FS Construction Services pole barn vs. post-frame

Pole Barn Vs. Post-Frame: What’s the Difference?

Pole Barn vs. Post Frame: Today we are excited to tackle a regular source of confusion and discussion in our industry: what’s the difference between a pole barn and a post-frame building?

Explaining the Difference Between Pole Barn and Post-Frame

We would love to say that the answer is a complex debate that has raged on for decades, but the reality is actually fairly mundane, though no less important to understand. “Post-frame” is a type of construction method. According to the National Frame Building Association, “Post-frame construction is an engineered wood-frame building system that meets UBC and IBC standards.”

What separates it from other types of construction is their speed of installation and the materials needed. “Because the larger posts and interlocking frame can handle greater loads than stud-wall construction, fewer structural materials are needed, which saves time and other costs.”

So if that’s post-frame, what is a pole barn? Well, a pole barn is simply a common type of building resulting from the post-frame construction method. Most of us have a picture in our minds of what a pole barn looks like, but that’s actually why we wanted to take the time to make this distinction. All pole barns are post-frame buildings but not all post-frame buildings are pole barns. The number of applications for a post-frame building are vast, and not simply limited to a rectangular barn-style building.

Agricultural buildings, commercial buildings, municipal buildings, churches, schools, fire stations, and even homes are all possible post-frame building options. Post-frame buildings can provide huge open spans, easily insulated swaths of wall and roof, durability, customizability and more.

If you are in need of a new building, whether you are looking for a pole barn or something entirely different, 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 customized buildings

Building You the Best: From Inside to Outside Customized Buildings

Here at FS Construction Services, we have spent the past couple months talking about the various benefits and uses associated with steel and wood customized buildings. Throughout these articles we have often discussed just how customizable these buildings are. But we wanted to take a closer look at what that customization means, from the inside out. At the end of the day, our job is to build you the building that gives you exactly what you need and does away with anything you don’t.
 

The Best in Steel or Wood Customized Buildings

 
When working with us to design your building, you will have a number of choices. Some of them are pretty obvious, like: how many windows, how big should the doors be, what color do I want the exterior to be, etc. However, the possibilities can really go on and on. For instance, perhaps you need a machine storage building but you want to save some money and time and go with a dirt floor instead of a concrete pad. Not a problem. Perhaps you haven’t decided exactly how you’re going to utilize your building’s interior so you want to leave it unfinished until a later time.

Perhaps you only want half of it finished. The point is, we will work to give you the building you need for the present and the one you’ll want for the future. Whether that comes with a rugged dirt floor or a buildout for future office space, the choice is up to you.

If you are in process of thinking what a new building could be for you, or if you have any questions at all about our steel or wood building options, 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 building uses

Building You the Best: New Building Uses

Maybe it sounds dramatic to say, but when you think about building a new building there is really no end to the new building uses. At FS Construction Services, we have constructed our fair share of buildings over the years and each of them was its own, unique structure with its own, unique purpose. So while we like to think that any building can be anything you want, we also know that there are certain types of buildings that are better suited to specific tasks and needs than others.
 

Many Uses of Post Frame and Steel Buildings

 
Post-Frame

Many of our clients choose to construct a post-frame, or pole barn, building on their property. These buildings have almost limitless size, color, and layout options. Often, these buildings work as part garage, part recreation, part storage, part horse barn, or a variety of other uses.

A quality post-frame building goes a long way. From a backyard shed to house your lawn equipment to a machine storage shed to house your agriculture equipment, these buildings scale up and down and in and out to fit your requirements. With help from our partners at Walters Buildings, we can build you anything from storage space to a retail space to a horse barn to a church.

Steel

Now just because we’re talking about steel doesn’t mean that all customizability is gone. Our partners at Sukup Manufacturing and Butler Manufacturing allow us to provide strong, tailored steel buildings to our clients. Whether you need a huge, clear span for large machinery, or you need warehouse or retail space for your business, we can get you the steel building you want in the timeframe you need.

No matter the type of building you choose, we will work closely with you to make sure that it not only suits your needs, but looks and feels the way you want it to. If you are considering 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.

FS Construction Services building types

Building You the Best: Building Types

One thing we know very well at FS Construction Services is that every tool has its own purpose and function. And in a similar way, every building has its own purpose and function. Now often that function is multi-faceted, but that also doesn’t mean that in any situation, any kind of the several building types will do. If you are dreaming up a new building for your property or for your business, there are a number of things to consider, not the least of which is what kind of building do you actually want.

FSCS Can Help Decide Which Building Type is Best for You

Over our many years we have worked extensively with wood, steel, and pole barn/post-frame buildings. Our partners at Walters Buildings, Sukup Manufacturing, and Butler Manufacturing manufacture some of the most well-built, customizable buildings around. Meaning that we can work within your limitations to meet your needs.

