23 Sep, 2018 → by ClaimboUser121417
Steelmaster is good at answering questions. But watchout if you need accessory parts or services.
I purchased a Steelmaster building over a year ago. It has not yet been assembled, so I likely will have additional critiques about the product. First of all I will say that the representative I've been working with has been very good at answering questions about the product, and usually available when I have one. The huge downside about Steelmaster is that everything purchased after committing to the main structure is outlandishly priced. My initial purchase for the entire building was under $9000. I ended up spending over $16000 on the structure, and although I did some upgrades and adding of accessories, the price had almost doubled, and I certainly would not put the value of the upgrades anywhere close to the purchase of the initial building. But if you think being a great customer earns you any special consideration, see below. Right now my biggest gripe is that I am upgrading the foundation from a #4 rebar to a #5 (a stronger rebar) with a slightly tighter grid, due to very poor soil conditions and other factors. I hired a local engineer who made the determination of the small modifications to the foundation. Because I live in a town with an absolutely ridiculous permit process, the town would not let me proceed with building the stronger foundation based on my local engineer's determination. Additionally I want to set 2 drains and a vent through the slab. Both changes to be approved by the engineer of record, the Steelmaster engineer who put their stamp on the foundation drawings. I called steelmaster and asked if I could simply get a letter of approval for the small upgrades, or a deferral to my local engineer. "Absolutely not" was the answer. I will have to pay for their engineer's time to assess the upgrades to the foundation (which of course they will approve) and their time to generate a new drawing reflecting the stronger rebar schedule (which the city is not requiring, but which again will result in a large fee to be paid by me). I am caught between two avaricious bureaucracies, one which consumes my time, and one my money. Incidentally, in this process I learned that the "engineer on record" is a recent college grad who is licensed in the state of Washington, where I live. It is highly unlikely (s)he actually has anything to do with the engineering of the building or ever does anything besides put his initials on top of a rubber stamp. There is no such thing at Steelmaster as being rewarded for being a good customer. Pay, pay and then pay more is the policy. One other thing to be wary of is that at the point of sale I was promised delivery to my property by Steelmaster. I had no idea that delivery means the truck shows up and you need professional equipment to unload. Further, I later learned that the truck was too large to make the turn down my street, and I had to arrange a remote unload. I fought hard for a credit and they gave me half of what the cost was. I was satisfied with that, but not with the process of not disclosing exactly what delivery means when you are purchasing.