient French aqueducts.

BHW: Are you confident in your SteelMaster when it comes to durability/resilience?

JC: I must tell you this funny story. When we were building our house, a dear friend was writing an article for Southern Living on good luck charms found in foundations of dwellings all over the world. During medieval times it was not uncommon for the wealthy to sacrifice a human and bury the remains in the foundation. Over time, that led to burying a shoe. So our friend sacrificed his LL Bean loafer to go into our foundation. The tradition continued with my Mom giving up her classic beige pump, which was submerged into the slab for the Quonset.

I am convinced that they all bring us good luck because a couple of weeks ago, our little town of Trenton, GA was torn to pieces by a tornado. As the crow flies, the town is about five miles west. We had put up the hut, and had it anchored to the slab with brackets, but had not filled in with the grout. A neighbor called to say a tornado had touched down and would be in Trenton in 20 minutes. I went into our lower room and got up against a wall. It was wild, and I sat there thinking, that the Quonset hut would surely be gone. Thankfully, our house, shop, and the Quonset hut came through unscathed. Now, whether it was saved from damage due to luck of the shoe or because of well designed, sturdy components; I’ll let you decide!

BHW: You mentioned in your writing that you thought the Quonset hut would make a great pub…what made you think of that, and can you elaborate just a bit on that thought for me?

JC: My husband and I do enjoy wine, but we are total beer connoisseurs. Complete snobs! I mean, we even named our dog after our favorite beer, Stella Artois. Anyway, so all through our building projects, at the end of the work day, after all the tools were put away, we would look forward to a good beer and to rehash the progress. Our good friend and architect, who helped with the design and construction of both our house and shop, used to kid us about designing a separate building to hold the kegs and running the hoses right into the shop. The minute we put up the adorable Quonset hut, all we could think of was, it would be a great pub for us to house our extensive collection of foreign beer, to have our friends over and to enjoy!

In addition to sheds and 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.

For More information About Steel buildings and If u have Any Reviews and Complaints Fill Steelmaster Complaints Form

It’s a SteelMaster Home for this Smooth Captain

"Captain Bill" Smith calls El Dorado, Arkansas home when he is not busy with his Captain duties towing massive cargo barges in and out of New Orleans. Even when he is not on the water though, one might say Billy Smith is still a smooth operator.

His desire to own a SteelMaster buildings started several years ago. Back when Billy was in high school his grandfather bought one. He knew someday he too, would be the proud owner of a SteelMaster building. However his would not be used for a workshop, garage, or storage.

Billy purchased a 30’x16’ building which is being carefully crafted into quite the bachelor pad. In his words, "I guess you can tell by the looks of my kitchen that I’m not married, huh? Ha-ha. And no home is complete without a bar."

From what we could tell from his pictures, his kitchen looks just fine. With stainless steel appliances that match the rest of his sleek modern interior, his kitchen is more than workable. Billy refuses to insulate his building. He likes the ultra-chic industrial appearance of the steel and metal walls. He managed to keep his home adequately warm last winter with a wood stove and a ceiling fan to circulate the air, given heat rises. His bedroom stays nice and toasty since it is located in the rear quarter of his building in a second-floor loft area.

Keeping his home cool has not been an issue either. He has been comfortable with one window air-conditioning unit and a turbine vent. Although he is planning to add two additional vents, he decided to go with a window unit instead of central air because, "If it stops working, I do not have to call a technician. I can just kick it out of my window and buy another one!" he says.

The picture of his bar reveals his true craftsmanship. The dimly-lit designer lighting and step-up bar make a great gathering place where he and his friends can hang out and unwind. There is also the luxury of knowing neither he nor his friends have to drive home or call a cab after partaking in a few libations conjured up at Billy’s bar.

Billy has taken his time with his home and furnished it with quality finishes that will last, just like his SteelMaster building. Although a humble man, he admitted with the exception of constructing the building, he has done all the interior work himself. He enjoys working on it in-between being out on the barge. The size of his building is perfect for him. The bonus of the unencumbered floor to ceiling space which is uniquely a SteelMaster design feature, adds jaw-dropping drama to the entrance of his home. The tall span gives it a high ceiling without a boxed-in feeling.

Billy’s goal was to have a maintenance-free home that would be distinctively his as well as a conversation piece. He wanted his home to be secure when he was at sea, and safe enough to withstand severe weather. Some might think that would be asking a lot. But with a SteelMaster building you get that and much more.

SteelMaster buildings are backed by a 30-year warranty from our factory where the building kits are designed and fabricated. They are safe and secure enough for the government and the military. SteelMaster buildings have withstood hurricane force winds, tornadoes, heavy snow loads, and extreme temperature fluctuations, all the while keeping the contents within safe and sound.

The arches and end walls of SteelMaster Buildings are treated with SteelMaster’s Galvalume Plus. This thin, clear, organic coating eliminates the need for conventional chemical treatment while maintaining a bright, heat reflective and corrosion resistant finish. No need for Billy to worry about termites either, since he owns a steel and metal home.

At SteelMaster, we are constantly amazed by the innovative abilities of our customers and friends. Billy’s home is no exception. We remain grateful to those who share their stories for our website too. It serves as proof positive the use possibilities of our buildings are indeed infinite.

Here’s to smooth sailing, Captain Bill. We thank you. We have a feeling you will be having plenty of (ahem) friends over to admire your bachelor pad! (wink-wink!)

For More information About Steel building and If u have Any Reviews and Complaints Fill Steelmaster Complaints Form we get back to you soon.

SteelMaster Home in Arch Daily

The "Arc House" was recently featured on the Selected Works section of Arch Daily’s website. The house uses a SteelMaster steel building to create an open floor plan for the living, dining and kitchen areas. To see pictures of the project and learn more about the design, click the photo below.

Mesa is a Mecca for Steel, Thanks to Local Artist

Trust.

Such a simple word but one with implications that pervade every avenue down which life takes us.

