FS Construction Services strong columns machine storage

Project Profile: Strong Columns for Unmatched Space

At FS Construction Services we love an impressive feat of engineering. We work with so many construction materials so often that it’s genuinely exciting when someone comes along with a new and better way of doing something, including strong columns.

Superior Strength Columns Support Massive Space

For the past few months, we have been discussing the pork farm machine storage project we recently completed, which was a massive 81’ x 200’ x 20’ agricultural building. The project included a variety of highlights and features that we have since been breaking down in further detail.

Perhaps one of the most impressive things about this project is just how big the building is. Yet for all of its size, the interior of the structure is one giant, clear span of uninterrupted space. So we thought we would spend some time discussing how those big spans are achieved and how a building of this size can be constructed to last the test of time.

Our partners at Walters Buildings have used their in-house engineering team to create columns of superior strength in every way. These 3-ply columns utilize their Shear Transfer Plate technology which increases the load capacity of each column, essentially making them twice as strong as a solid 6×6 post. These columns were then fastened to the concrete foundation with L brackets, securing them in place along the entire length of the building.

The end result is a huge building that can easily accommodate large machinery while withstanding the wind, rain, and snow. If you are in the market for a new building, even if it’s not an 81’ x 200’ behemoth, please let Gateway FS Construction Services know. Give us a call at 866-551-3454, and let our specialists help you find exactly what you are looking for. We look forward to providing you the best customer service experience.

FS Construction Services Dripstop machine storage building

Project Profile: The Benefits of Dripstop

Recently, we discussed a major machine storage project we completed. This project featured so many specific types of work and skills that we thought it would be helpful to highlight certain aspects of it over multiple months, including our use of Dripstop.

Condensation Protection with Dripstop

The 81’ x 200’ x 20’ structure is not only huge, but we were able to install some of the highest quality materials to provide our client with a dependable storage building that will last them for many, many decades to come.

One of those features that will directly affect the longevity of the building is the inclusion of Dripstop technology. Dripstop is a way to prevent condensation from gathering inside the roof of a building. We wanted to take a quick look at why that’s so beneficial in a machine storage situation like the one we recently completed.

The HDF A felt of a Dripstop application is installed to an uninsulated metal roof. It’s made of polyester-interlocked fibers with tiny spaces among them. When the sun sets in the evening the felt reduces the difference in temperature between the air and the roof, delaying the condensation process. When condensation does start to build on the roof during the night, the felt traps the water particles inside. In the morning, as it starts to warm, rather than the water droplets falling onto the ground below, they are trapped inside the felt until the day when they quickly evaporate. This process protects any electrical equipment within the building from getting exposed to water.

Additionally, tests have shown that this adds more protection from the corrosive elements of livestock confinement. Though not the same as traditional insulation, Dripstop felt does actually provide some of the same benefits of heat insulation. It also helps deaden sound, is bacteria resistant, and has a low combustibility.

It’s no surprise why Dripstop is a favorite of ours and we were happy to include it as part of our major pork farm project. In the meantime, if you are in need of a steel building, wood building, or post-frame building, please let Gateway FS Construction Services know. Give us a call at 866-551-3454, and let our specialists help you find exactly what you are looking for. We look forward to providing you the best customer service experience.

FS Construction Services Walters buildings

The Walters Buildings Difference

We spend a lot of time with buildings and building materials here at FS Construction Services, so we know a good quality building when we see one. Which is why we’ve been so happy to have been able to partner with Walters Buildings for as long as we have. We wanted to take a little time to highlight why they have been such good partners and maybe give you an idea of what to expect if you are in the market for a new post-frame building.

FS Construction Services and Walters Buildings

Walters Buildings has many of the same advantages of larger manufacturers while maintaining the advantages found in smaller companies. Walters’ buildings are fully engineered to meet compliance and safety needs. They produce their own steel, trusses, and trim to maintain quality. But one of things about them that our clients have appreciated the most over the years is just how customizable they are. Their buildings are produced with innovation and customization in mind, meaning they can be fitted to a wide variety of applications.

On the material end, Walters uses 28-gauge steel with G-90 galvanizing on that steel, making it protected even if it gets scratched. Their 14’ heeled trusses provide more room for insulation, and those same trusses can be customized to fit your exact building profile. They also use patented sheer transfer plates, which can tolerate more stress than traditional columns.

But none of that would matter much if Walters didn’t operate with integrity and care for their customers. Walters is a family-owned business with local representatives and a commitment to keeping their standards high.

So if you have been thinking about a new post-frame building, know that when you work with us you get the best of both worlds. If you have any questions, please let Gateway FS Construction Services know. Give us a call at 866-551-3454, and let our specialists help you find exactly what you are looking for. We look forward to providing you the best customer service experience.

FS Construction Services machine storage building

Brazinski Pork Farm #1: A Mammoth of Machine Storage

At FS Construction Services we always enjoy a good challenge. Often times our challenges involve making the right decision for a small space or figuring out how to best utilize a limited amount of resources. And we like that. Being backed into a corner usually inspires creativity. However, it’s not hard to admit that it’s a lot of fun during those rarer moments when we have the opportunity to go all out on a project, such as this machine storage building.

