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Masonry And Steel Building Contractors In Chicago, Il | Structural Beam

At Structural Beam, we are experienced, reputable, local steel building contractors, capable of handling both masonry and structural steel construction in one seamless flow.  If you are a general contractor, reach out today and tell us about your project, we offer the best steel prices, high-quality engineering and fabrication, and reasonable cost of construction services. Call  +1 773-917-8998 today, let’s talk!

The great structural steel revolution

The first city, the city of timber and stone

First, it was just masonry and carpentry. And everyone was doing just fine, or that’s what they thought, anyway. If you need a taller, larger building, you just tell masons to build another floor. It wasn’t that expensive, really, and the land was plentiful and inexpensive.

Iron was already a part of the building construction industry by the mid 19th century. Ferrous metals, imagine that! Wrought iron was used as a construction material right here, in the Windy City, before the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

Timber burned and houses came down, hundreds of lives were lost, and the extent of the devastation was truly gruesome. This made the City Council think long and hard before coming up with new regulations for construction.

They came up with the ruling to use more natural stone and brick masonry, to make sure that hundreds of lives wouldn’t be lost, and thousands of buildings wouldn’t be burned again. Wrought and cast iron were integrated into the brick and stone masonry structures. Natural stones like granite, marble, and limestone make for good building materials, and bricks are fine, too. But yet, there was a problem. And that’s how the Second City was born.

The second city, the city of structural steel

The City of Chicago was growing too fast for its own good and by the 1880s the plots for construction in the city’s center were getting really expensive and supply was, for obvious reasons, scarce. A great industrial city, that had steel manufacturing as its main specialty, was a perfect launchpad for construction to be launched upwards, into the sky.

In 1975,  Sidney Gilchrist Thomas invented his “basic process”, which allowed removing phosphorus from Bessemer’s Convertor, and the Steel Revolution was about to begin.

The Home Insurance Building was followed by Randy McNelly Building, the first steel-framed skyscraper, and the rest is history. By the mid 20th century, structural steel became the staple of residential, commercial, and industrial construction, and it stays so until now.

As the building construction industry was being transformed, structural steel was making its way in residential and commercial construction, and at some point, it was everywhere, from that lintel beam spanning your window, integrated into brick masonry, to magnificent steel buildings with full steel frame construction. All over the country, local contractors were discovering that integrating masonry and structural steel required a new level of integration, and that’s how the steel building contractors came into existence.

For residential mixed-media projects, involving concrete, structural steel, and brick masonry, there was a need for an integrated approach and an integrating intelligence, that would seamlessly bring together masonry and structural steel, organizing the concerted effort to manage the project resources efficiently and bring the building project to timely completion.

Making it happen

So, that’s what steel building contractors do: make it all happen, and happen on time and in full compliance with all the relevant rules, laws, and regulations, that are many and differ from place to place.  General contractor:

• Selects and hires appropriate contractors that do the structural steel fabrication, transportation, masonry, structural steel erection, steel elements installation, insulation installation, etc.
• Makes sure that all the necessary components are available
• Makes sure that best practices of the metal building construction industry are followed by all parties
• Coordinates the delivery by the contractors, and organizes for cooperation on the location
• Organizes the seamless flow of the construction process
• Handles the management of the project resources
• Takes care of legal compliance throughout all stages of the construction process
• Handles the necessary bank payments
• Takes complete responsibility for the end result of the building project

For the client, be it a project developer or an individual looking to have his private house erected, using reputable metal buildings contractor’s services brings many benefits

The ease of seamless logistics

Dealing with one construction company is a much easier business than dealing with a few, no need to take care of the complicated logistics of different business entities cooperating on one project

How’s in charge, anyway?

The “all in one hands” approach concentrates the responsibility, so it’s always clear who is responsible, and who is in charge. There’s just no place for that responsibility gap, there’s just no gap, all is taken care of.

Legal and transparent payments

By dealing with reputable steel building contractors, you can be sure that all the payments are completely legal and transparent, and there’s no need for that “extra cash to oil them wheels”. No “soft extortion” ever, all payments go through the bank and according to the contract, full stop.

Complete legal and regulatory compliance

Yes, it can be a hustle. There are numerous codes, rules, regulations, and laws that are relevant to various stages of construction, starting from the pouring of that foundation to removing the waste from the construction site after the completion of the project. Plus, those regulations differ from place to place. It can be a total headache and can cause serious delays and even worse. By working with Structural Beam, you can be sure there are no legal or regulatory complications for the project because there’s a good legal compliance team is constantly at work

Optimization of heavy equipment usage

The total project cost will be lower for you, due to the efficient deployment of heavy equipment, e.g. the same crane lifts the bricks and the structural steel members, etc.

Integration of masonry and structural steel elements

Structural Beam works with both masonry and structural steel fabrication and installation. Our highly competent and experienced workers will make sure that concrete and brick masonry will be seamlessly integrated with structural steel elements of your building by using the best practices of steel building companies.

Complete supervision

Metal building contractors supervise job sites and take care of building systems, reducing the risks for all parties involved. Safety comes first with Structural Beam, we have a very good safety record and are adamant about keeping it that way.

Turnkey service

Turnkey services assure that a good job is done on time, and your new building construction project will be completed in a timely manner and ready for immediate intended usage.

Structural Beam, your reliable steel building contractor in Chicago, Il area

As professional steel building contractors, Structural Beam regularly makes customers very satisfied by doing a good job for a great price, in the shortest time possible. We proudly enjoy the returning customers’ rate of over 90% and have many successfully completed projects under our belt, please check out our portfolio. We are looking forward to hearing from you, call us today at +1 773-917-8998, tell us about your project and we’ll take it from there!

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to erect a steel building?

The cost of steel building erection varies greatly, depending on the size and height, the location of the erection site, and other various factors. We’ll need more details to answer that question, please get in touch with us by calling +1 773-917-8998 and get a free estimate for your project, today!

How much does a 60×100 steel building cost?

There can be a considerable difference in the cost of this building project, depending on specifications and other factors. Structural Beam’s specialists can do an estimation for you, get in touch with us today.

Is it cheaper to build a steel building?

All in all, building a steel building of similar size is always cheaper, due to lower costs of erection, the lighter weight of the structure that allows for the economy on foundation costs, etc.