Building Styles

• Steel garage kits come in a variety of designs. Many are designed to be covered by whatever material suits your tastes and complement other surrounding buildings -- including stucco, brick and vinyl. Some are made to resemble traditional car garages, while others are designed to look like barns.
  
  

Accessories

• Customize the garage to meet your needs with everything from windows to garage doors to pedestrian doors. Skylights are also available for the roof or the ridgecap (the seam along the top where the garage roof meets). Some garage kit companies even sell cupolas complete with weather vanes to place on top of a steel garage roof vent to give the garage that "barnyard" look.
  
  

Foundation Requirements

• Most steel garage kit buildings can be anchored on the ground or on concrete. If the area where you live has a frost line, your footings and ground anchorings will need to be at least one foot under whatever that line is. When mounting to the ground, you will be required to dig a post hole approximately 10" in diameter and 30" deep spaced evenly depending on the number of posts that come with your kit.
  
  If you want to build your steel garage kit over a concrete foundation, your concrete slab must be at least four inches wider and six inches longer than the length and width of your building. This extra sizing ensures that the edge of the slab does not get broken or cracked during installation.
  
  

Concrete Requirements

• If you choose to build your garage over a concrete foundation, the concrete will need to be at least four inches thick -- and as much as six inches thick if you plan on parking trucks or large RVs inside. Make sure to use 2500 psi concrete minimally, with fiber mesh reinforcement or #3 rebar on 24" centers. If you plan to have your garage hold extra-heavy items, consider using 4000 psi concrete.
  
  

Cost Savings and Considerations

• From a long-term cost perspective there are pros and cons to steel garage kits, as follows:
  
  Cost Savings:
  The fire rating for the steel used in these kits is very high, which may translate into some savings on fire insurance. You can generate additional cost savings by simply adding a mere two to three inches of insulation. This is the equivalent of 2 1/2 feet of masonry, and will provide you with a very energy efficient, insulated building.
  
  Cost Considerations
  Steel is easy to bend and cut. Where theft is concerned, It is much easier to break into a steel building than other types of garages because walls and roofs made of steel are easy to cut with steel cutters. Additionally, you must be careful when driving any vehicles inside to make sure they do not bang up against and damage the walls.