When you work with us to build your dream building, you get fully-engineered structures with thick, galvanized steel support, clear, open spans if you need them, endless window and door options, and a variety of insulation options to improve your building’s thermal efficiency. From agriculture to residential to commercial to horse barns to community buildings to machine storage and pretty much everything in between, if there’s a need for it, we will work to find a way to make it happen.

Whether you choose a wood, steel, or post-frame building, you will get a strong, functional structure that has been designed to meet your needs and your budget. And perhaps most importantly, we are a community-minded business that partners with other community-minded businesses. Because at the end of the day, we know that it’s you, our clients and friends, that matter the most.

If you are thinking about a new building, or have some questions about what we can do for you, 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.

Putty vs. Spackling Gateway FS Construction Services Paint Services

Putty Vs. Spackling: What You Need to Know

At FS Construction Services, we know that when it comes to painting, there are always dozens of things to consider. Color, texture, priming, cutting, taping, etc. Along with those considerations is the ever-present issue of repairing the holes, dents, and scratches that always seem to show up. For many people, “putty” and “spackling” are words that can be used interchangeably, however there is a significant difference between the two and when you should use them.

Putty and Spackling Have Different Purposes

Putty
Putty is made from oil-based compounds that are used to fasten glass panes, seal pipe drains, and fill cracks in woodwork. For that reason, putty is often used for windows, plumbing, and for outside applications. Putty is user friendly, doesn’t require sanding, and can be painted over almost immediately. Painter’s putty is also oil based, and can be easily kneaded like dough to fill nail holes and to cover cracks and splits in wood trim before painting. Additionally, putty comes in a variety of colors to match the wood trim that is to be painted or stained. However, basic putty is not made to be used on drywall.

Spackling
Spackling is a water-based, wall-repair compound used to patch holes, dents, scratches, and other imperfections in drywall or plaster. Spackling works best after a wall has been primed, but before it has been painted. After applying spackling, you will have to wait for it to dry. Spackling will dry rough and lumpy and will require sanding to become even with the wall. Once it has been sanded, it can be painted over, and if done right, the hole, dent, or scratch will no longer be noticeable.

If you have any questions about painting, or if you don’t have the time or equipment and need someone to come and do that painting job for you, 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 building horse barn

A Building With All the Bells, Whistles, and Saddles

Over the years here at FS Construction Services we have talked often about the many uses and benefits of wood and steel buildings. Much of the time these buildings are used for storage, vehicles, and agricultural equipment. Recently, however, we had the chance to construct a building for another means of transportation: horses.

Wood and Steel Storage Buildings

This 54’ x 88’ x 16.5’ multipurpose structure was actually built to fulfill a variety of purposes, including: suburban storage, machine storage, general purpose, and horse stable. This building is constructed with strong, patented 5’ x 6’ laminated columns, creating a very durable structure. Additionally, we installed R19-rated wall insulation and R42 blown insulation in the ceiling to provide year-round comfort for both animals and people.

One of the most exciting features of this project is the actual horse stalls themselves. We built four individual stalls, but installed a custom, moveable stall/wall divider that can merge two of the stalls together, creating a huge third stall area. Over the stalls we constructed a loft to provide further storage space.

This project also included four overhead doors, two are 18’ x 14’, one is 18’ x 12’, and one that is 12’ x 12’. These are Raynor Aspen AP200 series doors featuring window panels and nylon rollers for extended life and performance.

While we worked hard to make the interior as comfortable as possible, our client wanted to make sure they had an attractive exterior too. This building features: 4’ high natural rock wainscoting, (2) 3’x 3’ cupolas with windows, a cedar truss covered door entry, 48’ x 10’ Dutch finish back porch, double Dutch doors for exterior stable entry, upper windows with fixed insulated and lined eve lights, and three walk-in doors with keyless entry.

While this was a pretty feature-rich project, we construct all kinds of buildings for all kinds of purposes, from simple storage sheds to comfortable office spaces. 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.

 

FS Construction Services buildings wood steel storage

New Offices and Storage Building for FS Construction

Red Bud, IL Construction Company Building

Over the years at FS Construction Services in Red Bud, IL, we have built many, many buildings. Whether for farmers, business owners, or homeowners, we have had the opportunity to work with a wide range of clients. Earlier this year, we did something far less common, and built a building for ourselves. This project was an exciting way to fulfill a couple of outstanding needs we had been looking to address by providing us both with some additional office space as well as a fertilizer storage building.

The building, constructed on a foundation wall, features ample storage space attached to a comfortable office space. Both sections of the building are lined and insulated. In the attached offices, they also built restrooms, a lunchroom, a display area, and a customer service area that’s connected to a 70’ long outdoor scale capable of weighing up to 100,000 pounds with an accuracy of 20 pounds.

