Having a hard time finding builder that doesn't have inasane prices

[ryan112ryan]

If you know of a metal building (red iron) contractor in the Charlotte NC area let me know!

I have got a few quotes back to have a 40x60x14 metal building built for me and I'm beginning to wonder if I have unrealistic expectations or if the quote I'm getting are insane.

I'm looking for the slab to be poured, metal building put up, insulated, and a budget bathroom to be put in one of the corners. The rest just bare concrete one 10x10 roll up door and a single man door. No windows, no awnings, no eaves, no wainscotting, no hvac. The site is 400 feet from a road, the site is as dead flat as land gets and there is already a 12 foot gravel drive cut in to the site. Already have the water tap and line ran, sewer main is at the street, power company said they could run the connection for free as long as I am a customer for at least three years. No restrictions, zoning is good with the project, no HOA.

I got two quotes for the above: The first $125,000 and the second $250,000

I was floored! Am I crazy or are they?

One of them said materials would be $15 a sq ft, building erection $5 a sq/ft, and $8 sq ft for the slab. I figure running a sewer line will be $5,000-$10,000 and the tap is $2500 to the city. Figure $10,000 on the high end for a electrician to run ten 15 amp outlets, one 220v outlet and basic strip lights and plumber to put in a budget toilet, cheapest sink and a fiberglass shower 3x3 stall. Rest of the bathroom bare concrete floor, Sheetrock walls, no tile work, no expensive fixtures, budget all the way.

Am I off base? I am hesitant to try this myself, my city doesn't make it easy for a average guy to navigate it all and lifting the big beams give me pause.

 

[8mpg]

those quotes are insane. Contact your local building supplier for some recommended contractors.

 

[jd_1138]

Yeah it should be around 20 bucks per square foot, so about 50k including foundation, materials, labor. Plus extra 10k for misc and the bathroom. Rough estimate of course.

 

[bczygan]

That big a difference could indicate they aren't quoting the same work.

Do you have bid drawings and specs?

Did they both give you itemized quotes with quantities for material takeoffs?

If not, there is no way to compare or quantify anything.

You need apples to apples. If the bids aren't exactly alike, you have to adjust them to get a true comparison. For that you need minute detail.

A number on a piece of paper means nothing.

Do the above and get enough bids to have 3 from qualified contractors.

They shouldn't vary more then 15%.

Pick the middle one.

Bill (Designer/Estimator/Purchasing Agent)

 

[NUTTSGT]

I'd guess that both of your quotes are coming from commercial contractors that are used to seeing large buildings. You might be paying more because it's such a little project for them.

Are you stuck on putting up a metal (red iron) building ?

 

[ryan112ryan]

I'd guess that both of your quotes are coming from commercial contractors that are used to seeing large buildings. You might be paying more because it's such a little project for them.

Are you stuck on putting up a metal (red iron) building ?

I'm would prefer red iron but at this point I'm open to ideas! If it was a pole barn I know I could build it myself, but I like the fact I bugs don't eat iron and I can power-wash every inch.

 

[Rory Bellows]

Maybe ask friends or family if they know anyone with a large garage and get some comparable prices. Your quotes seem outrageous though I know nothing about steel buildings except they go up faster than stick built.

 

[jeepinerdeep]

They didn't want the job.

 

[jp828108]

in 2015 my dad put up a 30x64 10 foot ceiling post frame. 2 garage doors, two windows, and three man doors. I think he had something like 20k in materials and 3500-4000 in labor to the amish crew that did the work. that is without the slab. I don't recall how many yards the pour was, but uncle, and a couple cousins poured and finished for free. Not sure how red iron prices compare to post frame, but for what you are talking you could build it several times over.

 

[Lelandwelds]

They didn't want the job.

Did you remember to park the Bentley out of sight?

Find the local equivalent of Mueller's and ask for a recommendation. ( Not too big. Not too small. No sleazy commissioned sales. Been around for a few business cycles.)

