Customer Spotlight: Design and Install of a Custom Shelter for an Agricultural Storage Facility

May 24, 2023

At Slip Tube, we design, manufacture, and install high-quality custom shelters and greenhouses. Our deeply experienced and creative team can create custom solutions for virtually any need.

We manufacture buildings for a variety of industrial and agricultural uses, including everything from animal shelters and aircraft hangars to portable welding shelters and machinery storage facilities. Have a look at our latest example of a custom shelter designed to meet specific requirements…

Custom Shelter for a Grain and Feed Storage Facility

Our latest custom shelter build was for Paragon Feeds, a family business based in Abbotsford, BC that manufactures poultry feed. The shelter was needed for one of their storage facilities which has large trucks coming in and out to transport large quantities of feed.

Customer Requirements

Paragon Feeds required a specially designed shelter that fits their unique building dimensions to protect feed from getting wet during transfer. There were several factors our team needed to consider to provide the perfect solution, including but not limited to:

A very high height clearance to not only allow large trucks to drive through but also to allow them to empty their load by tilting the body.
It was necessary to consider the dimensions of the metal chute used to load trucks with feed, including its diagonal legs, and build around the apparatus.
A grate in the ground of the loading area designed to catch any spilled feed, sending it onto a conveyor belt and back into the storage facility.
The positioning of large doors and accesses in the existing building.
The consideration of the gutters on their existing building and how to direct rainfall and snow away from the loading area to keep water away from the grate.

The unique challenge of this build was working around the existing structure and equipment to find solutions. Our team had to carefully consider how to accommodate all these needs. With these criteria in mind, our team got to work designing a structure up to the task.

Finding the Right Custom Shelter Solutions for the Grain Storage Facility

The beauty of having a shelter custom designed is that you can tick all the boxes on your wish list to ensure you have a high-quality structure that gives you the functionality you need to achieve your goals.

Custom Height and Width

To meet the size requirements of Paragon Feeds, our team used post and beam construction all along one side, which allows for the wide spans needed to accommodate the existing large door openings and the metal chute.

We usually avoid making buildings that are taller than they are wide, but if we do, we make sure we use a strong base and adequate bracing. In this case, we were able to gain additional height by using 4 rows of stacked concrete blocks at the base, which also provided a very sturdy foundation.

Custom Doors

We offer a variety of door options for our custom shelters, including curtain doors, which were not needed in this case. We built one mirrored door into the side of the shelter to match their existing garage door so that smaller vehicles can drive through easily without needing to turn in a tight space.

Custom Gutters

Since we were adding a shelter onto the side of an existing building, we needed to consider the gutters on their existing building and whether they could handle any water and snow that might spill over from the shelter roof. Our team added a gutter to one side of the shelter to ensure the structure could handle precipitation. Since keeping water out was an important part of the requirements, it was also necessary to double-check the slope of the ground inside the shelter to make sure water will drain out.

Snow Loading

Snow loading is always considered throughout the process of design of our custom shelters and greenhouses. This build has a good roof slope so any accumulated snow will either melt into the gutter or slide off the edge. The structure also has different types of bracing to ensure structural integrity.

How to Order a Custom Shelter

Our skilled team makes the design, manufacture, and installation of your tailored shelter as easy and smooth as possible. There are just a few simple steps…

1. Consultation Call

Typically, we start the process with a phone call to learn about your needs and discuss the many features of our shelters that could meet them. This is when the design requirements start to take shape.

2. Due Diligence

Before starting with the manufacturing of your custom shelter, a member of our team will do a site visit to confirm measurements and scan for any potential issues that may affect the build or installation. This is where our team draws on their extensive experience and expertise to identify things you may not have considered.

3. Drawings and Estimate

With a detailed needs assessment and due diligence completed, our team will be able to provide you with a detailed estimate that includes the details of all the parts and pieces required to build your structure.

4. Manufacturing

Once you pay a deposit, our team will begin manufacturing your custom shelter. This includes bending galvanized tubes to create the tailored arch of your building, cutting and painting posts and beams, welding, preparing baseplates, making doors, and more. The time to manufacture varies with the complexity of the structure. For Paragon Feeds, manufacturing took around 4 weeks.

5. Delivery and Installation

Once your custom shelter is crafted, we bill for the balance and then ship the building out. Some customers have their shelter delivered and install it themselves, while others prefer to have us install it. For projects with many different custom pieces to them, such as this one, our team usually does the installation.

The process of installation is from the ground up, with the foundation being put down first and the roof cover going on last. For Paragon Feeds, concrete blocks were used for the base. Our team coordinates the delivery and ensures they are put down in the correct place the first time (because with heavy parts, it’s very difficult to move them once they’ve been placed)!Our high-quality custom shelters are built to last, with a typical lifetime of 10 to 15 years. Are you in search of a customized shelter, shed, or greenhouse? Contact us today to learn more about how we can help.