Morton Buildings Worth It??

[GerardC]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Sorry, I wasn't very clear and appreciate all the feedback.

The quote includes
30x45 building with 12' walls
Adding a 50' drain pipe (culver) and grading about 50 ft around the building
Some tree removal at the site
Two skylights
An 8 x 16 ft overhead door on the 30' end
Two windows and one door
Insulated Roof with open Cupola
20x30 concrete pad outside the door
Concrete inside (4" with mesh wiring)
Electrical Panel (service ready)
One drain to daylight
One water hookup (faucet)

I guess looking at all this, we sure are adding a few extra's to it.

Having said that, the building itself was around 25k

Thanks for all the input!!)</font>

I think that is a real decent price if all that is included. Gerard

 

[jmc]

I've had them do two and they did a great job on both. On the last one, I saved several thousand $ by having someone else do the 36' x 53' x 5" concrete though.

John

 

[jpierce]

Thanks for all the responses. Good suggestion on the concrete as you could easily sub that out to another person.

The local Morton salesman here has been very professional and engaging. He has been in the area for over 25 years and even offered suggestion on improvement in our property (non Morton related)

He even came on a Saturday morning, after he had been up late to go to the B12 tourney here in KC. Very prompt showing up and took us to two buildings. One was 12 years old and the other was being built. Both looked good and the jobsite on the new one was clean. Hence, not just showing us the pics. He also has told us about what has gone wrong with the buidlings in the past..Overall, we have been impressed.

We just went through a horrible building process with this new home - The builder was not professional, would not call us back, and still has not finished his work 6 months after the fact. We just don't want to repeat this experience ever again, so we started with the known company.

Thanks again for the varying opinions. Always tough when you are spending your hard earned money!!

 

[rcaretti]

I just had a 36x48x12 board and batten barn built last year.

With 2 12x12 stalls, finished 12x12 tack room, 24x36 + tack room 4" concrete. cupola, insulated roof, 1 door, 1 window, two 10' sliders, and a 24x6 roof added outside the stalls run us 35K. We ended up using a company called Conestoga from New Holland, PA. We had quoted Pioneer as well, but while they were a little cheaper they were using a little less quality materials (non-laminated posts, non-stress tested lumber)

I contracted out the site prep, electrical, and water.

Overall, Conestoga did a great job. I wish our new house went up as trouble free as the barn did. I did talk to the Morton people, and knew someone who had used them and was very satisfied. But they just weren't price competitive. (and I needed to keep costs down to have $ left for electric and water.)

I finished staining the barn before winter, and had a good chance to really look everything over. The only "problem" I found was about six nails missing in the board and batten.

They left the extra lumber, which is good to have in case I need to replace any in the future.

 

[varmint]

My experience with the Morton company is similar to Jpierce's... so I guess the lesson is that we're all dealing with individual operations, some good, some not so good. I spent enough of my time in framing, wiring, drywalling and painting my building that I wouldn't want to have tackled anything beyond that. FWIW- the grey epoxy finish I put on my new slab has been absolutely great- makes cleaning up easy, and worth the bit `o hassle prepping.

 

[grandad]

We had Morton put up a small horse barn last year. We knew they were a "premium" builder going in, so we had high expectations for a quality product. I have to say they absolutely delivered the goods. Built a beautiful structure, on-time, on-budget, top-notch crew. They are now under contract for a workshop, and I have every expectation they will do just as well this time.

Nobody's perfect, and you can run into someone who is a horse's patoot in just about any organization, but these guys did a great job for us.

 

[Docsknotinn]

MORTON !! ARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif Never Again. LOL ok well maybe not that bad in the end. For me they were fast but NOT good. Very difficult to deal with on fixing their problems which meant legal fees for us in the end. It did get resolved but not without a lot of tooth pullin. Good building. You bet. Could I have had better quality built for a better price ? Excepting the warranty Positively YES by about 10k. You can see the whole thread if you search under projects. Lets just say I'm glad I'm done dealing with Morton and my building is satisfactory in the end. Don't buy into all the rubbish about how they are the best because they roll their own steel etc. They have the same quality control and labor issues as every other company at a much higher price to you. I would not reccomend Morton after my experience.

