PROJECT OVERVIEW

Antique Automobiles & Tractors Storage Building

Iowa Steel Buildings

Ted Carter has spent a lifetime acquiring, restoring and enjoying antique automobiles and tractors.

His problem? Running out of room to store his collection.

By his own estimates, Carter owns “35 or 40” vintage automobiles and tractors. These include such rarities as five Model A Fords, a 1922 Nash, an array of antique farm tractors, a ’56 Chevy and a 1929 Pontiac , among many others.

Over the years, Carter’s collection had found a variety of homes in a barn and in garages throughout his hometown of Cedar Rapids , Iowa . He knew that something had to give – and he needed to build a permanent home to get the bulk of his collection under one roof.

So he turned to Allied Steel.

Carter called Allied Steel after receiving a mailer from the company. He had already talked to a local building company – as well as a dealer who gave him an estimate to build the structure.

“Well heck, I could have put up three or four buildings for what they were going to charge me,” Carter laughed. “I hate to pay anybody to do something for me that I could do myself.”

Carter is the proverbial man of many hats. In addition to his hobby of collecting and restoring antique

vehicles, he runs several businesses, including a service garage, waste disposal company and a leasing company.

After much research and due diligence on several options for buying a metal building, Carter decided to buy from Allied Steel. He ordered the building in July 2003 and his materials arrived on-time in the Fall.

“The building actually arrived before we had the foundation laid,” Carter said. “Everything worked just like they said it would.”

Living in Linn County , Carter ran into one unexpected snag that Allied helped him resolve.

“We’re the only county in Iowa , at least back then, that required a 91-mile-an-hour wind load on buildings,” Carter says. “All the other counties require only 80-mile-an-hour loads. Allied was great on this, though.”

Allied sent along a reinforcement kit that Carter says: “I don’t think they charged any extra for,” which he says he appreciated.

Carter’s three-man crew worked for about two weeks constructing the building, which is 40 feet wide, 70 feet long and 16 feet high. The work was completed on Christmas Eve, 2003. An early holiday present.

Today, he said he plans to add a second floor of storage space for even more cars. “We’ll need to put in an elevator.”

Carter appreciated the ease and reliability of working with Allied.

“I got what I wanted, the price was right and it was easy to get built,” he says. “I’m glad I went with Allied.”

In fact, Carter recently ordered his second building from the company. To house a waste transfer operation for his disposal business, Carter knew it would be easy and reliable to use Allied once again.

“I knew that Allied would deliver what they said when they said. And I needed that.”