What You Need To Know About Steel Building Sites

It’s a smart choice to opt for steel buildings over other materials for your factory, office, industrial building, warehouse, or other structure. Steel buildings have numerous benefits and can be adapted for almost any commercial use. Although you’ll need to select a financing option, obtain a building permit, and select a contractor, you’ll also need to be sure to focus on another important part of construction – preparing the building site. The site preparation process consists of making your desired location ready for construction so that a steel building can be erected correctly and last as long as possible. Doing so will help you enjoy your building for years to come.

If you’ve ever wondered about what this process involves, read these steps from the experts at https://www.murraysteelbuildings.com/ below:

1 – Choose a Site

Have you picked out the best site for where you’d like to erect your steel building? If not, do so carefully. Think about several important aspects as you select the right location for your project. These include:

Drainage: Examine how water drains from the site that you are considering. Be sure that all water drains away from the building site, without being impeded by the current grade of the landscaping. Also, pay attention to whether other buildings in the area will affect drainage.

Access: Pay attention to how the surroundings will affect the building once it has been built, and how things like rain, sun, wind, and rain will impact it.

Utilities: Be sure that you aren’t interfering with existing utility lines as you select your building site.

Pavement: Determine where on your building site will need to be paved after you’ve constructed your steel building.

After you’ve selected a construction site that has the features that you need and that won’t have to be altered very much to begin building, you can move on to the next part of the process.

2. Grading the Land

After you’ve chosen the site that’s right for you, it’s time to get the land ready to build your steel building. First, you’ll need to demolish any existing buildings on the site, and then clear the debris away. Grading and leveling the soil are also vitally important so that you can rest assured that your building is smoothly built and will stand tall for many years to come, without developing issues with the foundation. Building on an uneven surface or on a steep grade can cause major issues for the stability of your building in the future.

Grade the soil on your site well before you move on to the next step of the process. If there are large stones, either remove them or break them up into finer dirt. Remove soil that is less stable, such as clay or silt, as you prepare the site. A steel building needs a deep site base of two to three inches. Bigger or more complicated steel buildings will require an even stronger, deeper base. Your building expert can suggest a base depth for you, based on the specific scope of your steel building project.

You should also keep some of the excavated soil on the site so that you can use it later to fill in holes and level the ground. Smooth out the area, as well, so that there is a firm level foundation for your building. This foundation bed has to be completely compacted before any foundation work can begin.

3. Prepare for Construction

Once you have the foundation in place on your site, you’ll also need to get ready for the actual construction. Based on what you’re building and how these preparations will be different. If you’ve decided to opt for a modular steel building, for example, you’ll have to prepare each module of your building and get it ready. Talk to the fabricator and get a rough sketch ready. The fabricator can then begin to engineer and manufacture the components you need. Based on the scope of the individual project, this process can take two to four weeks.

If you’re planning to build your building more traditionally, you’ll need to get the raw materials gathered up and ready, instead. The fabricator can help you estimate the number of materials that you need, and you’ll need to be sure they get to the building site on time.

4. Begin Construction

After the foundation is ready and you have all the materials on site, you can begin the actual process of erecting your steel building. If you’ve selected a prefab building, you should have all the components transported to your building site. Machines and equipment can put the components together like building a puzzle. The components will then be welded together to maintain structural integrity.

If you’ve selected a traditional building method, the construction process will take significantly longer. Your fabricators will begin with building a basic frame structure on the building. This will involve installing both support columns and I-beams. After the framing process is finished, next comes the sheeting. This part includes installing wall panels, weather stripping, and fastening the panels to the framing. Insulation is also put up as the walls go on. After the walls are fastened, the roof is added. Then the remainder of the construction occurs like any other building. After the building is ready, any accessories you’ve chosen like windows, doors, vents, and skylights will be added.

Your steel building contractor will walk you through the project each step of the way. If you don’t have a skilled contractor for your project, don’t put it off any longer. Contact us today and speak with one of our steel building professionals.