Frequently Asked Questions

A kit contains the structural steel, the roof and wall panels, all fasteners and closures, and the engineered drawings for your site. It does not include the foundation, the concrete, site preparation, electrical, plumbing or interior finishes — those are contracted locally. Doors, insulation and accessories are included only if you specify them at order.

Two reasons. First, engineering: a 40' x 60' building in a heavy-snow county needs more steel than the identical footprint in a mild climate, because it is designed to a different load. Second, freight: kits ship from the plant nearest your site, so distance to your address changes the delivered price.

Usually on the shell, and the gap widens as the building gets bigger — steel spans distances that would need expensive engineered lumber or interior posts. The comparison narrows once you finish the interior, because drywall, wiring and plumbing cost the same either way.

Financing is available through third-party lenders that specialize in steel buildings and agricultural structures. Terms depend on your credit and the building's use — commercial and agricultural buildings often qualify for equipment or capital financing that residential structures do not.

A deposit secures your place in the production schedule and locks the steel price. The balance is typically due before the kit ships. Exact terms come with your written quote.

Yes, and it is often the best value on the site. Clearance kits are overstock or cancelled orders — the same steel, the same engineering, already produced. Because they exist already, they are discounted substantially. The trade-off is that you take the size that exists rather than the size you would have specified.

Freight is quoted separately because it depends entirely on your address. We itemize it rather than folding it into the building price, so you can see what the kit costs and what the shipping costs.

An open carport or a container cover, by a wide margin. You skip the walls, most of the foundation and much of the permitting. If you genuinely only need to keep weather off something, an enclosed building is money spent on walls you did not need.

Galvalume is sheet steel coated in an aluminum-zinc alloy. The aluminum gives long-term corrosion resistance and the zinc protects any cut or scratched edge sacrificially. It is the standard coating for steel building panels because it substantially outlasts plain galvanizing in most environments.

The coating is what stands between the steel and the weather, so rust is a coating question rather than a steel question. Intact Galvalume lasts decades. What shortens it is standing water, trapped debris, contact with dissimilar metals, and deep scratches that go through to bare steel — all of which are avoidable with basic maintenance.

Gauge varies by component and by the loads your building is engineered for — a lower number is thicker steel. Panels, structural members and accessories are not all the same gauge, and the engineering for your site determines the specification. Your stamped drawings list it exactly.

Steel is non-combustible, meaning it does not burn and does not add fuel to a fire. That is not the same as fireproof — steel loses strength at high temperature, and anything stored inside can still burn. But compared with a timber structure, a steel shell removes the fuel from the equation, which is why insurers frequently rate them favorably.

Cold-formed steel is shaped from sheet at room temperature into light structural members — efficient, economical and more than adequate for most residential and light commercial spans. Red iron is hot-rolled structural steel, heavier and stronger, used when spans, loads or occupancy requirements exceed what cold-formed can carry.

Steel is among the most recycled materials in the world, and structural steel typically contains a substantial share of recycled content. At end of life the building is recyclable rather than landfill. A bolt-together kit also produces very little site waste compared with framed construction.

No. Height and location determine what gets struck, not material. What steel does is conduct a strike safely to ground rather than igniting, which is generally an advantage. In exposed locations, a proper grounding system is still worth specifying.

Termites have nothing to eat in a steel shell. Rodents cannot chew steel, but they will exploit gaps — which is why base trim and proper closures matter. The weak points are always the openings and the ground line, not the panels.

Almost certainly, and the requirements are local. Most jurisdictions require a permit for any permanent structure above a modest size, and many have additional rules on setbacks, height and appearance. Check with your building department before you order, not after — it occasionally changes what you should build.

Buildings are engineered to the wind, snow and seismic values at your specific address and supplied with drawings stamped by an engineer licensed in your jurisdiction. That is what a building department needs to issue a permit. Give us the exact site address, because these values can change within a single county.

Stamped drawings are engineering documents signed and sealed by a licensed professional engineer, certifying the structure meets code for your location. Without them most building departments will not issue a permit, and most lenders and insurers will not treat the structure as permanent.

There is no single answer, because the building is designed to your site's requirements rather than to a fixed rating. Tell us the address and the engineering is done to the values your code specifies for it — including heavy-snow and high-wind regions.

