How to Buy Metal Buildings in Arkansas

By Ryan Bauer

Overview

Metal buildings provide many advantages to traditional wood construction, such as lower building costs, fewer fire hazards, cheaper insurance rates and greater long-term durability. These buildings can be used to house anything from cars, tractors and farm equipment, to full-sized aircraft. Arkansas, lying in the heart of the Midwest, is prone to tornadoes and extremely high wind gusts. While extreme weather may bend or warp some of the metal panels, it is very rare for a tornado or wind sheer to cause structural damage to a metal building.

This 3-bay metal detached garage was built to house vehicles and trailers.

Step 1

Take a close look at your land to determine where the building will go. A concrete slab foundation will be required to support the metal building, which can help level out uneven ground, but the land must be somewhat level to begin with. Placing a large metal building on a steep hill is simply not practical. If the ground is sloped less than 5 degrees, it can usually be leveled out enough by simply pouring the concrete and allowing itself to naturally level within the frame as it dries. If the ground is sloped 10 degrees or less, grading may be required to fill in the area before the foundation is poured. Slopes steeper than 10 degrees are usually not economically practical to grade.
Step 2

Contact at least one local metal building manufacturer with your needs. Tell them how many garage bays you need (if any), and what your uses for the building will be. If you have specific square footage requirements, be sure to pass those on as well. Though they can construct a custom building for you, they will likely have several plans on hand that are already prepared, and might even have some already constructed buildings in stock. It pays to get quotes from multiple manufacturers. The price variation between companies can be substantial, and Arkansas has many metal building suppliers, especially in the more rural areas.

Step 3

Decide if you are going to have the building manufacturer pour the concrete foundation, or if you are going to oversee this process yourself. Often, manufacturers will simply subcontract this job out to another company, and raise the price slightly so that they are making a profit off of it. By cutting out the middle man, you can often save some money. Get a quote both from the manufacturer and from at least one cement company to see which one costs less.
Step 4

Wait for the building to be delivered. The parts will generally be manufactured off-site, then brought in by truck for assembly on your property. The manufacturer's installation team must be the one to assemble the building, since they know exactly how it goes together. Subcontracting this job out to another company is not an option.

Skill: Moderate
Ingredients:
Telephone
$5,000 to $30,000 or more
Tip: Ask the manufacturer if they have any buildings left over from canceled orders, because they will usually sell these at greatly discounted prices.
Tip: The price for metal buildings can almost always be negotiated.

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