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| My 1965 pole barn was smashed by snow last week, Wrecked a couple old Farmalls, sickle mower, 1500 water tank & old single axle truck (basically a tree hauler with 40,000 actual miles). So far the expensive stuff seems untouched. Who knows whats going to fall on the good stuff when we try to lift the roof off ? Need to build something new closer to home. Looking at either Foltz or Morton 60 X 100 x 16 high. Already have 50 X 60X 18 heated shop so this would be cold storage only. |
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mn | morton |
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| Buy Morton. They have a "real" 50 year snow load warranty. I know they build to your county codes. |
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| Morton, quality built, prime southern yellow pine. No knee braces needed for these trusses to sidewall. Compare. |
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lizton IN | With Morton make sure you stay with a package deal. Morton length run in 15' encroachments. If you start changing it costs a lot of money. |
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18c ditch system | Morton has a good clean looking shed inside and out......all that said, I always price them and then build the cheaper lumberyard building........... |
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Seaford, Delaware | Increase to 60'x120' which is a standard morton size which is on sale now!
Alan |
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WC MN | Just ordered a morton. I think they are both good buildings. Don't buy a lumberyard building unless you want to be in same situation in 10 years. Pay the extra now and it will be worth it. Morton gives you a 50 year warranty with unlimited snowload. They also give a 5 year warranty for wind damage and there is no maximum wind speed. If next year a tornado takes out your shed morton will cover it and build you a new one. I believe they are having a sale that ends mid february and by then it may be hard to get a crew to put it up in 2011 if you wait longer than that. |
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| Thanks for the input ! |
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| I understand that Morton builds a real nice building. When I built I wanted a nice building. I priced the exact same building (equivalant materials and specifications) with Morton and a local lumberyard that I knew had a good experienced crew. The Morton bid was a little over 60K, the lmberyard came in at 36.5K. I felt this was a no brainer. As a matter of fact I dont understand where the added value is in a Morton. Yet I do think they are great buildings. However, any builder can sell you a 50 year snow and wind or whatever warrantee. All they do is buy an insurance policy on your building and mark it up and add it into the price of your building. Why dont others do this? Bcause it is cheaper for the customer to purchase the building and insure it on thier current property policy.
I kind of get the idea that in some parts of the country Morton must be the only game in town. Or are there lots of sub par builders that are out there making them look good? I dont know.
donny
Edited by donny 1/29/2011 19:54
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WC MN | Look at the quality of products that lumber yard uses compared to morton or foltz. Morton is a large nation wide company. They have the purchasing power to buy materials as low as anybody. If a local lumber yard is selling same size building for 15k less than that tells you what kind of materials they are using. It don't matter how good the building crew is if materials are sub par. Had a lumber yard one built 10 years ago and the roof is lying on the ground right now. Thats all the proof I need. Thats my opinion |
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WCMN | I have a Morton and three Foltz and if there is a next one it will be a Foltz. |
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| I will agree that there are some companys out there that will cheapen up a building and make it structurally inferrior. However local lumberyards , at least the ones I do business with, purchase materials such as rafters, laminated poles, and steel from companys that specialize in engineering these products for the proper specifications. These companys would make Mortons production look small. They will build to whatever specs you want.
If Morton has such large buying power and gets materials for less why then are they not more price competitive. When I priced my building I was insulted when I got the bid from Morton. The salesman seemed to think I was going to sign on the dotted line without checking around and when I found out how much difference there was in bids he didnt get a second chance.
I am willing to bet that Morton has a lot more margin tied up in sales and markting than my local lumnber yard. Personally I dont think that makes a non Morton building inferrior.
Like I said Morton has a nice building but it is not that much better. I believe a well built, well engineered, locally purchased building can be just as good as a Morton. I feel the comparison is like a ford vs a chevy, not a chevy vs a rolls royce!
But like I said before if your local lumberyard and builders are terriable then maybe you dont have any other choice if you want a quality building. |
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WC MN | I guess we are gonna have to agree to disagree. Like I said, my roof is laying in a pile. Enough said. If your lumber yard is getting the same exact materials and building to same exact specs as morton for 15K less then god bless them. They should have no problem putting foltz and morton out of business over time. |
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western iowa,by Denison | I built my own,well my son and Friends helped,went down that road of morton,astro lester and more,my local truss manufactur had heavier truss,I speced them heavier,
had morton change there ratings to mine and there building was a lot higher,ordered a better grade of lumber(2x6),(2x4) (2x8) and the better truss ended up saving $35,000 on a 60x90.
