Often
people are loyal to certain brands and never stray. Be it a specific
type of chewing gum, laundry detergent, soda, or even breed of dog,
among the hundreds of choices available in the marketplace, folks tend
to go with what they know.
Such is the case for Stan Saloff
of Lompoc, CA, but his brand loyalty in one particular instance is a
bit unique-it’s to a type of steel building.
"I looked high and wide, as we
say on the farm, for steel buildings when I first got the idea years
ago," says Saloff. "I talked to people with steel buildings and
finally decided that the ease of construction, durability, price, and
looks of all things, went into my final decision-and that is SteelMaster
Buildings. As you can tell, since this is my third one, I happy with
them."
For more than 29 years, SteelMaster Buildings,
which is located in Virginia Beach, VA, has manufactured, designed, and
supplied pre-fabricated arched steel structures to 40,000 customers
located in every state of the United States, in 40 countries, and on
seven continents around the world.
Saloff bought his first
SteelMaster building 15 years ago to use as a hangar for his homebuilt
airplane that he planned to store on his friend’s property in San Luis
Obispo, CA.
"I got side tracked for a few years and that building is now used as storage by my friends," says Saloff. "It still looks new."
The second one is located on
Saloff’s property in Grover Beach, CA, and features a large garage-type
door as well as a personal door.
"I now rent my house, and the
tenant is using the building as a workshop doing commercial granite
work," says Saloff. "He told me it’s really a perfect work shop."
His third SteelMaster building is located at his retirement home property in California City, CA, and will be used as a hangar.
"My small airplane is almost
completed, and we plan to start the engine this weekend and have it
flying by Christmas," says Saloff. "The wings fold on this airplane so
it fits easily in the 16X28 foot building. This way I won’t have hangar
expenses ($400/month) when I retire, and the building will outlast me."
How is it that one brand of steel building is able to perfectly fit the bill for each one of these uses?
"Versatility" say Michelle
Wickum, who is the director of marketing for the company. "SteelMaster’s
steel and metal pre-engineered buildings are designed for a broad range
of residential and commercial applications including homes, farm
buildings, garages, workshops, agricultural storage, Quonsets, airplane
hangars, RV storage, roofing systems, carports, 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. The Quick and Easy Construction of our kits
makes them ideal for the "do-it-yourselfer. The unique design of these
steel garage buildings provides security and durability against Fire,
Snow, and Hurricane force winds, while remaining aesthetically pleasing
For Saloff, the opportunity to construct the buildings himself not only provided cost savings, but also a little bit of fun.
"I have constructed all three by
myself and a few friends," says Saloff. "The last one was completed
with the back wall in three days. We figured a very effective and safe
way to raise each section in the desert wind-we put a loosely attached
bolt at each end on the channel and used a rope with a large step ladder
to rotate (raise) it up in place. We used battery powered drill motors
to secure the nuts. It was just simple tinker toy type assembly. It’s
actually fun putting it together."
Saloff added that he was also please that there was no need for an expensive concrete slab.
"I don’t use a concrete slab,
says Saloff. "I just use SteelMaster’s inverted channels lag bolted to
railroad ties for the outer footing. Then I dump a load of gravel for
the floor. It’s a farm type set up and really works well for my
application and is economical."
If you find yourself looking for
Saloff toward the end of 2011, you aren’t likely to find him tinkering
around in any of his SteelMaster buildings or in any other building at
all for that matter.
"The airplane I am currently
building is a homebuilt model called a CH701; kit by Zenith Aircraft in
Mexico, MO," says Saloff. "It’s about 23 feet long, carries two people,
and only goes 85 miles per hour; perfect for an older pilot. It will be
so much fun just puttering around the sky at slow speeds."
