[euromodder]

Originally Posted by Cd

What are some of the main drawbacks of Quonset huts ?

Used to work in them for a while
Noisy in rain, hail

The traditional / industrial ones (ie Nissen or Romney huts) are not sealed, just relying on overlap
So wind & snow blows through, critters creep through

You could go for more overlap, more bolts, and/or seal the overlaps and boltholes, and the roof-to-ground area

If you install inner walls and insulation, would this make the huts as efficient as a normal home ?

If you look at the Quonset hut as an outer shell only, and build a seperate, enclosed, insulated living space inside them, they'd be quite efficient IMO.

Trying to insulate the whole hut itself would be far more involved & costly due to shape (round, corrugated) and size

Would that just be senseless, since you are building a home within the hut itself, and could just build it without the hut in the first place ?

I doubt you could built an outer shell cheaper than this per sq foot.

One of the issues in more traditional building is linking the outer shell and the inner insulated living spaces.
Leads to cold bridges, moisture seepage, sealing issues ...

With a quonset-style hut you can physically separate both shells

Do they require any roofing maintainance besides caulking around the bolts and such every few years ?

Bit of corrosion control
In the industry, they stand for years and years with very little maintenance

Some wood is used on the inside, so that won't rot easily
Structural metal is on the inside as well

I see the main drawback as the lack of space,

Space in the industrial versions is enormous
Sure you loose floor area due to the circular shape, but a somewhat bigger shed won't cost much more, and you can get them with vertical sides as well.

You'd get lots of covered space, though not (completely) insulated
But for much stuff, you don't need fully insulated & heated space

and lack of light. How easy is it to cut sections in the roof and add skylights ? ( using corrugated plastic sheets )

You can get them that way
No cutting out sections, you can swap steel sheeting for translucent plastic ones - but they're more prone to hail damage


These sheds come with a garage door -or two- if you want, which could easily be replaced with windows


Have a look at what a local company builds
I'd expect you also have these in the US, rather than the smallish real quonset huts

https://interloods.be/nl/over-interloods/realisaties

They even have a pic on there of where I used to work