Blitz or Morton?

   / Blitz or Morton? #1  

Nut4trucks

New member
Joined
Dec 22, 2009
Messages
12
Location
Clarksville, TN
Tractor
IH 504 with New Idea 504 FEL
I have been planning a new pole barn and have gotten bids from a few independents as well as some of the larger outfits. It will be a 40x60x14 fully insulated with a 15' shed-off all along the back (long) side so I can park all the ugly things behind the building so my wife doesn't have to look at them from the house. Is 15' deep enough to cover a standard full-size tractor as I don't have one right now? It will have three frame-outs for overhead doors and a slider on one end so that I can take full advantage of the ceiling height through the end. I have narrowed it down to Morton and Blitz. The bids are $44k and $34k respectively and is with no concrete or doors. I like the fact that Morton uses laminated columns, but after talking to the Blitz guy he said that they would use laminated as well since the building is so tall. I know Morton builds an awesome building and offers a 50-year in ground post warranty. Blitz says they would basically warranty for life as theirs are laminated as well. Has anyone here had a building this size built by by Blitz, who can give me any insight? I would greatly appreciate it as they have a 10% rebate if I pay up front and they have until March to build it. Thanks.
 
   / Blitz or Morton? #2  
I don't think anyone comes close to the Morton warranty....
 
   / Blitz or Morton? #3  
Morton aint perfect but a friend of mine had the roof on his go to pot and Morton stood behind it and replaced it free of charge. I don't think the bad roofs were the norm but I heard for a little while they had some bad ones.
 
   / Blitz or Morton? #4  
Morton aint perfect but a friend of mine had the roof on his go to pot and Morton stood behind it and replaced it free of charge. I don't think the bad roofs were the norm but I heard for a little while they had some bad ones.

I too recommend Morton. I've had two built by them. Quality, workmanship, etc. Very, very pleased. Of course you pay the premium price too! I have a similar story regarding a roof being replaced. A local nursery had a Morton building installed many years ago and after a snow storm the snow on the roof started to melt and as it slid down it removed large sections of paint. I noticed this every time I went by the nursery and one time while doing business there I mentioned the Morton warranty to the owner. He had bought the business and was not the one who had the building constructed orginally. Anyway I suggested he call Morton, he had nothing to lose and see what they would do. Sure enough a couple months later he had a brand new roof installed, no charge!!! Can't beat that! He was told that at the time of construction Morton had a bad paint batch which affected adhesion to the metal which caused it to fail.
 
   / Blitz or Morton? #5  
No Morton building is worth 35% more than another.
 
   / Blitz or Morton? #6  
I would build the Morton if you knew (without having a crystal ball) you were going to stay put.

But I have to comment on your plan:

1)"I would greatly appreciate it as they have a 10% rebate if I pay up front"

Which company is offering that? Morton would not ask you to pay up front. Maybe a 10% deposit then a check when mat'ls are dropped off then final when you are satisfied.
Morton has there building value days Feb 11-13 which is when they are supposed to give their best deals. Morton Buildings, Inc. - Morton' s Showcase

Do not pay up front!

2) "fully insulated"

Do you need it fully insulated? Have you figure the cost to heat that much area?

3)"It will have three frame-outs for overhead doors"

Why? Then you have to buy 3 insulated overhead doors. Do you know how much that will cost? Sounds like 3 heat loss areas.

4)"and a slider on one end so that I can take full advantage of the ceiling height through the end"

Can a slider be insulated as well as an overhead? If you nixed the 3 side wall overheads, their truss supporting headers and possibly extra posts you could buy a really nice Raynor tricore gable end overhead an extra foot of wall height with scissor trusses on 15' walls, this would get you a gable overhead 14' tall. What do you have taller than that? And then allow you to build a storage mezzanine that you could stand up on.

5)"15' shed-off all along the back (long) side so I can park all the ugly things"

See how much an extra 15' of length of the main building will cost. refer to #2.

6) "and they have until March to build it."

What's the hurry? When you fill out your bio, We'll know where you live for sure but Its seems you are toward the north where the ground is saturated, post holes will fill up with water and not back fill worth a hoot. Besides cold, gloved fingers drop lots of nails.

How is your site? does it drain well?
 
   / Blitz or Morton? #7  
I had a farm machine shed built this November. Was a farm show here in August, maybe 12-15 building builders. I walked the grounds, looked at each booth. About 1/2 weren't even there, had a person behind the desk that didn't know anything, hand out a business card. Hum.

Found Morton & a more local business that talked with me, offered to contact me the following week, sounded promising.

Morton called me the following week, put up the building in November. The more local business still hasn't contacted me back.... I needed a building, & didn't want the hassle of chasing after builders. Morton delivered one week, came the floowing week Monday, and cleaned up & left the following Saturday, all done.

If warrenty is an issue; how long will a local company be around? If the owner is 50 years old, retires & sells out in 15 years - you likely have a 15 year warrenty on your building no matter what you are told. Morton or one of the older names has a better chance of still being here in 30 years when issues first show up. _If_ warrenty is a concern for you. If you will only be there 15-20 years yourself, no biggie.

rdln makes some good points, think over your design. If you are going to insulate & heat it, less doors is better, and sliders are a real bad deal. Their ain't no way to insulate/ keep out the wind of a slider unless you basically nail it shut. You shouldn't really need more than 2 doors on a building that size, and both roll or bifold, not sliders if you plan to heat the thing. Put them on an end if you get snow, doors where the snow falls off & piles up in front are worthless....

