When time is of the essence for completing projects quickly and efficiently, it sometimes requires mixing two different types of construction. Instead of using a metal building system along with metal wall and roof panels, projects sometimes require a different exterior wall and/or roof system to be used with a metal building frame.
Time Crunch
When Nutheads Chocolate Factory, a division of Perham, Minn.-based KLN Enterprises Inc., sold its manufacturing capabilities to one of its customers in March 2013, it had to fulfill a bulk of orders to clients in June, or risk losing the contract. Owned by Ken Nelson, KLN Enterprises Inc., also known as KLN Family Brands, is also the parent company of Kenny’s Candy, Barrel O’ Fun and Tuffy’s Pet Foods. Nutheads includes a line of chocolate-covered snacks and drizzled popcorns.
KLN turned to Hammers Construction Inc., Perham, to design and build the Nutheads Chocolate Factory food processing factory in Perham. Hammers Construction only had 12 weeks to complete the entire process, or KLN would lose the contract. To complete the project quickly and efficiently, Hammers Construction opted to use a metal building framing system with pre-cast concrete exterior wall panels.
Mixed Materials
After a recommendation by Kurt Pesch, district sales manager for Houston-based Metallic Building Co., Joe Hammers, president of Hammers Construction, decided to try the Metallic Long Bay System for the building structure. The building should have had a 12-week lead time, but Metallic was able to get the building to Hammers in only eight weeks.
The 22,000-square-foot addition required long, clear spans and measured 100 feet wide by 42 feet tall with 45-foot bays and a center column at 50 feet.
“We went with the steel super structure from Metallic for speed of construction and the long spans available with its Long Bay System,” explains Hammers. He adds that the Long Bay System went together a lot faster than a conventional metal building, taking only five working days to complete the erection.
“I have some builders that have used it and have actually put up a Long Bay for less money than a purlin building,” says Pesch. “There are so many applications for Long Bay; Nutheads was a cool project for the system to be used and really helped with the tight timeline.”
For the exterior perimeter walls, Hammers explains that pre-cast concrete exterior wall panels were chosen for food-grade safety concerns. Along with being easy to clean, the pre-cast wall panels allowed for fast construction. Cast in an off-site pre-cast casting facility, the wall panels were brought in on trucks when needed, set in place with a crane, and welded in place within four days.
To address the issue of snow loads, Hammers Construction built a connecting link to the original building and placed a flat roof with a b-deck on the new building. Hammers explains that when adding onto a lower building it is common to have a connecting bay reinforced to take the snow drift load of the new building and keep the snow from overloading an older building that may not have been originally designed for such a tall addition.
Smooth Sailing
According to Hammers: “The biggest challenge of the project was just the time crunch. The rest of the project went pretty smooth.”
Construction for the project began April 1. The Long Bay System arrived on a Friday, and requiring no on-site welding, was erected in just five days. By the following Wednesday, the roof decking was on, and by Thursday, the pre-cast, tilt-up walls were being installed. Two weeks after receiving the building, Hammers says it was completely enclosed with the rubber roof going on and underground plumbing being put in. The project came together so well, Hammers was able to get the owner to start bringing in equipment one week ahead of schedule.
One unique aspect of the project that helped it come together so easily was its suspended walkable ceiling system. Hammers explains that with the suspended walkable ceiling system that spanned the entire building, they were able to work on all of the mechanical, electrical and fire protection system above the ceiling and just drop duct work and conduit down to be hooked up to the equipment as needed. This allowed for trades to be working on the main floor, pouring the concrete floors, doing underground plumbing and the setting up the equipment, at the same time as the mechanical and electrical work was happening above. “It was kind of like we had two environments to work in the one building, and that’s really what the secret was to getting the whole thing on time,” Hammers says.
Hammers received Metallic Building Co.’s Builder of the Year award in 2014, in addition to Design Build Awards of Excellence for Nutheads Chocolate Factory, Tuffy’s Pet Foods and Webber Family Motors. Hammers Construction has also been listed consecutively as a Top 25 M-Team Metallic builder, and has been ranked as a Metal Construction News’ Top 100 metal builder for the past six years.