Yes. Designs are engineered to International Building Code requirements, with the specific load values determined by your jurisdiction's adopted code edition and local amendments.

Often yes, but it has to be engineered — a mezzanine adds load the frame was not originally designed to carry, and it may change your occupancy classification and egress requirements. Raise it before the building is engineered rather than after it is standing.

For a straightforward storage or garage building, usually not. For occupied commercial space, assembly buildings or anything with complex interior requirements, a local architect is worth the cost — they handle code compliance, accessibility and the approvals process, which is where projects stall.

It depends on your soil, your frost depth and the building's loads. Common options are a concrete slab-on-grade, a continuous perimeter footing, or piers with a grade beam. Your stamped drawings specify the anchoring requirement, and a local contractor sizes and pours to meet it.

For some open or storage structures, yes, provided the anchoring is engineered for it. For anything enclosed, permanent or occupied, a concrete foundation is normally required — both by code and because the anchors need something substantial to transfer load into.

That is determined by what will sit and drive on it, not by the building. A slab for passenger vehicles is a different specification than one for a loaded forklift or a piece of farm equipment. Tell your concrete contractor the heaviest thing that will ever be on it.

Yes, in any climate that freezes. Footings must extend below the frost line or the ground will lift them as it freezes and thaws, which will rack the structure over a few seasons. Frost depth is local — your building department publishes it.

You should, and to the anchor layout on your stamped drawings. Anchor placement is not approximate — the base connections have to land where the drawings put them, so pour from the drawings rather than from the nominal dimensions.

Many owners do. Kits arrive with pre-punched, numbered components and bolt together with standard hand and power tools — no welding and no specialized equipment for most sizes. What it does take is time, a few extra sets of hands, and care with the sequence in the instructions.

A small storage building can go up over a weekend with two people. A mid-sized garage typically takes a small crew several days. Large commercial structures are a professional job measured in weeks. The variable that surprises people is site conditions, not the steel.

Standard hand tools, an impact driver or wrench set, ladders or scaffolding, and lifting equipment appropriate to the panel size. Larger buildings need a lift or a boom to place upper components safely. The instructions list the requirement for your specific kit.

We can connect you with experienced local erection crews. Because the kits are designed for straightforward bolt-together assembly, most general contractors and pole-barn builders can handle them competently as well.

Two is workable for small kits. Three to four makes almost any residential-scale building go faster and safer, mainly because panels are awkward rather than heavy, and holding one in position while another person sets bolts is the whole job.

Not squaring and leveling the base before going vertical. Every error at the base is multiplied as the building goes up, and by the time panels do not line up at the top, the fix is back at the bottom. Take the time at the foundation and the rest goes together.

Lead time depends on the design, the season and current production volume. Clearance kits ship soonest because they already exist. Custom buildings take longer, with engineering and drawings ahead of production. Your quote gives a current estimate.

By flatbed truck to your site. You are responsible for offloading, so arrange equipment before the delivery window — a tractor with forks, a telehandler, or a rented forklift depending on kit size. Trucks do not wait long.

Clear access for a full-size truck, firm ground it will not sink into, offloading equipment, and somewhere flat and dry to stage the components. Bundles should be kept off bare ground and protected until you assemble.

Usually. Bolt-together kits are well suited to remote work because they do not require a fabrication shop or heavy plant on site. Confirm road access and any seasonal weight restrictions in advance, since those are the usual obstacles.

Inspect the shipment against the packing list before signing, and note any damage on the bill of lading at the time of delivery. That record is what makes a claim straightforward. Contact us right away and we will sort out replacements.

If the building will be heated, cooled or occupied, yes. If it is unheated storage, insulation is optional — but condensation control is not. Warm moist air meeting cold steel will condense and drip regardless of whether you are heating the space.

Because warm humid air inside contacts the cold underside of the roof and the moisture in it condenses. It is physics, not a defect. The fixes are a vapor barrier, insulation to keep the steel from getting cold, and ventilation to move the humid air out — usually some combination of all three.

Faced blanket insulation is the common and economical choice, installed as panels go on. Spray foam gives a continuous air and vapor seal and higher performance per inch, at higher cost. For living space, spray foam or a carefully detailed blanket system with a continuous vapor barrier is worth the money.

You need air in low and air out high. Ridge or turbine vents at the peak exhaust warm moist air; wall louvers or eave intakes let replacement air in. Exhaust without intake does very little, which is the usual reason venting underperforms.

