Armstrong Steel was founded in 2005 by Ethan Chumley, and the company is currently based in Colorado. Because they specialize in self-assembly kits, Armstrong Steel can deliver to their customers throughout the United States, Canada, and Central America.
Their metal building kits are all made in-house and can be customized with various roofing, floor, vent, window, and door options.
Armstrong Steel Services
Armstrong Steel sells metal building kits for a variety of uses. They can be customized in size and color, and customers can choose a number of accessories and finishes as well.
Their kits all use the same general materials, so the customization is almost entirely up to the customer, but their website does give examples of popular layouts.
Prefabricated Metal Building Kits
The metal building kits that Armstrong Steel provides are only limited by a customer’s imagination. Instead of selling pre-designed basic kits, Armstrong Steel builds each kit specific to your needs.
Popular uses they can make designs for include:
- Agricultural buildings
- Large commercial buildings (strip malls, storage facilities, restaurants, etc.)
- Garages
- Workshops
- Self-storage units
- Churches
- Horse barns and stables
- Indoor riding arenas
- Aviation hangars (up to 225 feet wide)
- Industrial buildings
- Institutional facilities (correctional facilities, healthcare centers, etc.)
- Steel homes and barndominiums
- Recreational buildings (athletic facilities, sports arenas, etc.)
Each kit comes with customization options including:
- Roof
- Floor kits
- Vents
- Trim
- Windows
- Doors
- Walls
Customers have a choice between I-beam framing (26-gauge sheeting) or C-channel framing. They’ll also have access to a project manager at no extra cost.
Order Lock-In System
Because Armstrong Steel designs and engineers their products in-house, they have more direct control over their orders.
This means that when you place an order with Armstrong Steel, you’re “locking in” the current price of steel and putting yourself directly into the production order. They don’t have to call another company to subcontract their work.
Armstrong Steel has two different ways to lock in customer orders: their DiectBuy program and simple retail building purchase.
With the retail purchase, you simply contact an Armstrong Steel Building Expert with your details, and they’ll handle all the purchasing details.
The DirectBuy program is more hands-on; for a small down payment, you’ll have access to a project manager who will help walk you through Armstrong’s Direct Pricing catalog.
Not only do you get to choose your components and materials yourself, but you’ll also receive special pricing.
For both options, you must have an existing order with Armstrong Steel.
Warranties
Armstrong Steel offers several extended warranties on their products:
- I-beam structural warranty – 50 years
- General structural warranty – 50 years
- Paint warranty – 40 years
- Galvalume roof warranty – 35 years
Armstrong Steel Blog Network
Armstrong doesn’t just sell metal buildings and leave you to figure things out yourself. They have an entire blog network dedicated to answering common questions, putting you in contact with contractors, and even a place specifically for small business owners to come together.
Pricing
Since each steel building kit is personalized completely, there are no specific prices listed on the Armstrong Steel website. In order to get an idea of how much their project will cost, customers are encouraged to call or fill out the online form for a direct quote.
Financing
Armstrong Steel does not offer financing themselves, nor do they partner with an external lending institution. However, their website does offer helpful information and tips on how to get financing if you need it.
They explain farm credit options, suggest potential lenders, and give tips on applying for loans.
Armstrong Steel Reviews & Rating
Armstrong Steel has an impressive Better Business Bureau rating of 4.73/5. They’ve been accredited with the BBB since 2010 and have an A+ rating.
Satisfied customers mention good communication with company representatives. Lower reviews almost consistently cite issues with delays and unexpected price increases despite the customers’ original quotes.
BBB – 4.73/5 (based on 144 reviews)
Trustpilot – 3.9/5 (based on 174 reviews)
Yelp – 2/5 (based on 47 reviews)
ConsumerAffairs – 4.6/5 (based on 46 reviews)
Customer Testimonials
Charles G., BBB – “Very good website & process for selecting your desired building configuration. Armstrong provides high quality products and makes it easy fir [sic] end user to make changes & add options as project develops. Delivery was as scheduled & the certified plans have excellent assembly detail & written instructions. I would recommend Armstrong & will certainly use them in the future.” (4/5 rating)
Daniel S., Yelp – “We ordered our building in May of last year and are still waiting. We completely understand the supply chain issue that was affected by the pandemic bit now it’s just been one thing after another. The latest was our drawings submitted to the county were incorrect for snow load and had to be redone. We had to pay an additional $1500 for that. Now we were told that it’ll be another 16 weeks before we even get the building. I don’t know if anybody else has had this problem but we definitely will probably never use Armstrong again.” (1/5 rating)
Kent of Silver Plume, CO, ConsumerAffairs – “Armstrong Steel had local manufacturing and they had local offices, whereas a lot of the other options that I looked into were not Colorado based. But they were not that great to work with. They had some pushy sales tactics and they set me on this 30-day time crunch to get everything done. I submitted things to them then conveniently, they were out of the office. And by the time they submitted my paperwork, the 30 day thing had come through so they got a nice little 10% price increase.” (2/5 rating)
Pros
- Easy to get a quote: Even though there are no prices available on the Armstrong website, it’s very easy to get a quote, according to customer reviews. Armstrong Steel is reportedly easy to work with in the pricing and designing aspect of their services.
- Highly customizable: Each building Armstrong Steel sells is truly unique, because they’re built from the ground up by each individual customer. There are no prep-packaged kits; every product is custom designed by you.
Cons
- Limited product information: The website for Armstrong Steel lists a lot of different uses for their metal buildings, but there’s not much in the way of product specifications. This is likely because they don’t really sell individual kits for specific purposes. Each building’s use is customized by the customer.
- Fluctuating prices: While Armstrong Steel says they have a “lock-in” program for their prices, some clients still find themselves paying more than they originally thought due to fluctuating steel prices. According to some reviews, if there’s a delay in the project, the quoted price could change as much as 20%.
- Few positive reviews about building quality: Almost all of the positive reviews about Armstrong Steel Buildings are regarding their customer service in designing the buildings and getting a good quote. It’s very difficult to find any that come from people who have actually purchased from Armstrong Steel. Good customer service is certainly a plus, but the lack of information on the quality of their materials is concerning.
Website: https://armstrongsteel.com/