 

[grandad]

While there are certainly some who had a bad experience with Morton, it only seemed fair to point out they did a great job for us.

We have all seen messed up projects from other builders, and I'm pretty sure Morton isn't the only construction outfit that has a few scoundrels and idiots on the payroll.

Sorry to hear of your experience. I figure anyone who knowingly pays a premium price has every right to expect their money's worth.

 

[Docsknotinn]

I agree completely. I do think Morton is still a decent company but they build at a premium price. If they can't offer a superior product such as they claim then their just another barn builder and that's where I'd rate them. Nice product but don't believe all the hype about them being " The best in the business". If your thinking about using Morton you might want to find out just how many times they have been sued in regard to problem buildings. My favorite claim from Morton was all of the hype about how they were going to sell me insurance on my barn. For us this was a big deal because our building is not at our primary residence. I received brochures from corporate offering quotes etc. When I called Morton about the insurance I was laughed at. Literally. They had not sold insurance in years. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[trs]

I got a price on a 55x105 ft with 14ft eves 2 large doors and some extras like coupalas on roof, etc.. from Morton last Oct 2004 $78,000 with no concrete floor, electrical, plumbing..etc.. wood interior gives a warm feeling compared to steel, quality seemed ok at Moultrie, Ga expo building.. figured by the time I did concrete, electrical, etc I would have $100,000 in building.. still looking for a quality building for my Georgia location... I wanted to go big as I wanted to build some rooms inside for guests, etc... or myself when I get sent to dog house..

 

[jpierce]

Update....

Got several bids from different companies: Lester, Cleary, and Wick buildings to name a few. All of them were about 33% less for the same exact building and work around them.

I think we were most impressed with the Lester person and the extra $10,000 will let me put a Kioti CK30HST in it??

Anybody had experiences with Lester buildings??

I put a pic up of a very similar building....

 

[Durbob]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Update....

Got several bids from different companies: Lester, Cleary, and Wick buildings to name a few. All of them were about 33% less for the same exact building and work around them.

I think we were most impressed with the Lester person and the extra $10,000 will let me put a Kioti CK30HST in it??

Anybody had experiences with Lester buildings??

I put a pic up of a very similar building.... )</font>

Just from what i have seen from some of the cheaper builders to look for is the spacing of the trusses and posts. My niece got somebody cheap to put up her 24' by 24' pole barn. They only had posts at the corners and one in the middle(12' apart). Not counting the end trusses they only had two trusses on top. I had been in the building industry for almost 20 years before i got out of it about 5 years ago and the differences that i saw between the pole barn builders was how MUCH material they use. My other niece had a cheap pole barn put up also and you could push against the sides of it between the posts and really move it back and forth. There is sometimes a reason one is cheaper than the other. They save on material costs.

Dur

 

[dokofarm]

The simple answer, is NO. After 4 years of **** to get our buildings straightened out, I will (hopefully) find myself in court next month, finally, after being sued by Morton for me refusing to pay the final payment. They have absorbed 4 years of my life, much of my savings in legal fees, and created strife throughout my work, marriage, business, etc. Due to the outstanding court case I cannot say much more at this time. Once it is over, I would LOVE to tell y'all every little bit of it.

Two things I can say:
(1) If you want to read a story pretty similar to mine, go to http://www.shawneecourt.org/decisions/mortonbl.htm
(2) If you decide to go with them, may the Gods be with you, because I surely will not be!

 

[jpierce]

Wow...small world...isn't it...

We are looking at Weigel Construction in Olathe. They did a building for my wife boss whom is very picky and an engineer to boot. If they can satisfy him, that is a big plus in our mind...

Plus, as far as I can tell, the buildings are almost identical in terms of materials used and warranty...

