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  • From: Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Homestead] Metal buildings, was Re: archives search
  • Date: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 17:51:01 -0600


Is anyone build metal structures, either domes or cylinders or anything? Quonset huts are an old solution to deployable cheap long-lasting shelters and that is the subject I am investigating.
What is the next step in shelter after tarps and tents??

I've been researching metal buildings and am digging out a hillside in which to place one. I don't like quonsets because the curved walls disallow side shed roofs, which expand the roof cover very inexpensively. Truth be told, I think metal building are less than uplifting, but they are cheap and strong and they don't burn.

Not sure how big mine will be until I get the hillside excavated. This is the Ozarks and I might get into some big stone that I can't move. If I can make a sufficient flat site, I want a 30 by 30 straight-walled building with 6:12 roof, with the trusses 14 feet above the slab, with side shed 4:12 roofs covering ten-foot side carports for vehicles and extra storage for things that don't need total protection. Our local building supply just quoted me $5,711 for materials not including the slab. That includes a people door with hinges, handle and lockset and the materials and hardware to build two 8 by 14-foot barn doors that slide on overhead tracks towards the outside. If I run out of time to build it myself I can hire a couple stout and experienced local lads to build the structure for $1,300 labor. I just got a price on the slab of $3,500 with 18-inch footings at the perimeter and rebar both ways on 2-foot spacing. If my addition is accurate, the total price would be $10,500, which works out to $11.67 per square foot. I think that's pretty darn inexpensive.

I am not keen on the aesthetics of metal buildings, which is why I am digging out this hillside on the far side of my shop area. It is the side of a small hollow and is surrounded by big white oaks, so it will be cool in the summer and winds will have trouble making trouble back there, but the big reason I am sticking it back there is so it is hidden.






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