 

Huge, New and Functional Machine Storage Building

 

This was the case recently when we worked with a large pork farm to construct a brand-new machine storage and feed facility. We will actually be discussing this multi-month project for the next few months, highlighting a different aspect of the project each month. For now, though, we are going to discuss some of the overall features of the project as a whole.

This 81’ x 200’ x 20’ structure features huge, clear spans making it able to store multiple types of large agricultural machinery. The underside of the metal roof has been outfitted with Dripstop to prevent condensation from gathering inside the roof. The building also has 4’ blue wainscoting around its entire exterior. This not only enhances the building’s appearance, but it also makes for an easier replacement at the most likely damaged point of the building. Finally, we installed two sets of 40’ x 18’ double sliding doors and a 30’ x 18’ steel backed, insulated Raynor door with a 1.5 hp operator.

We will be diving into more of these aspects in greater detail in later months, so be sure to check back to learn more. In the meantime, if you are in need of a steel building, wood building, or post-frame building, please let Gateway FS Construction Services know. Give us a call at 866-551-3454, and let our specialists help you find exactly what you are looking for. We look forward to providing you the best customer service experience.

FS Construction Services Veterans Day

Saying Thank You this Veterans Day

It won’t come as a surprise to anyone that life comes at you fast, and often it seems like it’s only just speeding up. November is a busy time of year, whether it’s harvest coming to a close, holidays on the horizon, winter prep underway, or simply the day-to-day demands of life. So often we can be too busy, or too tired, or too distracted to slow down a little bit and take stock of where we are. These annual days of remembrance such as Veterans Day can be helpful signposts along the way, a chance to think about where we were the year before or an opportunity to find some gratefulness in the midst of our busyness.
 

Show Your Appreciation This Veterans Day

 
Here at FS Construction Services, we wanted to take a moment this Veterans Day to say thank you to the brave men and women who have served our country. We hope you’ll join us this Thursday, November 11, in remembering that our freedoms have come with a cost and we have all collectively benefited from the service of so many that have come before and will come after us.

To our friends, neighbors, and clients who have served, and to the countless numbers of those we don’t know, we would like to say, “Thank you.” Your sacrifice has allowed us to do what we love and serve our community in our own small way. If you or someone you’re close to is a veteran, be sure to show your appreciation.

As always, FS Construction Services is here for your building, garage door, grain system, seed system, roofing, and other needs. Our group of experts and specialists are always happy to answer your questions, give you advice, or help you in any way. Please feel free to reach out to Gateway FS Construction Services. You can give us a call at 866-551-3454, and let our specialists help you find exactly what you are looking for. We look forward to providing you the best customer service experience.

FS Construction Services machine storage

Project Profile: 8,640 sq. ft. of Machine Storage

At FS Construction Services, we know that sometimes you just need to store something really big without having to worry about accidentally destroying your building in the process. It’s a simple concept for sure, but building proper machine storage is no joke. Whether it’s agricultural equipment or boats or a variety of other possibilities, when it comes to machine storage, you need something that is as rugged as the machines themselves. And perhaps most importantly of all, you need something that’s big, with a wide, clear span.

Building You the Best Machine Storage

This was the case for a recent client who needed, more than anything, as much storage space as possible without much fuss. Tom Marcheski and his team stepped in and built a huge 72’ x 120’ x 16’ building with a wide-open interior for anything the client would need to store there. In order to make the structure as convenient and easy-to-maintain as possible, we also installed an extra row of splashboards, an 18-inch overhang on the left endwall, and seamless gutters. Additionally, our team put skylights into the roof for improved lighting and installed a Dripstop condensation prevention system to keep moisture from dripping down from the metal roof onto the equipment below. To make things as accessible as possible for the client, we also installed a 36’ x 16’ sliding door system, a 30’ x 16’ sliding door system, and a standard-sized door.

The importance of a building that just works can never be overstated. If you are in the market for machine or agricultural storage or any other kind of residential or commercial building, please let Gateway FS Construction Services know. Give us a call at 866-551-3454, and let our specialists help you find exactly what you are looking for. We look forward to providing you the best customer service experience.

FS Construction Services buildings storage needs

Project Profile: Solving Storage Needs

It can be easy to think of a building as something immovable and permanent. And while we certainly want our buildings to feel that way, we also know that doesn’t mean that a building can’t change once it’s been constructed. At FS Construction Services, we know that things change all the time. Life circumstances, careers, storage needs, and so on. We build durable, longstanding buildings that are designed to withstand the test of time. But that’s not to say that they can never change, grow, or adapt.

Sometimes You Need a Little More Storage Space

This past October, previous clients of ours found themselves in a situation where they realized they needed just a little bit more space on a building we had previously constructed for them. Rather than tearing down a wall and starting over, Tom Marcheski and his team took a more creative, more efficient approach. They extended the building by adding a 15’ x 48’ x 9’ lean-to onto the side of it.

