FAQs

GENERAL A: Our headquarters is located at 13500 Botts Road; Grandview, MO 64030. Grandview is a suburb of Kansas City, MO. All of our customer support communications originate from this location. Our materials are fabricated and shipped from regional facilities across the U.S.A. to assure closer proximity to your location. A: While our name is new, our parent company has been in the metal building business for decades. Most of our employees, from customer support to the production line, have spent their careers in this industry. A: Our Customer Account Representatives will assist you with answers to your questions and pricing. They are not salespeople per se because they aren't chasing sales leads and making cold calls. They are there to help guide you, provide pricing, and then manage your project after the purchase. We do not engage in pushy sales tactics, and we do not contact you incessantly about a building you're pricing. A: Most jurisdictions require a building permit if you are renovating or building a new building. At the city or county level, there is usually a government office responsible for issuing building permits and inspecting construction to ensure that it meets applicable local standards or requirements. A simple phone call or two will put you in touch with the applicable body. Generally, to obtain a building permit you will need a set of drawings and/or design information. We will be happy to provide this documentation to facilitate the process. However, you will also need foundation plans. Whoever is providing your foundation plans will require design information from us, which we are happy to provide as well. It is important to remember that the codes and loads that we use to design your building have to be confirmed by you. Usually, the office that is responsible for issuing the building permit is the same one you can contact to confirm code and load criteria. A: If your needs due to size, height, or function are beyond the parameters defined for SD Frames (this assumes that SD Kitz is not applicable), we will still be glad to take your information and connect you with either an affiliate metal building company with the capability necessary or have a qualified contractor contact you. We have the necessary relationships to meet any building need. A: As we love to point out throughout our website, we are the manufacturer. With the exception of some of the accessories, we engineer the design, create the fabrication details, create the drawings, and fabricate the building you receive. You are dealing directly with the company that handles your building every step of the way. That's important to you. It means you aren't paying for middleman markup. If you have questions, you'll be asking the people who designed and fabricated your building. A: No. Those are determined by the best information we have for your area. Because many counties and states are adopting new building codes (particularly IBC), we cannot guarantee that the information that comes up is always correct. Therefore, it is very important to verify with your local building official. A: We have the resources to provide this service in all U.S. states. Because we have to obtain the services of another engineer, there is an additional cost associated with providing this service. A: We do not keep buildings in inventory. Because of the nature of the building products we offer and the relative ease of their design, every building is designed and fabricated per order. We do occasionally run specials for certain buildings at certain times of the year. Please go to our Specials page to see what is currently being offered. A: We can design our buildings to support small concentrated loads. We will have to know where they will be located and what their respective weights are. However, we would point out that machinery such as this will require penetrations through the roof panel. Any roof penetration can be a cause for potential leaks. It would be best for these conditions to have an experienced erector install units with the necessary flashings/sealants (not by SteelDirect.com). If you are erecting the building yourself, we would suggest putting all units such as these on the ground and penetrating the wall instead.

A: SteelDirect.com provides all necessary structural components, roof and wall panels, trims and flashings, and sealants and fasteners to complete a weathertight building. A: There are two types of panels available, Galvalume® panels and painted panels. Galvalume® panels are hot dipped aluminum-zinc alloy coated sheet steel that have a gray metallic color, and are a standard offering in the metal building industry. Generally, Galvalume® panels are used only on the roof. Painted panels are Galvalume® panels coated with a silicon polyester paint that has a 40-year paint film warranty (see Warranties). The same paint is used on all of the trims and flashings. Painted panels can be used on both the roof and walls. A: The material for both our roof and wall panel is 26-gauge. If you are comparing to other suppliers, this is a very important factor. The lower the gauge number, the thicker the panel. Conversely, the higher the number, the thinner the panel. So if you're getting a lower building price but the panels are 28- or 29-gauge (or higher), you're losing panel life. The only panel that we offer with a lighter gauge is our liner panel (for the inside of your building), and it is 29-gauge. A: Our buildings have all the necessary closures and trim details to prevent this. However, it is important that they are installed per the design and details provided on the drawings. A: We do not offer a standing-seam roof system. Standing-seam roof systems are the premier roof system for the metal building industry. Because of the way they are designed, they can accommodate considerable amounts of expansion (high temperatures) and contraction (low temperatures) without damage or leaks. The roof actually floats. However, you only achieve these higher amounts of movement on large (wide) buildings. Our buildings are limited to 60 feet in width, so expansion and contraction are of no concern. This is a long explanation to say that you would be wasting your money by putting a standing-seam roof system on our buildings.

A: You pay for your building in two installments. These installments are the Down Payment and the Final Payment as described below:

Down Payment
Your down payment is 25% of your building price and it can be accomplished by several different payment methods but has to be completed at the time you order your building. You can use your VISA or MasterCard credit card at the time you place your order. You can make an electronic funds transfer. You can send a certified or cashiers check (either overnight or by regular mail). Or, you can send a personal check (either overnight or by regular mail). Remember that regardless of the method of payment you select, we cannot begin work on your order until we have received (and verified) your down payment. Therefore, a credit card would be the fastest form of payment. If you are paying by check please send to the following address:

Regular Mail
SteelDirect.com
P.O. Box 198075
Atlanta, GA 30384-8075

Overnight Service (Fed-Ex, UPS, etc.)
Attn: Lockbox 198075
SteelDirect.com
6000 Feldwood Road
College Park, GA 30349
Ph: 770-774-6232

Final Payment
The remaining money due to SteelDirect.com is the final payment and is your building price (including any change orders)minus the down payment you made at the time you ordered your building. Unless you have made other payment arrangements (see below) with SteelDirect.com prior to shipment, you will make your final payment at the time you receive your building materials (C.O.D. – Cash on Delivery). This payment has to be made by Cashiers Check only, made out to SteelDirect.com and provided to the truck driver delivering your materials before the materials can be unloaded.