Yes, once the envelope is properly insulated and sealed. An uninsulated steel shell is expensive to heat because it has almost no thermal resistance. Insulated to a sensible level with air leaks addressed, it performs comparably to other construction.

An uninsulated shell is noticeably loud. Insulation dampens it substantially, and an insulated building with interior liner panels is unremarkable. If the building will be occupied daily, this is a real consideration worth spending on.

Size it to the largest thing that will ever pass through, then add clearance. Height is where people under-order — roof racks, raised loader arms and boats on trailers all need more than the vehicle alone suggests. A 10' door costs little more than an 8' and removes a permanent constraint.

It is possible but avoid it if you can. Openings are framed and reinforced as part of the engineering, so cutting one into a finished building means field-modifying a stamped structure and re-engineering the affected area. Deciding at order time costs a fraction of that.

Overhead doors seal better, operate more easily and can be motorized — the right choice for anything heated or used daily. Sliding doors open very wide spans without consuming headroom for a track, which is why they remain standard on agricultural endwalls.

In straight-wall buildings, easily — full-height vertical walls accept doors anywhere along their length. In arch buildings it is more constrained, because the curve means a sidewall opening has to be framed into the arch itself. Endwall placement is simpler on arches.

Yes, as framed openings specified at order. As with doors, position them before engineering rather than cutting them in later. In a workshop, high wall windows give useful daylight without giving up wall space you wanted for benches.

Coverage is provided by the manufacturer and typically distinguishes between the structural steel and the panel coating, which carry different terms. Your quote and order documents state the exact coverage, duration and conditions for your building — read them, because maintenance requirements can affect coverage.

Very little, but not none. Once or twice a year: clear debris off the roof and out of gutters, check that fasteners are tight, look for scratches through the coating and touch them up, and confirm vents are not blocked. That is essentially the whole program.

Decades, and well-maintained ones commonly outlast their original purpose. The limiting factor is almost never the steel — it is water management. Buildings that fail early usually did so because water was allowed to sit somewhere it should not have.

Yes, with a coating system made for metal roofing and proper surface preparation. Factory finishes are baked on and last far longer than a field-applied coat, so repainting is usually about changing color rather than restoring protection.

Generally yes, and often at favorable rates given the non-combustible construction. Insurers will usually want to see the stamped engineering, which is another reason to keep those documents with your property records.

A steel roof system that spans between two shipping containers, turning the space between them into covered, weather-protected working area. The containers carry the structural load, so there is no separate foundation for the roof itself.

No. A container cover kit is the roof system only. You supply the containers, which most buyers already own or can source locally for less than shipping them in would cost.

Exactly the dimension your kit specifies — commonly between 20' and 40'. Position and level the containers to that spacing before you begin assembly, rather than building the roof to wherever they currently sit.

Yes, which is a large part of the appeal. The system bolts together and can be dismantled and re-erected at another site. That makes it attractive for jobsites, leased land and operations that expect to relocate.

Frequently yes, though requirements vary widely and some jurisdictions treat them differently from permanent structures. Because the containers are the foundation, some building departments have specific rules about anchoring them. Ask before you build.

In most cases yes. Once you put a roof between two containers you have created a large sail, and uplift becomes the governing load. Anchoring requirements come with the engineering for your site.

An arch is a self-supporting curve where the shape is the structure — the most economical use of steel, completely column-free, but the walls curve inward near the floor. A straight wall gives you full usable height right to the wall line at somewhat higher cost. If you plan to line walls with benches or racking, straight wall is worth the difference.

A steel building finished as living space, usually pairing a residence with a shop or equipment bay under one roof. The building ships as a weather-tight shell; interior framing, plumbing, wiring and finishes are conventional residential work done locally.

A continuous corrugated steel arch bolted rib to rib, in production since the 1940s. Because the arch is both the frame and the skin, it uses less material than almost any other enclosure method and gives a completely clear interior.

Size it to using the vehicle, not parking it. A car is roughly 8' x 16', but a fully opening door, a walk-around and a bench wall push a comfortable single bay closer to 20' x 24'. Two vehicles with the same allowances land near 30' x 30'.

Most designs can be lengthened by adding bays or ribs to an endwall, and it is far easier than widening. If expansion is even a possibility, say so at order — the endwall can be detailed to come apart cleanly rather than being finished as permanent.

