Morton Buildings Worth It??

jpierce · Mar 25, 2005

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 · Mar 26, 2005

( 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.... )

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 · Mar 30, 2005

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 · Mar 31, 2005

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 · Mar 31, 2005

( They did a building for my wife boss whom is very picky and an engineer to boot.)

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 · Mar 31, 2005

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

( 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. )

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 · Apr 10, 2006

( 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. )

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

jpierce · Apr 18, 2006

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 · Sep 27, 2008

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 · Oct 27, 2008

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.