info stick built or morton bldg.

[Hotrod3234]

Hi ,I'm new to this site ,so please allow for some ignorance.I want to build a 40 ' x 50 ' x 10'ceiling garage next to our house.I've been reading alot of posts where some go with a Morton building or similiar ,is that cheaper than going with a regular stick built building? Any help I can get trying to price this project would be a tremenous help.Excellent site by the way.
Thank You
Joe

 

[JC23]

Mortons are really great buildings as a general rule but often cost more. You may want to do some shopping first.

Good luck and Welcome!

 

[coljar]

For my 30 x 40 x 10 building, I was quoted $46,000 for stick. Morton quoted around $32,000. I wound up going with 64 Metals for $22,000 although it was $17,500 because I had someone else I knew do the concrete. That price included a front porch, a back room, and all the R-19 insulation, but I furnished all the doors and windows, because I went commercial garage doors, more expensive windows and a leaded glass front door.

 

[Desert1957]

I love my "Morton" quality is great , complete start to finish in 9 days.

10 Years old now and still looks the same.

Desert

 

[JCQuick]

damm thats ^ a good looking metal bldg desert

 

[Evilla1979]

hey hot rod dont know how elaboate your trying to do but i had a quote from morton for 36x36x14 pole barn with all sheet metal exterior and it was gona b 25k.couple contractors gave me quotes for stick build with vinyl siding and shingled roof and the lowest was bout 32k..ouch.i ended up contracting some local guys that did pole barn construction with vinyl siding and shingled roof with partial nova brick front to match our house for just under 23k. thats minus the concrete and all the interior goodies. hope this helps.

 

[Shadowdog500]

Do some research and price all the options. We priced numerous buildings and Morton came in highest. We had each builder send us a list of local people who have their buildings, and we spent a month touring these different buildings. Every Morton building looked great! Even the ones that were decades old looked brand new. Some of the other builders barns looked old after 5 years. That sold us on Morton.

I thought about building one myself but I realized that my building would be yet another project that I would probably still be working on. I helped a friend erect his hangar probably 10 years ago and he is still finishing up the electrical 10 years later. I was using my building 2 weeks after Morton showed up to build it.

Chris

 

[MotorCityBear]

I am also about to build a storage building, so I am interested in the responses. I am in the "research" mode, trying to decide which company to use. I am thinking a 30x40 building for storage of the toys.

 

[bygasper]

Shop around regarding metal buildings. The major manufactors that are found (mostly) nationwide have better warranties on their paint (of metal), metal (rust), posts, and workmanship. The process of building one that size can be simple or as complicated as acting as your own general contractor for a home build. I priced numerous manufactors before contracting for my build and found a significant difference between builders and salesman (no surprise). The actual build has been a learning experience as well. I did not choose Morton, rather Wick. My building will be what I'm looking for when complete.

 

[NHBandit]

I am blown away at the prices being posted here but those Morton building sure are nice. I'm on a budget so I also called around, talked to nationwide companies as well as local builders and ended up going with National Barn Company. They came highly reccomended by a member here and they have a local (Tennessee) office. They are pretty much nationwide with a few exceptions. My 30x40x12 including frame outs for 2 10x10 overhead doors (but not the doors), man door, 1 window, fully insulated, 2 gable vents, wood framed metal building. Concrete not included came to $11,600 delivered AND assembled. Here is the rendering they sent me. It's scheduled to be built around the end of Feb.

 

[bullnerd]

I went with Pioneer.30x40x10,3 8x9s and 1 man door,all with glass.Full soffit and ridge vents,all doors installed was right around 12K, no concrete.About 2-1/2 days done!

Very happy dealing with Pioneer.showed up and did exactly what they said they would.

My niebor has had his Morton for about 25yrs, still looks new, and no problems.

 

[Bib Overalls]

If your long term plans call for a finished interior (insulation and drywall or paneling) then a stick built building will be more expensive up front and cheaper in the long run. If you are in an agricultural area talk to farmers. They know who gives the best value on out buildings. Chances are they will refer you to someone that does not advertise. If you have a rural electric cooperative in your area get a copy of their monthly magazine. It will have pole barn and metal building advertisements that could lead you to a builder.

