Winter is HERE! Energy Efficient Roofing, Anyone?

Metal RoofingChristmas is over and the new year has begun! And unfortunately, the most brutal of winter months are upon us. It’s time to bear down and focus on keeping your buildings heated and weather-proofed for Old Man Winter’s reign.

Now’s the perfect time to invest in energy-efficient metal roofing and wall systems for your suburban, commercial or agricultural buildings. Why make the investment you might ask? The benefits are endless. But, most importantly, metal roofing is resistant to cracking, shrinking and eroding, and has the ability to substantially withstand extreme weather conditions including heavy snow loads, ice and hail. Investing is a wise choice due to it being lifelong solution versus traditional roofing that has limited life expectancy. It’s perfect for every season’s weather conditions.

Did you know metal roofing is actually made up of 30-60 percent recycled material and is more durable than slate or shingle roofing? Even if removed for renovation or demolition, the materials are 100 percent recyclable. Nothing has its combination of durability, efficiency and sustainability.

Here at FS Construction Services, we offer a wide range of products and services for metal roofing and are an authorized contractor of Fabral Metal Wall and Roof Systems. Contact us today at 866-551-3454, and we’ll help you find the best fit for your roofing and siding needs.

 

 

‘Tis the Season for Purchasing Grain Systems

This may be one gift that Santa won’t be able to fit onto his sleigh, so be your own Santa this year and receive the gift farmers need…with savings! Right now, FS Construction Services has the best, inventory-reduction deals of the year on select grain systems.

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This is the perfect time of the year to buy and build your high-efficient and economical grain system for next year’s harvest. Stay ahead of the game and learn about these amazing deals while you can.

FS Construction Services offers many brands of grain systems such as Sukup, Shivvers, Brock, GSI, Grain Handler, Hutchison, and Lowry. These brands and FS Construction Services are dedicated to helping you find the most innovative and cost-efficient grain systems to fit your grain storage, drying and transfer needs.

If you’re considering looking ahead and making the investment, we suggest talking with us at FS Construction Services to explore your options before the end of the year. Give us a call today at 866-551-3454, and we’ll help you find the best deal!

Raynor Introduces a Colorful New Take on Garage Doors

You’re staring at your garage door. “It could use a little something,” you think. Sure, it’s a garage door, but it serves a lot more purpose than you would imagine. Something as simple as the color and look of your garage door can completely change the entire appearance of your home or building while also complementing and accenting the other many attributes of your home or business.

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Raynor is introducing their new Opticolor factory painting program that is offered for Innovations and Traditions Lines which include Affina, Centura, Relante, Masterpiece and Showcase doors. The doors are precisely painted after the section is built, giving homeowners and business owners the exclusive ability to customize their very own garage door color. For once, YOU get the freedom to mix, mesh and experiment!

The Opticolor process applies a third layer of paint to the pre-painted and galvanized steel, adding another layer of protection to the garage door. The maximum width for an Opticolor painted door is 18′-2″. With more than 1800 new colors available, this allows the customer the ability to completely customize the color of their garage door. The full assortment of paint colors available through the Opticolor factory paint program can be found by contacting FS Construction Services. We’ll be here through your entire paint process!

Contact FS Construction Services today to receive more information on how to brighten up and color-tize your very own home or business. 

Stop the Drops!

shedIt’s that time of year.  You’re the first one in your warehouse, storage building or equipment shed and what do you find?  The morning air creates condensation that drips from the inside of your metal roof due to the falling temperatures this time of year.

Gateway FS has a solution to stop the drops.  It’s called Dripstop.  We offer this option on all of our Walters Buildings.  Dripstop is an anticondensation, self-adhesive felt applied to the metal roof panel during the roll-forming process.

The exclusive Dripstop membrane traps condensation in specially designed pockets of the material.  As conditions in the building drop below the dew point, Dripstop then releases the moisture back into the air in the form of humidity.  No more drops!

Dripstop has been used worldwide and is the best choice for controlling condensation in areas with wide seasonal temperature swings – such as ours.  Contact Gateway FS today to create a new building that’s strong, affordable, beautiful and dry (inside and out).

Did You Forget to Shut the Garage?

You left in a hurry, you’re on your way to work and you wonder … did I forget to close the garage door? Or you have a delivery on the front porch, it’s about to storm, you’re not home and you think … I wish my neighbor could put that package inside.

 

Those are common occurrences for a lot of us. Fortunately, the forward-thinking folks at Raynor finally have a solution. The MyQ®-enabled app works with Raynor’s Admiral II operator to allow you to open and close your garage door from anywhere using your mobile device. It can even be setup to allow you to turn on lights inside the home to avoid walking into a dark home after the sun goes down.

Think of the possibilities: let the kids in the house after their plans change (again), open your garage so the neighbor can water your plants while you’re on vacation, give access to your buddy who’s finally returning the tools he borrowed months ago, or let your employees gain access to your shop for an after-hours service call. MyQ offers complete flexibility and convenience.

Raynor overhead doors – made right here in Illinois – and their complete line of openers have nearly every technical and design option you’ll need to create an overhead door setup that’s beautiful, functional, safe and convenient. We’d be happy to show you the possibilities and the latest technology using the MyQ app.

 

Monitoring Moisture to Maximize Your Soybean Yield

We know corn harvest has been a mixed bag – and definitely down – this year. As corn harvest progresses, the weather cools and we (hope to) get a bit more rain, now is the time to focus on maximizing your upcoming soybean crop and care for it once it’s in the bin.

