What's better a Brick/Block Fire Station or the Cheaper Metal Building?

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Permalink Reply by ashfire on October 2, 2009 at 12:43pm

You could try something like this monolithic.com

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Permalink Reply by ashfire on October 2, 2009 at 1:06pm

Make that www.monolithic.com go to search in the website for firestaion ans then look for indestructible fire station.

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Permalink Reply by Loyd Dittfurth on October 2, 2009 at 1:26pm

a good steel building will last as long as a brick building

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Permalink Reply by Truckie Jay on October 4, 2009 at 12:45pm

Got to go with Loyd on this one. Craftsmanship is the key. My first station was metal and after 15 years was a money pit. But my current 10 year old brick station leaks severly due to lack of sealing etc. We just sent off a mold sample to be analysed.

Station 1 is metal and is over 20 years old with no problems. It all comes down to how well it was built not whether it's metal or brick in most cases.

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Permalink Reply by ashfire on October 4, 2009 at 4:05pm

A good construction company will make any building good. I have seen problems in a metal and brick fire station we have back years ago when we moved into it. The building leaked in the corners. The office was messed up by leaks for a while. Flat roofs are good for certain things but I would rather have a peaked roof on a building if its done right. The building was also built below grade and sewage had to be pumped up to the system.
I know when the contractor was hired for the building they were low bid because the county build it along with two other identical stations at the same time

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Permalink Reply by Tony P on October 4, 2009 at 6:49pm

Poor tender selection followed by poor building control - that will do it every time. (Did anyone in local government 'get rich' after that selection?) Construction material choice doesn't really come into it.

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