 

[mbusey]

These numbers are outrageous, I purchased my Mueller 30x40x12 last week for $6100, yes it only comes with 1 10x10 opening...so what, I can install more doors later down the road and save thousands now. My slab will be a 30x60 and it is costing me $7000. Insulation is $1000, and roll up door is $450. So total for everything is $14,550. Muellers buildings are easy to bolt together.

 

[Hotrod3234]

Thanks for all the info.Not really familiar with Morton or Pioneer bldg. can they be finished on the inside with drywall and ceiling?

 

[lt1driver]

shadowdog500.....tell me more about your insulation and what is between it and the metal exterior. is the wood framing in the picture what the metal exterior is attached to? Lastly, how tall is the building you are showing. thanks.

 

[Ray916MN]

I competitively bid my building. Out of 7 vendors contacted, only 4 bid. The rest despite being given a complete building spec and a written request for a bid, only sent glossy literature. Morton was the only vendor, who not only did not bid, but never sent any literature after being contacted three separate times. Some of the bidders declined to bid, because they said "you'll just take the lowest bid". My response was it is a competitive business and you can not expect to win the business without competing and without me knowing how much a building from you will cost.

I learned allot from the competitive bids which helped me develop a better building spec and to qualify the builders. I didn't end up going with the lowest cost builder and am very happy with what I got in the end.

Pole barns can be finished with drywall and ceiling, but they are more economically finished with steel on the inside. Stick built buildings are more economic to finish with drywall than pole buildings.

 

[Shadowdog500]

shadowdog500.....tell me more about your insulation and what is between it and the metal exterior. is the wood framing in the picture what the metal exterior is attached to? Lastly, how tall is the building you are showing. thanks.

My building has thermax insulation installed between the pearlings and the exterior skin. i mostly put it in to control condensation. It is white on the inside and from what I remember it was a shiny metal foil in the other side. All if the joints in the thermax were taped to keep condensation from getting in. Morton will put 7' wide fiberglass batting that fills the space between the poles if I wanted to spend something like an additional $6 grand. I have no intention to heat my building so the thermax was right for me. They will also finish the building with drywall or whatever you want.

The metal exterior is screwed into the purlins(horizontal 2x4s) with stainless steel screws, and the thermax is sandwiched between the metal skin and the purlins.

My building is either 21 or 22 feet tall (I forget). The ceiling is 16 foot, and the eves are 17' tall. the garag door has a 14' by 14' opening. The width is 30' and the length is 52'


Here is the concrete truck in my building to give you a sense is scale.

The thermax is the white stuff on the walls.

Chris

 

[TRWTOW]

no regrets on my morton build 36x72 my build thread is on this site i just dont know how to link it

 

[santagary]

Mortons are really great buildings as a general rule but often cost more. You may want to do some shopping first.

Good luck and Welcome!

Check out CLEARY buildings also...great building crews and buildings.

 

[Desert1957]

Guys,

Please be aware, some of these metal building deals without concrete seem like a good deal. The cost of a 6" poor of 3500 psi concrete can be as much as the building.

I liked all the little things Morton did for me.

*Built MY design, not pushing their own easy build
*Dumpster on site
*Porta-potty on site
*All materials delivered two days before job started on site
*Gave me any left over trim, panels, scrap wood I wanted
(made two work benches out of 2 X 4 scrap lumber)
*Crew on time and polite (No scumbag contractors here)
*Vapor barrier under concrete slab

One other thing I would like to mention, my Morton guys did EVERY aspect of the job. even the final grading was included (my grass seed). when you add all this little stuff together Morton can still be competitive in pricing.

If you need a discount building due to money issues that's understandable , but this was my dream garage I have waited for all my life.

My wife's motto "Get what you really want the first time"

Desert

 

[TerpnGator]

"Get what you really want the first time"

Desert

I agree, get what U want when U build. If U DON'T chances are you never will do it! I had plenty of room on our land so I had a metal built by a company from GA. They, too, did everything from site prep and post grading, concrete, commercial doors with auto openers, lights, insulation plus built a 12X80 "buid out" apartment that we could live in until the wife decided on house design.

