Pole Barn VS Red Steel building - Need some more advice

[woodlandfarms]

So I have been getting quotes in our area. It is not turning out how I had hoped or planned....

Concrete prices are crazy high. And they are influencing my decisions....

Let me back up... What I wanted was a 100x100 x 16 or 18 high shop. Saddly my money printing machine is broken so I am now down to a 3000 sq ft space and the hope it will be under 60K all up at the end of the day. Secondly, I was looking for a modern design, something more than a square box with doors....

My results have been as follows and I would love peoples opinions on the opinions I have received.... Anything beyond the square / rectuangluar with a normal peaked roof seems to double the price, but I see no good reason why. Single slope, Offset slope, they all seem to cause a panick with the pole barn people and the metal people just add tremendous amounts to the costs.

So I backed up, said OK, heck with this. I will make it up in unique siding. Lets just make a normal structure shop cause I desperately need one.

Well the Pole barns are a bit less for the materials, not signifcant. Concrete appears to be 1/3 less but I get you basically have to make your monolith slab before you put the beams down. But labor is nearly twice as high. Each Pole barn quote was 30K for labor, where as my metal was around 15 max. Now maybe I am just at that breaking point where a metal building was more cost effective, but I honeslty thought it was in the 100X100 size before that happened.

I thought about trying to hire a hand and put the structure of a pole barn (not the sheeting) up myself, but my neighbor who used to erect pole barns says mine is too big for a couple of guys with limited knowledge.

So Why in the heck are doors and window OPENINGS so expensive?

Does anyone have an out of the box idea (from expereince) that would get me a modern looking building without sending designers into the 'it costs a lot" mode

Finally, and this is probably my biggest question. I plan on turning one of the bays (25X45) into a woodshop. This means erecting walls and putting a ceiling on. With the pole barn, the process looked pretty straight forward, but I do not know how it works in a metal building. Is it more expensive? more complicated? I am assuming you have to erect four walls, that you will not be able to use the exterior walls for support.

Anyway. look forward to all of your thoughts.

 

[747driver]

Your barn will be over twice the size of mine which I just ordered from Morton Buildings. Mine is 30x50x16 and will be a pole barn. I went back and forth on metal vs wood. Pretty much the same cost for either one. I decided the red iron building was not for me. It is not easy to add windows and doors after the fact with red iron. As the entire structure is engineered so that each piece is necessary on the other pieces. With a pole barn you can pretty much add what you want as you would do in 'stick' framing. Since we live in a remote area in Tenn. there is almost no selection for barn builders ! Morton is really the only game in town, as i am older now and don't care to climb on metal roofs ! My issue with pole barns has been the thought of putting 6x6 post directly in the ground. Well, Morton pretty much has quit doing this and now goes with their own 'perma column' installation. Its not really that much more in cost. Red iron buildings take a much more critical foundation setup which uses more concrete. There should be a Morton office in your area. Go look online at their website and view the many different buildings they have built. The Red iron building ( Renegade Buildings ) was going to costs me $40,000. $21,000 for the materials and 19,000 for labor. The Morton is also $40,000. I will pour the concrete myself at a later date. Also the material cost for lumber and steel will be going up 10% or more in April due to the new Tariffs going into effect ...glad I bought it now !

 

[Oldoak]

No offense, woodlandfarms, but I think you grossly underestimated the cost of materials and labor for the size and design of the building you were originally contemplating. As you have found out, large custom designed buildings come with a large price tag.

 

[Barnbuilder]

Around here I figure $25 sqft and thats for a gable roof. You want valleys, porches, cupolas and it will go up in a hurry. Going with something 100' wide is going to be alot more. You would probably have to get 2 piece truss if not 3. So that would be more posts, girders and concrete. The doors I use are $600ea. then figure framing, trim and extra time. 4' square cupola costs $1300 and I still have to build a base, put it together, mount it on roof and make sure it doesn't leak.

A nice house $150-$200 sqft.

