Lester Buildings or Others

[dlroy101]

I decided against getting a pre-built shed. What could have been delivered was going to be too small (10' x 20'). I have begun looking at pole barns. One company that I'm looking at is Lester Buildings. Does anyone have any experience with them? Also, this building is going to be built in the Capon Bridge, WV area (Hampshire County). Does anyone know of some good companies that would service this area? I would have considered getting a kit and putting it up myself, but I'm having a lot of problems with my back and sciatica right now and don't think my body would hold up long enough to get the job done.

And yes, I have looked through the forums and found some good information on pole barns, but now I'm looking for info for the specific area I mentioned. I know that might be limited.

Thanks,
Darrell

 

[EddieWalker]

I know this might sound obvious, but have you driven around the area you plan to build and talked to anybody with a barn?

Most folks are proud of their barns and will readily show them to you and tell you who built it. Same is true with a barn they are not happy with.

I've done this when looking for sub-contractors. Just drive around for some new construction and start asking around. Keep notes of names and aske others if they know of those names. I've never spent more than a day doing this and gottnen all sorts of names. The good ones you hear about over and over again, the bad ones too!!!

Good Luck,
Eddie

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I have spent a lot of time looking at pole buildings / builders the last few weeks and getting quotes.
There's a local Lester builder near you up in Taneytown. Don't know if they go to WV, I am sure there are other closer builders to Capon Bridge. I have looking at Lester buildings they seem to be well built. Friend of mine just had Pioneer build him one, it's a nice building, also well built. They were extremely happy with the crew that built theirs. For having someone else build one, Pioneer is the best quote I have gotten.

I'm finding the cost of having it built will be at least twice the material cost.
I recently posted asking about Pole building packages. I know you said you don't want to build yours, but for benefit of others...
Best deal I've seen so far is APMbuildings.com, however, with all the package prices I've gotten, I think I would be able to buy the pieces seperately cheaper. One big thing the packages provide is the plans. Pioneer will sell theirs as a package, but their package price is almost as much as their installed price, way overpriced as a package. 84 lumber will also do packages, for the size i'm looking at (30x40x12) 84 was $2k more than APM.
Carter lumber advertises better deals than any of these, but I have not been to visit them yet. Closest to your area is GreenCastle PA (I think).
Good luck and let us know what you do. Capon Bridge is a nice area, I used to own some land down in that neck of the woods.

 

[Clydes]

I've spent a lot of time shopping around. I decided to have National Barn build my horse barns...shells only then I finished the inside. I had them build a 36x72 raised center isle barn with 2 16x72 overhangs for me. I'm having them build my next horse barn which should be done next week. This one is a 36x48 raised center isle with 2 16x48 overhangs. I do not have the means of building something of this size, since the longest 6x6 posts are 24' long. So I found the price fair, good warranty. The same barn from Morton buildings came in 20k more. I'll see if I can post some pics if interested.

 

[tlbuser]

Shop around your local builders. Skip the big name company. They are nothing more than middle men. Most of them are buying steel from supplier A, timber from supplier B and labor from wherever they can get it. A good local contractor will be able to build whatever you want and will probably be less expensive.

For a little more reading barns just as an example

 

[Clydes]

I agree to shop around, but when talking to barn companies, ask them who supplies there lumber, delivery, and labor. National Barn delivers and builds there own barns, and was once told they had a saw mill saving money on lumber. Unknown if that was a true statement or not. I received 3 quote from local contractors with experience in building barns, all 3 were a couple thousand more. A lot will depend on your area and the demand for it as well

 

[dlroy101]

I'm getting some good info, keep it coming. Clyde do you have any contact info for National Barns? I don't know if they are just local in your area or would come to WV. I did find this website and have found some people to call from it:

http://nfba.org/

Not sure what to think of these kinds of organizations.

Darrell

 

[Clydes]

Here's the link

http://www.nationalbarn.com/Eastern/EastHomeFrameset.htm

They are out of PA, and cover a handful of states on the east coast to include WV. I've dealt with Travis

 

[Clydes]

Here's one of my barns. 68x72 with a 12x72 loft

 

[dlroy101]

Nice barn. I don't need anything that fancy though. I did submit an online request for a quote from National Barns. I also called Pioneer and they are going to send me a quote as well. I have found quite a few companies that are willing to go to my remote location, so once I get all the quotes in I'll post them for everyone to see.

Darrell