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.