Studies at the University of Illinois have shown that the average combine leaves 10 percent of the soybean crop in the field. However, by harvesting at a higher moisture content, these losses can be reduced to 4-5 percent. In addition, market weight (and thus value) decrease about 1.15 percent per point of moisture below 13 percent. Again, there’s a case for maximizing value through moisture.

With the advantages documented at those moisture levels, it’s time to have your grain drying plan ready and in place. Because beans have such high oil content, you’ll want to be especially careful in monitoring your bins every day or two. Even though beans typically only require aeration to get them in proper condition, you’ll still want to monitor airflow and the need for heat.

To review your options and set your plan of attack, we recommend taking a look at the FS Grain Drying Guide on our site. You’ll find 60 pages of information on different drying systems and the specifics for drying corn, soybeans, wheat and milo. The facts in the guide can lead to a true increase in your harvest revenue – something vitally important in challenging growing years such as 2012.

 

Opportunity Arises for Purchasing Grain Systems

With an already wild first half of the year, FS Construction Services strongly suggests that now may be the perfect time to purchase grain drying, storage or handling equipment for your farm. Farmers and landowners have plummeting steel prices to thank for the opportunity.

According to statistics provided by Growmark, since January 2012 multiple costs are down, creating a more plausible reason to make the investment.

  • Scrap is down 19%
  • Cold-rolled coils down 16%
  • Hot-dipped galvanized down 15%
  • Rebar down 13%

Reduced grain production and this dip in steel prices is affecting manufacturers and has created a need to move equipment, such as grain bins, out in order to make room for the new. FS Construction Services offers grain systems products from brands such as GSI, Lowry, Sukup, Grain Handler, Brock and more.

If you’re considering looking ahead and making the investment, we suggest talking with us at FS Construction Services to look at your options. Give us a call today at 866-551-3454, and we’ll help you make the most profitable decision for your situation.

 

 

In-Stock Electric Motors

FS Construction Services knows there are multiple facets that keep your on-farm operation up and running. From maintaining the equipment you’ve invested in, the buildings you’ve erected, the grain systems you continue to upgrade and maintain. We hope to be a valuable asset to making things run as smoothly as possible. That’s why in addition to being a source for Praxair supplies, we can also provide some of the most common electric motors you use day in and day out.

Working with brands such as Baldor, Leeson and Marathon, we have more than 20 of the most commonly used motors stocked at any given time.

Whether needing to power that aeration fan, crop dryer or rely on that backup generator at your home or business, we’ll be sure you have all your mechanical powered solutions. Be sure to check out our commonly stocked motors, and remember we can obtain whatever Baldor, Leeson or Marathon motor you need – just contact us for more information.

Give us a call at 866-551-3454.

Costly Building Flaws

At FS Construction Services, we’re advocates of “doing things right” and believe that a little bit can go a long way. When it comes to engineering your agricultural building, that philosophy holds the utmost importance. In an article from David Bohnoff for Hoard’s Dairyman, agricultural buildings fail in large numbers simply because they are either not engineered or are only partially engineered. We agree. And that’s why we assure you our building practices and experience is our reputation – and something that won’t ever be compromised.

As we indicated in a previous blog about our NFBA standards (found here), we look to provide our customers worthwhile – and structurally sound – investment. As Bohnoff indicates, there are multiple aspects that play into the credibility of an engineered building, including the roof’s ability to withstand different loads (wind, snow, severe storms), the topography of the land, as well as the size, shape and orientation of attached or surrounding structures.

Each element of the structure needs to work hand-in-hand in order to obtain maximum efficiency and safety. Trusses alone do not support a building. Each component serves a purpose and is essential to withstand the elements previously discussed. Bohnoff is a professional engineer who visits the sites of nonengineered building accidents.  He believes the dishonestly of companies telling consumers their building is exempt from certain codes because of its agricultural purposes is no different than telling someone it’s ok to not wear a seat belt or bike helmet if law doesn’t require it.

FS Construction Services is open with our customers when it comes to the step-by-step process of engineering their structures. You’ll find the detailed steps of our building process here.

So we’d like to stress once again the importance of recruiting a builder that takes the safety of customers and integrity of their work to heart. With FS Construction Services, you’ll receive the utmost professionalism and sound product.

Call us today at 866-551-3454 to discuss your building goals.

 

Sukup Introduces Pre-Engineered Steel Buildings

When it comes to on-farm buildings, Sukup Manufacturing had the farmer in mind when introducing a new product line of customizable steel buildings. These steel buildings can be tailored to your agricultural and industrial on-farm needs and can serve as a complement to your existing post-frame wood buildings.

FS Construction Services will work with you to develop and build these structures that feature clear span construction and standing seam or screw-down roof panels. The design allows farmers to adapt their space to their specifications. If you’re looking to create a new shop and office area or need more room for today’s larger equipment – this is your building. The addition of this product line serves as just one more option to expand the functionality and efficiency of your farming operation.

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FS Construction Services can provide Sukup building features such as:

  • Straight or tapered columns
  • Clear span construction (minimum number of interior columns)
  • Pre-punched purlins and girts for a proper fit and faster install
  • Galvanized purlins and girts
  • Eight exterior and trim colors

The standing seam roofs create a tight, durable and virtually leak-proof seal. Movable clips allow the roof to expand and contract with temperature changes, preventing stress on the roof components. The screw-down roof is economical and easy to install.

FS Construction Services is here to answer the questions and walk you through the options and best steel structure for your needs. Give us a call today at 866-551-3454 with your questions. We look forward to working with you!