Morton buildings...price negotiable?

[Edwardo321]

Check out Eaglerigidspan.com material only kits avail with full 40 year warranty. they will ship anywhere.. come with erection manual, dvd... erect easily,about 1/3 the time of a stick frame building.. full 40 pound load building. engineered plans... no lower cord to truss... able to have lower sidewalls with larger overhead door in the middle of building.. mine has 10 foot sidewalls with 13 foot overhead door... not cheap but excellent construction.

 

[Dog Lover]

Really nice looking and quick job. I have a neighbor looking to do the same thing down here in PA.

 

[keegs]

If you want to get the most building for the dollar this is what you need to do.

Forget about "brand names" it isn't rocket science its just a barn. If you want fancy it will cost you a premium.

1. Make a sketch of the building you want, define all windows and doors, roof overhangs and roofing and siding materials. Make 8 or 10 copies of your sketch.

2. Take this sketch to all the big box building stores. If you have to drive 50 miles it will be worth it. Have them work up a material package price for you. Taxes and delivery included

3. Take the same sketch to all your local lumber yards for a package price.

4. Call your local independent (up to 100 miles away) pole barn builders, offer them a chance to bid on it also, breaking out the material and labor. Tell them you are sourcing material packages from several places and will buy the material and the labor from the lowest bidders. If you let any of them talk you into some cost saving material or plan revisions, make sure you pass the revised plans back to all your bidders so they have a level playing field. They can often suggest substitutions and or changes that can save you money.

5. Review the bids and award the work to the bidders you feel most comfortable with.

Using this method I bought a new 40 x 60 x 14 foot sidewall, 4 windows, one man door, one 12 x 13 insulated overhead door, 1 foot overhang, ventilated soffets and full length ridge vent, shingled roof with dimensional shingles to match the house, trusses on 24 inch centers designed for northern michigan snow loads material package for $13,625 delivered to my property all taxes included.

The materials came from a lumber yard over 100 miles away.

The labor to have it built was $4800. The erection crew came from 30 miles south of where I live, in talking to them they informed me that they travel up to 200 miles to do a job. They have built so many barns that they have it down to a science (and they work real hard). It is almost impossible for someone who doesn't specialize in pole barns to compete with them. The crew leader has been building barns for 35 years. They put my barn up in 3 1/2 days.

I awarded the concrete work to a local independent contractor, his bid was only $130 higher than the lowest bid, but our area is suffering greatly from the overall economy, the unemployment rate is over 20% and for the small difference it is worth it to me the keep the money in our comminity. I got a great barn to replace the one I lost in a fire. I think I got a lot of barn for the money spent.

photo 1 barn kit delivered
photo 2 progress day one
photo 2 progress day two
photo 3 done
photo 4 done!! they built the barn in less time that I spent replacing the 4 windows and the melted siding on south side my house

Hey Steve,

I've noticed around me in Maine some of the older barns and garages have a crushed stone or dirt floor. Maybe this has something to do with yankee thrift or perhaps something to do with frost heaving...not sure. My guess is out-buildings need a footing or footings but I'm not sure. I think on some of the newer construction now-a-days they're using an insulated mono-slab.

Being from north country my guess is you have some experiences here. Any comments would be appreciated.

Great barn by the way.

 

[Steve C]

Hey Steve,

I've noticed around me in Maine some of the older barns and garages have a crushed stone or dirt floor. Maybe this has something to do with yankee thrift or perhaps something to do with frost heaving...not sure. My guess is out-buildings need a footing or footings but I'm not sure. I think on some of the newer construction now-a-days they're using an insulated mono-slab.

Being from north country my guess is you have some experiences here. Any comments would be appreciated.

Great barn by the way.

We have very cold weather here in Northern Michigan also. (I live 12 miles from a state snowmobile trail head) Most of the barns here have concrete slabs that are installed on top of compacted sand. We strip off the top soil and vegitation and backfill with sand. If we build on the clay sub soil without the sand, the frost heaves and the swelling of the clay from water absorbtion quiclky cracks the concrete. The pole barn poles are set on round concrete solid blocks to spread the load to the undisturbed soil below. The floor is just a floating slab without any kind of foundation.

This is a before picture

I had to add to the existing fire damaged slab and repair it, this link shows the final results. Considering the mess I started with, I am very pleased with the results.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...-need-advice-tractor-needs-6.html#post1764993

 

[Gobbler41]

Yep, don't over-pay for their brand. They definitely have quality materials, but so does Northland Buildings out of Eau Claire, WI. This company has quality materials, crews, and staff. They're also smaller, so you don't pay for massive marketing schemes. These guys are worth a shot (800-649-3048).

 

[PaulieD]

Guys,

I have to jump in here and say a good word about Morton. Morton just finished building a 30X40X9 garage workshop and I couldn't be happier with their workmanship and integrity the organization demonstrated over the life of the project.

This past June I sought advise and received some great insight and advice from this forum. I followed up on suggestions to look for a local contractor to build the structure. My first bid from a local contractor was almost $20K more than Morton. I had another guy give me a rough estimate of $12K less than Morton, but he had a rep for being slow. So I got discouraged with that idea and gave Morton a shot.

I was awed by what Steve was able to build for such a modest cost. But I live 80 miles, and work 110 miles, from my country home, and putting more time and effort into the contractor bidding and qualification process was time and energy I didn't want invest.

