Experts In Building Fabric Covered Structures - FAQs

A fabric covered building is a rigid framework with a tensioned fabric cover, most commonly made from polyethylene. These buildings vary by manufacturer in terms of corrosion protection, engineering standards and commitment to quality. While these buildings all look similar from a distance, there are significant differences in their manufacturing and construction. Purchasing your building from Legacy Building Solutions is a wise choice for three primary reasons:

1. We offer fully engineered tension fabric buildings with an unparalleled commitment to providing the best buildings available.
2. Legacy's leadership has over 45 years of combined experience in the fabric building industry. We understand what it takes to provide a quality building that will last a long time.
3. Legacy is committed to satisfying customers and will not rest until you are pleased with your installed building project.

Craftsmanship

The attention to detail and years of experience our dedicated employees bring to each of their duties is the driving force behind the best fabric covered building available at any price.

Best Overall Value

Legacy Building Solutions, Inc. is an industry leader in terms of overall value.  Available keder track on every truss allows for independent keder covers in each building bay for ground level maintenance, effortless expansion options and simple, individual bay cover replacement. Steel products are hot dip galvanized after manufacturing to provide a continuous coating of protective zinc on all surfaces of the truss. A 15-year warranty is available and includes both the fabric cover and the truss system. The warranty even covers you when storing corrosive materials.

 

We offer complete sales and installation services for your project. You have three primary options on how you want to handle your project:

1. Have an authorized Legacy Building Solutions, Inc. installation crew install your fabric building. We employ crews with extensive tensioned fabric structure installation experience. With decades of combined experience we can install our fabric buildings promptly with unmatched quality.
2. Have Legacy Building Solutions, Inc. send an Installation Representative to work with the customer's contractor to complete the covered building. Our Tech Reps work collaboratively to assure the building is up to our standards and specifications.
3. Do it yourself by using our comprehensive installation plans and customer service to support the install process.

The covers on our buildings will last approximately 15 to 20 years, depending on several factors. There are a couple main reasons why covers may need to be replaced.

1. The cover building was not maintained properly and the cover became loose. This is part of the reason why the keder cover attachment system was developed. It allows for maintenance at ground level, not up in the building where most customers cannot easily or safely reach. Each bay has a smaller independent cover, not one large single piece of fabric that is more difficult to maintain.
2. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation breaks down the woven polyethylene material. We use high quality, state of the art material. Our fabric covers provide superior light diffusion, excellent wear resistance and outstanding UV protection.  The amount of UV radiation depends on two main factors: the latitude and the elevation of the building. The nearer to the equator and the more above sea level a building is located, the greater the UV radiation. Depending on maintenance and location of the cover building, a cover should last 15 to 20 years and Fire Resistant Fabric should last 10 to 15 years.

A licensed engineer using the International Building Code (IBC) designs our fabric covered buildings for human occupancy with an importance factor of 1.0. Sometimes appropriate engineering deductions will be taken for specific building uses. The other design criteria are wind, snow loading, seismic activity per your location, and application loading such as conveyors or other material handling equipment.

A second locally licensed, independent engineer provides the engineering seal on our prints. This engineer provides proof that the correct loading for the tension fabric building location and purpose were used to calculate the base plate reaction at the foundation. This procedure is necessary to ensure proper foundation design and to obtain building permits and insurance on the fabric covered building.

No, there are two primary types of galvanizing. In-line (some manufactures have branded this as a “Shielded” product) and hot dip galvanizing. Hot dip galvanizing is a better coating than the competitor's pre-galvanizing or “shielded” products because hot dip galvanizing provides 300% more zinc that is uniformly applied to all steel surfaces. Hot dip galvanizing provides 3.9 mils of zinc on all surfaces compared to the competitor's process that has less than 1 mil of zinc on the outside only and no protection on the inside of the product. When other manufacturers weld to pre-galvanized or “shielded” products, the welding damages or burns the outside of the zinc while creating a weld burn on the unprotected inside of the product. Competitors sometimes choose to replace the outside zinc, but have no way to protect the inside weld area from corrosion. Zinc protects steel by reacting with the environment instead of the steel. The more zinc available to protect the product, the longer the product will last, especially in a corrosive environment.

