Side doors in structural steel buildings?

[tinknal]

Has anyone installed or seen doors installed on the side of a structural steel building? I'm talking about the free standing steel with no interior support. I am putting up a building this spring and the structural steel (imo) provides more bang for the buck. Problem is, the building site I have in mind necessitates a side entry garage door.

[uncle Will in In.]

A custom opperator near here has a very large clear span steel building with side doors large enough for combine entry.

[agmantoo]

Installing a door in the side of the building is not a problem. At the door location the designer of the building will include a frame for the door. It is cheaper for the floor of the building to be poured prior to installing the door frame and the siding. The vertical sides of the door frame will be affixed to the floor rather than having to pour footers (necessary when thefloor is to remain dirt/stone . You may want to have a recess in the concrete at the door sill area to prevent rain from blowing under the door.

[tinknal]

Originally Posted by uncle Will in In.

A custom opperator near here has a very large clear span steel building with side doors large enough for combine entry.

Do they look like a modification or like they came that way from the factory?

[ET1 SS]

My home has a horizontal purlin that runs at about 7 foot up.

I was able to tuck the door frame underneath it, and then I lifted the door frame and slid a 2X4 underneath, so that the door frame 'locks-in' and holds the purlln.

The door frame when looking at it from the side, the top is 'U' shaped. One side of the 'U' is on the outside of the purlin, and the other side of the 'U' is on the inside.

It still did not lock tight up against the purlin, so I slid another 2X4 through in the bottom of the 'U', drilled holes down through the purlin and screwed it to hold it solid.

Our 'front door' is in fact a pair of steel double doors.

We will likely replace the doors with nice looking doors with glass panels, sometime later.

[rambler]

It adds considerably to the costs. Needs a structural frame around it. Not difficult mechanically, but $$$$$$. If you want the door flush with the rim of the wall, it needs to have the roof modified & short sidewalls connecting the raised roof to the regular roof. If you simpely cut the panels back to the hight of the door, then the door will be set into your building quite a ways, losing floor space. Either kick out (the way to do it) roof line, or kick in the wall. Either costs a ton of money as well as putting snow & rain on the door pad.

I'd look for a different plan.

--->Paul

[Boss Cooker]

Locate a door dealer in your area and buy a steel 36" door and frame. I ordered a steel building and it was a box without doors. I determined the location and had the frame set in place. Some times you can locate a door with a ding in it and save some bucks. I did the same for the overhead doors.

[ET1 SS]

Originally Posted by rambler

It adds considerably to the costs. Needs a structural frame around it. Not difficult mechanically, but $$$$$$. If you want the door flush with the rim of the wall, it needs to have the roof modified & short sidewalls connecting the raised roof to the regular roof. If you simpely cut the panels back to the hight of the door, then the door will be set into your building quite a ways, losing floor space. Either kick out (the way to do it) roof line, or kick in the wall. Either costs a ton of money as well as putting snow & rain on the door pad.

I'd look for a different plan.

--->Paul

Respectfully I disagree.

I did not find that it cost me any more, save two 2X4s and some screws.

Our doors are very secure and sturdy.

[agmantoo]

I have 2 ea. 16 ft wide 12 ft tall doors in the side of my building. The building was free span on the sides and ends. The span is 25 ft between main beams. There is a door in each of these 25 ft side spans. The costs adder for the doors to be in the side was no different than for them to be in the ends. The price of the doors was more than standard garage doors due to their height and width. I do not think you will have any difference in price with the doors in the side or the ends. The doors will have to have jambs regardless.

[ET1 SS]

My free spans are shorter. I only have 20 foot of free span between vertical girders [beams]. Three spans per each side of the building [each side is 60 foot], and two spans at each end [each end is 40 foot].

[agmantoo]

At the time I built my building the 25' span was the maximum that the purlins came. My building is incremented in the 25 ft. multiples as this was the most building for the price when purchased. I doubt that my load range is anywhere nears yours eventhough it is engineered for the mountains of western NC.

