Morton Barns

flusher · Mar 24, 2006

My son works for a large pork processing outfit in the Oklahoma Panhandle. They use a lot of Morton buildings on their farms.

I had an all metal pole barn built on my place last June (24x42 ft, 12 ft walls, two 10'x10' overhead doors, one 36" W man door, 1 window, eave vent).Cost: $16,200.

The concrete slab is 6" thick with #4 rebar in the slab criss-crossed on 24" centers. Cost: $7500.

So figure about $24/sq ft including the slab.

I priced conventional framed structures and could have saved about $1K since these don't have to be engineered. Tehama County requires engineering on pole barns (wood or metal type).

Wood pole barns were a little more expensive.

I chose metal because I like the no-maintenance feature of metal pole barns.

mike223 · Mar 26, 2006

At $24 / sqft, $57,600 is exactly what a 40x60 with slab costs. Morton is talking 42x60 for the same price of $58,000, including stub ins for plumbing. After considering that Morton does everything in the construction phase from start to finish with their own in house subs, and I don't have to coordinate and deal with independant subs, I'm thinking that Morton is probably how I should go. Now the question is how far should I go; i.e, should I let them do everything up to flooring and painting? Decisions, decisions.

mike223 · Mar 30, 2006

For those interested in a breakdown in price and what you get from Morton, the following is a list with prices:

42'x60'x12' building shell:

All steel is 26 ga w/Kynar 500 paint
4/12 roof pitch
trusses and laminated columns are spaced 7' 6" on ctr.
1/2" HD Thermax insulation in entire roof
40' long, 10' wide porch. Includes soffit ceiling, column covers, and 4/12 pitch. 8' 4" to ceiling.
1 15'wide by 12' tall double sliding Alumasteel end door
1 3068 insulated 9 lite fibersteel entry door
6 4'x3' vinyl, insulated 9 lite Hayfield sliding windows with screens and 15"x35" vinyl louvered shutters.
2' gable overhangs finished in soffit
1' vented sidewall overhangs finished in soffit
Continuous ridge vent system
Exterior hi rib steel wainscot with interior protective liner
stainless steel screwa in roof and sidewalls
Gutters and downspouts

Shell price: $45, 018

Concrete:

3027 sq ft 4" thick concrete floor. 4000# mix, 3/8" rebar on 30" ctr, 4 mil vapor barrier. Smooth finish on inside and broomed finish on outside under porch and on 3' apron on sliding door. incl. 3 loads of 1/2" chiprock for fine grading of building.

$12,254

Optional stripping of walls and ceiling of apartment for sheetrock:

128 lin ft of wall framing incl 6" blanket insulation in walls, with 4 mil vapor barrier, and nailers on 16" ctr ready for drywall.
924 sq ft of 2"x4" dropped floating ceiling, 16" on ctr w/ 4mil vapor barrier, does not include insulation.
42 lin ft of 12' column wall to separate shop from apartment.
1 30"x30" framed attic access door

$68, 177

Total turn key: includes plumbing, septic, electric, HVAC, sheetrock, and fixtures

$101,868

Plans, builders risk, and dumpsters and porta john provided by Morton.

Warranty:
50 year against snow/ice load, no weight limit.
50 year against decay or insect damage on PT portions of wood.
20 year protection against red rust, fading, chalking, cracking and peeling incl atmospheric pollutants
10 year windload on sliding doors
5 year against windload damage on entire structure no velocity limit
5 year against roof leaks
1 year on materials and workmanship.
Warranties are not pro rated and include materials and labor.

Any comments or questions are welcomed. This is the second estimate on what we're trying to do. The first was from a local contractor, who was estimating 99,000, but without the warranties and history. Neither price included flooring, painting, driveway, grading or powerline (underground).

Clyde · Mar 30, 2006

Mike

$100,000 sounds like alot of money but I really do think if a metal pole building is what you want, Morton will not let you down. The quality of their buildings is impeccable and I own two of them. I will admit that my first building didn't have to be the caliber of quality just to store equipment in but yet I wanted something I didn't have to ever worry about again in my lifetime. I am going to use the 2nd building in the same manner you are except it will be sort of a vacation spot from the city on weekends. The concrete slab, plumbing, and septic all have a price associated with them and some of us would try to do that on our own. Overall, considering everything Morton will do for you, you are very close to market value for a house and storage shed. I won't mention the manufacturer of another major pole building but I had a volunteer fire chief stop off and look at my first building. They had one built for storage or their equipment and they are plaqued with water leaks. Tell me how a corrugated metal roof can leak but their's has major leaks. Mike, you are getting a good building with Morton and you will be very happy with it. Morton will stand behind every aspect of your building above and beyond the stated warranty. I'm just stating my opinion, experience with Morton so far as I've experienced, and I can't find anything wrong with their ethics. Best of luck in your decision making - Clyde

scesnick · Mar 31, 2006

I looked at the Morton buildings, then I seen the price.
I think it is important here to remember this: we are talking about a secondary, storge building here, NOT a home.
I built a 30x40x10 pole garage and Morton wanted $34,000 !!
I had it built by a 2 local carpenters for $15,000 total and it looks and is constructed great!!! It is built in the exact same fashion as a Morton. There is really only one way to stick a pole into the ground correctly !!
I know that my Garage looks as good and is constructed just as well as any Morton building. The only difference is I paid less than half the money. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

rdln · Mar 31, 2006

In light of the 40x10 foot porch I am retracting my earlier comment about the price being ridiculous as that is a $10000 option.

mike223 · Mar 31, 2006

Thanks Clyde,
This is going to be a home for a year at least, and then possibly for aging/ailing parents. I checked out doing a home and storage separately, but the price came out better for the pole barn option with apartment. The shop will be used mostly for woodworking/gunsmithing, and occasionally doing auto work. We would like to build a bigger ICF type home, say 2000 ft sq in the future, but we have to secure a new labor contract before committing the funds to do so. I may have to live in that apartment longer than a year if we get locked out or worse, and want the best quality building that I can get. I'm glad to hear that Morton stands behind their product. Thanks again.

rdln · Mar 31, 2006

Thanks for posting this Mike, coincedentally my new farm policy just showed up and after reviewing I realize I need to get updated replacement costs for the barn. The current one is still 6 y/o, My insurance man is going to apply thier inflation formulas to the figure and I asked morton to figure out thier replacement costs. It will be interesting to see the difference.

srs · Apr 1, 2006

( I looked at the Morton buildings. I built a 30x40x10 pole garage and Morton wanted $34,000 !!)

scesnick, I got a price from Morton (out of Gettysburg, PA) last year for a 30 X 40 X 10 and it was under $22k. This price did not include concrete, but one large 9' X 16' garage door, entry door, and the rough in for two Andersen windows (which I will supply). Did the price go up that much? /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

scesnick · Apr 1, 2006

( Did the price go up that much? /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif )

Probably not. I priced mine out exactly the way I wanted it. 2 garage doors, 2 entry doors, wainscoting and 1 ft. overhangs. Also, my snow load is probably higher up here in Garrett County. so that would increase the price too.

I looked at a Morton that was built a few miles from my house and I really don't see where it was any better than the package I bought from Berlin Lumber. It is engineered and constructed the exact same way. Just cost more.