Hot dip galvanizing is the method in applications in the most highly corrosive environments. These applications include road signs posts, guardrails and cell phone towers. Most government agencies would never use a “shielded” product in these applications since they wouldn't last as long. We chose the same long-lasting materials for your building.

For more information about galvanizing please visit the American Galvanizers Association website.  www.galvanizeit.org

Yes, you can expand or relocate a fabric building. The versatility of our tension fabric structures allows for fast installations and easy relocation. If a portable pre-cast concrete foundation was chosen, simply reverse the building process and your engineered fabric covered building is on the move in no time without having to leave costly foundations behind. This is a great benefit when working on temporary projects, dealing with leased property, or if your plant layout changes.

Our sales team will work with you to determine the best foundation option based on the use and location of the tension membrane structure.  Narrow fabric structures are pre-engineered to be placed on the widest array of foundations including portable pre-cast concrete. This material is the most versatile and cost effective foundation option offered in many areas. Depending on the fabric building and load requirements, certain tensioned buildings can be placed on Pre-Cast Concrete “L” or “T” Panels.

Should you wish to design your own foundation, Legacy Building Solutions, Inc. will supply the fabric building reactions at the base plates to your engineer to design a foundation to meet the needs of your particular project and location. Other membrane building foundation options include cast in place concrete walls and piers, ground anchors, shipping containers and steel “I” Beam posts. Buildings that store bulk material like grain or fertilizer can utilize building liners that increase the storage capacity without adding additional height to the foundation.

There are several cost factors that drive the price of a tension fabric building. The price reflects the core cost of the building materials plus any options selected. These options include: end walls, foundations, venting, lighting, etc.  Legacy Building Solutions provides fabric covered structures that are 30' to 300' or greater in width and will work with you to ensure you have a tension fabric building that meets your size, storage and budget requirements.

Our typical fabric cover is a woven polyethylene material that is produced from two sheets of low-density polyethylene extruded over a layer of high-density woven polyethylene. All three layers have been treated with the latest in Ultraviolet (UV) stabilizers and can be combined with a Fire resistance (FR) treatment to provide excellent protection and longevity for your tension membrane building. Depending on maintenance and location of the cover building, a fabric cover should last 15 to 20 years and a Fire Resistant Fabric should last 10 to 15 years. 

We also offer a wide variety of PVC covers in varying weights and thicknesses.

All buildings, not just fabric covered buildings, require basic maintenance. We have made it easy for you by designing the roof panels which allow all maintenance to be done from ground level. The primary maintenance function is to ensure the fabric does not have any wrinkles. Since all manufactured steel components are hot dip galvanized, we have all but eliminated corrosion or maintenance on the framework. We publish comprehensive preventive maintenance recommendations that must be followed for warranty coverage.

Legacy Building Solutions, Inc. is the leader in de-icing material and road salt storage because we are not satisfied delivering buildings like everyone else. We recognize opportunities in product design that will increase productivity for Public Safety officials and private contractors. We will not deviate from quality standards to attempt to win a bid. Experience has shown, once a customer has owned one of our fabric covered buildings, the customer is motivated to ensure all their future building projects match the quality of their previous purchase. Some of the reasons our customers have put us in a leadership position include:

• The hot dip galvanized finish provides a continuous uniform coating of zinc that protects the steel components from oxidation in the corrosive environment. Hot dip galvanization on manufactured steel components increases longevity and lowers operating costs for the public sectors and private contractors.
• Our cover systems allow for simple ground level maintenance, relocation of the clearspan structure if desired and an individual cover in each bay.
• Our tension fabric buildings provide the inside clearance required for liner panels (which increase storage capacities) and also allow room for an end dump trailer to unload product inside, while keeping the center height low enough to meet code and not create a focal point in the urban landscape.
• The timeliness and quality of our fabric building installations is second-to-none.