The leanto cold storage is great, but might not cost any more to make it part of the building now - or anyhow make the building 8 feet bigger now; add the leanto in a few years, and have more building down the road when you can afford it again.

Is the leanto going to be open, just a roof? Watch out for wind damage, likes to lift those up. 15 feet isn't really deep enough, most of the time a tractor has a loader or 3pt implement on it or a rock box in front, and you will be dripping water or snow on the implement or tractor seat. Don't think you could fit a pickup into 15 feet???? If the leantto is enclosed, you don't want to have to drive through the rain, dew, or snow coming off the roof - put a door on each endwall of the leanto, then 15 feet is wide enough. Typically you want a building in multiples of 8, cheaper that way, so perhaps you want 16 foot leanto?

I was very lucky, the week they came to build was the best week of fall, sunny & no wind. I don't care who you are, you work better in nice weather. Posts go in straight, things get done quality. If it's bitter cold, windy, frozen - you just want to get done, you just want to get warm. Quality is going to be 2nd thought, not 1st.... My opinion on the winter building....

Just some thoughts.

--->Paul
 
   / Blitz or Morton? #8  
15' is ok if you are going to be pulling in lengthwise,and park parallel to the bldg., but my ride sucks about 16' long.
Will it be high enough?
 
   / Blitz or Morton?
  • Thread Starter
#9  
First, I would like to thank everyone for the detailed replies. Having read all the other pole barn posts on here I didn't think people would be interested. I will attempt to answer all the question rdln has posed below.



I would build the Morton if you knew (without having a crystal ball) you were going to stay put.

I just retired from the Army in 2007, returned home and plan to stay where I am for the rest of my natural life unless something unforeseen happens.

But I have to comment on your plan:

1)"I would greatly appreciate it as they have a 10% rebate if I pay up front"

Which company is offering that? Morton would not ask you to pay up front. Maybe a 10% deposit then a check when mat'ls are dropped off then final when you are satisfied.
Morton has there building value days Feb 11-13 which is when they are supposed to give their best deals. Morton Buildings, Inc. - Morton' s Showcase

Do not pay up front!

The company is Blitz builders, they are a premium builder in my area not quite as nice as Morton but $10k less.


2) "fully insulated"

Do you need it fully insulated? Yes, as I plan to use the entire space as a garage, body shop and farm shop and put a full ceiling in it.

Have you figure the cost to heat that much area? I plan on keeping it 55 degrees or so in the winter probably with a heat pump with gas assist, as my house has propane heat

3)"It will have three frame-outs for overhead doors"

Why?
So, I can have as much maneuverability as possible when entering the building.
Then you have to buy 3 insulated overhead doors.
Do you know how much that will cost? I figure about 2k a piece.

Sounds like 3 heat loss areas. You probably right.

4)"and a slider on one end so that I can take full advantage of the ceiling height through the end"

Can a slider be insulated as well as an overhead? probably not

If you nixed the 3 side wall overheads, their truss supporting headers and possibly extra posts you could buy a really nice Raynor tricore gable end overhead an extra foot of wall height with scissor trusses on 15' walls, this would get you a gable overhead 14' tall. What do you have taller than that?

I am not familiar with Raynor but I will check it out.

And then allow you to build a storage mezzanine that you could stand up on.

5)"15' shed-off all along the back (long) side so I can park all the ugly things"

See how much an extra 15' of length of the main building will cost. refer to #2.
I don't have a requirement for a completely enclosed space that large. Just covered.

6) "and they have until March to build it."

What's the hurry? When you fill out your bio, We'll know where you live for sure but Its seems you are toward the north where the ground is saturated, post holes will fill up with water and not back fill worth a hoot. Besides cold, gloved fingers drop lots of nails.

They have until March and that is why there is a 10% rebate.

How is your site? does it drain well? I actually have some concerns about drainage and will probably do a french drain all around this building.

Thanks alot for your insight and I will go now and fill out my profile.

Tony
 
   / Blitz or Morton? #10  
We live in Morton barn (48 by 90) converted to a house built in 2003. Morton built the shell with all doors, Pella three pane windows, Pella sliding doors, reinforced concrete floor with PEX (PEX paid extra) in floor heating, fully insulated walls, suspended grid for drywall ceiling, and all in floor plumbing, septic and 800 ft water line etc for about $35.sqft. The garage (Overhead brand) door is 36' by 8'6" , 2" issulated. We finished the inside ourselves. The warranty is 50 years on rot and termites. 20 years on paint, rust, snow load etc. They also paid first four years of insurance (the basic structure only) on wind, tornado etc damage.
We selected Morton because it was the least hustle to deal with and I also liked the materials (specifically the clear wood for the roof trusses) they used. We heat about 3800 sqft (including the garage) with geothermal heating for about $100/month during the coldest month.
 
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