 

[stm317]

What kind of slab? Thickness/pressure rating/rebar?
What kind/quantity of insulation? 3-4 inches of spray foam is going to have a very different cost vs wide fiberglass blankets added before the outer metal goes on.
What kind of lights and how many? This affects light cost, but also the amount of wiring, breakers, etc.
How large is the bathroom?

 

[brianh]

I'm would prefer red iron but at this point I'm open to ideas! If it was a pole barn I know I could build it myself, but I like the fact I bugs don't eat iron and I can power-wash every inch.

I bought A 40x60x12 Olimpia steel building and put it up myself the building was around 15 grand for the steel another 6 for the r 38 insulation kit. By the end all total was around 40 grand with electric. I paid for help on the excavation and pouring the slab I insulated and put in pex for heat. It took me a few months to do it all.

It is not that hard to do I had help with the main frame and put all the tin on myself more maddeningly monotonous than difficult.

 

[ford33]

That difference in pricing would tell me they are not quoting the same job. You need to be very specific and have drawings so they can be precise. They may also be adding money for uncertainty in your build.

Also, maybe they don't want the job.

 

[glentre]

Agree. Without detailed plans and specs, a contractor has little alternative but to throw out a price that covers his ****. Maybe something came out of your original meetings with them that turned them off. The pricing indicates they are afraid of something, are too busy with other work or you have selected the wrong contractors for your type of project. Pricing is obviously way out of line.

Glen

 

[holdover]

As a retired contractor I often wish some of my customers paid me the prices I see mentioned here, I would have retired a very long time ago. A red iron building is on the commercial side in relation to the way it is constructed. A lot of fabrication is done making the product, hence the cost. Have done a few over the years but the bigger they are the more equipment is required to erect the framework. Those steel I beams can be very heavy. And that being said for a 40 X 60 those prices are crazy.
I could have built any style of building for my dream garage, but I chose a stick built 40 X 60. Now understand that I was a contractor, did most of the work myself and had my son, who is a contractor help me. With concrete work I do the excavation and forming for the slab myself, with equipment that I have, (backhoe front end loader etc. In your situation with the site being flat you could do most of it yourself. My cement finishers charge 40 per yard, poured and finished. They are professionals and do it for a living everyday, and if you lived in my area of VA I would highly recommend them, they even have a pump truck for special technical pours. Concrete is going for 135 a yard right now in my area, just did a pour 3 months ago. So to get a base line for the slab, work out the amount of cement you need, any rebar/wire you want to use, and the cost to finish.
I stick built with 2 X 6 with T-111 sheathing outside, I could of used colored steel for less, outside, but the garage is in sight of my house and the stained T 111 looks better. The plates are treated wood stacked 2 high to get the walls away from any water, then the walls were built, final height is 10' 4.5", I used scissor trusses with a 3/12 pitch inside and a 5/12 pitch outside, which gives me 15' clrnc inside @ center which is all I needed, with a colored steel roof. The building has 6" insulation in the walls and 12" in the ceiling. One garage door 16' X 9', this is the only thing I would change to a 18' X 9', Plus a man door, inside is finished, and it has 200 amp service with all wiring in conduit. plenty of outlets and hook-ups for the welder. Dual 60 gal compressors are individually wired. Work bench across the back, pull points in the floor to straighten frames etc. 6" slab, 2 4 post lifts, a 60' X 16 lean-to on one side for extra storage with the back 16 X16 as machine shop/ clean room for detailed work. BIG electric heater supplemented by space heaters on exceptionally cold days. Garage holds up to 11 vehicles using the lifts to double stack, typically there are 9 vehicles in the garage and two in the lean-to. Just added a 14' X 32' lean-to to store the two Model As in. So the cost, at this point about 40K. We have Amish/ Mennonite carpenters here that are really reasonable, you may have them in your area as well. Here they will work either hourly or quote a price, they are honest and dependable, and they will come in a lot less than 5 a sq foot. So if you buy the materials I would say you could get it done for about 55- 60K at today's material prices, unless you live in an area that everyone has more work than they can handle.. Hope this helps, your mileage may vary. Good luck

 

[My Old Tools]

Have them quote the basic building, slab, roughed in plumbing, doors, insulated. No finishing inside, no electrical, no plumbing. Make the other stuff options. Figure out what the cost drivers are, inside or structure. The $125k may not be that far off, and I bet the electrical and plumbing are big deltas.