 Our tension fabric buildings are typically used in permanent situations however they can be a great solution for temporary building needs.  The tension fabric structures can be installed on a temporary foundation so that the building and foundation can be relocated to another location.  Our large tensile fabric buildings can be installed quickly for temporary use.  Often, our fabric buildings are sold to be used on a temporary basis but the customers are so pleased with the building that it becomes a permanent building.  Our temporary tension fabric structures are fully engineered and are easily relocated.

Our large tension fabric buildings make great fully engineered tension fabric hangars.  Our large tensile structures are very economical and can house even the largest of aircraft.  Our tension fabric structures are designed and engineered for all loads and forces applied by a MegaDoor, or mega door.  Our large tension membrane buildings can be installed very quickly and allow natural light to penetrate through the PVC covers.  Our large tension fabric hangars can be fully insulated and lined.  Our large tension fabric hangars can be permanent or temporary and can be relocated to another site.

To date, we have sold or installed tension membrane structures in Arizona (AZ), Minnesota (MN), Washington (WA), Oregon (OR), California (CA), Texas (TX), Montana (MT), North Dakota (ND), South Dakota (SD), Nevada (NV), Connecticut (CT), Colorado (CO), Utah (UT), Nebraska (NE), New Mexico (NM), Ohio (OH), Michigan (MI), Georgia (GA), Alabama (AL), Mississippi (MS), Pennsylvania (PA), Tennessee (TN), Maine (ME), Iowa (IA), Illinois (IL), Indiana (IN), Missouri (MO), Wyoming (WY), New York (NY), Florida (FL), North Carolina (NC), South Carolina (SC), Virginia (VA), Kentucky (KY), Louisiana (LA), Idaho (ID), New Jersey (NJ), New Hampshire (NH), Rhode Island (RI), Oklahoma (OK), Kansas (KS), British Columbia (BC), Alberta (AB), Saskatchewan (SK), Manitoba (MB), Ontario (ON), Northwest Territories (NT), Nunavut (NU), Yukon Territory (YT), Quebec (QC), Qatar (QA), Middle East, Germany (DE), Great Britain, United Kingdom (UK), Nigeria (NG), Mali (ML) and Egypt (EG).  We are currently working on new projects in Australia (AU), New Zealand (NZ), India (IN), China (CN), Japan (JP), Brazil (BR), Peru (PE), Mexico (MX), Paraguay (PY), Uruguay (UY), Argentina (AR), Chile (CL), Russia (RU), Kazakhstan (KZ), Afghanistan (AF) and Israel (IL).

Legacy Building Solutions can customize your tension membrane structure by adjusting the exact width and length you want for your structure.  We can then give you the exact sidewall height or leg height that you desire on your fabric tension structure.  We can also add eave extensions, dormers, a lean-to, interior columns and overhangs.  We can easily add customized options to your fabric covered building such as offset peaks, vents, peak vents, fans, liners, R30 insulation, sprinkler systems, fire suppression systems, hanging points, suspend conveyors.  We can engineer or design or tension membrane structures to support conveyors, lights, sprinklers, fire suppression systems, athletic nets and divider walls, just to name a few. 

When considering purchasing a building for composting, manure storage, salt storage, sand storage, livestock and other corrosive material handling, our proven 12.5 oz polyethylene fabric will outperform paneled steel in both longevity and warranty.  Also, the environment under a tension fabric roof, in any application, is more pleasant as you will receive 70% of the natural daylight through the clean white fabric during the day.  And, because tensioned fabric is a non-conducive material, it will be cooler in the summer months and warmer in the winter months.  Even at night, the benefits of tension fabric covered buildings are received because only half the amount of lighting is required in a tension fabric structure as you would need in a paneled steel building.  The tensile fabric reflects light and virtually eliminates dark corners which equates to thousands of dollars in savings.  Furthermore, when it comes time to replace the tensile fabric (which has a life of 20-25 years), the roof replacement costs and labor is, by far, the cheapest roof replacement available today.