The lean-to was tied into the existing roofing and sided to match what came before and was engineered to be open on both ends for ease of access. This extra storage provided our clients with just the right amount of space and protection for them, without needing to create an entirely new, totally closed-off section of a building. In just a week, they had exactly what they would need to be ready for the cold months ahead.

We are big fans of problem solving and finding solutions. So whether you are looking at new construction or need to find some update or modification to an existing building, please let Gateway FS Construction Services know. Give us a call at 866-551-3454, and let our specialists help you find exactly what you are looking for. We look forward to providing you the best customer service experience.

FS Construction Services pole barn

The Many Uses of the Humble Pole Barn

At FS Construction Services, we spend lots of time with highly-specialized equipment, like seed treaters and grain bins, which each have a pretty specific use and wouldn’t serve much purpose outside of what’s intended. And we love equipment that’s designed to do one job and do it as effectively as possible. But there’s also something exciting about building something that has two or three or four possible uses, which is one of the reasons we always enjoy talking about pole barns.

Versatile and Functional Pole Barns

Pole barns are some of the most customizable structures we get to work with. They can be used to build garages, sheds, agricultural storage, churches, auto repair buildings, horse barns, and even airplane hangars. The possibilities are really just how much someone can imagine. On top of that, our partners at Walters Buildings offer a huge variety of color options, window options, and more. A pole barn can be outfitted with a standard garage door, sliding doors for large equipment, Dutch doors, Dutch porches, or a combination of all of these.

Over the years we have built pole barns for clients that are part storage space, part recreation space, part horse stables or simply large, wide-span structures to keep agricultural equipment safe from the elements. The simple, yet dependable idea of a pole barn matched with superior materials and tried-and-true construction methods mean you can get the building you want, designed the way you want it, and you won’t have to wait around for it to happen.

If you are looking at how a pole barn might suit your needs or if you have interest in another kind of wood or steel building, please let Gateway FS Construction Services know. Give us a call at 866-551-3454, and let our specialists help you find exactly what you are looking for. We look forward to providing you the best customer service experience.

Gateway FS Construction Services metal building

Project Profile: The Little Details Make a Building Unique

At FS Construction Services, we have constructed our fair share of buildings over the years. From every shape and size to a whole host of different functions and purposes, we have had the opportunity to see just how much variety you can get in a wood or steel building. In many cases though, what really sets a structure apart are all the extra details. Whether it’s huge, sliding doors, an insulated living space, or stalls for horses, the variety of additions here and there are what really make a building, the building.

Metal Building for Storage and Maintenance

Recently, we had the chance to build a new structure with enough extra features to set it apart from the other buildings like it. This 42’ x 80’ x 16’ drive-through facility was built on a concrete slab to be used for storage and maintenance. We lined the building with R42 ceiling insulation and R19 wall insulation to increase the building’s thermal efficiency and help keep it warmer during the cold months. Along one side of the building we installed 10 7’ x 2’ fixed glass windows to provide the interior with plenty of natural light. On each side of the building is a 14’ x 14’ Raynor garage door featuring windows and exhaust ports.

The structure uses 5” x 6” standard columns and laminated columns that have been staggered for strength. Along the exterior, we have installed sectional gutters with 4” x 3” down spouts to drive water away from the building and slab.

While this particular project may not have had anything completely out of the ordinary, it featured just enough of the little kinds of extras and details to make it the exact building our client wanted. If you are looking for your own custom steel or wood building, please let Gateway FS Construction Services know. Give us a call at 866-551-3454, and let our specialists help you find exactly what you are looking for. We look forward to providing you the best customer service experience.

FS Construction Services Red Bud IL multi-purpose building

Project Profile: A Building For Many Purposes

Here at FS Construction Services, we know that a building can be many things: a place to relax, a place to keep your stuff dry, a place to keep important things protected. And sometimes, a building needs to be a little bit of all of those things at the same time. Recently, we worked with a client who needed just that.

Unique Multi-Purpose Storage Building Features Horse Stables

The 66’ x 120’ x 17’ building was built on a 12” stem wall and was designed to function as part agricultural storage, part machine storage, part general purpose, and part horse stables. This durable structure includes 5” x 8” laminated columns set with L brackets on the stem wall as well as a metal roof with ice guards and a seamless gutter system. The roof also includes three cupolas: one 4’ x 4’ cupola with glass windows and two 3’ x 3’ louvered. The roof is finished with DripStop protection to prevent excess moisture from building up on the roof and falling to the ground below.

The building features three overhead doors, two 16.5’ sliding doors that combine to create a 33’ wide opening, and two 12’ x 14’ doors for additional access. These are Raynor garage doors that provide weather protection and thermal insulation.

Increasing the multipurpose function of the building, three double Dutch-style doors lead to three interior horse stables. As for the exterior, the building features 3’ charcoal-colored wainscotting accents and a large, covered patio to provide extra covering and protection.

Though this building was built to serve a number of needs, we build wood and steel structures to fulfill a wide variety of functions and purposes. If you are in need of a new building, please let Gateway FS Construction Services know. Give us a call at 866-551-3454, and let our specialists help you find exactly what you are looking for. We look forward to providing you the best customer service experience.