For William Barnhart of Mesa, AZ, the word acts as his starting block-a place from which he positions his intentions and gains stability in the knowing that he will emerge from the empty spaces and chaos of color and textures with a painting, sculpture, or print that speaks a language in a way that is unique to him but understood by many.

But while he takes creative expression seriously, a look around his studio space tells the story of an artist with a lighthearted sense of humor that has never lost touch with the childhood wonder of his youth.

Trust can actually be seen in his studio because he etched the word into the start of the glass catwalk that stretches to a VW Bus mounted 12' off the floor that has been converted into a bedroom with its own power supply, air conditioning, television, and skylight.

"It is quite disorienting for some people to walk on the glass catwalk, and they automatically look down to try to orient themselves,"says Barnhart. "That is why I etched the word Trust into the glass at the start of the catwalk-and when they ultimately make it across safely to the end of the catwalk and are just about to step off, they read the second thing I etched into the glass-75 lb Max (the two pieces of tempered glass that make up the walkway actually hold 5,000 lbs).”

Barnhart began construction on his studio in 2005 and finished in 2008. Located about five miles from his home, his studio is 3,700 + square feet with 28' ceilings and complete with a rock climbing wall, bathroom, shower, fireman's pole, the VW Bus, loft space, office, and gallery. A 1,500 lb arched steel and concrete-ball entry gate gently pivots across the driveway to the front, and there is a lushly planted xeriscaped sculpture garden in the back. All the glass and steel plus various additional materials that together form his studio are used or recycled.

The building is unmistakable from the outside with its 12' concrete block wall supporting a Quonset-style arched steel roofing system which Barnhart bought from SteelMaster Buildings in Virginia Beach, VA. Barnhart chose this specific style and material for the studio's roofing system for nostalgic reasons.

"While in college we had a few professors who went to bat for us students to find us studio space,"remembers Barnhart. "One spot they came up with was a Quonset hut-the Geology department used the bottom floor to store rocks, and we used the loft space as a studio. I fell in love with the building and the arched space. With my current studio, I wanted a really tall space so that if I wanted to create a 25' sculpture I can. The SteelMaster roofing system makes that possible.”

For more than 29 years, SteelMaster Buildings 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.

Michelle Wickum is the director of marketing for SteelMaster and says that Barnhart made a wise decision when he chose to build his second garage with steel.

"Steel does not rot, warp, shrink, or split, and it is non-combustible,"says Wickum. "SteelMaster buildings are easier to handle, stronger, and less expensive than any other common garage building materials. Steel's inherent strength resists fire, earthquake, and hurricane damage. Steel components weigh up to 60 percent less than wood members, and all steel products are repeatedly recyclable.”

In addition, Wickum says that the arch design of the building as well as the clear-span, truss-less interior provides people with the option to customize the building however they like.

Barnhart says he really did his research before deciding upon buying from SteelMaster.

"I contacted about every company there is that makes them and requested materials and price quotes,"says Barnhart. "A SteelMaster representative sent me this book that contained dimensions, drawings, engineering specs-it was at least 60-80 pages long! Their pricing was very competitive. When I saw that SteelMaster exclusively provided NASA with all of its Quonset hut buildings, I was sold-that is a very big deal and says a lot about the company and its products.”

Barnhart's studio is not open to the general public, so if anyone is interested in seeing the dynamics of his building from the inside including his gallery, which holds many pieces of his art, they should visit his website.

People who finds themselves at the Transit Shelter at Superstition Spring Mall in Mesa just need to look around to view Barnhart's work that cannot be found in his gallery.

"I received a call from the head of transportation for the city who wanted to come and take a look at my studio,"says Barnhart. "He told me about the Transit Station project and asked me if I would be interested in being the lead designer and point person for the project-which of course I was. I was assisted by TranSystems and their Architectural and Engineering team, as well as a host of others to bring this project to fruition.”

The Station sits on a site more than 600' long, which is surrounded by more than 1,200 linear feet of fencing, and will accommodate five double busses at once. It is designed to service five local bus routes, and the BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) which is part of the Light Rail System in the valley. More information on the Station can be found here.

The Transit Station recently won the prestigious "Crescordio Award"for Environmental Excellence in 2010, partially due to its innovative use of sustainable and recyclable materials, and the integration of desert fauna into the design of the Station, and esthetic components. The Station features a green, or "living roof"planted with desert cacti.

Barnhart incorporated two SteelMaster buildings into the Station-the big arch that serves as a breezeway and the other as a driver relief station.

"The year of 2009 was a whirlwind of activity in the studio,"says Barnhart. "Not only did I design the Station, but all of the esthetic and artistic components of the project were fabricated and installed by me and my team. It was a huge undertaking, but definitely worth it. I know that I can't go wrong with a SteelMaster, and I recommended them to quite a few people. Their customer service is great, and I love the product and the fact that I can use it in non-traditional ways. With a product this good, there are no limits to the possibilities.”

In addition to studios and transit stations, 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.

SteelMaster Kids Participate in Operation Smile

Over the weekend, several SteelMaster kids participated in Operation Smile Final Mileas a part of The Shamrock Sportsfest in Virginia Beach, VA. The Operation Smile Final Mile is designed to teach children the importance of exercise, commitment and helping children born with facial deformities. Students run in school and/or at home during the months leading up to the race to complete 25.2 miles and, in March, they run their "final mile” for a total of 26.2 miles the equivalent of one marathon). Check out pictures below…

SteelMaster Sponsors PIN Golf Tournament

Last Friday, PIN Ministries held its 6th Annual Golf Tournament at Honeybee Golf Course in Virginia Beach, VA. SteelMaster Buildings was a Gold Sponsor for the event with members of the leadership team playing in the tournament and selling raffle tickets to raise more money for the charity.

The charitable organization hosts several annual fundraisers throughout the year that raise money for food, clothing, housing, medial assistance, job training and spiritual support for the homeless in Virginia Beach. These events include the golf tournament, ping pong tournament (Ping Pong for Poverty), VB Rock and Roll Half Marathon and the comedy night.