 

[brycez28]

This is a quote that I got for a project, 60'x72'x14'. 6 windows, 2 man doors, a 8'x10' garage door


-Concrete, Materials, Labor- Building "Shell" $76,500
-Insulation; R19 walls, R44 ceiling condensation blanket + $10,250
-Interior finishing; drywall, window/door moldings, etc + $23,750
Total: $110,500, but would do for $109,000 if all done at once. This
does not include any electrical, heating/cooling.

 

[rjacobs]

A place down here in Texas will do a 40x60x10 stick built, metal sided, with 4" concrete, 1 man door and 1 over head door for slightly under 30k. I believe it was said each extra foot in height was an extra 1000, so for yours would be 4k extra.

Add say a couple thousand for dirt work and a couple thousand for the bathroom+ plumbing...

Under 40k for stick built.

125-250k is farking ridiculous. My 2200 square foot HOUSE didnt cost 250k.

 

[finn]

A place down here in Texas will do a 40x60x10 stick built, metal sided, with 4" concrete, 1 man door and 1 over head door for slightly under 30k. I believe it was said each extra foot in height was an extra 1000, so for yours would be 4k extra.

Add say a couple thousand for dirt work and a couple thousand for the bathroom+ plumbing...

Under 40k for stick built.

125-250k is farking ridiculous. My 2200 square foot HOUSE didnt cost 250k.

Texas building requirements wouldn’t stand up after the first snowstorm in Sheboygan.

 

[My Old Tools]

Depends on what you spec. Mine is a 6/12 pitch and the roof structure is rated for a 1 ton point load. I'm pretty sure it will hold up all the snow you can get to stick. We have tornadoes and straightline winds over 100 mph. The Texas coast has regular hurricanes.

 

[rburke65]

I would think with that big of a spread between the bids something is amiss.

 

[rjacobs]

Texas building requirements wouldn’t stand up after the first snowstorm in Sheboygan.

Even if our building code is a bit light, I cant see it costing an extra 80-200k to "build it stronger" to withstand a little snow...

**** for probably 10k or under you could run heated PEX lines on the roof just under the metal, then insulate, then bam, heated roof, so no snow load to worry about.

 

[avayan]

I have quoted precisely 40x60x14 and the building itself was in the 30K range. That does not include the slab, labor, electricity, water, insulation, etc. But to jump from 30K to 150K that is quite the quantum leap!

I also did a quote for a 2000 SQFT with every single nook and cranny. It was about 50K. That included electricity, plumbing, insulation, slab, etc.

Again, your quotes are on the insane side.

Are the walls made out of Adamantium???

 

[Caddybill]

Quote for 30x40x12 with slab in Queens NY. $96k no water or electric.

 

[readhead]

As a metal building contractor I see this quite often. Those numbers seem out of line but we don't know what you asked for. The very first step to getting real qualified quotes is to provide basic plans and specs to every bidder. Are you acting as the GC or are you receiving turnkey quotes? Are you calling building companies and asking how much is a building? When you compare quotes look at the weight of the building material. We need more information to answer your questions.

 

[engineer2]

Pretty common for busy contractors to quote high. They are seeing if you will take the bait. Many people don't shop around, some people equate high prices with high quality, and a few people have money to blow. If you take the high price, the cash influx will certainly help the contractor grow his business.