What do we propose to our clients? Not the most expensive solution, but the best one for the specific application. Below we present four key criteria to help you choose the cladding with confidence.
1. Cost – a threefold difference
Currently, sandwich panel is about 3 times more expensive than trapezoidal sheet per m² of cladding. For a 500 m² building, this difference can mean several tens of thousands of zlotys. But beware – this is not an argument for always choosing sheeting. Sheeting is bare cladding without insulation, while a sandwich panel is a ready-made, insulated wall. If you have to insulate the building anyway, adding mineral wool with a vapour barrier and flashings will quickly cancel out the price difference, and often even reverse it in favour of the panel.
Good news: MatBud structures are designed with spare load capacity for sandwich panels. You can build a building clad with trapezoidal sheet today and, in a few years – when its use changes – replace the cladding with panels without altering the structure. This is a real saving for investors who want to start cheaply without closing off the option of extending or repurposing the building.
2. Thermal insulation – the key distinction
Trapezoidal sheet is bare cladding without insulation. It is suitable for unheated buildings where the internal temperature can be close to the outside temperature. On hot days and frosty nights, the difference from the surroundings is literally a few degrees.
By contrast, sandwich panel is like a sandwich, consisting of two steel sheets and an insulating core (PIR, PUR or mineral wool). The U-value starts from 0.18 W/(m²·K). The building is immediately ready for heating or cooling.
The rule is simple: if people are to work in the building for 8 hours a day in winter, or a constant storage temperature has to be maintained, a panel is by far the best choice. If it is a garage for farm machinery, a straw store or a stand-alone canopy, trapezoidal sheet will do the job for a fraction of the price.
3. Applications – what works where, and why
Sandwich panels work perfectly for:
- cold stores or freezer stores (we build facilities for the fruit and vegetable, food and meat industries, among others),
- a production building (heated),
- buildings for the food or pharmaceutical industry,
- fruit and vegetable stores with controlled atmosphere,
- workshops with offices, showrooms.
Trapezoidal sheet is the natural choice for:
- straw, grain and feed stores,
- agricultural canopies, machinery garages,
- building materials warehouses,
- production buildings with “hot” processes (e.g. metalworking, where there is plenty of process heat inside anyway),
- hangars for seasonal equipment.
4. Durability, aesthetics and maintenance
Both technologies are durable if properly installed. Sandwich panels look modern, have a smooth surface and come in a wide range of RAL colours – which is why they dominate in prestige buildings and showrooms. Trapezoidal sheet is more “technical”, but in agricultural or warehouse buildings nobody minds, and owners value it for its resistance to mechanical impact and ease of repair.
In terms of maintenance, both require the same: washing once a year, checking the sealant and flashings around doors and windows, and repairing any mechanical damage. A sandwich panel hit by a forklift requires replacement of the whole panel; with sheeting, just a single sheet. This is often decisive in buildings with heavy internal traffic.
How do we advise, and what do we recommend?
At MatBud we ask the investor three things: what will happen in the building, what internal temperature must be maintained and what the budget is. If it is an unheated store for straw or machinery, we recommend sheeting and a structure prepared for a possible future cladding replacement. If it is a cold store, production or storage of sensitive goods, we recommend sandwich panels straight away, because adding insulation to bare sheeting later is more expensive and labour-intensive.
The choice of cladding also affects health and safety conditions, energy consumption and the value of the building over the years. A building insulated with sandwich panels is easier to sell or let to a wider range of tenants on the secondary market – an unheated sheet-clad building has a narrower pool of buyers.
Sandwich panel or trapezoidal sheet – check both options
Use our configurator and compare the prices of a sheet-clad and a sandwich-panel building with the same geometry. Or call +48 780 770 705. We'll tell you straight what is better for you – without pushing a more expensive solution and with no hidden costs.
FAQ
These are prefabricated structural components of a building, already held in the manufacturer's stock, which can quickly be allocated to a specific investment. This reduces the waiting time associated with fabricating a structure from scratch.
Yes. We offer modular steel structures available from stock, designed for self-assembly. We supply a complete set of components with documentation and instructions, so erection can be carried out by a local contractor.
Can a ready-made steel structure be adapted to the investor's needs?
Yes. The available structures can serve as the basis for a building with a specific purpose, e.g. warehousing, production or agriculture. The key is to match the structural parameters to the building's dimensions, location and intended use.
What are the main advantages of a ready-made steel structure?
The biggest benefit is a shorter investment process. The investor does not have to wait for the full fabrication cycle of the steel components, can secure the structure against material price changes earlier and can move on to the next stages of the project sooner.
Who is a ready-made steel building a good solution for?
It is particularly beneficial for companies and farms that need to increase their storage, production or usable space quickly. It works especially well when the start date of the investment is of great business importance.