Click here if you are interested in learning more about the PIN Ministry of Virginia Beach or donating, please click here.

SteelMaster Named "Top 10 to Watch" Winner

SteelMaster Buildings has just been named a "Top 10 to Watch" business by the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce. Businesses that were considered for the award had to be a South Hampton Roads for-profit emerging business with fewer than 99 employees, in business for six years or less, or should have introduced a new product or entered a new market in the last five years.

As SteelMaster continues to grow worldwide, we have entered many markets across the globe over the past five years. SteelMaster will proudly accept the award as a "Top 10 to Watch" business on May 19, 2011 in Virginia Beach. To see the rest of the winners, click here.

SteelMaster Featured in Metal Construction News

SteelMaster Buildings was featured in the March 2011 issue of Metal Construction News for winning the UPS Growth through Global Trade Award. Read the full article below.

SteelMaster awarded for global growth

By unanimous decision, SteelMaster Buildings was awarded the UPS “Growth through Global Trade Award” which recognizes the company as the top U.S. business with fewer than 500 employees that excels in international trade. SteelMaster Buildings is located in Virginia Beach, Va. and is a manufacturer, designer and supplier of arched steel structures.

A panel of experts reviewed and judged the many Growth through Global Trade award entries that it received since late August 2010 in search of the company that best exemplifies a business that excels at exporting. The criteria that determined the judges’ decision was based on growth of international sales and/or business operations; an entrepreneurial spirit and innovative pursuit of international growth opportunities; and ambitious plans to continue growing the company through exporting.

“SteelMaster Buildings was a clear stand-out for the Growth through Global Trade Award,” says Dale Hayes, vice president, UPS small business and retail marketing. “SteelMaster understands the true economic impact of exporting and has smartly grown its business overseas through selling directly to customers and by developing a robust network of distributors.”

For 28 years, SteelMaster Buildings has manufactured, designed, and supplied pre-fabricated arched steel structures to more than 40,000 customers spanning 40 countries and seven continents. But it wasn’t until the past five years that the company began exploring opportunities to export its product internationally in earnest.

SteelMaster Home Featured in Wall Street Journal

The Arc House by Maziar Behrooz was recently featured in the Real Estate section of the Wall Street Journal. The newly built home in East Hampton, NY features a SteelMaster building.

The Half-There House

Shunning a big, showy edifice, a couple builds an East Hampton home that’s partly buried underground.

by Ellen Gamerman

When Bob Stansel and Tammy Marek were planning their new luxury home here, they didn’t want to overwhelm the neighbors. So they buried half of it.

Except for its arching corrugated metal roof, the unadorned modern structure built of concrete and glass barely rises higher than the grassy slope into which it’s built. More than 3,200 of the four-bedroom home’s roughly 6,400 square feet are located in a lower level, making the house appear more than twice as big from the side as it does from the front.

Using subterranean construction to avoid restrictive building codes is a popular option in places like California’s Napa Valley, where home owners burrow underground for more space. But the couple here said their decision wasn’t driven by regulations; instead it was their own desire for a pared-down aesthetic.

"I don’t think I’d want people thinking that was my dream of retirement, to build some monster,"said Mr. Stansel, a 65-year-old former mortgage banker who moved into the East Hampton home with his wife this winter. "We didn’t want a bunch of expensive decorations on the outside.”

On the property, Japanese maple and copper beech trees sit near a planted flat-roofed garage and grass driveway whose wide-set cobblestones look like part of the landscaping. Mr. Stansel took a 1,200-pound glacial rock, which he bought for $2,000 after becoming intrigued by its Alaska history, and trucked it from storage in Portland, Ore. to use outside as a garden feature.

The interior is simple, reflecting the desires of Ms. Marek, a 52-year-old day trader and horse lover-the couple has four horses that are boarded away from home in Connecticut and Holland. "It’s more like a loft,"she said. The front door leads to an open plan living area with flooring made of Oregon black walnut and white Bulgarian limestone. A concrete slab marks the staircase, which is held up with a harpsichord-like row of steel cables. Arched glass walls surround the modern living room and lacquered wood kitchen, hugging the curve of the roof.

Downstairs, a sitting area and den are lit by three pairs of 9-foot tall glass French doors around a lower courtyard. Mr. Stansel’s study and a general storage area, however, are in rooms without any direct light.

Architects are seeing more houses with unassuming façades that explode in size when viewed from the back, or homes split into multiple buildings so they’ll look less massive, or even homes that New York architect Lee Skolnick calls "McRanchions”-1950s ranch houses given luxury makeovers. "There’s a trend we’re seeing-it’s called ‘perceived thrift,’ "said Chris Rose, an architect based in Charleston, S.C. "It’s kind of like the ladies going to Bergdorf’s and still buying stuff, but putting it in a brown bag.”

Mr. Stansel had his fill when it came to towering properties: In 2009, he and Ms. Marek bought Canterbury Castle, a 1930s landmark in Portland, Ore. with a moat, drawbridge and turret, for about $290,000. They were already living in the house next door and bought the site as an investment. The city had deemed the crumbling edifice structurally unsound, clearing the way for the couple to raze it. Some locals were opposed, but the couple considered it unsafe and an eye sore.

At the same time, Mr. Stansel and Ms. Marek were beginning construction on the Long Island house. East Hampton-based architect Maziar Behrooz had come up with a design for the land’s previous owner, who was inspired by a photo of an F-16 fighter jet nosing out of an airplane hangar for the building’s shape. Mr. Behrooz dubbed it the Arc House, after the curve of the galvanized aluminum roof. Mr. Stansel was drawn to the home’s low-slung profile.

Better Business Bureau Gives SteelMaster an A+

Better Business Bureau Gives SteelMaster an A+

SteelMaster Buildings is proud to be an accredited business through the Better Business Bureau. The BBB has awarded SteelMaster an A+ rating based on 17 elements of business ranging from "Time in Business" to "Complaint Volume."

