With this Steel Building, Nothing is left up in the Air
It was 2007, and Beau Andrepont wanted to spread his
wings and fly. He didn’t want to necessarily leave his home roost of 25
acres in Arnaudville, LA for good, but instead wanted to traverse the
airspace above it in his Quicksilver Ultralight experimental aircraft,
which he had built himself.
When
he decided it was time to build a hangar to house the aircraft, he
looked to the local want ads to find what he needed. He found it when he
spotted a listing for a SteelMaster building, which was bought but
never built.
"I bought the building and
constructed it with two helpers and a tractor with a front end loader,"
says Andrepont. "I originally just poured concrete footings and then
later added concrete in the middle. I only had half of the arches up
when Hurricane Gustav hit us."
After the powerful storm blew
through Arnaudville and the surrounding area, Andrepont was left with
downed power lines and trees and an airplane that had completely
flipped over inside the SteelMaster building. "The building came out
with minimal damage and that was only due to the fact that the end
angles were not attached to one side so the edge of the last arch was
free to flap in the wind," says Andrepont. "This caused a small hole in
that arch, but that is it. Now that the building is complete and end
walls are up I believe it is the strongest building on the property."
The end walls were built by Andrepont after he decided to sell his
ultralight aircraft and seal off the building to use as storage for his
tractor and implements that he uses to take care of his land.
"This is a good example of just how functional and dynamic SteelMaster buildings
are - they can be used for a broad range of applications thanks to
their clear-span design," says Michelle Wickum, the director of
marketing for SteelMaster Buildings, which is located in Virginia Beach,
VA. "The fact that the building was so resilient to Hurricane Gustav
when it was only half built is testament to the quality and strength of
our buildings as well."
SteelMaster steel buildings are
engineered to meet the wind loads of their destination whether that's
in the middle of the country or on the coast of Florida where
hurricanes are common. As opposed to wooden structures, some steel
buildings, like the ones sold by SteelMaster Buildings
remain maintenance free for a lifetime thanks to the company’s use of
Galvalume Plus Coating which offers strength, superior corrosion
resistance, and an attractive bright appearance that provides excellent
heat reflectivity. Each SteelMaster building also comes with a 30-year
mill-backed warranty by ArcelorMittal (NYSE MT).
"We look
forward to keeping in touch with Mr. Andrepont to see what he decides
to use his SteelMaster building for next. Just like with his ultralight
aircraft, the sky is the limit for the possibilities."
With
thousands satisfied customers, including buildings located in every
state in the United States, on six continents, and in more than 40
overseas countries, SteelMaster takes pride in knowing its steel
buildings have earned the favor of people like Andrepont.
SteelMaster's steel and metal pre-engineered buildings are designed for
a broad range of residential and commercial applications including
Garages, Workshops, Carports, Quonsets, Airplane Hangars, RV Storage,
Military Buildings, Commercial Warehousing, and Industrial Storage as
well as a wide variety of Custom Building applications including
Athletic Facilities, Retail Stores, Churches, Bus Stops, Smoke Shacks,
Doggie Dorms, and Correctional Facilities.
