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What to keep in mind when purchasing a side-entry building

Side-entry-garage

Short answer: You should always consider the pros and cons of your project features during the design phase. A few things to consider with a side-entry garage include the snow and debris run-off, additional leg clearance, and headers.

When designing your steel building, you may decide that a side-entry garage is the best option for you. However, make sure you do your due diligence and consider every factor of the construction. A few things some overlook with a side-entry garage include the snow and debris run-off, additional leg clearance, and headers.

Snow and debris run-off

The best roof style is the steel building industry is the A-Frame Vertical roof. This versatility is due to the higher roof pitch, boxed eves, and vertical sheeting orientation. The A-Frame Vertical roof allows the snow, rain, and debris to easily slide off the sides of the building! This is a great option for buildings that have thier doors on the gable ends. However, it may cause extra maintenance for side-entry garages. This is because the snow and debris falling off the roof now covers the entrance to the side doors. Luckily, snow guards are available to help slow the fall in front of your doors. Installing snow guards on the roof above your doors now redirects snow and debris around the doors!

Additional leg clearance

Another factor that we may overlook with a side-entry garage is the additional leg clearance for doors. When we place doors on the side, rather than the gable end, we remove legs to create openings for the doors. For that reason, we manufacture header bars to stabilize those openings and support the weight of the doors. Therefore, header bars require extra clearance. This in turn requires the taller sidewall. This additional leg clearance depends on the type of door you are trying to install, such as an overhead door or a roll-up door. Since roll-up doors roll into a coil, your sidewall must have space available for the full coil to fit. If there isn’t enough clearance for the coil, the roll-up door won’t open all the way. On the other hand, overhead doors open on a track overhead. Therefore, they don’t require as much additional clearance as the roll-up door would. Talk to your builder for more info on your specific clearance requirements!

Headers

As mentioned above, doors going on the side of your metal building require header bars. Header bars stabilize your structure and support the weight of your doors. Depending on the size of your door, we manufacture your header bars differently to support a specific weight. Header bars are an extra cost since extra material and labor is required during manufacturing!

Midwest Steel Carports, Inc.

(877) 235-5210

www.midweststeelcarports.com

 

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The Midwest Steel Difference

When you choose Midwest Steel Carports, Inc. you choose high-quality and an exceptional customer experience. To best serve our customers, we never sacrifice value; therefore, our pricing is not the lowest. However, we guarantee an overall industry-leading product and service that will continuously exceed your expectations.  Continue for value.

a-frame horizontal roof

BETTER

A-Frame Horizontal Roof

A-Frame Horizontal roofs give your structure a residential look. The sheet panels run from side to side and does not have purlins or ridge cap. The increase in price to upgrade to A-Frame Horizontal is the additional welding needed on your trusses (bows). An excellent option to keep your residential look for residential areas for a minimum upgrade costs.

BEST

A-Frame Vertical Roof

Known as the best choice for areas that experience extreme weather conditions, the vertical roof style is hands down the best choice for Michigan weather. The roof panels run from the pitch to the eaves causing heavy snows, rain, and natural elements to slide off the roof easily. In order to tie down the panels to the structure, we must add purlins or hat channels lengthwise making the structure more rigid. The finished look with special trim all around the roof and ridge cap makes this roof style the best option.

a-frame vertical roof