Before you get started on your steel building kit, it’s important to ensure that you’re properly prepared for the project. Of course, having proper safety equipment is a must. In addition, though, having the right set of tools is also of utmost importance. Beyond the scope of basic hand tools that most DIYers have around, there are a number of specialty tools that you should have on hand and be ready to use during the erection process of your steel building kit.
Here are some basic tools you should have handy before you start erecting your building:
Beyond those basics, here are some additional and somewhat more niche tools to have on hand for erecting your buildings and their use cases
A rotary impact drill is an essential tool for erecting your steel building. Whether you’re drilling holes for your primary anchor bolts or for secondary anchors for doors or interior structures, it’s important that you have the right drill to efficiently and safely drill into your concrete slab.
Rotary impact drills have different-sized bits for various applications of use. So, it’s important to understand what type of bit you need for each intended use.
While the above-mentioned magnetic spirit and torpedo levels are extremely helpful when erecting your building, you may benefit from also having a transit level on hand if you’re erecting a larger building. A transit level can help to ensure your building’s framing components are level and consistent across the whole project.
For many cases with personal shops, garages, and other smaller buildings, the standard “bubble level” will be more than sufficient. Above all else, it’s important to ensure your building’s frame is plumb and level, and both spirit and transit levels can help gauge the status of your columns and help you decide if you need to shim them to keep everything where it needs to be.
Transit levels are quite expensive. However, many home centers and construction supply businesses rent them out. So, you don’t necessarily have to eat the whole expense of one.
Though a crowbar isn’t exactly a unique tool to erecting a steel building, we felt it was worth giving a dedicated section to explain its use case.
As stated above, ensuring your building’s primary framing system is plumb and level is extremely important. If you find that a column isn’t level, you can use a crowbar to lift the column and add a shim in most cases.
A spud wrench’s pointed end makes it the perfect tool for aligning your secondary framing components with a Great Western Building.
Our building’s members come pre-punched to align with the holes in clips that are pre-welded to your building’s primary framing system. With a spud wrench, you can guide the components together by inserting the pointed end and physically moving the components into alignment. Once aligned, putting a bolt through the other hole in the clip keeps things in place and allows you to remove the wrench and install the remaining hardware.
For seating secondary anchor bolts or, in some cases, drilling and re-spotting primary anchor bolts, you want to ensure that they are sufficiently secured into your concrete slab. After using the above-mentioned rotary impact drill, you should install the anchors with a high-quality two-part epoxy adhesive designed for structural integrity.
We recommend Sika AnchorFix-2 Heavy Duty Fast Curing Anchoring Adhesive or a similar high-strength anchoring adhesive. It is important to ensure you’re using a sufficient adhesive for your anchors and use case. Please ensure your chosen adhesive is up to the task.
Looking for a place to start? Our sales team is here to help get you exactly what you need. Whether you’re building a shop, garage, a full-blown residence, or a storage or agricultural building, our steel building kits are your perfect solution. Each one is designed and engineered to meet not only your needs, but your local coding requirements so that you can get the job done right quickly and seamlessly, the first time.
You should receive your estimated quote by email shortly. Please keep in mind that this is just an estimate and does not include snow loads, wind loads, county specific code requirements, delivery or design specific engineering calculations related to the structural soundness of the building.
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