Building is 100 x 80, when they walked away, it was turn key. They even sealed the concrete slab. We could pull our Freightliner Columbia W/Renegade and 52' stacker trailer inside and close the doors. Still had plenty of work room and because they also built a 12X80 mezzanine I had plenty of storage space.

Total cost was 107,000 in 2002. But like it says at the top----I got what I wanted!

 

[cowboyjim]

Assembly starts today on our 3rd Morton building. First was a 42x60 with a corner porch. We use it as a farm / auto shop with Mohawk lift. Second was a 24 x 36 6 stall horse barn. Today's bldg is a 42 x 40 hay barn. As this one replaces an old wooden barn that was filled with round rolls, we are looking forward to completion so we can get the hay out of the shop! Morton is and has been a great company to work with.

 

[ixlr8]

no regrets on my morton build 36x72 my build thread is on this site i just dont know how to link it

Is this it?
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=107847

 

[Pluribus]

Not Morton, but a local contractor in my area quoted me approx $22.50/sqft for pole building vs. $29/sqft for stick framed last year. These are both with 4" fibermesh slab. Same contractor builds both types of construction, and the numbers are just rule of thumb guesstimates; I'm sure they would vary based on actual design.

Discussions on the pros and cons of both building types is always appreciated.

 

[BB767]

I had Morton build my "barn" 3 years ago...

...and it was an extremely positive experience from start to finish. They can construct just about anything you can think of.

All I can do is add my enthusiastic endorsement for Morton. I would use them again without reservation. I had to wait two years before I felt I could afford the higher cost of a Morton and I'm glad I did.

I think you will be hard pressed to ever find a Morton owner who regretted buying a Morton. That doesn't mean they don't exist but I suspect they are very few and far between. Their sales rep will give you all the reasons why they are such high quality, but it's up to you to decide what you want. There is no way I could "stick build" my building for what it cost to have Morton build it for the same quality.

There is a lot of material about my "barn" scattered about on this thread:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51567

You might find it helpful...........and then again you might not. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Thomas from The Restored 1930's Auto Shop.

 

[TRWTOW]

Is this it?
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=107847

ya thats it thanks how do i link it to my signature?

 

[jomobco]

My post and frame in my profile was just over $28 / sq' which includes everything. the building was purchased through Menards and then contracted out for construction. Good luck.

 

[bygasper]

If choosing a large builder, the salesperson is nearly as important as the "builder". If there is a significant break down or lapse in communication between what is sold and what is brought to the sight/engineered/to be built, problems come up with the builder attempting to charge for change orders. Get notes, a detailed contract, and watch things closely and often. It is your building. Be professional and understanding, but firm.

 

[Hotrod3234]

Just came back from Menards with a quote,the actual size is going to be 36 x 46 ,fully insullated,everything except the slab and concrete and electrical for around 14,500.00. That seems awfull cheap to me. I'm figuring around 5,000.00 to 7,000.00 for concrete and excavating and around 2,000.00 for electrical.So I should be in the 25,000.00 range. Anything I'm missing?

 

[MotorCityBear]

TerpnGator

Which company did you use?

I am in north GA and looking for someone to build my building.

 

[Hotrod3234]

Everything was through Menards,contractor to construct the building,recomended people for wiring and slab,said it wouldn't be that much more to put the slab in now,which I find hard to beleive,10 degrees and cold.Said it wouldn't make a difference in the final product. That's what makes me beleive this is to cheap.Don't know if they work on commision or not ,just doesn't seem right.

 

[havi]

Slab for my house was poured on New Year's Eve some years ago. It was well below zero. Pump truck made quick work, got screeded, and covered with heating blankets for a number of days to allow it to cool and set slowly.

 

[planters49]

I know this is an old thread but you can get a deep discount with morton if you get them to build during the winter. I saved about 6-7 thousand on a 42x40 with 15 foot ceilings

 

[havi]

That's good to know, thanks!