Protect your harvest, livestock, or expensive farm equipment inside a durable SteelMaster metal Quonset Hut barn. What’s the right style for you? Check out some of our favorite steel barn projects.
Barns
industry leader in metal Quonset Hut barns
Agricultural industry professionals and residential property owners love our barns because of their initial affordability and long-term cost savings.
Most Popular Barn Sizes & Pricing
30' x 40'
Starting as low as $14,500
30'W X 50'L
Starting as low as $18,000
40'W X 60'L
Starting as low as $31,000
Most Popular Uses
Traditional Farm Building
Tractor & Equipment Barns
Small Agricultural Shed
Portable Pole(less) Barn
Metal Barn Kits
Hale Bale Storage
Quonset vs. the Competition: Pricing & Construction
Agricultural industry professionals and residential property owners love Quonsets because of their initial affordability and long-term cost savings.
Barn prices compared
| Barn Type | Price Per SqFt |
|---|---|
| Cheap pole barn | $4 – $10+ |
| Quonset steel barn* | As low as $11 |
| I-beam steel barn | $13 – $22+ |
| C-channel steel barn | $14 – $23+ |
| Traditional wood barn | $25 – $29+ |
*Prices may vary by location and project requirements
The cost of labor and materials needed for a traditional wooden barn makes them among the more pricy solutions to farm storage. This is especially true when compared to pre-engineered metal farm buildings where the price per square foot can be as little as half in some cases.
While I-beam and C-Channel barns provide excellent options they are much pricier than a Quonset barn that provides the same, if not better, storage protection for agricultural goods.
“Cheap” storage can solve the short-term problem of keeping things like hay or farming equipment safe from the elements but should be seen as they are intended – as a temporary solution.
A Quonset hut barn can cost a little more than a cheap pole barn yet provides an excellent permanent solution to farm storage. This makes Quonset barns one of the most cost-effective choices when evaluating metal farm building prices.
She & Ag Storage in Julian, CA
She & Ag Storage in Julian, CA
Agricultural Storage in Elizabeth, IN
Agricultural Storage in Veedersburg, IN
Agricultural Storage in Veedersburg, IN
Tractor Storage in Fruita, CO
Ag Storage in Suffolk, VA
Ag Storage in Australia
Ag Storage in Valdense, Uruguay
Storage in La Gonave, Haiti
Ag Storage in Azerbaijan
Ag Storage in Heredia, Costa Rica
Ag Storage in Venezuela
Church in Humacao, Puerto Rico
Construction costs
Both pole barns and Quonset barns are faster to build than traditional barn buildings, which saves money on labor and construction costs. However, Quonset huts have the extra advantage of being prefabricated and not requiring any special skills or tools to complete.
| Barn Type | Construction Time |
|---|---|
| Quonset barn* | 1 week or less |
| Pole barn | 2 – 4 weeks |
| Traditional barn | 4 – 6 weeks |
* Construction time may vary based on experience & project requirements
Long-term building costs
When purchasing a barn kit, with or without the pole, an important factor to consider is long-term versus short-term costs. Compared to a Quonset, the maintenance costs of cheap pole barns or wooden barns are extensive and expensive.
Customer Howard Arnold is pleased with the durability and affordability of his Quonset-style barn. So far, he has not had to do any maintenance to the building since tightening the last bolt.
“Zero maintenance to the barn up to this point and hopefully from forevermore,” Howard said.
| Pole Barn | Quonset Barn | |
|---|---|---|
| Impact damage repairs |
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| Re-roofing |
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| Painting |
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| Wood rot |
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* Construction time may vary based on experience & project requirements
Cost factors & customizations
Typically, steel barns start as low as $11 per square foot with several factors impacting the final cost. The larger a barn is with more custom features, the more expensive the final building will be.
Simple animal run-ins or equipment coveralls are the cheapest options because they only consist of the steel arches you assemble and erect. If you need protection beyond shelter from the elements, you’ll want to consider these common barn-building customizations and size options.
Three popular customizations include:
- Endwalls (optional)
- Size
- Climate control/ventilation (optional)
Barn endwall configurations
Depending on your needs, your barn can have two endwalls, one endwall, or no endwalls.
Fully Enclosed
Fully enclosing a barn can be best for livestock or a harvest that is adversely impacted by weather or pests.
