Building a new sugarhouse/multipurpose building. Steel vs. wood frame, siding, roof?

[mantispid]

I've had contractors price out a 24x32' multipurpose building. I'll be using it to house a log splitter, evaporator, and some split wood for loading an adjacent outdoor woodburning boiler (and the evaporator during maple season).

The prices have ranged from $14k to $26k. The major difference in price being the type of construction and various accessories.

I do like the aesthetics of a lap-sided or bat and batten siding, but I'm wondering if for fire safety if going with steel siding is best. All contractors save one are recommending steel roofing (the other recommends using asphalt shingles). Half want to go with a steel frame, the other half with a timber frame.

The contractor I tend to lean towards offers a base price 24x32x10 building at $14.5k. This is steel frame, steel roof, and steel siding. If I want to add a cupola and steam hood, it'll add $2k to the price. If I want wood siding, it adds $5k, and if I want a concrete floor, it'll add $3k. Adding a 8x32' lean-to open wood storage area adds $2k.

Do you folks think that all steel construction is the way to go? It's the most cost-effective, and I imagine it is also the most fire-resistant. I think I'm going to skip the concrete floor as I can always add one later if a dirt floor is a problem. Aesthetically the wood will look better, but that's quite a price increase...

[PerryW]

if you use a metal roof, you should board it up completely instead of using strapping. Otherwise the condensation will accumulate on the underside of the metal and it will rain inside your sugarhouse when you boil

[mantispid]

Will it do this even with a steam hood to the cupola?

[Geroldn]

I built a 20x30 sugar house/barn. Cupola, concrete floor and attached wood shed. I have a chopping block in the wood shed so i can final split the wood small into a wheelbarrow to bring it to the evaporator. Think about the most convenient way to get wood to the woodshed and where to put the door from the woodshed to the evaporator. I used steel roof on wooden boards, no problem with dripping. Board & batten siding. Absolutely use concrete floor, it costs money, but is cheaper to do first than to clean out the barn and do later. Also i built dolleys for tractor implements and can push them around on the concrete floor and out of the way. A concrete floor is easy to clean. Make sure you have overhead clearance to drive a tractor in with the roll bar up! Consider putting the cupola offset to one end of the building and adding a partial loft at the other end for storage. Make the barn look nice, you have to live with it! Think of this as YOUR 'playhouse' make it some place you want to be in with friends.9512

[Grand Square Acres]

mantispid: Two years ago I built a new sugar shack I went with metal, because it was cheaper. Wish I would of went with wood. The metal makes the shake colder, condensation forms much easier, even though it is insulated. Just a couple things I've noticed with mine. Don't wait to do the floor, do it now you'll be glad you did. Build something you would be proud to show off.

[BAP]

A good quality metal roof is well worth the money. Snow will slide off so no worry's about shoveling in a high snow year. Also, they last a long time and don't need replacing regularly like shingles.

[BreezyHill]

I am the second generation in a metal building. It was first built in 1976. The building was built with a basement for the last bay of the three bay 72' long building giving a 24x32 sugar house with concrete floors ad walls. This winter my sons and I remodeled and added a metal ceiling. Walls are now white and it takes a lot less lights on to light up the place. The steam that gets into the wood is a great place for criters in the sap wood to spend the summer and fall months. So we had to have an exterminator treat the wood ceiling beams before we metaled it.
I would go metal all the way. Spend the extra 2k for a copula as you will want all steam out. I have to use a fan to pressurize the room and a Chicago fan to suck of the steam and thru a preheater.
With the new regs This is a dedicated sugar house and not a snowmobile storage area. We will be moving all sugar making operations into here this year. Concrete floor is worth every penny as we can wash down as needed. Last week the float box stuck and over flowed the flue and dumped 50 gallons on the floor. Drain was partially frozen so there was a small puddle for an hour or two. On a dirt floor it would have been a real mess.

Build once and enjoy the space. It is to hard and costly to rebuild a few years down the road.

Best Wishes!

Ben

[GeneralStark]

Having just been through the process of building a sugarhouse, I have a few thoughts. Multi purpose buildings can be a great use of space and a way to minimize costs, but be sure that the sugaring portion is dedicated to just that. You are making food and should think of the space as a food processing facility and should not be working on engines or doing non-food related activities there.

Put the building on a slab and do it right once. Put a floor drain in the sugaring area so you can easily clean the floor. It makes sense to put the drain near where you will be drawing off. Now that I am using the new building I can't even imagine not having a cement floor and the idea of having to add one later is not even a consideration.

