don't know much about the metal buildings, but my hubby and I just had a wooden building put in, it is made by TuffShed, by Home Depot, and it is 20x10 with a 8' loft and pull down ladder. It run us $3,000. We are using it as a laundry room and work shop with some storage space too. I like it because they came out and built it for us too, painted and everything. All we did is put up insulation and paneling inside to keep the washer from freezing

Is the tuffshed on a concrete pad?

here is some advice. Do NOT get a steel building kit. I work for a metal building manufacturer in PA and 80% of the kits you are buying do NOT meet local code. Thus you, In some cases, are buying something you couldn't legally construct in your area. Now if you live in the country then maybe you are fine. Just be VERY careful what you are buying. The people out there selling these "kits" to you are giving the steel manufacturers a bad name. A quick search of your local BBB and/or Google would reveal some of the class action lawsuits against some of these major companies that distribute the "kits". They often times don't even provide you all the material. And no offence but the average homeowner/farmer is not able to properly construct a steel building either.

Second point. Wooden Pole buildings will almost ALWAYS be a better deal than a steel building anyway. And if in fact the steel is the better deal... See explanation above.... They are selling you something that is quite possibly dangerous. Does not meet loading and code requirements and may not even come with everything you need.

If you have any specific steel questions feel free to ask! I am sure I can help you out there....

As rox5488 said, a steel building is not easy to put up, especially if it has high eaves. I looked into a kit and was able to find some put together by local companies that seemed to be high quality. You can always go with General Steel if price is no object. I ended up hiring a contractor that specialized in metal buildings. His price for an erected building was about the same as GS was for the kit. I didn't want to wait for the building. If I erected it myself, I would have taken a long time. If you go with 8ft eaves and are prepared for a project of this size, I believe you can save money buying a kit from a reputable manufacturer and erecting it yourself. The hardest part is erecting the first set of beams (vertical and across the roof). You then use the first set of beams to pull up the following sets of beams (after bracing it for a sideways pull). You can save a bunch just from forming and pouring the concrete yourself.

Good luck

I spoke to the local building dept. they said as long as the plans for the steel building come with the proper engineering stamp, they will approve it. I would not buy one with-out the appropriate stamp.

So what brands are good, and which are disreputable ?

we poured our own concrete for 200.00 for a 10x20 pad, my hubby, who is in concrete as a profession, said it was a good price. Tuff Shed anchored the building to the concrete pad.
They do build them with out the concrete, they put blocks down and have a plywood floor with it.
For the money and we priced doing it ourselves it would run about the same and someone else builds it for you! It only took 4 1/2 hours to build

"You can always go with General Steel if price is no object"

Price is an object. How is "US Buildings" quality? There prices seem good.

What is a good quality, good price company that sells the steel building kits for a do-it-yourselfer?