Thanks for the input, especially in light of the area we are located at...

 

[wroughtn_harv]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( They did a building for my wife boss whom is very picky and an engineer to boot.)</font>

I have a philosophy about working for picky people.

I prefer them as customers.

Not only do they bring out the best in me. Most of the time I find they really appreciate good work.

In about 1976 we needed some ornamental iron workers in the shop of our fence company. So I ran an ad in the paper in the employment section. It read:

Wanted, ornamental iron workers. Must be able to work under adverse conditions, picky customers, cranky boss.

I didn't get any takers. But I did get some mothers who called wanting me to hire on their sons to train them. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif And we picked up a couple of jobs. Picky people of course.

From a contractor's perspective I see the problem with customer satisfaction two ways. There is shoddy work out there. And sometimes there's people who expect more than they bargained for.

For a national company I do believe Morton does as good a job as anyone at delivering a quality product on that level. And with that kind of volume there will be misunderstandings and mistakes.

 

[riptides]

You are a trip.

I would have answered your ad, if I had the skill set, just BECAUSE. Too bad you did not get any takers. Good for the Mom's that called you! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( For a national company I do believe Morton does as good a job as anyone at delivering a quality product on that level. And with that kind of volume there will be misunderstandings and mistakes. )</font>

And I'd rather see and hear about the problems, than have some shady company or charachter disappear altogether over an issue. What recourse have you then?

-Mike Z. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Doc_Bob]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Morton is very popular in NE Kansas and they are a good building. I think Astro and Butler are about the same thing but not as pricey. I built a 40 X 60 US Steel quanset hut (never again) on concrete and I believe I have around $25K in it. My neighbor has a shed built by Barn Builders out of Arkansas, it's 30 X 50 and was under $6k erected. Not close in the quality but much less expensive. I think that Morton is normally 10-15K higher than other buildings. )</font>

When you say never again, do you mean a quanset style hut ??? Why no more quanset style?
Bob
Bob

 

[jpierce]

Since I noticed this was up at the top again, I will tell you my experience. The Morton salesman was very nice but the price was just too much extra compared to others.

I went with a Lester Building and couldn't be happier. About 25% less than Morton and a good quality building. We got hit by a little tornado about one month ago and the building held up great!!

Anyhow, with the extra $$$, we got to pour concrete driveway and supply the building with insulation, water, and electricity.

Anyhow...thanks again for all the feedback

 

[bob the builder]

Maybe I can help you with your Morton woes. And some tips to drive the cost down on building a new morton. Their walkdoors are outrageous, 1200 dollars for a door come on now. And they mark up all subcontracts 17-20%.so for a little more effort hire morton and be your own job coordinator. It could save you thousands. And then you can bring the price down on the cadillac and not have to settle for the pinto

 

[FrogLick]

I just had a 36' x 54' x 12' sidewall Morton completed last week. Materials were of high quality and the construction crew (only 2) were professional, attentive to details and concerned that things were completed to my satisfaction. That's not to say that what I thought was a very simple building didn't run into some problems. I think that the manager/salesman who I worked with was new with the company (maybe his first actual sale?) and was not as familiar with the Morton product details and specification process as I thought he was which caused a number of "misunderstandings"; apparently the factory doesn't recognize and/or question or confirm anything before delivery. I've not yet made the final payment since I'm waiting to hear from this manager/salesman who apparently wants me to sign some "change orders". Not looking forward to that because to me "change orders" means additional $$ over what I was expecting; I think at least a portion of those expenses should be chalked up to manager/saleman training. The price was about a 20% premium over other builders. Since subcontractor work (elect. & concrete) would have been a 20% markup, I'll be taking care of those myself. Would I go with Morton again? Although I think they build a very good building, how they handle those "change orders" will tell me a lot about their real commitment to customer satisfaction and fairness. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised and finally understand what the "incidentals fee" on the contract estimate that couldn't be explained to me but is "put on by the computer automatically" actually covers. Stay tuned.