SteelMaster continues to work hard providing the best steel building products and customer service in the marketplace. Our promise to you, our valued customer is to:

 1. partner with you to provide custom building solutions

 2. provide the best quality products in the business

 3. deliver unparalleled customer service

 4. the best warranty in the business

 5. offer a one-time investment for a lifetime of use

We accomplish this by keeping your needs at the forefront while maintaining the highest standards in the industry. This is the SteelMaster promise to you.

Thank you Better Business Bureau for recognizing our efforts and awarding us your highest ranking. We will continue to do our part to provide the best prefabricated arched steel buildings and service to our customers across the globe!

Link to BBB site for SteelMaster 

SteelMaster Named "12 to Watch"

SteelMaster was recently recognized as a "12 to Watch" by the United States Senate Productivity and Quality Award program for Virginia (Virginia SPQA).  As a part of the recognition, the 12 receive Criteria for Performance Excellence training, mentoring and scholarship participation in Virginia's SPQA's Discovery Program. Read the full press release below… 

29th Annual Virginia Forum for Excellence Set for September 7-8, 2011 Award Winners and the "12 to Watch" Businesses to be Recognized Speakers and Workshops Focus on Performance Excellence

The United States Senate Productivity and Quality Award program for Virginia (Virginia SPQA) will host the 29th annual Virginia Forum for Excellence and Awards Ceremony on September 7-8, 2011 in Richmond, Virginia. Designed for performance improvement leaders and professionals in Virginia and the District of Columbia to learn and network, the event uniquely focuses on the Nation's Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence assessment standard applicable to business, non-profits, education, healthcare and government.

This year's theme is "Creating a Culture of Engagement: Leadership, Workforce, Customers, and Communities." Keynote speakers include: Jim Asplund from the Gallup organization and co-author of "Human Sigma," Ken Schiller, Co-Founder of K&N Management, a 2010 Baldrige recipient for small business, and Virginia's Lt. Governor Bill Bolling among others.

In addition to Pre-Conference sessions, the event features workshops focused on the Nation's Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. Administered by the National Institute of Standards and Technology within the US Department of Commerce. These criteria are the Nation's only recognized common standard to measure performance excellence for any type of organization.

The Baldrige program also results in national Awards. Virginia SPQA, one of 38 state related efforts also recognizes organizations consistent with the national standard but at the state level. Organizations awarded at the national or state level are deemed some of the best and highly suited to go on to produce great results.

For 2011, the National Cemetery Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs will receive Virginia SPQA's Plaque for Progress in Performance Excellence. The Albemarle County Department of Social Services will receive the Certificate of Commitment to Performance Excellence. In addition to the Award recipients, organizations participating in the Discovery Program and its 12 to Watch selected Small Businesses will also be recognized.

In its inaugural year, the 12 to Watch program is a partnership led by Virginia SPQA and includes the Virginia Department of Business Assistance, the Small Business Administration, the National Federation of Independent Business and the Office of the Lt. Governor of Virginia in its role as Virginia's Chief Job's Officer.

According to Jo Rohr, Virginia SPQA's Board Chair, "small businesses are the engine of job creation - for those small businesses which are ready, Virginia SPQA has created a special effort intended to assist a selected few to prepare for the challenges of growth within the context of the Nation's standard for performance excellence. " Based on sustainable growth predicting factors developed by Virginia SPQA, 12 small businesses have been selected to participate. The 12 receive Criteria for Performance Excellence training, mentoring and scholarship participation in Virginia SPQA's Discovery Program and other events. Rohr went on to say "those businesses on the cusp of major growth which are able to address the broader issues associated with the Nation's performance excellence standards have a higher probability of success."

For 2011, the 12 to Watch include: American Technology Services, Aromas Specialty Coffee & Gourmet Bakery, The Chief Information Group, GRC Enterprises, Harmonia Holdings Group, JACER Corp, MicroAutomation, New Horizon Security Services, ScienceLogic, Specialty's Our Name, SteelMaster Buildings, and the Veris Group.

Virginia SPQA is a non profit all volunteer organization and one of 38 state based award programs administering the use of Nation's performance criteria standard.

SteelMaster Featured in Daily News

SteelMaster buildings are quickly becoming a popular structure to use for a house. However, the idea is not exactly new. The Weintraubs of Rhinebeck, NY built their SteelMaster home in 1998, but it was just recently featured in a NY Daily News article…

It's a steel: Eco-friendly Quonsest hut upstate brings the outside in
By Karen Angel

custom-steel-homeAfter Linda and Andy Weintraub laid out $110,000 for 11 acres in upstate Rhinebeck 13 years ago, they didn't have enough money left to build a house large enough to accommodate their lifestyle.

"It required a considerable amount of room," explains Andy, a consulting economist and retired Temple University professor. They had three children and wanted space to entertain groups. Plus, Andy adds, "I like having a workshop, and Linda wanted a studio."

Their solution for getting more space without paying a premium wasn't an obvious one: a modified Quonset hut, with straight walls instead of the rounded ones typical of the World War II-era metal shelter.

"We realized that steel construction was much less expensive than wood," says Andy, 72.

Saving money wasn't the only consideration.

"We had a very specific desire to create something that was adventuresome in terms of design, and we had made a commitment to seeing how ecologically responsible we could be," says Linda, 69, an independent art curator and former director of Bard College's museum. The couple's "long history of doing experimental projects" included adding a silo to a 1749 stone farmhouse to create more space and converting a barn into a home.

metal-home"With every one of our houses, people say, ‘You'll never leave,' but we find the design process so satisfying we look forward to the opportunity," Linda says.

Their 3,000-square-foot, two-story Quonset hut has just one bedroom but "sleeping nooks and crannies that make it possible to accommodate 20," Linda says – a necessity now that they have seven grandchildren. The open floor plan lets in plenty of light. A separate 1,500-square-foot Quonset hut with a small loft houses a studio and a workshop and another serves as the garage.

