It's not uncommon for a business to outgrow its initial commercial building.
It's actually a good sign if you do because needing more square footage typically means you've accomplished some level of success.
But when that time comes, you have to make a pretty big decision: Do you move your business into a new facility or expand your existing facilities?
If you chose to set up your business in a prefab metal building when you first started, you're in luck. Either option is realistic for you.
People with timber buildings will find it more challenging to expand their current facilities, whereas commercial metal buildings are easily expandable.
Even if you do have a pre-engineered metal building, the decision can still be tough, with many factors to consider.
In the article below, we'll look at a few of the factors you should consider when making that decision, and then we'll talk about expanding your metal structures.
Table Of Contents
Three Factors To Consider
When deciding whether to expand your current location or move to a new one, there are three main factors that should be considered.
They are as follows.
Location
I'm sure you remember how long it took to pick out the current location of your custom-engineered steel building.
You likely considered the neighborhood, the proximity to your competition, the potential for growth, traffic patterns, entrances, and exits, just to name a few factors that will impact your business's future success.
You should do the same thing when considering expanding or relocating your current steel building.
If your current structure is thriving, and you're comfortable with the future of your business location, expanding to a larger structure could likely be your best option.
This will allow you to build on your current success without missing a beat and avoid the headaches of uprooting your business.
If the initial assessment of your business location proved to be inaccurate or your neighborhood has changed, a custom metal building could be the change your business needs.
Moving your business will give you a fresh start and facilitate business in a location that better suits you and your business goals.
Custom steel buildings allow you to design a brand new space if you feel that's needed.
Land
More often than not, the decision to expand or relocate comes down to the amount and cost of land that is available.
If you own enough land, steel building additions may be a logical choice because it will be easy to include metal building add-ons to fit your needs.
This cuts costs since you already own the land and will speed up the metal building project timeline since you won't need to find a new location.
If you don't have room for metal building additions but need more space in your facility to grow your business, you'll likely need to relocate.
With a new pre-engineered steel building, you'll be able to buy land that fits your business's current needs, which will allow you to expand your prefabricated metal building in the future if necessary.
Relocating and building a steel structure from scratch will require more research and analysis, but it will also provide you with a new opportunity to capitalize on previous success.
Local Considerations
No matter what decision you make, local building permits and regulations will have to be researched.
Whether you're expanding or relocating, local building codes can limit the size and functionality of your newly designed facility.
Most cities have a master plan that has been in place for decades. The master plan details what areas will be zoned commercial, residential, and mixed-use.
Hidden in those regulations are things like setbacks, height restrictions, and landscaping requirements.
The city's master plan is usually developed according to the taxes it will need as it grows, which makes changing the zoning difficult but not impossible.
If a parcel of land is zoned commercial, and you need it rezoned for mixed-use, you can apply for a change in zoning at the city planner's office.
You'll have to present a compelling case as to why it is in the community's best interest for the change to be made, including the effect it will have on the city's income.
You can build these changes into your land purchase agreement and contingencies.
Check out our article, How To Finance Your New Metal Building, for more information on investing in your metal building.
You've Decided To Expand
If you've decided to start an expansion project on your current building after considering everything above, we've got great news: it's pretty simple.
There are a few ways you can expand your commercial steel building, and we'll discuss those below.
Make It Wider
Adding a lean-to is an extremely easy and cost-effective way to make your commercial steel building bigger by adding width.
The higher the roofline, the wider the lean-to can be, and the more bays you can add.
A lean-to extends the roofline to the side and the original walls can either stay with the addition of doors or be removed to keep the space open.
The new frame will attach to the original frame.
To open the bay up to the original building, you just need to remove the wall panels and some girts.
Add new roofing and end panels, and you're done.
And, the wall panels you don't need anymore can be reused elsewhere.
The lean-to won't need to match the height of the original structure. If you have a fairly tall building, the lean-to can be as tall or as short as you like.
Make It Taller
Making it taller will require special framing techniques from the outset.
If your original building doesn't have the appropriate moment-resistant frame, some girts and purlins will have to be shored up, other girts removed, and a new spanning moment-resistant frame must be in place before adding new bays and end walls.
Another method is to build a new frame around the original building with the new frame footed into the foundation outside the old walls.
This means you need to have a wide enough foundation to do so.
Make It Longer
It's not much harder to add additional space by making a building longer instead of wider, but it involves a different process.
If you have post-and-beam construction, you won't be able to attach the new steel building additions directly to the original frame like you can with a lean-to.
The added construction project would have to start as an entirely new end wall placed next to the end wall of the existing building.
Otherwise, like lean-tos, the original frame should be strengthened with extra load-bearing capacity when it is constructed, and the new addition's secondary frame can be attached to the original primary frame when it is ready to expand.
You can make the custom-engineered steel building as long as you like, adding extra bays to the back as far as you have the room and foundation.
Need Help? Contact CDMG
No matter what decision you make or where you are in the building design process, CDMG can help.
With decades of experience in the industry, there's nothing CDMG Building Systems can't assist with.
Their team is ready to provide you with customization options for your pre-engineered steel building today.
If you are a business owner, click the button below to get started.
Check out our other articles:
Avoid These Mistakes When Buying Your New Metal Building
The Biggest Myths About Metal Buildings
I'm Ben Sparhawk, the Content Writer and Marketing Account Manager for CDMG. I write to showcase the work that CDMG does and everything related to the pre-engineered metal building industry as well as their engineering capabilities. When I'm not working on content, you can find me spending time with my wife and children. You can also find me in the gym, trying to better myself, and I also enjoy spending time outdoors hiking or checking out local parks.