Called Morton for Pole Barn...couple of questions

[hunterridgefarm]

Well I have decided it is time for the pole barn/workshop. I called Morton last week to meet with their rep. As of today I have not received a call so I will give him a couple of more days before I call back.

Size will be 24x32, 28x36, or 30x40.

I would like to get it under roof with roof insulation. I am also considering the back and side walls out of metal and the front wall wood or brick. I have seen one close by like this and really like the way it looks. I will most likely hire the slab pour myself as I know a couple of good concrete guys. I don't plan on having water or sewer in the beginning but will plumb for it to be added at a later date.

Any one have a build like this? I attached a picture of one but the brick would be on the front.


Another reason is the security alarm I have in my house. The wireless alarms will not pick up through metal. So I would need wood or brick for the front. If this does not work out I guess I will buy a separate system.

I also have a local company that has built several pole barns, garages, and workshops that I plan to call this week. I want to go by and look at some of their builds and talk with the owners.

One thing they do is use the metal type truss system like the attached picture. I think the trusses are spaced every 8-10'.

Does anyone have a build using this type truss? if so, how do you like them?

Thanks
David

 

[TimboTractor]

If you think wi-fi has a hard time going through metal, it's just as bad if not worse through brick (unless you have lots of windows).
Cool looking pole barn, hope to get started on one soon also.

 

[LD1]

Yep. Wifi and just cell signals in general have a hard time with a metal building.

Sounds like the brick/wood on the front is going to add a good bit to the cost.

No experience with those trusses, but cost would be my concern. If a properly designed wood truss is cheaper, I see no advantage to the steel.

And go as big as you can afford is about the best advise anyone can give you.

 

[arlen4720]

I have 2 morton buildings...not the construction type you are refering to though. I would like to say that I would never go with another company...they have been in business for many decades, and have the pole building down to a science. They have great lumber, great steel, fantastic stainless steel screws, an outstanding warranty, and the steel have a very good finish.
I have a horse barn with a hay loft, so that building has rafters. I have another pole shed with regular trusses, that I have actually lived in half of it for the past 13 years.
WiFi and cellular will bounce out a window OK.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Sounds like the brick/wood on the front is going to add a good bit to the cost.

Yep, however I plan to do the wood and/or brick myself. I am friends with an excellent carpenter and brick layer that would help.

But this is still dependent on cost. If I go all metal I may just wire an independent system.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

That first picture you posted is what is called a Bailey barn among a few other names, they usually are a kit and the bays are spaced 12' apart and come in widths from 16' to 50' wide and with the 12' bay length you can build it as long as you want to, the 2x6 purlins are stood up edge ways in metal clips that are welded on the trusses, it's a good barn, I built a 32'x 60' with 20'x 36' lean to off of one side. You can google Bailey barns or a place called Panhandle Salvage, that is where I got my kit from, they build all the metal trusses out there in the Fl panhandle. Good luck they are popular down here. Charlie. Forgot to mention there are lots of pictures of all the different options on the Panhandle salvage website.

 

[RickB]

I called Morton about 10 years ago. Still waiting for that call back.
Very happy with my Wick building, but that was mostly due to the local builder/dealer.

 

[Midniteoyl]

Got told by several around here to not even bother with Morton... Guess I now know why.

 

[DutchHenryBrown]

Well I have decided it is time for the pole barn/workshop. I called Morton last week to meet with their rep. As of today I have not received a call so I will give him a couple of more days before I call back.

Size will be 24x32, 28x36, or 30x40.

I would like to get it under roof with roof insulation. I am also considering the back and side walls out of metal and the front wall wood or brick. I have seen one close by like this and really like the way it looks. I will most likely hire the slab pour myself as I know a couple of good concrete guys. I don't plan on having water or sewer in the beginning but will plumb for it to be added at a later date.

Any one have a build like this? I attached a picture of one but the brick would be on the front.


Another reason is the security alarm I have in my house. The wireless alarms will not pick up through metal. So I would need wood or brick for the front. If this does not work out I guess I will buy a separate system.

I also have a local company that has built several pole barns, garages, and workshops that I plan to call this week. I want to go by and look at some of their builds and talk with the owners.

