It is increasingly clear that steel is the material of the future for all kinds of buildings. With advantages from strength, versatility, and low cost to speed of construction, devotees of prefabricated steel structures are winning over the public to the extent that skeptics are scraping the barrel for aspects to cast doubt upon.
Here we will deal with a perfectly legitimate question: how do you maintain a steel structure? This is a matter that applies to all methods of construction and all materials, but let’s concentrate on the subject at hand. So, here are some key maintenance tips to maximize the lifespan of your steel building.
How Can You Increase the Durability of Steel?
The durability of steel is already considerable. Rather than increase, maybe a more appropriate verb would be preserve or maintain. It’s there already – let’s not adversely affect it. It is what maintenance is all about, in fact: treating something with respect, to maximize its positive qualities.
Be Vigilant: Inspect the Structure Regularly to Ensure it’s Doing Well
The most basic requirement when looking after anything is to notice how it is doing. We do it with our own health and that of others. That’s why we ask, “How are you?” and we say, “Oh, you’re looking good.” We may also say, “You’re not looking too good. Maybe you should see a doctor.”
A building is not going to give us a run-down of how it is feeling, so the task falls to the owner, the manager, or whatever the job title might be of the person in charge of the company’s buildings and/or other equipment. Whoever it might be, someone must have responsibility for keeping an eye on this.
The ideal way of keeping in touch with the condition of the building is to carry out regular maintenance, which is to say having a schedule and keeping everything clean and tidy as a matter of course. In the process, any issues should become apparent, and they should be dealt with immediately.
Look For Corrosion
Corrosion is an obvious fault to look for. The steel used in your building will have had some kind of anti-corrosion treatment, such as red oxide, which leads to a structure being somewhat misleadingly called a red iron building. As effective as anti-corrosion coatings can be, they can only work if they are intact. If they get scratched, scraped, or damaged in some other way, their effectiveness is compromised, so any corrosion must be attended to, and the coating needs to be replenished.
Steel girders and beams are hefty things, and it will take more than a few days of rust to do serious damage to them, but catching it early is the key to keeping steel healthy.
Check the Exterior
While you may be in control of what happens inside your building, outside is another matter. The world is out there, and that means unpredictability. Depending on the climate in your area, the exterior could be constantly under attack: wind and rain are relentless, and flying debris can be hammering the paneling at any hour of the day or night. Even ostensibly harmless material can have a damaging effect if the battering happens continually. It is important, then, to get up close and personal with your exterior, even in the relatively inaccessible places.
Look out for unwittingly self-inflicted harm too; hedges and trees designed to soften the look of the building can do damage if they get too close.
Keep it Clean and Dry at Low Levels
The base of your frame and panels is where dirt and water end up, and even if this is ultimately unavoidable, regular cleaning and drying can prevent damage from taking hold. Take care of your gutters and drains, too. They are there to help, but if they get blocked, they can cause trouble.
Consider the Specifics of Your Climate
Snow and ice are only a problem in certain parts of the country, but if you are in one of those parts, they pose particular problems, and you need to prevent any build-ups and watch out for cracking or other damage. Similarly, extreme heat can be tough on a building.
Bald Facts: How Long Will a Steel Building Last?
Depending on where the building is, what it is used for, and how well it is maintained, ballpark figures are between 50 and 100 years. Do your maintenance well, and you will be pushing the upper end of that scale and maybe taking it even further.
