Morton Building worth the $?

NJJohn · Jan 28, 2002

I am looking into having a 30' X 50' pole barn erected. I have gotten a quote from morton, with a 6' porch along the front side, 10' x 12' door, windows and walk in door, fully insulated and metal finished interior on a 4" slab, 44 and change.
This is the building I want, but was hoping for 10 grand less. I'm getting quotes from a few other 'local' builders, but they can't even get the specs right on the quote.
Is Morton worth the extra money, or am I just buying the name? I don't want to go with a cheaper quote only to find out that it's an inferior building.
Are there any other alternatives? I have one too many projects going on to tackle it myself.

Robert_in_NY · Jan 28, 2002

You can go to some local lumber yards and ask them about it, most any lumber yard can run you a price on the barn but they can also recommend a contractor to get a hold of that they deem trustworthy which is a good factor to go by. Morton's does build a lot of barns and they are good at it since that is all they do but it is hard to get $10k below that price unless you delete a few features like finishing the interior will help. From the adds I have seen Mortons run they are very competitive with their pricing and you may be able to get a better deal from a good contractor and lumber yard on this size barn if you work with them but you probally will only save a few hundred to $1k at the most. Good luck and have fun.

cowboydoc · Jan 28, 2002

Are you talking 44k??? If so that is crazy. I built a 45x65 fully insulated, fully lined, 6" concrete, windows, 12x12' garage door opened and 16x7 garage door opened, heater, etc. for only 16k! You can't beat the quality on this thing. The steel on it is second to none and is the heaviest gauge on the market. If you want I'll get you pics of it. I can't imagine almost 30k just for labor.

cowboydoc · Jan 28, 2002

BTW I don't even have that much in an 86x120 building that I put up. This building has a 15' leanto as well and an office and tack room with full plumbing, shower, toilets, hot water, etc. in a room that is 20x36 that has concrete floor, central air and heat, etc. This includes modular stalls, 14' high, two 14x14 doors, etc.

MikePA · Jan 29, 2002

Does the 44K include everything, e.g., electric, phone, plumbing, finish work? That works out to about $29/sq ft.

Back in '91 we had a Bonanza (they've been bought out by someone since then) pole barn built and paid $23/sq ft, but that price included everything except the horses /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif, e.g., excavating the area, water and phone (both run 300 ' from our house), paved drive, new electric service, finished tack room (which I did), 2 twelve foot sliding doors, door for humans, 6 foot wide porch in the front, 3 complete stalls with exterior dutch doors, etc.

s1120 · Jan 29, 2002

Thanks all you guys for chimeing in. I almost fell off my chair when I read 44k! I am planing a 30x40 building, and I did not think it would be anywhere NEAR that. I thought 10 to 15k. I hope I am right, or I will never get this building.

s1120 · Jan 29, 2002

<font color=red>I built a 45x65 fully insulated, fully lined, 6" concrete, windows, 12x12' garage door opened and 16x7 garage door opened, heater, etc. for only 16k! </font color=red>

Is that concrete block? If so did you do it your self? I have been thinking of also going this route. Is it doable by myself?

cowboydoc · Jan 29, 2002

No that's just a 6" poured floor. I will get you some pics of it so you can see. I did do it myself.

forestcreature · Jan 29, 2002

be sure to check out any warranties also.
my dad has a morton, and it is by far the best building i have seen constructed.
you will need to compare each feature price, very few people offer acoustic deadening metal interiors for instance.
there is no finer building than morton, but not everyone needs the finest building to be good enough for their purpose either.

SteveBenson · Jan 29, 2002

I think you'll find that the pricing on Morton buildings varies significantly depending on which region of the country you live in, how much local competition there is, and how expensive labor is in your area. I live and Connecticut and that quote you got sounds very typical for Southern New england. I recently built a 34x48x10 pole barn w' steel siding and 1' overhangs all around. I got a quote from Lester (which in our area is competitive with Morton) for 27k for the shell w/ two sliders. No site work, windows, insulation, floor, interior finish, just the shell. There are no other pole barn builders in southern New England, Morton and Lester, that's it. These prices made me sick, especially when looking in Lancaster Farming and seeing similar barns w/ extras like entry doors and insulation going for 11 or 12k, erected. It's all about competition (there's plenty of that in PA). I decided to buy a kit from Carter Lumber in PA and have all the material shipped to CT for $400. The Shell cost me about 8k and included entry door and 2 double sliders. I bought some cheap windows at home depot. I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out and would do it again in a second to save 20 grand. The next will be a breeze now that I kinda know what I'm doing (enough to be dangorous anyways).