One thing they do is use the metal type truss system like the attached picture. I think the trusses are spaced every 8-10'.

Does anyone have a build using this type truss? if so, how do you like them?

Thanks
David

My pole barn is all wood so cannot help with the metal truss system but that looks great. I'm sure most will agree try for the biggest one you can afford. I went with a 30x40 and now I am thinking of adding on another 20' never enough space.

 

[scoutcub]

Brace yourself for the price quote from Morton.....

 

[WilliamBos]

Brace yourself for the price quote from Morton.....

Oh yeah, grab the lube!! Then get quotes locally.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Well, day 5 and no call back. I left 2 numbers he could reach me at. I will give them 2 more days and call back. Morton built a large barn at the apple orchard 1/2 mile from me last year and the owner was very pleased.

I just need some prices so I can decide what size and how complete I want it. I plan to do some of the work myself. I will also call the metal truss guy this week to see if I can talk with him.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I was really into building an all metal building 4 years ago and got prices both online and from local fabrication companies. What it boiled down to was the price of the material alone (not including slab, wiring, insulation or interior sealing) was more than it cost me to build a wooden structure. I was pricing a 30x40 steel and it was between $30-35K for material only and I had to pay more for erection, put in the slab, wiring, lighting etc. I got a contractor to build a 30x52 (30x30 slab with 12 foot wing sheds on each side) wooden structure with 9' 8" interior ceilings with 12 x8 bathroom on one side of the lean to, concrete floor on the 980 sq ft structure, full 100 amp electrical services complete with lights and receptacles, plumbed for the cold water bathroom, 6" bat insulation walls and ceiling, Attic floored in the middle 12 foot section for additional storage with pull down ladder, 1/2" exterior grade plywood sheathing on the outside and 3/8" plywood sealing on the inside walls and ceiling with exterior painted, galvalume roofing, 8 foot tall insulated garage doors with electric openers (one 16' wide and one 10' ) all for $25,500. Granted the price of everything has increased a lot now but I got a much better building than what I would have gotten with the steel especially the electrical and insulation. I can keep it warm in winter with a 1500 watt heater and cool in summer with a 14000 BTU window air conditioner. I did sacrifice ceiling height but I could have gotten it higher if I wanted for just a few dollars more. Hindsight tells me I should have went with a 12 foot ceiling but other than my 70 HP tractor, I have no trouble getting all my smaller stuff inside.
I thought this would be large enough, but 3 years later I added another 14 x 30 shed on to the back for my boat and lawnmowers. Good advise on building as big as you can afford and then some because it is always too small "eventually". Attached photo is about the best I can do at the moment for showing how it looks upon completion.

 

[jmc]

I built a Morton in an industrial park with covenants that required a masonry front for cosmetic reasons. I think they had to pour a footer to support the brick weight (just on the front), which negates one of the pole barn construction advantages. Another option was to use thin panels that looked like brick to avoid the footer.

Then I built another Morton at home, 36x53x14. Couple of points on that one:

They suggested the 14' height so you could drive the cement truck inside to get the cement to the back of the building without watering it down or using a pumper truck. Extra height is cheap they said since there's not much extra material required. Nice to have that tall door for the backhoe too.

36' wide lets me store stuff along the edge and still be able to maneuver the tractor up to it. Like a boxblade up against, and parallel with, the long wall then having enough building width to back the tractor up to it. You can get access to disproportionately more stuff in there with a little extra building width.

When backfilling the home barn, I creased the siding ribs accidental for the width of the fel bucket and it hasn't rusted in the 9 years since.

Morton's slab contractor quoted about 75% higher than the guy I hired to do it.