Clear spans past 100' wide and lengths past 200' are routine for wide-span structural profiles, which is why they are used for hangars, arenas and warehouses. Beyond a certain size the design conversation shifts to foundations and access rather than the frame.

Yes — that is what a barndominium is. Expect residential code to apply in full: insulation levels, egress windows, ceiling heights and fire separation between living space and any attached shop. Involve your building department at the design stage.

No. Any Size is an authorized independent dealer. Buildings are produced by our manufacturing partner and ship direct from the plant nearest your jobsite, which is what keeps freight costs down. We handle specification, quoting, and support through delivery.

We supply buildings across the United States and Canada. Because kits ship from the nearest production facility rather than a single warehouse, delivery is practical to most locations — including remote sites.

That is most of what we do. Tell us what is going in the building and how it gets in and out, and that is usually enough to land on a sensible footprint. The equipment and the door tend to determine the building more than any preconceived dimension.

Send us the intended use, a rough size if you have one, and the delivery address. The address matters most, because it determines the engineering. We will come back with a written quote and flag anything worth deciding before you commit.

A portable building is built complete in a shop and delivered finished — you do nothing but prepare level ground. A steel building arrives as an engineered kit of parts that gets assembled on a foundation you pour. Portable buildings are faster and simpler; steel buildings go far larger, are engineered to your site's loads, and ship anywhere.

Texas, Louisiana, Missouri, Illinois, Tennessee and Indiana. Because they travel as whole finished buildings rather than as palletised freight, the delivery area is regional. Our steel building kits ship nationwide, so if you are outside those six states that is the line to look at.

Usually not. They sit on treated 4x6 notched skids designed for ground contact, so level, well-drained ground is normally enough. What matters most is that the ground is genuinely level and stays dry — a building sitting in a low spot that holds water will have problems no warranty covers.

Yes, that is what the skids are for. Pulling blocks are built into the ends of the centermost skids specifically so the building can be dragged onto a trailer without damaging the floor frame. Plenty of owners take them along when they move house.

It depends on your jurisdiction, and the answer is genuinely inconsistent. Because these sit on skids rather than a foundation, some building departments treat them as temporary structures with light or no requirements, and others treat them exactly like any other outbuilding. Ask before you order — it occasionally affects which size you should buy.

The floor plan determines where the doors and windows go. Most models are offered in several, so the same size building can have doors on the end or the side, a single or a double door, and windows in different positions. Tell us how you will approach the building and what goes inside, and the right plan is usually obvious.

Standard buildings carry a 5-year limited warranty on workmanship and materials. Specialty models — the Greenhouse, K-9 Condo, Chicken Coop and Playhouse — carry 1 year instead. Beyond that, the LP SmartSide siding has a 50-year manufacturer warranty and the dimensional shingles a manufacturer lifetime warranty. Coverage runs to the original purchaser and requires the serial tag to stay attached.

Yes, through two routes. Rent-to-own covers buildings up to $20,000 with no credit check and a small deposit. Traditional financing offers deferred interest or a fixed rate, with a credit check and 10% down. Both are run by third-party finance companies, terms come from them rather than from us, and availability varies by area.

Work from what goes inside and how you get it in. A mower, a wheelbarrow and hand tools fit comfortably in 8' x 12'. Add a workbench and room to stand at it and you are at 10' x 16'. Anything you plan to walk around inside while working wants 12' wide. Buying one size up is a decision people regret far less often than buying one size down.

Seasonal storage, mostly — decorations, camping gear, luggage, off-season furniture. The gambrel roof shape lifts the loft walls high enough that the space is genuinely usable rather than a crawl. Its real value is that it clears the floor for the things you reach for every week.

Level, well-drained ground and a clear path for the delivery truck and trailer. Measure the access route — gates, overhanging branches and tight corners are what stop deliveries, not the ground itself. If in doubt about clearance, tell us the constraint before delivery day rather than on it.

The cabins arrive as finished shells with a porch, residential door and windows — not as habitable dwellings. Insulation, wiring, plumbing and interior finishes are local work, and whether a building can be occupied is entirely a matter for your local code and zoning. Many are used as offices, studios, guest space or hunting cabins; check locally before assuming full-time occupancy is permitted.