Olympia Steel Buildings^® vs. Open Webb Truss Design

Olympia Steel Buildings surpass our competitors buildings to build a vastly superior building with the highest quality to last you a lifetime. Let me review the quality and features we put into our buildings, as all buildings are not created equally.

First and foremost, the most important part of any building is the roof. If the structure of the roof isn’t sound, it collapses. If the roof leaks, you don’t have a dry building and the items you store will be ruined. If the roof rusts, you will have leaks and maintenance on your building. The roof takes a beating from  wind, snow, and rain, from the dust and all the elements in the atmosphere.

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Olympia Buildings

Our roof is made of Galvalume® which is AZ55 – 55% of the coating on the roof is made of aluminum, 44% zinc and 1% silicon. The more aluminum in the coating, the more resistance to rusting.

With AZ55, the steel mill gives you a 25 year rust through perforation warranty. Should a hole go through the panel, the steel mill will replace the panel.

With Galvalume you have no maintenance.

Galvalume will not turn gray, but retains the same luster as when it was originally installed, so you will never have to paint or maintain your roof. The cost of AZ55 over AZ50 is well worth it for this exceptional material.

Open Webb Truss

Our competitors offer only a 15 year guarantee on the roof, and use, in some cases, only a zinc coating which will oxidize, turn dark gray, and rust. Some of our competitors use only AZ50, providing only a 20 year warranty on the roof.

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Olympia Buildings

Olympia Steel Buildings use a stainless steel capped fastener which has a lifetime warranty that it will not rust. It is important to know that the fasteners on the roof have to be compatible with the AZ55 or AZ50 or the steel mill will not warranty the roof.

Olympia Steel Buildings capped fasteners are made of stainless steel, which is steel which has 18 parts chrome and 8 parts nickel.

Stainless steel will not tarnish, turn dark or black and will not rust. The roof remains free of rust and retains its beauty for a lifetime!

Open Webb Truss

Some companies use a zinc fastener, which will rust, therefore, your warranty is not valid.

Other companies use a long life alloy head, which will not rust but which will turn dark gray or black, and the roof does not retain its beauty.

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Olympia Buildings

Olympia Buildings' roof panels are made of 26 gauge AZ55 Galvalume, 80 yield, which makes the steel durable, and hard, so you can actually run up and down the roof.

Open Webb Truss

Other companies use only 29 gauge steel on the roof, which is 35% lighter than 26 gauge so you cannot have the same strength or durability.

Olympia Buildings

Olympia Buildings have a 1 ¼" depth in our corrugation in the sheeting on the roof. Olympia's depth of corrugation adds tremendous strength to the roof.

Open Webb Truss

Other companies use only a 5/8” depth of corrugation, which is a full 50% less depth than the 1 ¼" corrugation and do not provide the strength .

Olympia Buildings

The sheets on the roof overlap at each bay. If your building is 60’ long, you will have 3 bays, as every 20’ is a frame.

When the sheeting overlaps at each bay, the Olympia Building panel overlap goes all the way to the bottom of the corrugation and along the bottom like a reversed “L”. This prevents water from backing up through the overlap into the building, thus preventing leaks and giving you a dry building.

The design of this overlap, which goes over the top of the corrugation, and to the bottom of the corrugation, and along the bottom like a reverse “L” looks like the letter “Z” resembling the purlins on the roof which join the rafters together.

The Olympia Steel Building System's purlin braced roof provides tremendous strength and prevents the roof sheeting from bending or cracking.

Open Webb Truss

Some companies use an R panel roof, which means that the sheeting overlap goes only 1/3 of the way into the corrugation and not to the bottom and along the bottom like a reverse “L”.

This means you will develop leaks, as the water will back up into the building.

This short overlap also does not provide the strength that is required for the roof.

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Olympia Buildings

The polyester baked-on paint we use on the sides and ends of the building has a 40 year warranty against chipping, cracking, peeling and blistering. So your building maintains its beauty year after year.

Open Webb Truss

Our competitors only warranty the roof for:

● 10 years
● 15 years 
● 20 years 
● 40 years - Only Olympia  Buildings

Some pole barn manufacturers are Lester, Wicks,  and Morton

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Olympia Buildings

To protect against rusting, the purlins - the 8” Zees, 16 gauge beams, which join the rafters together,  and the girts - the 16 gauge 8” beams joining the columns together at the side of the building, have a zinc-galvanized coating applied at the mill. This is not a primer, which is only an oxide, but a zinc-galvanized coating applied at the mill.

15-20 years from now the purlins and girts will not corrode and leave unsightly rust leaking from the roof and sides of the building.

Open Webb Truss

Our competitors use wooden girts and purlins, which will bow or bend causing screws to loosen, sheets to flap, and causes leaks. Open webb truss designs use wooden girts and purlins which are spaced every 2’ on the roof and on the sides. These wooden girts and purlins are not only susceptible to fire and high insurance costs, but are also susceptible to termites, bowing and sagging.

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Olympia Buildings

Rigid frame, plate steel, H beam construction

1. No warping, unlike wood

2. No fire hazard

3. Insurance: 25 - 40% less

4. Termite proof

5. No cord going across truss – which means:

   (1) complete space in building

(2) no way for birds to perch and defecate on machinery – saves tremendous costs in maintenance

Open Webb Truss

The open truss webb design is not made to carry heavy snow loads, so a higher  pitch is required to shed the snow.  The frames are made of angle iron, which is welded to form an “X”.  This is not a rigid frame, which is made  of solid plate sheet. 

For example: a 60’ wide open webb truss building is 18’ to the eave with a 3/12 pitch that is 25’ 6” in the center. A rigid frame building made of plate steel with the same dimensions and with a 1/12 pitch is  20’ 6” in the center.

The open truss webb design is 5’ higher in the center, which uses excess material and useless space in the building. 

If you are heating a building, it will also consume additional heat due to useless space resulting in higher heating costs.

Additionally, since 40% of the building is made of wooden girts and purlins spaced 2’ apart on the roof and on the sides, it is susceptible to fire and higher insurance costs.

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Olympia Buildings

In a rigid frame building you can place 12” of insulation in the roof giving an R38” value, and on the side, 9” insulation which gives an R30 using the Simple Saver System.

This increases your heating efficiency by over 30% over an open webb truss.

The insulation is placed between the purlins with a fiber blanket under the purlins on the roof, and the insulation is placed between the girts on the inside of the building with a fiber fabric over the girts giving a white beautiful finish in the building on the roof and the side.

Open Webb Truss

If energy efficiency is important, the amount of insulation that can be placed in the roof is only 8”, which is an R22 and on the side 6” or R19, which is 30% to 35% less efficient than rigid frame buildings.

Olympia Buildings

In a rigid frame building, if you wish to insulate your building for a minimum of heat, you can place your insulation with the vapor barrier facing the inside of the building over the purlins on the roof and over the girts on the side. You simply screw the sheeting on the roof and sides over the insulation holding it in place and avoiding sagging of the insulation.

Open Webb Truss

In an open webb truss design the insulation must be stapled to the wooden purlins, which allows the insulation to sag. The alternative is to use sheet rock or place a liner panel over the purlins and girts  to hold the insulation in place which creates an extreme high cost on the building.