Design-Build Contracts
Design-Build Contracts
A design-build contract with GDW Construction LLC puts the drawing table and the erection crew under one agreement. We begin with a site walk to read drainage, access and soil logic, then chalk the footprint on the ground so the owner can stand inside the future bay before any money moves. That early walk removes the surprises that usually surface after a foundation is already poured.
From there the package becomes column lines, purlin spacing, door and window schedules, and a bracing plan coordinated with the engineered anchor layout. Because the same office that draws the building also pours the concrete and raises the steel, there is no seam where a designer and a builder can point in opposite directions. Change orders are chalked on the yard board before they are billed, and every revision carries a date so the ledger stays honest.
The contract also fixes the sequence. Foundation, steel, sheeting, trim and close-out each carry a target week, and the client can see which bay the project sits in at any moment. For owners who value a single point of accountability, this is the package that makes every other bay possible.
Steel Building Erection
Steel Building Erection
Erection is where a yard proves itself. Our crews set columns plumb, torque the anchor bolts to the engineered specification and lift each truss with a hoist beam the yard built for the purpose. Every frame is chocked and every bay is measured diagonally twice before the purlins go on, because square steel is the only steel that sheets without fighting.
Once the frame is true we install the girts, purlins, sheeting and trim, keeping the wall lines continuous from the first panel to the last closure strip. Insulation is placed to the rated value and detailed at every penetration so the thermal envelope performs the way the drawing promised. Bolt torque readings, plumb measurements and sheeting dates are logged in the job file and handed to the owner at close-out.
We build welded steel buildings for shops, machine bays, hay sheds and riding arenas, and we size clear spans around the equipment the owner actually runs. The goal is a structure that stands calm in a canyon wind and stays square for decades.
Barndominium Shells
Barndominium Shells
A barndominium shell gives a family a weather-tight steel envelope with the interior left open for a future fit-out. GDW Build frames the structure, pours the slab with plumbing chases marked where the owner plans to build, and closes the roof and walls so the building can dry in while room decisions are still being made. This keeps the living spaces flexible without delaying the structure.
The shell arrives with framed door and window openings, a rated insulation wrap, and a loft deck ready to carry living space above the shop. We detail the transition between shop and residence so the future interior walls land on real framing rather than on guesswork. Owners who want to complete the inside on their own calendar can take the shell and finish it themselves.
This is the most requested package in the yard because it blends a working building with a future home. It pairs naturally with our agricultural outbuildings for stock and equipment, and with our concrete crews for the aprons and approach pads that make daily use easy.
Concrete Foundations and Slabs
Concrete Foundations and Slabs
Concrete is where a steel building is won or lost. We excavate to the local frost depth, set anchor bolt templates off the column lines, and pour thickened-edge slabs with control joints laid out to the bay grid so cracking stays predictable and cosmetic. Setting the templates from the same lines the steel will follow removes the drift that ruins door openings and bracing later.
Aprons, approach pads and equipment plinths are placed in the same sequence so trucks and forklifts have a real surface to work from on erection day. We handle reinforcement, vapor barrier and finish, and we schedule curing against the weather rather than against wishful thinking. When a pour must go ahead in the cold, the winter crew uses heated blankets and monitored curing.
Foundation work for our steel buildings, barndominium shells and agricultural outbuildings all flows from a single survey, which keeps the whole site coherent. Owners receive slab records and joint layouts as part of the closed-out file.
Agricultural Outbuildings
Agricultural Outbuildings
Hay barns, machine sheds, livestock shelters and open-front commodity buildings are the backbone of rural work, and GDW Construction LLC builds them with the same care as a finished shop. We size the eave height around the equipment the owner actually runs, not around a catalogue number, so a tractor with a raised loader never scrapes a header.
Ventilation, kick rails, concrete aprons and gate openings are detailed for daily use by animals and people. Open bays are framed for airflow, storage bays are framed for load, and every corner is braced against the wind that sweeps the bench. We also plan for future expansion so a lean-to or a second bay can be added without reworking the original frame.
These structures pair well with our additions and retrofits when an older barn needs a new end wall or a stronger roof. The result is a working yard that grows with the operation instead of being replaced every decade.
Additions and Retrofits
Additions and Retrofits
Older buildings rarely get the ending they deserve. We add steel lean-tos, mezzanine decks and full side-wall extensions, and we retrofit existing frames with new bracing, fresh sheeting and modern insulation so a sound structure can serve another generation. A good retrofit respects the original building while correcting what time and weather have weakened.
Every tie-in is surveyed before it is welded, because cutting into a standing building demands that the load path be understood first. We check the existing columns, footings and connections, then design the addition to shed load the way the original frame intended. The result reads as original work rather than an afterthought bolted onto the side.
Retrofits often include new door openings, reinforced headers and upgraded weather sealing. Used together with our concrete crews for new pads and aprons, a retrofit can turn a tired shed into the most useful building on the property.
Process Overview
How The Six Bays Work Together
A single project usually travels through several bays. The sequence below is how GDW Build keeps them aligned.
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Site Walk and Chalk
We read the ground, mark access and drainage, and chalk the footprint so the owner can stand inside the future bay.
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Drawing and Permit
Column lines, purlin spacing and door schedules are drawn as one coordinated set and sent out for engineering and permits.
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Concrete and Staging
Foundations go in to frost depth while the steel package is chocked and staged in the yard, tagged by bay.
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Erection and Sheeting
The frame is raised and plumbed, purlins and sheeting follow, and insulation is detailed at every penetration.
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Close-Out and Punch Walk
Torque and plumb records are logged, the punch walk is completed, and the file closes with the owner.
Which Bay Does Your Build Need?
Describe the span, the use and the ground, and GDW Build will tell you which packages fit. Email build@gdwbuild.hair or call +18577587162 to reach the yard at 4885 W 5TH Ave in Kanab.