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Metal buildings???'s
Spartacus
Member Posts: 14,415
anyone have one of those metal buildings for barn, garage, storage etc?
how hard would one be to convert/finish into office space?
I'm thinking of turning a 48 x 96 ft metal "barn" type building into finished space (for a clinic).
If i put in radiant heat in a cement slab would that be energy efficient? I wasn't planning to put a standard ceiling in, just flush finished spray in foam, so there would be alot of open space separated with non wt bearing divider walls.
the salesman says it's done all the time, but he couldn't give me the location of any i could look at.
anyone have any info?
thanks
tom
how hard would one be to convert/finish into office space?
I'm thinking of turning a 48 x 96 ft metal "barn" type building into finished space (for a clinic).
If i put in radiant heat in a cement slab would that be energy efficient? I wasn't planning to put a standard ceiling in, just flush finished spray in foam, so there would be alot of open space separated with non wt bearing divider walls.
the salesman says it's done all the time, but he couldn't give me the location of any i could look at.
anyone have any info?
thanks
tom
Comments
I wish I would have had the foresight to put down insulation under the concrete floor though. If you are going with floor heat, it is a must to pour the floor over Styrofoam insulation.
In my opinion, you won't have any sound privacy from room to room without any ceiling. If I was a patient in such a facility, I don't think I would like for my problems to be available for all to hear (not that I have any problems).[:)]
If I could do it all over again, I would put in floor radiant tubes fed by a wood burning outdoor furnace (I have 18 acres of woods). Depending on what you heat the water with, will determine whether it's economical to do it or not. Good luck.
very good point! thanks!
I guess I could insulate the roof and put a suspended ceiling in.
if I insulate the interior walls it should be private enough for normal conversation. right?
[:)]
YIKES! thats the company I was talking to!
thanks for the tip!
Jorge, would love to have you here! Do you do OB?
in Kansas we carry because we WANT to, not because we HAVE to![;)]
tom
Jorge, would love to have you here! Do you do OB?
I do mostly ER and teaching.
[:)]
General Steel Domestic Sales LLC, General Steel Corp., General Steel Corporation, General Steel, Inc., General Steel Metal Buildings, Discount Steel Buildings LLC, Anthem Steel, Genstone, Capital Steel Industries LLC, Capital Steel, and Capital Steel Metal Buildings
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Building inside of one.
First thing that needs to be looked at is the type of construction the metal building uses. All steel with steel girders and rafters or a wooden pole type barn.
Not hard at all really. But be warned it can get very expensive quick.
Recently put a 20 x 40 x 20 Racket ball court, 32 x 80 apartment and a 12 x 16 office into an 80W x 120L x 24H steel building. And yes it all fit nicely..lol
If it is all steel. Insulating will be the biggest cost. I forget just how many sheets of 2 1/2 R-Max insulation I used to cover the tin sides on the building. It needed to be instituted tight to keep it from sweating. The roof was insulated using plastic backed 36" x 12" x 100' rolled insulation.
The walls were constructed like any other wall using 2x6 studs then set up and anchored to the girders. The ceiling trusses were 2x8x24's spaced 16" OC and fastened to the walls top plate with the space above left unfinished. The finished sections or rooms looked no different than a normal finished inside walls of a house. The above photo shows the racket ball court that was covered using 2" random length tongue and groove oak flooring.
If you notice the heat pump/ac unit is located at the bottom left hand side of the top photo. AC/heat on the left and the return air on the right. This was ducted to supply heat and air to the court and the apartment using the space above the ceiling.
Not hard at all to lay out and build inside of a metal building. The hard part is paying for it all.
great looking raquet ball court!
how did you get the orbital floor sander up the walls?[;)]
quote: you won't have any sound privacy from room to room without any ceiling
very good point! thanks!
I guess I could insulate the roof and put a suspended ceiling in.
if I insulate the interior walls it should be private enough for normal conversation. right?
That would depend on how loud your patients scream. [:D]
Seriously, I used unfaced batts of fiberglass in the 2x4 studded walls of my office, and it makes it pretty sound resistant. As far as normal conversation, I think it would work fine.
Re: Spray on insulation- There are different varieties of these. One of the more common is a binary foam product- two chemicals mix as they are pumped through the applicator gun, react chemically, foam, and give really good insulating properties.
Problem is that foam is combustible as hell. If used, it needs to be covered by a non-combustible surface. Fiberglass insulation, etc does not burn. The R-Max/ TuffR sheeting has an acceptable flame spread rating WHEN PROPERLY INSTALLED. SHEET STYROFOAM (expanded polystyrene) and similar products may not. When burned they not only produce a LOT of smoke and carbon in the air, some will also produce cyanide compounds.
Flame spread along a vertical surface is so fast, you'll never make it to the door. I helped in the investigation of a triple fatality at a construction site where a torch lit spray-on foam.
You will also have a structure that will not be insured- for property OR premises liability. And will be denied an occupancy permit. Check some of the REALLY bad nightclub fires. Unfaced foam.
A 20 x 30 room was to be the heated office with a bath. Before doing the interior framing, we had the outside walls sprayed with non-burnable foam at ONE Inch thick. This served as a real effective air leak, bug stop. The roof above got 2" of foam.
We put commercial tile on the floor. Inside wall was 6". and it got fibreglas; prefoamed outside walls got glass insulation too. Nice drywall job was done by a local man. Ceiling got a foot of blown in cellulose. Total cost was $28/sqft, but we did the interior framing, painting and trim work. The windows were all glass company rejects..the picture window was $80, but we framed to their sizes.
In Western Colorado at 7000 feet, this heats with a 1500 watt part-time heater. This serves as a ranch office and workshop, but in a survival SHTF day, it could be a decent shelter if I hook up an on site propane heater.
I can post some more of the inside if you would like these were taken before I done more to it.
not hard at all to do.
taz
I know this thread is a little out of date but I found this site by searching for some information about converting a metal building into a home. All of the replies were so good I thought I'd post my question in hopes that someone can help me.
We have a 30X40 existing metal building, on a concrete slab with sewage and water lines and electricity in one corner of the building already, on our land along with a very small cottage type house. We are currently living in the house but would like to convert the metal shop into our home.
I've read all of the wonderful advice about how to insulate it. Currently there is rolled insulation in the ceiling and that's all. The problem is that there are 2 large roll up doors, one on each end of the building.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what to do with the doors if we convert it? Is it even possible?
If I've done it correctly, I've attached a picture of the building below.