But then I'm not normal as I always over build,over brace and then add more braces and steel! |
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western iowa,by Denison | machine shed |
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western iowa,by Denison | pictures
 (Adam's shed floor before cement-July 1, '07-2.jpg)
 (Adam & Adam Hansen-July 18, '07-2.jpg)
 (Adam H & Adam-July 19, '07-3.jpg)
 (Adam, Joe T., Joe R., Adam H., & Gary-July 23, '07.jpg)
 (Adam's shed-Aug. 2, '07-2.jpg)
 (Copy (1) of Adam's shed-July 31, '07.jpg)
 (Adam's shed-Aug. 1, '07-4.jpg)
Attachments
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 Adam's shed floor before cement-July 1, '07-2.jpg (77KB - 616 downloads)
Adam & Adam Hansen-July 18, '07-2.jpg (40KB - 604 downloads)
Adam H & Adam-July 19, '07-3.jpg (58KB - 574 downloads)
Adam, Joe T., Joe R., Adam H., & Gary-July 23, '07.jpg (64KB - 568 downloads)
Adam's shed-Aug. 2, '07-2.jpg (49KB - 554 downloads)
Copy (1) of Adam's shed-July 31, '07.jpg (54KB - 584 downloads)
Adam's shed-Aug. 1, '07-4.jpg (66KB - 556 downloads)
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Northern Iowa | Thank you for posting the Pics- What type of heat system are you running thru the pex , Geo or boiler? What did you nail on the inside to sheet the sidewalls? Im betting a Hydra type door on the end ? That looks like a well built shed. A friend of mine just finished an 80X120 with a 45ft door in one end . Im thinking about moving my farming operation to his neighborhood LOL !! |
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| I can see where having you current building in a pile would make you want a building that might have a better reputation for quality. The local yard I work with will never run the bigs out of business. I could give him a plug on here but not many would recognize it and if you drove by his place you might not even think of stopping. Its a one man show with another young guy in the back. He has a couple of excellent crews that are always busy. Its by no means a flashy organization but he can source high quality materials from leading structural engineering companys and due his low overhead his markup is small. I looked at 3 preengineered buildings when I wanted mine. I picked out the features from each that I liked and thats what I asked for and got.
What I found is that it does not cost much to upgrade from what a cheap typical lumberyard building package. For example going from 6x6 post to laminated 6x8's for posts, going from 9' on center to 8' or 4' oc(higher snow load), upgrade to the thicker steel with better paint, bolting and saddling the trusses at the top of the posts rather than having a knee brace board, etc. The local companys can get high quality materials and build to your liking, if you ask for them and are willing to pay a couple thousand dollars more.
Morton is not the only company that can build a high quality buildng.
The building I put up was 23K less. 36.5 total compared to 55K from M plus 5 for the door. I will admit The door I went with was probably a $4000 door and I wish I would have upgraded that, but that was the choice I made. To be honest with you I was worried when I ordered the building that it was too much cheaper. I have had the building up for 2 years and am totally satisfied. When I had the Morton man out I intended on purchasing his building, until I got the other quote for the same building to my specs from the local.
For the record I dont sell buildings and I think the ones with an M on them are real high quality buildings, I have no dought that you purchased an excellent building.
When I bought my building I just couldnt justify the higher price tag, and I tried. If mine falls in I will swollow my pride, let everyone on here know about it and I will use the insurance money and some of the cost savings to build a better building.
Edited by donny 1/29/2011 09:56
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| Did you do the concrete work as well? Have any pics of the wall pouring process?
Nice looking building! Congrats.