Semi-Enclosed
Endwalls do not support the arches of Quonset huts, so you may choose to partially enclose your structure.
Open-Ended
Barns with neither a front nor a back endwalls are most common for farm equipment or animal run-ins.
Metal barn sizes
SteelMaster’s building specialists will help you find a barn that fits your budget and size requirements.
Large Steel Quonset Barns
Metal Barn Sheds
Metal Barn Kits
Climate control needs
Should you insulate your Quonset hut barn? The short answer is…it depends. The control of the temperature or air quality can depend on several factors such as what you store inside and where your building is located.
Insulated Barns
Insulation can reduce condensation, control inside temperatures, and add long-term heating and cooling savings.
Ventilation
Vents circulate air throughout an enclosed building, which also helps control condensation and temperatures.
No Insulation
Insulation is not used for open-ended buildings, or when climate control isn’t a necessity.
It seemed like working with Legos or Tinker Toys. I like flexibility and have always been a change artist.
Greg S., Michigan
Our steel barn kits are easy to build
Every steel panel of your Quonset barn kit is pre-drilled and pre-punched — the entire building only requires one size nut and one size bolt. All you need are a few tools, a few friends, and a few days to put together your SteelMaster Quonset Hut.
Pre-construct your arches
Lay the arches of the building out on the ground and hand-tighten each panel together. You’ll want to decide if you’ll be raising the entire arch or half of an arch at a time and pre-construct the arches accordingly. For larger buildings, it often makes sense to raise a half arch at a time.
Raise & connect the arches
Now that the arches are mostly assembled on the ground, raise each of them, and connect them to any foundation you need — our arches can be put on shipping containers, on the ground, or anchored to a concrete foundation. Then, connect the arch to the previously raised arch.
Tighten the bolts as you go
Once four arches are up, go back and fully tighten the first arch. Then each time you raise a new arch, go back and tighten the arch that’s four arches back.
Install endwalls
Now that the building has been erected, install the endwalls you’ve selected for the barn. A popular option is to use steel endwalls provided by SteelMaster as they are functional and economical.
The time each of these steps will take depends on your construction experience and any help you have during construction. Many barn kits we sell are erected in as little as three to seven days.
Pole Barns vs. Quonset Barns
Do you even need a pole? In traditional pole barns, wooden poles are buried in the ground and used as columns for the roof. The walls of the pole barn can be made of wood, or sometimes tin, and screwed or nailed into the poles.
Pole barns are typically not engineered to meet structural requirements because they’re not thought of as permanent structures in some locations due to the lack of foundation. The poles of a pole barn are used for structural support, which is great for keeping the barn from collapsing, but terrible for usable space on the interior.
Ideally, you’d want to ditch the pole, to maximize movable space and maneuverability within the barn, but keep the portability of a pole barn. Quonset “pole” barns are structurally sound and provide 100% usable space without beams, trusses or poles inside and can still be disassembled and reassembled anywhere on your farm or property if need be.
| Pole Barn | Quonset Barn | |
|---|---|---|
| Clear span |
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| Expandable |
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| HVHZ impact rated |
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| Up to 190 mph winds |
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| Prefab construction |
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| Portable |
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| Maintenance costs |
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Zero maintenance to the barn up to this point and hopefully from forevermore.
Howard A. Ohio
The Ultimate Guide to Quonset Barns
Check out real-life SteelMaster projects & learn more about:
- The features and benefits of arch style buildings for barns
- Step-by-step arch construction
- Technical specs & certifications
Get Inspired
We hope some of our customers’ most impressive projects will inspire you to get started on your own Quonset hut structure. See all articles.
SteelMaster Quonset Hut Keeps Florida Pigs Safe and Sound
SteelMaster customer Connie D. uses Quonset huts to shelter her pigs because of their durability, disaster resistance, and cost-effectiveness.
5 Step Metal Barn Construction In 3 Days For Farm Equipment
Watch a timelapse of the three day process to build a large barn for farm equipment with a custom-built endwall.
Florida Business Uses Quonset Hut For Food and Farming
Congaree and Penn initially used their SteelMaster Quonset hut for agricultural storage and later added on to the building to include a restaurant and dining area, making it a remarkable Florida tourism destination.
40+ years of designing metal barns
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