 

[Midniteoyl]

View attachment 328662I was really into building an all metal building 4 years ago and got prices both online and from local fabrication companies. What it boiled down to was the price of the material alone (not including slab, wiring, insulation or interior sealing) was more than it cost me to build a wooden structure. I was pricing a 30x40 steel and it was between $30-35K for material only and I had to pay more for erection, put in the slab, wiring, lighting etc. I got a contractor to build a 30x52 (30x30 slab with 12 foot wing sheds on each side) wooden structure with 9' 8" interior ceilings with 12 x8 bathroom on one side of the lean to, concrete floor on the 980 sq ft structure, full 100 amp electrical services complete with lights and receptacles, plumbed for the cold water bathroom, 6" bat insulation walls and ceiling, Attic floored in the middle 12 foot section for additional storage with pull down ladder, 1/2" exterior grade plywood sheathing on the outside and 3/8" plywood sealing on the inside walls and ceiling with exterior painted, galvalume roofing, 8 foot tall insulated garage doors with electric openers (one 16' wide and one 10' ) all for $25,500. Granted the price of everything has increased a lot now but I got a much better building than what I would have gotten with the steel especially the electrical and insulation. I can keep it warm in winter with a 1500 watt heater and cool in summer with a 14000 BTU window air conditioner. I did sacrifice ceiling height but I could have gotten it higher if I wanted for just a few dollars more. Hindsight tells me I should have went with a 12 foot ceiling but other than my 70 HP tractor, I have no trouble getting all my smaller stuff inside.
I thought this would be large enough, but 3 years later I added another 14 x 30 shed on to the back for my boat and lawnmowers. Good advise on building as big as you can afford and then some because it is always too small "eventually". Attached photo is about the best I can do at the moment for showing how it looks upon completion.

Thats crazy!

I put together a 32'x40' pole barn with 10 polycarbonate skylights, copula, 16' and 8' garage doors, entry door, and slab, installed with grading and gravel for right around $16k 5 years ago. This was for my M-I-L.

 

[Rustyiron]

Pole bldgs. are not rocket science, but Morton deffinetly has it down to a science. I'd price them along with several local guy's that have buildings in the area that you can inspect. Chances are that the local guy will give you overhangs, more door & window options and allow a bit more flexability at the same price or less than the big guy.

 

[QRTRHRS]

First off, the Morton barns I have seen including one that we boarded at so I had time to really check it over are built very well. That said, I think Morton reps are inconsistant. I called Morton in 2003 when we were going to have a barn built. I spoke about features I was interested in including some that my friends barn had. The message I got was we don't work outside the box, we don't do this and we don't do that. Out of the ten prices or so I had for a 40x120 barn with a 16'foot open shed down one side for a total of 56x120, my best price was from a Mennonite builder. They ended up doing the horse stalls and everything. I had one complaint in all of that for a piece of trim by one door that was sharp, that was it!

Something of interest perhaps: later on, I worked for one of the builders that I had a bid from delivering materials to the jobsites both within and for outside builders. This company had ten to fourteen crews not all created equal so to speak. Some did a better job than others, much better. Don't be afraid to speak up if you see something that you do not like.

 

[NoTrespassing]

I called Morton about 10 years ago. Still waiting for that call back.
Very happy with my Wick building, but that was mostly due to the local builder/dealer.

I called Morton for a quote in 2000. I took the day off work to meet him and about 3 hours before the appointment the salesman tried to cancel on me. I gave him such a hard time he showed up anyway. He said his allergies were bothering him. lmao He never got back with me on the quote. Thirteen years later I'm still getting offers in the mail. It'll be a cold day in _____ before I call them again.

Kevin

 

[Kyle241]

I'm interested in hearing whether Morton gives you a decent quote. I'm planning a barn/garage on my second property in the near future and don't feel like building it myself this time round. Morton was on the list to contact along with some local contractors to compare pricing.

 

[KYDan]

I have 3 pole barns of varying sizes, one is a Morton, one is a Blitz, and one is a no name. The Morton is the oldest and heaviest grade of sheeting by far. I had it built in 1980 and it is still in use and good shape. The Blitz was in 1995 and it is used as a garage and shop. It is much lighter sheet metal, but has served my needs. The 3rd is a hangar that was built by a local guy and appears to be the same mil metal as the Blitz, and it has served me well so far. Morton is very proud of their buildings by their price which is why I switched companies. Morton insisted on gutter as a part of the package and that is one of the reasons that it cost more, but good drainage is essential for barns to last. The Blitz and the other did not. I put vinyl gutter on the shop/garage and won't do that again. I had seamless 6" gutter installed on the hangar and used it to replace the old gutter on the Morton as the original was galvanized and had rusted through.