Discount Metal Buildings & Kits – Advantages and Disadvantages

We have all seen the ads for Discount Metal Buildings. They’re on the T.V., We get flyers in the mail. We hear about them on the radio. And if we are in the market for a new metal building, they are very enticing.

Everyone likes to buy with discounts. No one wants to pay more than they have to. But the phrase ‘Buyer Beware’ should jump out at you when you see these ads.

Now don’t get me wrong. There are some legitimate deals on pre-fab metal buildings and building kits out there. You simply need to get through the advertising hype to ensure that you are indeed looking at a deal.

I have identified below a few of the advantages of discounted metal buildings as well as some of the pit-falls.
 

Advantages of Discount Metal Buildings

Price is the obvious first advantage. If the metal building offered is exactly the building you require and desire and the price is right, then you have a good deal. Make sure that the building is designed for the climatic conditions of your site i.e. snow loads, wind loads, rain loads and seismic conditions. You must really do your homework to be sure that the building is what is required. Get comparative prices for exactly the same building.

Delivery is the next advantage. Metal Buildings that are discounted are often not on the shelf. They are simply an engineered standard building that allows production to start as soon as the purchase contract is signed - providing there is capacity in the plant. This eliminates the design and approval stages. In many fabrication plants, the biggest bottleneck is in the design stage. These buildings can actually often be manufactured quicker than they can be designed. If you are in a hurry to get a metal building then a discounted building may be the answer.
 

Possible Disadvantages of Discount Buildings

As discussed above, many discounted steel buildings are of a pre-designed simple building. You MUST ensure that all structural design meets the codes required by you site location. Changes to this design could be expensive.

Any additional loads that you may wish to place on the building like an overhead crane or hoist, a roof mounted HVAC unit, or suspended piping etc. from the roof rafters needs to be identified to the supplier. These loads will likely exceed the design loads and may require additional engineering and manufacturing costs.

You will often find that these discounted buildings have very limited color selections. Of course you can most often get the colors you desire for additional costs.

The building designs are most often that of a simple box building – square or rectangle shaped – with no architectural appeal. Remember, metal building today can be designed to be very aesthetic. One particular pre-eng design has the building looking like the Titanic complete with iceberg! Of course, design changes like that can be very expensive.

The designs of these discounted buildings have minimal accessories – perhaps only one man-door. Adding additional accessories can be costly. Not only does the manufacturer have to add the accessories in question, but in most cases they have to add structural members as well – and perhaps some re-engineering.

Once you engage conversation with the supplier’s sales-person regarding the discount metal building there can be a lot of high-pressure sales tactics and hype. Don’t be pressured into buying until you are completely satisfied that you are getting the right building for you.


Now this article may seem a little one-sided but it is not intended to be. There are some good legitimate discounts available for prefab metal buildings. And the benefits are obvious – Price and Delivery.

The pitfalls or disadvantages simply have to be eliminated. The only way to do that is to know exactly what is being offered and to get a comparison price to exactly the same metal building – apples-to-apples.

Oh yea, one more point. When purchasing find out if shipping is included to you building site. Shipping can be quite expensive.
 


What to Do Next

· Check out the other articles relating to metal stud panelized building kits and residential building packages on our Metal Building Kits Articles Map