The building consists of steel trusses, wood purlins and girts, and steel roof and wall panels. The building will have skylights, insulation, heat, electric, and a large garage door.

 

As this is an accessory building being erected in my backyard the building is not going to be used for commercial purposes. It will be used to store our personal property, RV, boat,  projects, etc.

 

Follow along with the construction! 

Miracle Steel Brochure

 

This project started out with the desire to have a 6-car storage garage. After looking into wood framed structures I looked at metal buildings. I selected this kit as I liked the wood frame system with the clear span steel trusses.

 

My original plans were for a 70' long x 24' wide garage with 3 double garage doors along the length. After selecting the metal building I increased the width to 42'. The cost to increase the width was very little - and you just can't have enough garage space! Also, instead of 3 garage doors along the length, I went with one garage door on the end closest to our driveway.

 

I tried to get a quote for a contractor to provide the building "turn-key". This is a commercial-style building, but very small (for commercial buildings). I didn't have any luck so I decided I could be the general contractor and sub out the work. 

 

 

I spoke to my Building Department and got an OK for my plans. But the building permit could not be provided until the building engineering details and the foundation engineering details were provided.

 

I thought this could be a potential problem as you can't get engineering calcs and drawings of the building until you buy it. And you can't design the foundation until you get the column reactions from the building engineering calcs.  

 

I discussed this with my Building Department and they assured me that they would OK the permit. So I went ahead and put a deposit on the building (the balance is due upon delivery). 

 

The calculations and drawings came in about 3 weeks and were stamped by an engineer. I forwarded these to my foundation engineer so that he could design the foundation.  

 

 

The foundation is my responsibility, and needs to be designed and stamped by an engineer. There are many ways to design a foundation. Miracle Steel suggested sonotubes beneath the columns, with grade beams with rebar connecting the sonotubes to the floor slab (to resist outward loads). This is the way my engineer designed the foundation.

 

Once the foundation was designed, I was able to obtain the Building Permit.

 

My excavation contractor passed along the foundation plans to a concrete foundation contractor. They suggested that instead of sonotubes, a continuous wall with a footing and pilasters would be much better.

 

The reasons were that it will be a lot easier to install the required anchor bolts, the height of the foundation will be much easier to get level and all lined up correctly, and the pilasters do not have to be tied into the floor (the continuous wall resists the outward column loads).

 

Because the continuous wall will resist outward loads, the grade beams and rebar connections from the pilasters (square footings) can be eliminated. This simplifies the installation of the foundation. Also it allows the floor to be poured after the building is installed, which I am now planning to do.

 

I sketched out the foundation change, and my engineer gave the revised foundation a thumbs-up - and so that was the way we went. I figure the amount of concrete increased from 36 yards to 52 yards, and forms are needed, so the foundation may cost a bit more. But less concrete is needed for the floor (no grade beams), less rebar is needed (no tie-ins into the footings), and the critical measuring, etc. to get the sonotubes all perfectly lined up, etc. will not be required. So I thought it might be a wash.