A red oxide primed structural steel frame partly erected on a concrete slab, showing bolted knee joints and anchor bolts.

Steel Frame Homes in Oklahoma

Our steel frame homes in Oklahoma use a red-iron frame: steel columns and rafters, bolted together and anchored to a concrete foundation, with metal roof and wall panels over it. A steel frame gives the widest column-free spans and the tallest eaves, which is why people with big shops choose it. It also depends on two things that vary from parcel to parcel here: the wind values your city or county uses, and the clay under the slab the frame is bolted to. We settle both before the frame is ordered.

Stamped drawings where your jurisdiction requires them
Drawn to your jurisdiction's snow, wind and frost values
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Steel Frame Homes: how the work runs

Four stages, in this order. The sequence matters more than it looks: settling who has jurisdiction, the septic soil test and any permits before anything is fabricated is what keeps an Oklahoma build from stalling.

1

Loads and layout

The frame manufacturer designs the steel from the building's size, eave height, openings and the design values your jurisdiction uses. We supply the layout, the door and window openings, any mezzanine or loft, and those values, and check the manufacturer's drawings against our plans before the order is placed.

2

Foundation and anchor bolts

A steel frame puts concentrated loads, and in a storm large uplift forces, into the foundation at each column. The slab and piers are designed for those loads and for the soil under them, and the anchor bolts are set to the manufacturer's layout before the pour. A bolt out of place is expensive to fix.

3

Frame erection

Columns and rafters are lifted and bolted, then purlins, girts and bracing are fixed. The bracing is what keeps the frame square and carries wind to the ground, so it goes in as the frame goes up, not later.

4

Panels, dry-in and finish

Metal roof and wall panels close the building in, with the steel roof installed as part of it. The living space is then framed, insulated and finished inside the steel shell. Licensed trade contractors handle plumbing, electrical and HVAC.

Exterior detail of a metal-clad home showing standing seam roofing, vertical wall panels, and a downspout discharging away from the wall.
Load path

Steel is only as strong as the connection to the ground

Oklahoma's adopted residential code carries an optional tornado appendix that a city or county can make mandatory, and it names a continuous load path from the roof to the foundation as the most important objective against high wind. On a steel frame that path runs through the rafter and column connections, the bracing and the anchor bolts into the foundation. On clay soils that swell and shrink, the foundation half of that path needs as much attention as the steel.

Where we deliver steel frame homes

In Oklahoma the line that matters is usually a city limit. Inside a city you normally have city zoning and a city building department. Outside one, it depends on the county: counties take on zoning and building-code powers only under specific state planning acts, so some permit and inspect houses and many do not. Cross one of those lines and what changes is whether the build is inspected, who reviews the drawings, how the land is zoned and whose snow, wind and frost values the drawings answer to. The septic permit from the Department of Environmental Quality, and the state plumbing, electrical and mechanical codes, go with you everywhere.

Barndominium builders across Oklahoma.

Every city and county we build in has its own answer on permits, septic and design values. The service area pages set out what each one publishes.

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What actually decides the price

Square footage is the number everyone leads with, and it is rarely the one that moves a barndominium budget. These four do.

  • Clear span and eave height

    Wider column-free spans need deeper rafters, and taller eaves add column length, wall area and bracing. Both are worth it when the building is for equipment, and both show up in the steel price.

  • Wind values and exposure

    The design wind speed your jurisdiction uses and how open the site is set the size of the frame, the bracing and the anchor bolts. An exposed hilltop parcel costs more to frame than a sheltered one.

  • Foundation on clay

    Expansive clay, fill or a sloping site can call for deeper piers, a thicker slab or a soils report before design. The foundation for a steel frame is where Oklahoma soil conditions show up in the budget.

  • Openings, lofts and mezzanines

    Large overhead doors, window walls and a loft or mezzanine inside the steel frame all need extra framing and change the manufacturer's design. Decide them early.

A red oxide primed structural steel frame partly erected on a concrete slab, showing bolted knee joints and anchor bolts.

Steel Frame Homes in Oklahoma: common questions

8 questions we get asked most often about building in Oklahoma. If yours is not on the list, ask it directly.

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What is a red-iron frame?
The common name for a primary steel frame of columns and rafters, from the red primer the members often arrive in. It is the structure a steel barndominium hangs its purlins, girts and metal panels on.
Steel or pole barn: which is better in Oklahoma?
Neither is better everywhere. Steel gives the widest spans and tallest eaves on a concrete foundation. Post-frame is quick to dry in and easy to finish. Both are designed to your jurisdiction's wind values; the shop's size and the site usually decide it.
Who designs the steel frame?
The steel building manufacturer, under its own licensed professional engineer, from the size, loads and layout we give it. Where your building department wants sealed drawings, those come from that engineer.
Does a steel frame need a special foundation?
It needs one designed for concentrated column loads and wind uplift, with anchor bolts set exactly to the manufacturer's layout. On expansive clay, a soils report can change the foundation design, and it is cheaper to know before the pour.
Can a steel frame barndominium have a storm shelter?
Yes, as a separate unit: usually an in-ground shelter in the slab or a reinforced room inside the house. Oklahoma does not require one, but if one is added, the state's adopted residential code says it must meet the ICC 500 standard.
Can I erect the steel myself?
Some owners do, but a steel frame needs a lift, a crew experienced with bolted connections and careful bracing as it goes up. We can erect it for you, or supply the frame and drawings if you have the crew.
Does a steel home rust?
The frame sits inside the building envelope, primed and out of the weather. The exterior panels carry a factory coating; scratches, cut edges and fasteners are the places to watch, and the coating warranty says what the manufacturer covers.
Is a steel frame home more expensive?
The frame is only one part of the finished cost. For a building with a big shop bay, steel is often the practical choice. Our cost guide puts the frame in the context of the whole build.

Sources

Keep reading

The pages that answer the next question this one raises.

Pole Barn Homes

The other structural route, and when it is the better answer.

Read it

Site Preparation

Clay, fill and drainage under the slab a steel frame is bolted to.

Read it

Metal Building Homes

What the finished envelope looks like on a steel frame.

Read it

Ready to put steel frame homes against a real plan? Start there and the rest follows.

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Tell us about the land

Tell us where the parcel is and what you want on it, and we will come back with who has jurisdiction, what the land needs before it can be built on, and a realistic budget range. Starting the survey costs nothing.

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