The steel for the three buildings cost just $36,000, and the total for construction - including adding doors, windows and fixtures - was $250,000. The walls are insulated with polyurethane foam, and a ­geothermal heat pump provides both cooling and heating - keeping their total energy costs at $325 a month.

"When our house was complete, it cost about two-thirds of what you'd pay for a house of equivalent size," Andy says. "Suffice it to say, this is a very economical way of building. This is a very low-maintenance house. It's been up since 1998, and it has never needed a drop of paint on the outside. It will never need a new roof."

The overall effect is stunning - and surprisingly warm - from a row of begonias in big pots on a ledge outside to the light-suffused second floor, an open expanse with banks of tall windows that houses the living room and kitchen. The furnishings are an artful collection of 1950s modern (the dining room tabletop was once bowling-alley flooring), folk art, furniture made by Andy and organic materials, like a driftwood coffee table.

steel-building-interiorOutdoors, from the root and stick fences to the skinny moat ­surrounding the studio, fed by rainwater and a stream, the Weintraubs' handiwork is ­everywhere. Six acres of trimmed ­meadow stretch down to a stone amphitheater with 150 seats, where local arts groups stage music and theater productions ­several times a year. For more intimate gatherings, there are a couple of small firepits. Two lambs frolic in a pasture and a pig wallows nearby, blissfully ignorant that they will end up in the freezer in the fall. A circular garden - ­terraced to enhance fertility - yields about two dozen kinds of vegetables. "The land provides us with most of our food," Andy says.

Kindred experimental-design spirits, the Weintraubs met as teens when growing up in New Jersey. They moved from Coopersburg, Pa., to Rhinebeck in 1982 after Linda was appointed director of Bard's Edith C. Blum Art Institute in nearby Annandale-on-Hudson. Andy, a theater buff, founded the Center for ­Performing Arts at Rhinebeck.

Through their involvement in the arts, the couple developed deep ties to Rhinebeck, which hit the national radar screen last summer when Chelsea Clinton got married there. After living in town, they found a plot in Rhinebeck with a view of the Catskills and a park-like setting. While researching alternative construction methods, they found Quonset hut manufacturer SteelMaster.

Because Quonset huts have no beams or interior posts, they are an architectural blank canvas, a quality that appealed to the Weintraubs who use design as a creative outlet. Plus, SteelMaster uses recycled steel, upping the green quotient, and easing environmental concerns. The sheets of steel arrived stacked on a pallet, along with 15,000 bolts in buckets.

"I couldn't believe this was it!" Linda says. "But we got exactly the units we needed. There was no construction waste, which is a major part of landfill bulk."

In just four days, with a few friends, they erected the steel shell - roof and walls, held together by thousands of bolts. Andy did all the interior woodwork. The landscaping and decorating were a joint endeavor.

"Our esthetic goal was to marry steel with very organic materials," Linda says.

They harvested cedar trees growing on the property for deck and staircase railings, laid stone for the entryway floor and created a small fishpond in the foyer, all part of their effort "to bring the outdoors into the house," Linda says. Cedar branches sprout everywhere: as trimming for a master-bath wall, on the sides of their kitchen island, and in a homemade coat rack and bookcase.

The ceiling is a marvel of metal ribs sprayed with polyurethane and coated with a lightweight cement mixture, at once creating insulation and a surrealistic moonscape effect.

All in all, Andy says, they are so content with their Quonset hut experiment they would build this way again even if money weren't a consideration.

"We are so pleased with the fulfillment of our three-part dream: ecological, economic and esthetic, and a fourth in terms of serving our family and social needs," Linda says.

Now, she adds, when people say to the couple, "You'll never leave," they are probably right.

Putting the peddle to the metal prefab

Like Andy and Linda Weintraub, a growing number of Americans are turning to prefabricated metal houses to lower costs and create sustainable homes.

"Factory-produced housing is a much more practical way to achieve the types of environmentally efficient and sustainable designs that are pressingly needed in a period of limited energy resources and climate change," says Barry Bergdoll, chief curator of MoMA's Architecture and Design Department who curated the 2008 exhibit "Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling," which showcased five prefabs.

Shipping containers are also becoming increasingly popular as homes. The Intermodal Steel Building Units and Container Homes Association (ISBU), founded in 2006, now has 15,000 members from all over the world. "About 100,000 containers for use as some type of ISBU are being sold annually in the U.S. alone," says managing director Barry Naef. "Their versatility, strength, recyclability and ease of transport are the main factors."

Architects are using them to create chic habitats.

New York-area architect Adam Kalkin is among those driving the metal momentum in the New York metropolitan area.

Kalkin provides a step-by-step guide to shipping-container architecture in his 2008 book, "Quik Build: Adam Kalkin's ABC of Container Architecture." It centers on his Quik House prototype - a two-story, 2,000-square-foot structure made of five shipping containers that starts at around $100,000 can be assembled in a day and was featured in the "Home Delivery" exhibit. He has just released a $99,000, three-story, three-container house called the 99K that the owner can build from a kit and a set of plans.

"I love metal," says Kalkin, who lives in an 1880s farmhouse encased in an airplane hangar in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

Everything is OK at the Steel Corral

During the summer of 2009, Sandie Cardone realized her lifelong dream when she and her husband Wes purchased a steel storage shed kit from a company in Virginia Beach, VA and built it up in a clearing on their 10 acres of wooded property in Chelsea, MI.

To be certain, it wasn’t the actual building for which she yearned, it was what it allowed her to do, which was to bring her horse and mule home from a local stable where she had been boarding them for the past five years.

Once the steel storage buildings was up and able to provide the shelter that the Cardone’s needed to complete their equine space, the animals were able to come home to “Equiscape Gardens” where they joined a miniature donkey, miniature horse and two goats already living on the property.

