Many customers are confused by the best value for their money when deciding whether to buy a wood constructed building or a steel one. This really comes down to what a person plans to do with the structure they’re buying. Here are few things to consider before making your building purchase;
What Will You Use Your Building For?
Not all of the buildings sold at Salem Structures are available in both wood or steel. At the time of this writing, we only sell wood or vinyl gazebos, playsets, pergolas and log cabins (no steel option on those models). However our portable garages, storage sheds and horse barns are available in either wood or steel and colors can be tailored to suit.
Moisture can be a destructive force that works against building structures of all types. This is unavoidable in most situations but when extra moisture is introduced to the building via livestock, or regular use of pressure washers for instance, this can speed up the process of rot or corrosion if not properly considered before putting a building in use.
Treated lumber offers excellent protection against moisture, and even repels it for many years without adverse affects to your building’s integrity. Where steel buildings are concerned there are basically two types of material available. Thick (heavy gauge) steel is usually galvanized and also has excellent protection against moisture with a 25 year warranty, but the cheaper thinner gauge material only has a one year warranty against rust.
Do You Need Building Security?
Many people simply need to get their equipment, RV’s or boats out of the weather to help preserve their investments. If this is your main priority you may want to look at our steel carports. They come in sizes large enough to accommodate any large farm machinery or RV coaches, yet they have open sides (if you prefer) and can have one, both or neither end covered. The same holds true for the sides as you can have them come down four feet from the roof, or go all the way to the ground to keep out blowing wind or rain.
Although we don’t specifically have any wood built carports on our website or in our brochures, we can custom build one for you if you would prefer those materials over steel. This would likely be more expensive than a steel built carport but we always work with our customers to give them exactly what they had in mind whenever possible. Just give us a call with the dimensions you’d like to have and we’ll get a quote over to you quickly.
Do You Want A Maintenance Free Structure?
At first this looks like an expensive option unless you have had to recently re-roof your home, or pay to repair damaged building materials from rain, sun and snow over long periods of time. It’s also expensive, and usually costs a lot more because you pay twice for labor to do the repairs. Buying lifetime designer fiberglass shingles is one of the best investments you can make in upgrading your structure.
If your roof sheds water well, it goes a long way toward keeping everything under the roof dry and rot-free. It also preserves paint and repels heat much better than traditional tar shingles do. The best part is that the cost of the upgrade is far cheaper than the cost to re-roof in just about any situation.
If fire is a concern then steel buildings are a safer bet for obvious reasons. And, if you’ve every had a fire claim on your insurance a replacement steel building will be cheaper to insure as well.
Wood vs Steel Conclusion
No matter what your building needs, we are committed to helping your find the right solution at the right price. If you have any purchasing concerns at all, please call us at (330) 332-9940 so we can go over your options in person.