Why Choose Steel Buildings

A friend of mine is in the military and is serving in Iraq. He will be there for over a year. We have been communicating via e mail, so I have been able to follow his deployment and get a tiny glimpse into what it must be like for him. When he left, I pictured him living in a tent in the wind and sand. To my surprise, they are living in these prefab steel buildings.

I was quite relieved to know he would be more protected in steel buildings than in a tent city, but I still did a little digging to find out more about these structures. I was distracted by the idea of those trucks on the highway carrying part of a house with a sign slapped to the back announcing "wide load." I knew my friend would be living in something more substantial than that, but I needed to see for myself.

I hopped on the internet and easily found a few companies that offer steel buildings for both commercial and residential purposes. The Government Services Administration has approved a lot of steel buildings for government use, including use by all branches of the military. Commercial boat yards, farmers and auto mechanics use steel buildings for storage, service areas and retail. The structures can be ordered and procured very quickly. Steel buildings require less structural beams and trusses, so they offer more usable space than traditional structures. They require little maintenance, as they have no siding or gutters.

Home owners can see the advantages of steel buildings over traditional structures too. There are usually 5 to 10 basic styles from which to choose. With just a few people, these steel buildings can be erected easily. The structures come with a manual and bolt together easily. Decades and decades ago, my grandparents built a metal garage with the help of contractors. It felt like quite a process. Knowing my do it yourself grandparents, they would have preferred the ease of one of these new prefab steel buildings, had such things been available back then. Given that they were farmers, they would have been happy to support one of the many companies that offers buildings made from US steel and made in the US.

I am sure most people who choose steel buildings do so because they are extremely easy to maintain, fit their budget and are easy to order and build. For my friend who is deployed, the fact that they are made of good old fashioned strong steel is probably what is most important.