“In 2007, we began to prepare our yard to keep [the horse and mule] at home,” says Sandie. “We did this slowly as we could afford it, avoiding any debt in the process. By the summer of 2009, I could wait no more!”

The Cardone’s bought the majority of the items used to prepare their “barnyard” second-hand from the Internet. In seeking “farm-stuff”, Sandie came across a small steel shelter, which began her search for a larger one to be used as a run-in.

“I stumbled upon the SteelMaster website doing a Google search for Quonset Huts,” says Sandie. “I really liked the shape, size, and ease of construction that the buildings offered. I liked the fact that the side walls of the building are straight, with the round top, which allows for the most room inside for the horses. I liked the company’s industrial foundation—it made the construction a breeze! The cost also sold me! I had done a lot of research on how to create the best shelter for the animals. The SteelMaster building had the most to offer for the amount spent!”

After asking their good friend (who is also a licensed builder) to put together the storage building, it took about one week to have the footers framed and poured. After that cured for one week, the Cardone’s were then able to begin construction.

“The assembly only took three days,” says Sandie. “I wanted to keep the animals away from the metal walls, so I wanted a wood lining in the shelter. We had our trees that had been cut down to clear the corral area milled into lumber. The builder used Maple boards to build the kick walls, which took one day. We used treated wood to add the short wall in front so that a gate would fit the opening and be able to swing into the building out of the way. This was another day’s work. So in total the process took about three weeks to prepare the foundation, assemble the SteelMaster building and add the custom wood liner/gate.”

Now that Sandie has everything she has dreamed of, would she do anything differently? “Overall, I am very happy with my SteelMaster building,” says Sandie. “The product was as nice in person as it was in the photos online. My builder referred to the building as “a giant erector set” and had a ball putting it together.  The animals are happy to be home, and they have the perfect shelter to protect them from the Michigan heat in the summer and brutal winter weather.”

Home Away From Home During Hurricanes

In 2004 and 2005, Aubrey Brown was living a quiet life in Clanton, Ala., passing the time spinning his wheels to create pottery to sell at craft shows around the region. But it was during those two years that Brown and his wife came under the attack of unwelcome visitors on three separate occasions. The intruders pounded on the doors and windows, bellowing out their insatiable demands and leaving chaos and destruction in their wake.

To be fair, it wasn’t just the Brown family who found themselves at the mercy of these adversaries. Their whole community and most of the state were frantically doing everything they could to protect themselves from the treacherous reach of Hurricanes Ivan, Dennis, and Katrina.

Like everyone else, Brown gathered supplies and battened down the hatches in preparation of the storms—but as many of his neighbors made their way to the local shelter, Brown moved his family into their steel shed, which housed their motor home.

“My SteelMaster shed can withstand 140 mph winds, which is more than I can say about my house,” says Brown. “Before each storm hit, I stocked the motor home with bottled water and food, gassed up the tank, made sure the generator was working, and then my wife and 82-year-old mother and I hunkered down until the hurricanes passed.”
As the family watched shingles fly off the roof of their workshop and trees bow in half to touch the ground, Brown said they had nary a worry from their vantage point inside the steel shed that he bought years before from SteelMaster Buildings in Virginia Beach, Va.

“My wife and I travel a lot in our 32-foot motor home from craft show to craft show, so I bought the RV shed to house it in and keep it out of the sun during the off season,” says Brown. “I also store all of my welders and cutting torch and tools for mechanical and farm repair in the shed. Anytime the weather is too cold or raining, I just back the motor home out, pull in what needs to be repaired, and fix it. When it is real cold, I lower the 12 by 12 door and use a patio heater to work in comfort.”

The versatility of a SteelMaster building and roofing system goes a long way with the company’s thousands of customers, many of whom have worked along with SteelMaster engineers to custom design their building to meet their very specific needs.

“SteelMaster offers unique custom solutions for building applications such as architectural design, affordable steel housing, athletic facilities, retail stores/business facilities, as well as specialty buildings such as bus stops, smoke shacks, doggie dorms, churches, and so much more,” says Michelle Wickum, the director of marketing for SteelMaster. “Regardless of what purpose our buildings and roofing systems serve, each and every one provides security and durability against fire, snow, and hurricane-force winds, as was the case with the shed that Mr. Brown and his family sought shelter in.”

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.

Illinois Couple See the Beauty in Steel Carport

Talking with David and Becky Drinkwater of Beach Park, IL, their pride is palpable as they discuss an addition they made to their homestead two years ago.

“It’s just so beautiful,” they both say, almost in unison. “We’ve gotten so many compliments from everyone who sees it.”

Some may be surprised to learn that the impetus for the excited lilt in their voices is a steel carport that stands in their driveway and protects their car. “Becky and I were talking about purchasing a carport to park our new car under, and we agreed that we didn’t want to have to look at or deal with a poorly constructed, ugly, box-shaped thing sitting in our driveway,” says David. “We live on more than two acres of land that looks like a beautiful park, and we didn’t want to build a garage or any structure that would take away from that park-like environment—we wanted it to remain open.”

 After visiting various home improvement chain stores, the Drinkwaters were losing hope that they would ever find something that was affordable and met their aesthetic standards.  “One day we were on the Internet, and we happened upon SteelMaster Buildings,” says David. “After researching their product and talking to a few folks who work there, we knew we found what we were looking for.”

Steel Carport

Located in Virginia Beach, VA, SteelMaster Buildings has 28 years of experience designing and producing steel and metal pre-engineered arch buildings for a broad range of residential and commercial applications, including carports.
“The SteelMaster Ultimate Carport is the strongest steel carport in the marketplace and is built to withstand a variety of climate conditions while at the same time has a unique, pleasing look about it and offers 100 percent usable space, thanks to the arch design,” says Michelle Wickum, SteelMaster’s director of marketing.

