Looking Out for Your Steel Buildings: Accessory and Manufacturer Insights

If you’re in the business of constructing steel buildings, you know the struggle of deciding which accessories to incorporate into your structures — and which accessory manufacturers to trust with the work. With so many companies out there and so much riding on your potential decisions, the choices aren’t always cut and dried.

Metallic Products manufactures accessories for steel buildings at our headquarters in Houston, Texas.

Whether your steel buildings need ridge vents and wall louvers to keep indoor environments healthy, you’re looking to improve safety with a personnel door canopy or it’s more about aesthetics with additions such as cupolas, there are a few key considerations to keep in mind to poise your projects for success. Here, our metal building experts offer insights to help keep your projects on track — and ensure steel buildings that serve their end users well.

How to Find a Steel Building Accessories Manufacturer You Can Trust
As is the case with any business relationship, the building accessories manufacturer you work with matters. Not only do their products help ensure a long lifespan for your buildings and healthy, comfortable environments for those who frequent them, but they have a tremendous impact on whether or not your project makes deadline. Here are some questions to ask yourself as you begin (or continue) your search.

• Are Their Metal Building Accessories Built to Last?
  Affordable prices are important, but a budget-friendly steel building accessory that requires replacement following any major weather event will do you more harm than good. Seek out an accessory provider whose products are built to have true staying power — and to suit the environment your buildings will call home. At Metallic Products, for instance, our accessories undergo in-depth wind uplift testing to ensure they will stand their ground even if the weather takes a turn. A number of our products are also approved for use by the Texas Department of Insurance. For metal building projects in areas along the coast, or which regularly experience extreme weather, we also offer Florida approved building accessories that meet the strict standards set forth by the Florida Building Commission.
• Do They Offer a Range of Project Lines?
  More often than not, successful steel building projects require a number of accessories coming together for adequate airflow and optimal aesthetics. While it is possible to cherry-pick products from a number of manufacturers, doing so doesn’t always go smoothly. Working with an accessory manufacturer that offers everything you need helps ensure your various components come together without a hitch. It can also help keep projects on track, as you’re paring coordination efforts down to talks with just one company. Metallic Products offers a range of metal building accessory product lines. In addition, they can be customized in sizes, colors and finishes to suit individual steel building and client needs. 
• Where Are Their Metal Building Accessories Made?
  Manufacturing standards vary throughout the world, and modern-day shipping costs can eat into budgets fast. If your metal building projects take place in the U.S., we recommend doing business with a company whose products are made here, too. By procuring American-made products, you can expect quality accessories that meet strict manufacturing guidelines and enjoy quicker, more cost-effective shipping. On top of that, you’ll support American jobs. Metallic Products’ steel building accessories are proudly made in America — built at our Houston, Texas headquarters.
  

  Sourcing American-made accessories for your steel buildings can lower shipping costs and ensure a higher-quality finished product.

• What Sort of Reputation Do They Maintain?
  Although you don’t have to be best friends with your metal building accessory provider, you do have to work fairly closely with them. It’s important to ensure you’re doing business with a company others promote as being trustworthy. Take time to read through your potential accessory manufacturer’s online reviews, or customer testimonials available on their website. Consider asking fellow metal building professionals about the accessory manufacturers they’ve worked with in the past — and what that experience was like. If you’d like to take things a step further, consider asking for references from the top company (or companies) on your list. The more you learn about a potential company and the way it operates, the better prepared you’ll be.
• Do They Maintain Memberships with Known Industry Associations?
  Trade associations are the best way for companies like metal building accessory manufacturers to keep up with what’s happening within the industry, the latest technological advances and beyond. And the better informed they are, the better able they are to prepare for issues such as raw material price increases, shipping delays and other concerns which could impact product costs and delivery times. Metallic Products, for instance, is actively involved in a number of trade groups including the Metal Building Contractors & Erectors Association, the Metal Construction Association and the Metal Building Manufacturers Association.

Choosing a quality steel building accessories manufacturer can help eliminate unnecessary stress with your construction projects, keep projects on track and ensure and end product that stays the course for decades to come. If you have questions about any of the above, or if you’re interested in learning how Metallic Products can help with your upcoming projects, feel free to reach out to our team. We’d love to help, and we look forward to hearing from you.