Getting back to Morton. I'm in my sixties, have owned four homes, and have had contractors work on all of them. Morton was heads and tails better than any other contractors I ever dealt with. The sales rep offered some good advice and was able to explain and justify build decisions. When I rejected the first Morton offer (due to the advice from this Forum), the rep came back several weeks later and apprised me of a 10% off materials sale they were running and dropped the price by about 1.5K (it wasn't huge, but it helped). The home office attorneys were easy to work with. Morton gave us a 20+ page contract which defined what they were and weren't going to do, when they would do it, pictures of what the building would look like, the warranties and limitations or their product, and a lot of other legal stuff. My wife, who is an attorney, read the contract and only had two issues. We sent suggested language changes to Morton (through our sales rep), and the home office attorney accepted the changes. When I informed the sales rep that my slab had been completed sooner than expected, he moved up the materials delivery date. Morton send us a letter stating that the materials would be delivered Monday October 19 at 2:00PM. Then we got a call and were informed that the truck would arrive early and that they would call us the day of the delivery and give us a more accurate time. The driver unloaded the truck by himself and my wife, who was there for the unloading, said that he worked his forklift with such skill that he could have unloaded cartons of eggs without breaking any. The two man crew was great. Their attention to detail was impressive and they worked exceptionally hard during the 6 day building process and demonstrated great attention to detail. They explained offered advice on how I might finish the inside of the structure and answered any questions we had about the building process. When they left the entire site was neat and clean

By now you guys are thinking I'm a Morton rep disguised as a TBN member, but I'm really not. It's just that I have had some bad contractor experiences, and like all of us, have been disappointed by lack of integrity and poor workmanship in the goods and services I purchased. The guys from Morton did such a good job and were so professional, I felt the need to jump in a give them a plug. They are a higher priced option, but they are not a rip off company. They do offer a quality product.

 

[Steve C]

Guys,

I have to jump in here and say a good word about Morton. Morton just finished building a 30X40X9 garage workshop and I couldn't be happier with their workmanship and integrity the organization demonstrated over the life of the project.

This past June I sought advise and received some great insight and advice from this forum. I followed up on suggestions to look for a local contractor to build the structure. My first bid from a local contractor was almost $20K more than Morton. I had another guy give me a rough estimate of $12K less than Morton, but he had a rep for being slow. So I got discouraged with that idea and gave Morton a shot.

I was awed by what Steve was able to build for such a modest cost. But I live 80 miles, and work 110 miles, from my country home, and putting more time and effort into the contractor bidding and qualification process was time and energy I didn't want invest.

Getting back to Morton. I'm in my sixties, have owned four homes, and have had contractors work on all of them. Morton was heads and tails better than any other contractors I ever dealt with. The sales rep offered some good advice and was able to explain and justify build decisions. When I rejected the first Morton offer (due to the advice from this Forum), the rep came back several weeks later and apprised me of a 10% off materials sale they were running and dropped the price by about 1.5K (it wasn't huge, but it helped). The home office attorneys were easy to work with. Morton gave us a 20+ page contract which defined what they were and weren't going to do, when they would do it, pictures of what the building would look like, the warranties and limitations or their product, and a lot of other legal stuff. My wife, who is an attorney, read the contract and only had two issues. We sent suggested language changes to Morton (through our sales rep), and the home office attorney accepted the changes. When I informed the sales rep that my slab had been completed sooner than expected, he moved up the materials delivery date. Morton send us a letter stating that the materials would be delivered Monday October 19 at 2:00PM. Then we got a call and were informed that the truck would arrive early and that they would call us the day of the delivery and give us a more accurate time. The driver unloaded the truck by himself and my wife, who was there for the unloading, said that he worked his forklift with such skill that he could have unloaded cartons of eggs without breaking any. The two man crew was great. Their attention to detail was impressive and they worked exceptionally hard during the 6 day building process and demonstrated great attention to detail. They explained offered advice on how I might finish the inside of the structure and answered any questions we had about the building process. When they left the entire site was neat and clean

By now you guys are thinking I'm a Morton rep disguised as a TBN member, but I'm really not. It's just that I have had some bad contractor experiences, and like all of us, have been disappointed by lack of integrity and poor workmanship in the goods and services I purchased. The guys from Morton did such a good job and were so professional, I felt the need to jump in a give them a plug. They are a higher priced option, but they are not a rip off company. They do offer a quality product.

Great! I am glad we helped you save a little and get the building that you wanted. $1500 in your pocket is a good deal.
Being that I am unemployed I had plenty of time and even more incentive to shop around a great deal. Impending poverty is a great motivator.

What is that saying....neccessity is a mother.....or something like that...
snap some pics and show us what you built!

 

[brin]

Steve..I agree with your method...our local contractors are looking for work and are greatful for any business as well as the lumber yards...I would go your way over the big name brands any day..and you have a beautiful building....

 

[roamerr]

In NC Morton offers the Country Craft line that has the same great looks but is less expensive. I had a stick built 36 x 40 x 16ft sidewall building built but originally was gonna use Morton. I liked the Morton building looks and the pricing was higher by 10% or so but that is fair given their professional dealing.

 

[cjmanson1]

ejb,
I don't know if you would consider U.S. Buildings or not, because it is the quansit style. I went back and forth with those people for about 3 weeks, and they were friendly and willing to deal.

After requesting their literature and reading up on strength and snow loads, I learned to like its funny looking appearance alot more. The funny thing about it was the less interested I seemed the more discounts and add ons they were able to give me. And as I had not poured my slab I was flexable about the size. They called me often to tell me what was available...and the last time they did they had a 24'X36X14' with a end wall ($1100 option) for $10.800, and I got it delivered to my property for $5700 with the end wall included free. It took us 5 days to assemble 18 - 22" sections that consisted of 5 pieces per section.

I couldn't be happier with the out come, and the building is water tight as every 5/16" bolt is furnished with neoprene wahers. This was 2 years ago September and it was one of the better business investments I have made in a long time.
I would include pictures but they are on my other hard drive.

Good luck, Mark

Do you have pics of the building you built?