For the Drinkwaters, the arch of the carport is a thing of beauty. “Aesthetically, the arch of the roof looks really cool to us,” says David. “Plus I love the quality of it. It is a powerful, really strongly built structure. I’m convinced that if we were hit with a hurricane, the house would blow away, but the carport would stay right where it is.” Betsy says she couldn’t agree more. “When you drive up to it, it’s so beautiful, and everyone remarks about that.”

In fact, the Drinkwaters believed so strongly in the beauty of their carport that they submitted photos of it into SteelMaster’s 2010 spring photo contest. “They were one of the five runner ups for that contest,” says Wickum. “The photograph of the carport was chosen as it was an excellent representation of the strength of SteelMaster carports.  In fact, we liked the photo so much that we featured the Drinkwaters’ carport in our 2011 calendar.”

When David submitted his photos, he also wrote a few paragraphs about their carport that really expresses it all:


The arch design of the carport is what I find most exciting and visually attractive.  It is also extremely strong and very well built.  One could not want for a more aesthetically pleasing and substantial carport anywhere in the world.  One could safely say that I was greatly impressed by the product and the customer support that was provided during its construction.

It was very helpful to have your staff explain construction techniques that would help me make my carport square and level and fit together properly.  Rich often was the person I called the most. He told me how to build a wooden template to set down on the sonotubes so that I could suspend my J-bolts into the wet concrete.

I procured a laser level to make all my sonotubes level.  I did that at dusk to see the red line on the sonotubes and then traced them with a marker and cut them off with a jigsaw.  I mixed all my concrete by hand with a hoe and wheelbarrow.  It took about 70 bags of concrete to fill the four sonotubes.  It tested my manhood. I have a cordless impact driver that was indispensable in torquing all the nuts down to specs.

I only had one assistant, the woman of my dreams and my sweetheart, Becky, who was indispensable. 
With thousands of satisfied customers, including buildings located in every state in the United States, on six continents, and in more than 40 overseas countries, SteelMaster takes pride in knowing its Steel Buildings have earned the favor of people like the Drinkwaters.

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 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.

Reign in Hurricanes with Steel

By day, Raymond Bennett works in law enforcement, where his mission is to help keep chaos at bay. That same objective strongly factored into his decision-making process when he set out to buy a workshop to store farm and mechanical equipment on his nine acres of land in Pinetown, NC.

“Being that I live on the coast, it’s all about weathering the next hurricane,” says Bennett. “I decided to buy a steel building because of the strength it offers against wind and storms.”

He noticed a certain type of steel building steadily cropping up along the landscape surrounding his home and property, and went online to see if he could find out who made it. “After doing some research online, I learned that those buildings were made by SteelMaster,” says Bennett. “I purchased a 25 x 20 shop from them about six months ago, and it took my father and me about a month to build.”


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.

“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 along North Carolina’s coastline or in the middle of Iowa. 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).

steel-workshops

SteelMaster buildings incorporate an arch design which offers 100 percent usable, clear-span space, giving people the flexibility to truly customize the interior by hanging lighting, running conduit, building shelves, creating a loft, adding insulation, and heating/cooling the building.

Every SteelMaster features easy-to-understand, complete illustrated assembly instructions in the newly revised construction manual and uses a one-size nut and bolt system as the only fastener as well as precision-fit components.

“It was pretty easy to construct after the first ring was built,” says Bennett. “My dad and I really like the way the building went together so nicely and how everything was supplied for us even down to the plans. It may have a blue million nuts and bolts, but it is a strong structure and worth the time to put it up. I am very pleased with my purchase and look forward to completing it fully and also using it as a spot to watch Hurricanes hockey in.”

In addition to workshops, SteelMaster’s steel and metal pre-engineered buildings are designed for a broad range of residential and commercial applications including homes, farm buildings, garages, 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.

History Lights the Way for Steel Buildings

In today’s world, information overload is a very real consequence to the evolution of technology. In many instances, the latest and greatest turns out to be baseless and fleeting—so much so, that people are looking backwards for the map to success in an effort to circumvent future wrong turns or dead ends.

Douglas Miracle of London, KY did just that in October 2010 when he bought his second steel arch building from SteelMaster Buildings in Virginia Beach, VA.

A decade prior he bought the same building from SteelMaster to use as a workshop/garage.

“It was a great price, needed less maintenance, and was easier to construct than other building on the market,” says Miracle. “I received their sales brochure, and there was no comparison in price at that time.”

According to Michelle Wickum, the director of marketing for SteelMaster Buildings, the company has been guided by the basic principles of offering customers a reliable, well-made, versatile, and durable pre-fabricated steel structure at an affordable price for more than 29 years, and continues abiding by those same principles today.

“At its inception, SteelMaster engineered and designed a new, stronger structure based on the historic designs of the Quonset hut,” says Wickum. “SteelMaster evolved the Quonset into a new structure that combines the architectural strength of the arch along with 21st century technology which allows the buildings to be designed and engineered to handle all types of climates and conditions. And over the years, we continued to develop the original Quonset design and engineering to meet the same primary goal: provide all-purpose prefabricated steel buildings and roofing structures that can be shipped anywhere in the world and can be constructed quickly and easily.”

The fact that he can construct the building himself is another variable that motivated Miracle to buy another SteelMaster building.

“On the first building, I completed most of the site preparation myself and then contracted the concrete work,” says Miracle. “The first day I had five people to help me begin my project. After the first day it was just my father-in-law and I. Then, after all the arches were up, I completed the building on my own. It took about two weeks to complete. It was a simple project for me; not much of a challenge. I will most likely do the construction on this second building the same way that I did the first one; except that I purchased the IBC connectors with this building. I think this will be an easier way to start.”

steel-garage

Wickum says that the fact that customers like Miracle can construct the building themselves saves them the money of hiring a contractor and also gives them a sense of pride over the finished product because they had a hand, literally, in making it happen.