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Thompson ND / Grand Forks ND | Everything around here was Morton, seems it's all Foltz going up now. Alot of them!! I personally know NOTHING about it. |
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NE SD | One thing I don't think people think about when pricing buildings is that you still have to carry insurance on the big name Morton. Yes they offer a warranty if it blows down or falls in from snow but what about fire and theft. If you have a morton and have insurance on it which you have to and the shed falls down you will not get a check from the insurance and have a new shed built from Morton. Morton builds a great shed but all those warrantys you are paying dearly for. There are local lumberyard buildings that can match every detail of the morton and still be lots cheaper. |
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| you are wrong. The extra cost is about $100 |
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| Im not sure how you can say the specs were the same. If they were, then how could Morton ever sell any building for more dollars. I own a morton. The specs were not even close when I compared to our local Lester, Cleary and Foltz. Starting at the footings, to the lumber, to the actual snow load design, the thickness of steel, the paint. the stainless steel screws. none of the other would price these features. None would even go 6' in the groud with their footings. They were only 4 to 4-1/2 feet in the ground. NO Building, in the north, should be built with footings only 4' in the ground. |
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WC MN | Exactly my point northern |
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| WRONG. There is no lumberyard that would match all the details, and sell cheaper, and still be around today. |
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mn | go with lumberyard building, beef it up, use local builders you can trust |
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| Northern did you really ask a local for footings 6' deep and they said "No, we wont do that". If thats the case I can see why you bought a Morton and why you like that building.
I will admit that Morton has a few nitch features such as the SS screws or nails, I forget what it is they call their paint, but it is supposed to be good. I guese I looked real hard and had to decide for my self if these are features that must be used in a premium buidling or are they branded products that are marketed in a way that makes it sound like you must purchase from X company if you want a premium building.
As far as lumber quality, snow load, steel thickness, paint quality,fasteners, pole or footing type these are easy features that any experienced building professional should be able to get, design, and build to.
So yes northern I do wonder how M sells so many buidlings, they dont sell many in my local area. I made the decision that if I was going to pay a premium price for a wood building that I would probably opt to go to a all steel structure for the same money. The primary advatage of the wood for me was cost savings.
Maybe this is a it works here but not there situation. Within 20 mins of my house I can go to 10 lumberyards and 3 preenginered building companys. I'm glad you are happy with your Morton, I am happy with my building. I am glad there is so much competition in this industry imagine what it would cost if there was only 1 company.
Edited by donny 1/29/2011 17:38
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| Buildings seem to be the only topic you post about. In all cases you promote the premium Morton wood building. You also seem to be well versed in Morton literature and willing to defend the brand. If I'm wrong, I' m glad you are a satisfied customer and I appolagize in advance. If I'm right I dont like it when sales people pretend and pose as happy customer.
Edited by donny 1/30/2011 00:08
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NE SD | RIGHT,
Thats a BIG statement you made northern.
You don't think all them big "M" ads in papers and ads cost anything? Having a shed built with crews with the latest and greatest equipment available to man. That all costs big bucks.
Many, many lumberyard buildings that can build a shed just as good as morton in every way shape and form and be cheaper using local contractors.
Morton just claims the way they do it in many small ways is the best. |
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southern MN | In my situation, the local lumber yards supply material, but you find your own crew. Or they suggest someone, but I guess I'm not 'out & about' enough to know people & know who's good and who's not.
I see such sheds going up, and they seem to fall down first. I'm sure one can spec a much better building, the fallen over buildings are just too-cheap neighbors! But I see these buildings seem to take a year to finish. The local lumber yard runs out of material, the local crews spread out a little much & have to 'come back later' to finish those doors, or soffets, or....
Went to a farm show and visited with about a dozen regional builders. Very few had anyone knowlegeble sitting at the booth.
Talked to some that seemed like my kind of place, seemed to be a nice building. I'm still waiting for them to contact me for a bid - that was 20 months ago.....
Morton was the only place that offered a sturdy building and talked to me.
What else is a person to do??????? They had me an offer the day of the show, they visited me within a week, the matireals were there 2 months later, and the 2-4 man crew put it up in less than 7 days, nothing to come back & touch up.
I don't know about Foltz so I can't really comment to the original question.
--->Paul |
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| My family lives in a "rambler" style Morton pole building and we love it and yes I did a lot of research before I invested that kind of money in our house.
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| You are right with the local lumberyards. We have one locally that builds a lot of Great looking buildings.
If it was for my garage or shop I would of gone with the lower bids, however this project was for our pole barn house. |
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| They don't sell many here either. That was a stumbling block for me. Especially since this building is what I live in. |
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ND | Well the 4 pole buildings that went down last winter within 15 miles of me were all morton. one was less than 5 years old. none of those guys mentioned that the "snow load garauntee" built them a new building (or even pitched in for that matter). 3 out of the 4 switched to foltz. |
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ND | sorry, my reply should have been at the bottom |
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| not good if they didnt honor their snow load warranty. Owner should call their corporate and report the salesman |
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Foltz or Morton
