At CSI, we believe that the most important thing in the entire process is the construction of your building. The bitter taste of a poorly constructed building or inferior materials and design will far outlast the sting of a short delay or a simple mistake that is quickly corrected. For that reason, we work very hard to follow a simple construction process where each step lays the foundation for the next. This process helps our crews continue to erect beautiful, economical buildings each and every time.
With over 35 years of experience guiding us, here is a sample of our building process for a simple project:
- ◈ Site is prepared and level, building is staked out, all permits are issued and customer has signed off on the building placement and design.
- ◈ The building packaged is delivered shortly before the arrival of the crew.
- ◈ The crew arrives, reviews the plans with the customer and lays out the materials in the construction order for maximum efficiency
- ◈ Post holes are drilled, posts are plumbed and levelled and inspections, if any, are called in
- ◈ Grade is established and the bottom treated skirt board is installed
- ◈ Wall girt placement is marked and the wall girts are installed
- ◈ Truss carriers are installed
- ◈ Roof trusses are installed
- ◈ Roof purlins and wind bracing are installed
- ◈ Doors and windows are framed in and installed
- ◈ Roof insulation, if any is rolled out and roof steel is installed
- ◈ Sidewall metal is installed over sidewall insulation, if any
- ◈ Building package is trimmed
- ◈ Concrete, if any, is poured
- ◈ Garage doors are installed
- ◈ Final walk-through with customer and sign-off
Design Questions:
What Type Of Steel DoYou Use?
Our standard steel is on the high end of the 29ga range, with a nominal thickness of .0154”. The most common upgrade is a 26ga panel with a nominal thickness of .019”. While our standard panel is more than sufficient for any post frame building, some customers prefer a heavier gauge of steel and choose our 26ga option due to the inherent common visual deficiencies of the 29ga panels. Either way, you can be sure that your building’s finish will look great for many years as both of our steel options come with the same 40-year finish warranty.
Do You Use 4×6, 5×5 or 6×6 Poles?
None of the above! We ONLY use glue-laminated structural columns in our buildings. Why take all of the time to build a building plumb and straight only to have the posts warp and twist in just a few short years, which knocks the building out of its original square and plumb position? We won’t cheapen our buildings to save a few bucks on one of the most important structural elements in the building. Further, solid columns do not allow for the pressure preservative treatments to fully penetrate the wood, which often times leads to early decay of a post. Our glue-laminated columns are treated first as individual plies and then assembled into structural beams. By treating the individual plies first, the preservative treatment can fully penetrate the wood, allowing for a properly treated structural column that comes with a true 60-year warranty against rot and decay.
What Is Snow Load And What Load Do You Design For?
Snow load is the weight of snow per square foot that the International Code Council has set forth in every region of the United States that roof structures must be designed for. In our general area of service, snow loads range from 10 to 20 lbs, our design criteria is 30lbs. This is one of the biggest areas where most builders cut costs. Lighter trusses are cheaper…and a wise old farmer once said that “cheap ain’t good and good ain’t cheap, so if you cheapen it, you’re cheatin’ it…and you ain’t cheatin nobody but yourself.” Or, if you choose the more direct approach, anyone can sell hay for $2/ bale…you just have to run it through the horse first. Whichever approach you choose, the point is…we overdesign our trusses.
What Wind Speed Do You Design For?
Our standard wind speed load is 90mph. This is another reason why we use glue-laminated columns and place them 8’ on center. Most other builders will not specify a wind speed unless forced to by providing originally drawn, wet stamped engineered plans. Weaker posts that are spaced farther apart will obviously not engineer out to higher wind speeds. Even if our buildings do not require a permit or stamped plans, we always build to a minimum set of standards to ensure that we produce consistent quality and strength time after time.
What Is Bay Spacing and What Is Your Bay Spacing?
This is a very important question because it strikes at the core of what a CSI building is. Bay spacing is the distance between the structural columns on the eave wall of the building. Specifically, it refers to how far apart the columns are set. Bay spacing not only determines your wind load capabilities, but it also determines your roof truss spacing, thus affecting your snow loads. While many post frame builders will space their trusses 5, 8, 9 and even 10 or 12 feet apart, CSI has a standard of construction that places our trusses every 4 feet. This drives the bay spacing to 8 feet. Our standards set our bay spacing at 8 feet and our trusses at 4 feet. This means more trusses, more columns (and stronger columns, too) and a stronger building.
How Far Apart Are Your Roof Purlins?
Our purlins are spaced 24” apart. So not only are our trusses closer together, but our purlins are closer as well. This means a stronger, longer lasting roof system to protect what’s inside of your building.
What About Your Wall Girts?
Again, 24” is our standard spacing. By keeping our standards and not stretching everything to the maximum spacing, we sleep well at night knowing that each and every one of our customers has a building that has been designed to meet loads that not only meet, but typically exceed the required snow and wind loads for the area.