Custom Fabricated Buildings – Part 1
There are many services provided by Schaus-Vorhies Manufacturing (SVM). Among them are our custom fabricated buildings.
Custom fabricated buildings have been around ever since cast iron became recognized as an excellent building material. Early in the industrial revolution, structures such as entire lighthouses and churches would be cast in foundries and shipped worldwide. Today, there are many other ways of fabricating buildings beyond those of the early industrial revolution. Today, we use materials that are stronger, lighter, and easier to work with on such a large scale. We also have the ability to make custom fabricated buildings with far greater flexibility than ever before. Rather than creating a one-time mold or series of molds for one custom building, we can use many basic molds and assemble them in different modules to allow for a considerable number of configurations that would have been undreamt in the past. We can also create the modules and send them out separately to be assembled on site. So, how are these buildings designed and built, and what are some examples of such buildings?
Designing and building a prefabricated metal building is incredibly easy. Most metal buildings are only one or two stories tall and are built around a metal frame. The client decides how tall he would like the building, the slope of the roof, and other details such as how many windows are desired (which will vary based on the specific use). Once that is decided, the metal beams are constructed and shipped to the construction site for assembly. Of course, the building can be further customized beyond just the size. While the frame, of course, is metal, the shell can be made of any desired material, from wood, to rock, to (naturally) metal. Accommodations can also be made for accent walls of brick, stucco, and other material. The only real limits are the customer’s imagination.
These prefabricated metal building kits can be large enough to require contractors provided by SVM to assemble, or small enough for an individual homeowner to handle. Whatever your specific need, we at SVM can handle it.
What sort of buildings out there are made from prefabricated metal? A lot more than you think. Here is a quick preview.
Barns are perhaps the most straightforward option. While that may seem obvious, the humble metal pole barn is an extremely versatile building. They have been adapted to an incredible number of uses. Of course, there is the typical storage facility used to store everything from boats to farm equipment or broken up into several small units as rented storage space. The sturdy metal beams allow for building very sturdy shelving, or interior walls to give it a great finished look. Depending on the client’s needs, we can install an overhead crane system fitted with our crane rail system.
Prefabricated pole barns are also an excellent option for building a large but low-cost workshop. The modular metal construction allows for a great deal of versatility when it comes to installing doors to get people and equipment in and out and plenty of options for installing wiring and lighting. There is no more wishing that you had just a little more room with a pre-fab metal workshop.
A more recent modification of the pre-fab metal pole barn is turning it into a home. While it is possible to do this with a simple rectangular barn by putting up interior walls and adding appropriate windows, many have gotten more creative. One of the currently popular options is to order a pre-fab barn that actually looks like an old farm barn, complete with barn-red sides and white trim. However, a client chooses to disguise the outside of his structure; he can make the inside take on any configuration he likes. The metal frame construction makes it possible to design whatever floor plan is desired. Anything from a four-bedroom family home to just a couple of large, open-concept spaces is possible.
These are just a few of the many options possible when purchasing a prefabricated metal building from Schaus-Vorhies Manufacturing. There are several others which we will be going over in the future. If you have a new construction project coming up, large or small, SVM can develop a customized space that will fit your need.