Metal roofing is definitely the way to go for many reasons. Do put full wood boards on the rafters under the roofing. I have hoods and stacks on all pans so no cupola and 98% of the water vapor goes out the stacks. No issue with condensation in the building.

Without knowing the details of your sugaring operation ie size and scale, business or hobby it is tough to provide more specifics.

[mantispid]

Having just been through the process of building a sugarhouse, I have a few thoughts. Multi purpose buildings can be a great use of space and a way to minimize costs, but be sure that the sugaring portion is dedicated to just that. You are making food and should think of the space as a food processing facility and should not be working on engines or doing non-food related activities there.

Put the building on a slab and do it right once. Put a floor drain in the sugaring area so you can easily clean the floor. It makes sense to put the drain near where you will be drawing off. Now that I am using the new building I can't even imagine not having a cement floor and the idea of having to add one later is not even a consideration.

Metal roofing is definitely the way to go for many reasons. Do put full wood boards on the rafters under the roofing. I have hoods and stacks on all pans so no cupola and 98% of the water vapor goes out the stacks. No issue with condensation in the building.

Without knowing the details of your sugaring operation ie size and scale, business or hobby it is tough to provide more specifics.

I'll be taking this information into consideration for sure.

My operation is at the hobby level. I've been managing the 7.5 acre forest to maximize maple production, but half of the trees will take about 15-20 years to reach tappable maturity. Right now I have about 85 taps and produce anywhere from 8-16 gallons of finished syrup per season. The building will be used mainly to split wood and store wood for the outdoor boiler that heats all buildings on the property. I have been thinking of pouring concrete for the 25% of the building used for maple syrup, and leaving the rest dirt, though I'm not firm on that yet.

This building is to replace the wood shed that collapsed under snow this past winter. The maple syrup production aspect will be just a small part of its use, but one that would be nice to have.

[Indiana-Jones]

I'm in about the same planning stage as you Mantispid. I'm thinking that I may ship-lap just the front of the building and steel side the rest. My design has the roof extended on the left side to the north for cover over sap tanks and to the right extended to the right for wood storage. My site has the building pushed back into the woods a bit. The sides and rear won't be seen much. So this might work for me and not for you.

My house is Ceder sided and I'm locked in battle with wood boring bees, wood peckers and ants of varying types. Don't forget the maintenance that goes with wood siding. So I'm looking for something that looks nice, but easy to maintain.

Good Luck

[WESTMAPLES]

all metal is the way to go or timber frame with metal roofing/siding. Im a contractor that works with a company that installs lester steel buildings and there great. ive built my own 16x 20 timber frame building with 16x14 car port off the side, I sided it with lester metal roofing/ siding and built the timber frame from dumpers pickings. 2x12 floor system and 2x6 ceiling joist and the car port off the side has my 2x6 evap under it with steam hood and it works out great. im in the process of buy a 32 acre piece of property to put up 2- 40x40 lester steel building with 16 ft bay doors. I will be taking down this summer ( they were 4 year temp building ) and I got the complete removal job, to turn it back to a dirt field again. relocation of the building will cost me about 12-14 k with trucking and manlift rentals. if you where closer I could hook you up with the other 3 being sold, but MI is a ride from MA. good luck and checkout lester buildings web site

[markct]

I agree a metal building would be more firesafe for a shop etc but if your planning to stack it full of firewood it wont make much difference. That will burn in any building!

[PeddlerLakeSapper]

Where are the buildings in michigan that are for sale?

[mantispid]

Well, I signed the contract for the construction. Ended up going with all steel, and full concrete floor, and upgrading to 14' walls (I want the option to use as a mechanic's repair garage with hydraulic lift off season). Altogether it came to $26K. Some houses in this area are cheaper than that... >_>; I'm hoping that price is reasonable. It seemed to be about right given the other quotes from other contractors.

24'x32'x14' All steel building with a 6/12 pitch, with cupola offset to one side. Concrete floor with drain. Stainless steel steam hood. Lean-to for wood storage on one of the long sides. 10' sliding door on one long side, 8' sliding door to the lean-to area on the other long side. 4' sliding door on southern short side for access to the adjacent outdoor woodburning boiler. 1 standard man-access door. 4 basic windows.

Will run power to it at some point in the future. Would like to be able to use it as a welding shop off season, too.