“Most of our customers assemble and raise the arches to complete the construction of their SteelMaster building on their own, or with the help of friends,” says Wickum. “Our buildings feature a one-size nut and bolt system as the only fastener and precision-fit component, which simplifies the process. Our precision-built arches fit together perfectly. The precision overlap of the arches provides more steel at critical connections, ensuring the easiest-to-assemble, strongest, best-fitting arch system available.”

Once the building is constructed, customers have the option of finishing their building with any SteelMaster steel end wall or adding a custom garage end wall that they create and add on themselves. They can also add insulation, skylights, vents, electrical wiring, lighting, doors, partitions, and a host of other accessories.

“Customizing the interior of your SteelMaster Pre-Engineered Garage is easy to do,” says Wickum. “With our clear span, truss-less design you can divide up the space in your SteelMaster steel garage however you want.”

As for Miracle, he isn’t about all the fancy bells and whistles—he says he prefers to stick to simple construction.

“With my first building, I used insulated metal panels to form my end walls and later added electricity and lights,” says Miracle. “It’s basically just a neat building—strong, cool, and interesting.”

In addition to garages like Miracle’s, SteelMaster’s steel and metal pre-engineered buildings are designed for a broad range of residential and commercial applications including homes, farm buildings, workshops, agricultural storage, Quonsets, airplane hangar, 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.

A Man Uses Steel to Work on his Muscles

Although it is 2011, the 1960’s and 70’s are still rumbling and roaring in a 25 foot by 50 foot Steel Building located in the quiet suburbs of McKinney, TX.  It is in this steel arched building that Stephen Martinez keeps the carefree, rock-n-roll attitude of that era alive by restoring classic muscle cars, which are more popular and valuable than ever. 

For years, Martinez worked on restoring the cars in the cramped space of a standard attached garage. But in 2006, he revved up his surroundings by purchasing the large steel building from SteelMaster Buildings, which is located in Virginia Beach, VA.

 “It is climate controlled, insulated, and has a full complement of auto shop tools, including a two-post car lift,” says Martinez. “We chose to purchase from SteelMaster because we wanted an engineered building that would not require any maintenance. I used the industrial rail mounting, and the buildings fit together well when care is taken to assure that the starting sections are plumb.”

 Martinez liked his building so much in fact, that he turned to SteelMaster again in 2007 to buy a 10 foot by 12 foot building to use for storage. Then in 2010, he bought a 12 foot by 30 foot building to use as a workshop to house his hobby of building furniture and gifts made of exotic hardwoods.

Brenda, the author, states that now its quite easy to assume any steel building under steelmaster complaints experts. By giving examples, the author draws the fact of importance of such arch buildings in the market.

 Now the owner of three SteelMaster steel buildings which stand side by side on his property, Martinez says his “compound” is complete. “My experience working with SteelMaster Buildings has been excellent,” says Martinez. “We are very pleased—especially so when we finished the installation, which we did ourselves.”

With thousands pf satisfied customers, including buildings located in every state in the United States, on six continents, and in more than 40 overseas countries, SteelMaster takes pride in knowing its steel buildings have earned the favor of people like Martinez.

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 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.

What Would You Keep in Your Steel Building?

While taking a peek inside Clarence Abadie’s steel building will answer the question as to what he stores inside, that answer will undoubtedly leave you wanting to know more.
Like, for example, why does this 76-year-old man keep a fully functional, one-person helicopter inside of his steel building that sits in the backyard of his home in Tickfaw, LA?
The short answer is simple—building and flying helicopters are hobbies of his. The long answer is much more interesting and involves travel, intrigue, high flying adventures, duty to country, and loss.
As a young adult, the Marine Corps taught Abadie how to fly, and after his four years of service were finished in 1960, he knew he wanted to focus his career around flying. He was due to rotate back to the states before his discharge from his post in Okinawa, Japan, but he accepted an offer from the CIA to work for Air America, doing various covert operations during the next 15 years in places such as Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. After the company disbanded in 1975, Abadie came home to Louisiana and finished earning his college degree in professional aviation.
From there he worked for various companies during the next two decades and lived in Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Kwajalein Island, Abu Dhabi, and the Bahamas before returning to Louisiana where he retired in 1996.

“When it was time for me to retire, my wife and I were quite happy to come home to Louisiana and settle down here,” says Abadie. “Our three sons were grown and out of the house, so we were ready for a slower pace of life.”
When Abadie’s wife of 30 years died in 2007 after battling thyroid cancer for six months, he realized that the best thing he could do was keep his mind and hands busy, so returning to flying was the natural choice for him.
“I bought a helicopter kit and built a rotary wing gyrocopter, but I soon found out that it was too difficult to fly it out of my yard,” says Abadie. “I sold it and then built a Helicycle instead. I wanted to move it out of my garage, and that is when I bought my SteelMaster building. I wanted something durable and something easy to put up. SteelMaster was it.”
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.
“SteelMaster Aircraft Hangars provide clear span buildings that are both economical and durable, making the steel structures world-renowned in the field of aviation,” says Michelle Wickum, the company’s director of marketing. “The unique design of SteelMaster’s metal buildings allows spans up to 150 feet in width, with unlimited lengths. With no need for interior supports, people can maximize the use of the space in these steel Airplane Hangar. Whether you have a single, twin engine, or commercial jet, SteelMaster steel buildings can accommodate your needs.”
Now that Abadie has his own helicopter and a proper building to store it in, where does he want to travel?
“Out of all the places I have been, I’m more than content to just fly around here for fun,” says Abadie. “I’m comfortable here—Louisiana is where I belong.”
SteelMaster Buildings manufactures, designs, and supplies customers with pre-fabricated arched steel structures including garages, workshops, carports, agricultural storage, metal barns, Quonsets, airplane hangars, RV storage, roofing systems, storage buildings, military buildings, commercial warehousing, and industrial storage as well as a wide variety of custom building applications including homes, athletic facilities, retail stores, churches, bus stops, smoke shacks, doggie dorms, and correctional facilities.