On the storage side, there are two 16’ x 16’ Raynor overhead garage doors for drive-through pickup of palleted bulk seed and fertilizer. The walls are made with laminated studs and mounted to concrete steel plates that hold a 50-year warranty, meaning this building was designed to stand for a long time to come.

While we have loved every chance to work with so many clients around the community, it was fun to take our own advice for a time and design our own custom, efficient building that we will get to enjoy for many more years. Our steel and wood building options are a great way to get the space you need for residential, commercial, or agricultural use.

If you have any questions or would like to see what we can do for you, 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.

Walters Buildings FS Construction Services

Partner Profile: The Strength of a Walters Building

It can seem like we say this a lot sometimes, but it always holds true, at FS Construction Services we are privileged to work with some of the best people in the business. Not only do we have the greatest customers and clients around, we have some incredible partners that we’ve had the pleasure of working with for many years.

Durable Post-Frame Steel Buildings

One of those partners, Walters Buildings, has been our go-to for post-frame buildings for a long time now. There are a number of reasons why Walters stands out, and although we talked a little about Walters just recently, we’d like to share a bit more. We think one of the greatest strengths of a Walters building is strength itself. Their buildings are designed to stand the test of time, and provide long-term storage, recreational space, and more. Walters utilizes Steel Transfer Plated columns in their buildings, which have proven to provide more strength than traditional lumber grade. With this kind of durability in the bones of the building, it allows for more customization in building appearance, function, and more.

In addition to the physical strength and durability of the building, we rely on Walters Buildings because of the strength of our relationships with them through the years.  Part of the attraction of Walters is the fact that they are a large enough company to build almost anything but small enough to be ultra-attentive to your needs. They have locally based representatives that are with us every step of the building process and we have built great, long lasting relationships with them.

For these reasons and many more, Walters Buildings has been our go-to for post-frame buildings, and we have an expansive list of clients who would agree. If you are interested in constructing a new post-frame building or have any questions about other wood or steel buildings, 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 happy holidays

Happy Holidays From FS Construction Services!

Whether this year has flown by or moved at a crawl, we’re all here at the end of it together. From the record-breaking cold of January to the long, long rainy season and the subsequent late harvest, 2019 has been a bit of a rollercoaster for many of our friends, family, and clients. And yet, even with all of that, we’ve come to the time of year where many of us have a chance to slow down just a bit (possibly between long stretches of driving, regretting eating that second piece of pumpkin pie, and the various other things that go hand in hand with the holidays).

We are reminded of the many new people we had the privilege of meeting over the course of this year and the opportunities we’ve had to serve our community in our own small way. One of the benefits of being here at FS Construction Services is that we don’t have to look too hard to see the positive impact our work has, which we believe is most reflected in who our clients are. We get to work with the farmers, the small business owners, and the families who live in and around our communities. We get to help those who, in many cases, are working hard to help others. We are proud we get to be a part of that and thankful for those who have let us come alongside them.

As always if you have any construction needs, from residential, commercial, and agricultural buildings to grain systems, seed systems, garage doors, roofing, and many other types of services, we have trained experts who can help you with the biggest job to the smallest one. If you have questions, need an estimate, or just need some advice, 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 in the coming new year!

Before and After New Storage Building

Project Profile: Building Fire Provides Chance for a New Start

We’ve been around long enough here at FS Construction Services to know that sometimes, no matter how well you plan and how careful you are, sometimes life just happens. It’s easy to forget and usually unpleasant to remember, but you never really know just what a day will bring. A client of ours had this unfortunate reminder recently, when their storage building caught fire and was destroyed.

New Walters Buildings Storage Facility

The temptation to give up after a setback like this is strong, but our client pushed forward and decided to rebuild what they lost. After having the old, ruined structure torn down, Tom Marcheski and his team came in to construct a brand-new storage building on the existing concrete pad.

The new building, a 45’ x 82’ x 16’ beige and forest green Walters structure, was built in just over a week. The building features a 24’ x 16’ double sliding door and a 12’ x 10’ single sliding door, meaning our client will be able to move and store any amount of equipment and machinery with ease.

While trouble often comes at unexpected times in unexpected ways, it doesn’t always mean that there can’t also be some good to come along with it. And while we’re sure our clients would rather have never had their storage shed burn down to begin with, they have made the best of a bad situation, and now they have a huge, new, sturdy and efficient structure that’s designed to last them for decades to come.

If you are interested in a new building project, or have an old building that could use renovation, contact the professionals at Gateway FS Construction Services now. You can depend on us to provide the best products and services at the best possible price. For more information on your next wood building, pole barn or even steel building, contact us at 866-551-3454. We look forward to providing you with the best customer service experience.