My wife and I purchased a Versatube prefab garage kit measuring 20 feet wide by 24 feet long. I did my best to research Versatube along with many other prefab garage kit manufacturers and found that for some odd reason, there weren’t many reviews available online. If you are a research junkie like me, you already know that this is the sort of thing that drives you crazy. I decided that regardless of our experience with the construction of our metal garage project, that I would post a review online of the entire process from ordering through to completion.
My family owns a 2 acre recreational property at a nearby lake. We have two ATV’s and two PWC’s (Sea-doos) and we wanted a garage for storage that was secure and completely maintenance free. Our lake property was bought for relaxing, socializing, and recreation so we didn’t want the inevitable maintenance involved in a wood frame building. Obviously, re-shingling, painting, or fixing vinyl siding damage was to be avoided if possible. Thus we decided on a metal prefab garage kit.
CONSTRUCTION OF THE VERSATUBE GARAGE…
We decided that we wanted the building to be portable, and we also wanted to avoid a higher property tax bill. To accomplish this we built a wooden skid foundation (no permits needed and our county doesn’t tax portable buildings). Once the ground was perfectly level, we used sixteen 6x6x12ft pressure treated with 2×6’s screwed to both sides to achieve the 24ft length as a base. We then screwed down two layers of 3/4″ plywood as a floor.
Ours has a 7′ x 9′ overhead door. We also chose to have one semi transparent sunlight panels on each side of the roof since we like to use small solar panels to charge the batteries in the sea-doos and ATV’s while we’re away.
I did some horse trading with my neighbor for an almost new man door. The overhead door provided was great. The sunlight panels provided for the roof were a bit disappointing though. They seemed a rather light duty and I worried about hail damage. Sure enough, within the next two weeks we got marble sized hail, and sure enough, about 10 little holes in the sunlight panels. I went to back to the supplier and bought 2 more identical panels (at a much discounted price) and installed them over the originals. Suffice to say, I’d recommend that you ask to double up on the sunlight panels. Who knows, mention this review and they might even throw a couple extras in for free.
The construction video is decent as a primer more of a promotional thing. The instruction booklet was much more useful. There was obviously a lot of effort that went into it. I can’t think of any frustrating moments wondering “what the heck do they mean!”.
The moment I saw the Versatube framing system I was impressed (and relieved) by how heavy duty it seemed. As a bonus, it is quite simple to assemble. Just slide the pieces together, use some some self tapping screws to solidify, and that’s it. Make no mistake though, this isn’t Lego. While we didn’t find the construction to be very mentally difficult, you’ll definitely need some physical strength and agility to complete this project. A couple of good 8 or 10 foot ladders are a must. You’ll also need a good quality cordless drill with a spare battery on the charger. There are several million (slight exaggeration) self tapping screws that hold the prefab garage kit together. A small amount of cutting using tin snips will also be required.
The end result is incredibly nice. It’s sturdy, functional, and attractive. Apart from the minor sunlight panel issue, the Versatube prefab garage kit deserves a five star rating. It’s much easier to build than a traditional wooden garage and of course it’s fireproof. Mostly it appeals to the lazy part of me that would rather have fun at the lake than worry about maintenance.
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