[kuriakos]

I think he's talking about the steel buildings where the outer steel skin is the structural support...there are no beams or purlins inside.

[tinknal]

Originally Posted by kuriakos

I think he's talking about the steel buildings where the outer steel skin is the structural support...there are no beams or purlins inside.

Yes, exactly, thanks.

[rambler]

Originally Posted by ET1 SS

Respectfully I disagree.

I did not find that it cost me any more, save two 2X4s and some screws.

Our doors are very secure and sturdy.

He is not talking about the metal I-beam buildings, he is talking about the steel arch buildings where the skin is deeply ribbed & is also the frame - no backbone or poles to his building. The end walls are vertical, the side walls are curved in an arch.

He wants to put a door into the curved arch side.

That is going to be expensive to do.

Your style of building would then be better for his needs. Yes it is easy to put a door in your style of building, if the metal supports are far enough apart.

His building would be one of these type:
http://www.miraclespan.com/

There are true arches, to some that are closer to a vertical wall but still the sheet metal is the load-bearing structure, so quite a header would be needed to keep the roof stable, and you still have the snow & rain coming off the top onto your door pad.

Cutting the sidewall & fitting a vertical door takes a lot more than 2 2x4s.


--->Paul

[ET1 SS]

My mistake then.

So you mean more like a quanset hut?

Mine is just a cheap steel building.

[Jackpine Savage]

Having a door on the sidewall of a steel roofed building without an extended roof, dormer, or doghouse in this part of the country is really a pain in the behind. If you're not there right after the snow slides off it sets up hard as a rock and can be dang near impossible to move. If it doesn't come off all at once or you put on snow guards to keep it from sliding it slowly drips, freezes, builds up and then runs back into the building, freezes the door shut, etc, etc.

[rambler]

Originally Posted by ET1 SS

My mistake then.

So you mean more like a quanset hut?

Mine is just a cheap steel building.

Did you know Quanset is back in the business of sheds to retail customers, tho now they are making your style of building? They have a web site, but it's still under construction.

Yep, would look like one of those, or a WWII govt building. But there are no internal supports of any kind, just very deeply ribbed sheet metal as skin/wall/supports. No frame at all. Check the web site I gave for how they are constructed - that is their appeal, a _lot_ of wrench turning, but fairly easy to put up.

I would _not_ want your building up here in the snow zone, couldn't get in that door for 4+ months a year for the snow buildup in front of it. Doors on a side-wall are a bad thing 'here'.

Sounds like a real weak roof on yours as well - not a bad thing for you, but we gotta build much stronger here, closer supports & all to carry 4 feet of snow. Doesn't always pile up that high, but all it takes is one time to bring down the roof....

--->Paul

[ET1 SS]

Given time we will have a wrap around porch so that double door will have a wooden deck in front of it, and an extended roof coming out another eight foot.

Up here in the North we hang the doors so they swing inside. So long as the snow is below the top of the door, we can still open the door and get out.

The floor just inside those doors is a radiant heated floor and aluminum sheet covered mud pit, with a bartender's rubber mat over it. So our snow blower, shovels and stuff are parked right there dripping. That mud-pit has a deck drain going into our grey-water system.

[ET1 SS]

Originally Posted by rambler

... I would _not_ want your building up here in the snow zone, couldn't get in that door for 4+ months a year for the snow buildup in front of it. Doors on a side-wall are a bad thing 'here'.

Sounds like a real weak roof on yours as well - not a bad thing for you, but we gotta build much stronger here, closer supports & all to carry 4 feet of snow. Doesn't always pile up that high, but all it takes is one time to bring down the roof....

--->Paul

I feel bad for you guys down South there.

The building code here only requires a snow load of 85 pounds. Our building was designed for 120.

But you are right, if we were down South and got more snow it would be a concern.

[mtman]

Originally Posted by ET1 SS

I feel bad for you guys down South there.

The building code here only requires a snow load of 85 pounds. Our building was designed for 120.

But you are right, if we were down South and got more snow it would be a concern.