Other payment arrangements can be made with your Customer Account Representative prior to shipment if you desire. Credit card, electronic funds transfer, or personal check will all work but in the case of personal check, we will need to receive it enough in advance that it can be cleared prior to your ship date.

A: There are many different terms that can be used in the sale and taking ownership of a product. They basically describe when and where the buyer actually takes ownership (and thus responsibility) of the purchased item. In the metal building industry, we generally use the term F.O.B. Plant, which is short for Free on Board at the manufacturing plant. This means that when the metal building (and any accessory) is loaded onto the carrier's truck, it actually becomes the buyer's property and responsibility. In the event that something happens to the material en route to the buyer's location, any dispute will be between the buyer and the carrier. All carriers have insurance to cover accidents, etc., but the important thing to remember is that the manufacturer's responsibility ends when the materials leave the plant. You will be responsible for costs of shipment to the location that you designate. A: Your building will most likely be delivered on a single truck, although some larger buildings do require more than one truck. Your building insulation (if ordered as part of your building package) will be shipped directly from the manufacturer to your shipping address. When your materials are delivered, it will be your responsibility to unload the truck. Therefore, your Customer Account Representative will coordinate closely with you on the exact date/time the truck will arrive. This will allow you to arrange for a forklift or other similar equipment to be available when the truck arrives. It is important for you to be prepared to unload the truck, as most freight companies will charge demurrage if they have to wait excessively long for the truck to be unloaded. Any demurrage charges are your responsibility. A: Once we have received your building order, you will be contacted immediately by our Customer Account Representative to review your building order in detail. This verification process involves confirming your building code and loads, accessories (if any), colors, etc. Once this has been accomplished AND we have received your 25% down payment, processing of your building will begin. At that point we will be able to provide you a ship date and confirmed it with a Ship Date Acknowledgement document. Generally, your building will ship 4 – 6 weeks after verification and receipt of down payment. A: When SteelDirect.com loads your materials onto the carrier's truck, we take photographs of all bundles and packages so we know what condition the materials were in when they left our manufacturing plant. If anything is damaged or missing, we will be able to provide you those images to help resolve any dispute that may arise with the carrier. A: Because our insulation supplier has outlets nationwide that will be much closer to you than one of our manufacturing facilities, we allow them to deliver directly to you. This saves you freight costs. A: We understand that it might not be convenient, but the materials have to be unloaded or the freight company will charge you demurrage. Demurrage is a fee that carriers charge because their truck is being kept from another paying customer.

A: If you do not plan to personally erect your building, you will need to make arrangements with a local general contractor or steel erector to provide this service for you. You should receive design drawings approximately one week after your building order, which will provide enough information to obtain erection prices. A: The design process of your building yields a set of Erection Drawings showing how your building goes together. An Erection Manual is also supplied with each building order. These two documents provide comprehensive information for you to erect your building. The Erection Manual also includes a list of tools and equipment that you will need. While we don't want to oversimplify the erection process, it is much like buying furniture that has to be assembled. With piece marks and specific details on how the pieces go together, we have made the process as straightforward as possible. However, please note that these buildings are of a size and weight that will require more than one individual to complete the erection. A: Generally speaking, the foundations required for these sizes of buildings should not be complicated. If you plan to install the foundations yourself, you will need to contact a local engineer to design and draw up the required configuration. He or she will design a foundation based on the local code requirements and knowledge of what soil conditions exist in your area. SteelDirect.com can provide edge-of-concrete details and Anchor Bolt patterns to be included in the concrete design and foundation drawings. A: A foundation design and plan can be obtained through a couple of different methods. There are often local consulting engineers who will be glad to provide this service, usually for a lump sum fee or at an hourly rate with an estimate of how much time it will take. Or, if you are having an erector or general contractor erect your building, they will either have a relationship with applicable companies to provide that service or have that capability in-house. In this case, there would usually be a single price for both services. If for some reason you have no access to either of these methods, let us know and we will be glad to help you find an applicable resource. A: For the SD Frames building product, you will be responsible for supplying the anchor bolts. The reason for this is because part of the design of the anchor bolt is based on what concrete is being used, and that will be determined by the engineer who is designing the foundation. Additionally, the bolts have to be cast into the concrete foundation, which usually happens long before your building arrives. For the SD Kitz building product (and because of their load-carrying characteristics), the columns are anchored by expansion anchors after the concrete is done. SteelDirect.com supplies these. A: Please refer to the section of this site containing the SD Frames and SD Kitz Erection Manuals. In each you will find a comprehensive list (and pictures) of the tools and equipment you will need to safely erect your building. All tools and equipment can be purchased or rented from various hardware stores, commercial supply warehouses, and equipment rental businesses. A: If for any reason something is missing from your building package, your Customer Account Representative will work with you to expedite its delivery to you. For this reason, it is of the utmost importance for you to take inventory of all the materials as soon as your building is delivered. This will protect you and prevent a situation where, in the middle of erecting your building, you have to stop and wait for a critical part that is missing.