Recommendations for Pole Barn builder in Michigan

[holemania]

I read bwallen's thread where he had a nice pole barn put up in a couple of days.....good stuff....good Amish construction!

I'm moving to the Midland/Saginaw, MI area in about 3 wks. I'd like to have pole barn (24 x 30 or so) put up (hopefully before winter)....

I'm not inclined or equipped to build it myself, so, I'm looking for suggestions, recommendations or referrals for good builders in that Michigan tri-city area.

Great info on this form....thanks everyone!

Dave

 

[John1]

Call Central Michigan Lumber when you move in and they can supply you with some reputable names in your area......

 

[Rusty]

Welcome to the Saginaw Valley! Contact Mark Hoffmann at Hoffmann Builders in Bay City. Mark's telephone number is 989-686-8971. Hoffmann Builders built our 72' X 36' barn in 1993, and added another sliding door a few years later. My wife and I are completely satisfied with the barn and with Hoffman's work. Best wishes!

 

[yooperdave]

Try to get a firm time frame in writing.

I bought a Cleary - construction was ok BUT SLOOOOOW /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif.

I latter found out that this was not uncommon from their regional office.

Set a realistic date - and hold them to it.

Good Luck

Yooper Dave

 

[djradz]

Dave, don't know any builders up that way, but I have a related suggestion. If you're looking for an attractive building, use pole construction, but make it look like a garage. Use 9' high regular garage doors, which will seal and keep out the rodents where a sliding door likely will not. Use vinyl siding over OSB, which will give you some insulating effect, and use shingles. One other thing we incorporated was the use of 1-2 foot soffits. Gives the roof some ventilation if you ever decide to put up a ceiling, for looks or just to retain the heat. Lastly, with 10' high walls, we were able to put 8' overhangs on each side, so with the 1' soffits, gave us almost 9' of covered storage on each side. If you've interested, I'll post some pictures. Just let me know.

 

[cperky]

I want to see pictures.!!
I am going to be building this summer

 

[holemania]

djradz,

thanks for your remarks....all good stuff!

i would definitely like for it to be a more attractive building, but if it's gonna raise the cost substantially, i'll probably stay away from some of the aesthetics....

do the features you've mentioned raise the cost alot?

i'm still new to this, so i'm still trying to figure out all the terms as well....i.e. soffits.

yes, please post some pics....the more the better....pics can only help me out with ideas.

i'm hoping to erect some form of a pole barn, storage building, or other for mower, atv storage, etc. before winter....probably not the concrete pad just yet, but at least the building.

thanks again for all suggestions!

Dave

 

[holemania]

Rusty,

thanks for the contact....I spoke with Mark yesterday. it was hard for him to give me alot of specifics, but he said a good rule of thumb to put in the pole barn is about $10 psf....does this sound about right?

John1....thanks for the Central Michigan suggestion as well

Dave

 

[Rusty]

holemania - Mark put our barn up in 1993, so the costs are dated. Total cost was $15,517, or about $6/square foot. 36' X 72' X 10' side wall, shingled roof, ridgevent, 12" boxed aluminum overhang, vented eaves, 2-12' X 10' slider doors, 1-3' X 6'-8" steel entry door, 4-4' X 3' sliding windows, posts on eaves on 6' centers (for stalls by owner), 6 inside posts (also for stalls), 2-gable vents, steel siding.

 

[deere_x475guy]

Did that price include electric and concrete slab?

Bob

 

[Rusty]

Bob - My price did not include concrete or electrical.

 

[RichNJKubota]

I know here in NJ that cost per square foot is running around $10. Depends on many factors but in general $10 is a good number. No concrete or electric in that number though.
For the basic metal sided shell cost is about $7-$8 psf. Cost with some windows and doors, roof overhang, roof insulation can run you up to $9-$10psf.

Rich

 

[djradz]

Some cost a bit, some almost nothing. Note that the price of steel siding and also roofing, although common, are not cheap. I found that for about $200 dollars more I could have vinyl siding over OSB and for about the same, a shingled roof, again over OSB. The 8 foot over-hangs on both sides added about $1 to $2K total and the 12' soffits (eaves) somewhere around $500. Pictures follow:

 

[djradz]

Another pic of (somewhat cluttered) overhang. The builder originally proposed going straight in from the soffits to the side wall, but I'm really glad I decided against it. I now have room for tall objects, can get my tractor with the rollbar up in on each end, and I eliminated that "bird-winged" look I've seen that results when you don't follow the contour of underside up with the rafters.

 

[djradz]

Another pic. Used steel siding under overhang. Probably would just use vinyl if I had it to do over, but the builder felt the steel would save on labor and it seemed like a good idea at the time. With the current price of metals, would not be surprised that vinyl might now be cheaper too.