 

[fried1765]

Your barn will be over twice the size of mine which I just ordered from Morton Buildings. Mine is 30x50x16 and will be a pole barn. I went back and forth on metal vs wood. Pretty much the same cost for either one. I decided the red iron building was not for me. It is not easy to add windows and doors after the fact with red iron. As the entire structure is engineered so that each piece is necessary on the other pieces. With a pole barn you can pretty much add what you want as you would do in 'stick' framing. Since we live in a remote area in Tenn. there is almost no selection for barn builders ! Morton is really the only game in town, as i am older now and don't care to climb on metal roofs ! My issue with pole barns has been the thought of putting 6x6 post directly in the ground. Well, Morton pretty much has quit doing this and now goes with their own 'perma column' installation. Its not really that much more in cost. Red iron buildings take a much more critical foundation setup which uses more concrete. There should be a Morton office in your area. Go look online at their website and view the many different buildings they have built. The Red iron building ( Renegade Buildings ) was going to costs me $40,000. $21,000 for the materials and 19,000 for labor. The Morton is also $40,000. I will pour the concrete myself at a later date. Also the material cost for lumber and steel will be going up 10% or more in April due to the new Tariffs going into effect ...glad I bought it now !

Congratulations on your soon to be Morton building.
I had a 36' x 48' Morton built 34 years ago.
I am certain that Morton has changed a few construction features since then, but they were a class act company to deal with.
One gable end truss was flawed, and I complained.
They came back, stripped some sheeting off, replaced the gable end truss, and installed new sheeting.
They apologized for the trouble.
Not many companies like that are around these days.
My building is within 1/2 mile of the ocean, and still is rust free after all these years.
You will LOVE your Morton building!

 

[747driver]

Congratulations on your soon to be Morton building.
I had a 36' x 48' Morton built 34 years ago.
I am certain that Morton has changed a few construction features since then, but they were a class act company to deal with.
One gable end truss was flawed, and I complained.
They came back, stripped some sheeting off, replaced the gable end truss, and installed new sheeting.
They apologized for the trouble.
Not many companies like that are around these days.
My building is within 1/2 mile of the ocean, and still is rust free after all these years.
You will LOVE your Morton building!

Thanks ! I grew up in the Midwest so I knew about Morton and their quality. If you watch their construction YouTube videos you will see how they put the small things in place that leads the industry. They will build anything you design for them....for a price !! The building will be put up in June...I have to wait my turn.

 

[woodlandfarms]

You guys are absolutely right, it is on me for not knowing true costs. What I was getting at, though, was that the price of a metal building appears to be very similar to the price of a pole barn. As noted, flexibility will be an issue, I was wondering about kitting out the interior, if it makes sense to go with wood framing (pole) as opposed to red framing.

Secondly, I am struggling with the notion of $25 a sq ft. I have asked for quotes for both a 2000 sqft building and a 3000 sq ft building and the difference was around $6 to 10 a sq ft not $25. It seems to me I should just find an extra 10K and build the 3000sq ft building and be done with it.

 

[747driver]

My Morton comes out at $25 a sq. ft. Which is about the going rate for a metal or pole barn building that isn't to fancy. Like as already noted when you get pass a 80' width the price really goes up. Doors and windows are labor intensive due to the extra framing and trim. I will add extra doors and windows after the building is done so I can better see where I want some extras...something that's easy to do with a pole barn. You might check into 'metal trusses' for a building option ?

 

[fried1765]

You guys are absolutely right, it is on me for not knowing true costs. What I was getting at, though, was that the price of a metal building appears to be very similar to the price of a pole barn. As noted, flexibility will be an issue, I was wondering about kitting out the interior, if it makes sense to go with wood framing (pole) as opposed to red framing.

Secondly, I am struggling with the notion of $25 a sq ft. I have asked for quotes for both a 2000 sqft building and a 3000 sq ft building and the difference was around $6 to 10 a sq ft not $25. It seems to me I should just find an extra 10K and build the 3000sq ft building and be done with it.

Agreed!
Go for the 3000 sq.ft. building.
There is no such thing as a storage building too big!
Even with 3000 sq.ft., you will be wondering in less than 5 years, why you went so small.
I had 1728 sf. built by Morton, and then 6 years later built another 2000 sf. myself.
Still do not really have enough space, but am too old to build more now.

 

[hslogger]

I cannot address your square footage price concerns, but I look at your region, ie coast range and or coast off Washington state.No where have you mentioned insulation and eaves.You do sound like you want more than a box, so I just gotta say, Eaves save buildings and give some character as opposed to flush wall roof combos so often put up in tin buildings. Condensation on this side of the Cascades is also a killer. Sheathing and paper should be included in your roofing plan whether or not you use tin or asphalt shingles.

Make sure you have thick plastic underneath your concrete slab.