Quonset Hut Basics
11/23/09
Quonset huts, those ubiqutous arched metal buildings that still dot our landscape today, originated and were constructed at a U.S. Naval facility in Quonset, Rhode Island for use during World War II. Using the semicylindrical British Nissen hut as a model, Quonset hut creators modified the Nissen design with wooden lining, insulation, and tongue and grove wooden flooring. A commemorative Quonset huts display located at the Seabee Museum and Memorial Park in Davisville, Rhode Island honors both the original Quonset huts factory in Davisville and the historic connection between Quonset huts and the Seabees.
The beauty of Quonset huts lay in their durability and mobility in the field. The military needed something that could be quickly and easily assembled and taken apart for transport to the next location, sometimes every day. Quonset huts made ideal mobile and lightweight housing and storage structures and gradually evolved to accommodate uses as bakeries, showers, latrines, dental offices, and isolation wards. However, the initial Quonset huts design presented problems with its expanded uses and was subsequently recast from a sixteen feet by thirty six feet sized building with wall curve beginning flush with the floor to a structure with sidewalls and multiple interior designs. After the war ended, the military sold its surplus Quonset huts to the public for one thousand dollars per unit. They proved so attractive that universities purchased some for student housing and returning soldiers purchased some of the huts for their personal housing.
Modern day Quonset huts are versatile and perfect for machinery and grain storage, backyard workshops, and even airplane hangars. Or, how about a guest cottage made from a Quonset hut. With no trusses and beams to get in the way, Quonset huts give you 100 percent useable space and can be expanded to any length just by adding sidewall panels. They can also be customized with features such as skylights, insulation, wiring, and colors to match your home decor. Constructed with corrugated steel, the rounded arch design makes Quonset huts amazingly strong; that design is, in fact, one of the strongest structures in architecture. Quonset huts can withstand anything Mother Nature can throw at them.
With the help of a few buddies, you can assemble your Quonset hut in just a few days. After laying your foundation (on a graded and level surface), simply both the steel panels together and your Quonset hut is complete. Adding durable and attractive storage or workshop space has never been easier.
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