How to Brace a Cold-Formed Steel Structure
- 1). Measure the length and width of the steel structure you want to brace, and record the measurements. This will determine how many braces you will need to use to support the structure.
- 2). Measure every eight feet along each side of the structure, and mark the location with white spray paint. This is where the braces will be installed. Walk out eight feet from the structure at each marked location and spray-paint the spot. Continue all the way around the structure in the same manner.
- 3). Dig a hole four inches deep at each spray-painted location with a shovel. Repeat the process for all of the holes around the structure.
- 4). Place a piece of cold-formed steel at an angle into the first hole you dug. Lean it up against the structure with a helper holding one end. Screw it to the structure with self-tapping sheet metal screws and a power drill.
- 5). Fill the hole with dirt until it is level with the ground. Repeat the process for each remaining hole until the steel is braced to the structure firmly at every location.
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