Morton Building Project - NH

[River19]

So yesterday I took the leap and signed papers for a basic Morton Standard building of 24' x 32' with 14' walls and a 12x12 door (and a 'people door').

With the prices of darn near everything being insane these days I elected to go with a "pole barn" build with columns in the ground and a gravel floor. A cement slab can be poured at a later date if I desire.

The "fun" part of this build is going to be the site prep where we need to basically turn virgin forest into a level "diggable" 45' x 45' pad. The site has a sloped drop off front to back of about 5' that will need fill and a number of trees need to come down including one pine that is about 100' tall and an Ash that is also about the same. The good news is I have an amazing "tree guy".

I'm working on lining up a "site guy" as I am under no illusions that I can handle the stumps, rocks and compaction needed with my B series. BUT, the B-Series will get a workout with all the periphery stuff as well as be part of the "logging operation". I also have a drainage area that flows by the site, the current culvert basically just spills out in the "flat" and runs a hundred yards down to a small creek. As part of the project I am going to dig a more "formal" drainage flow and line it with rock to ensure the flow goes where we want and does not impact the new pad.

Concurrently 50yds away we will have a 16kWh solar array going in as well.......lots of work going on this year.......exciting and scary all at the same time.

I will try and post some progress pics as we go........

 

[ken erickson]

Congrats on your new building project, looking forward to your progress.

 

[TheShadyKubota]

@River19 Looking forward to following this thread! I too am on the verge of pulling the trigger on a 30'x40' Post Frame Shop, my triple attached garage that I just finished building got full relatively quick! HA The added space would be awesome for the "toys" so I can maybe park in the garage.

One comment I would suggest you consider is pouring concrete piles (~48") with saddles so your poles in your case wont rot or alternatively heave with the frost that you'd experience. I had a friend install a Pole Barn and after the first winter, nothing was square to the extent that he couldn't open his garage door..

Kyle @ RR Building has a wicked Youtube Channel where he goes over the reasons why not to put the wood structure subsurface (And he's a Kubota guy as well)

 

[skeets]

You will not be sorry for going with a Morton building, I wish I knew about them when I had my 30x40 built. I have several friend that have Morton pole buildings and after seeing them well I wish I knew about Morton, All the best

 

[johnjk]

You got them to come out? I reached out to get a quote and my local rep told me he was busy and to send him a detailed drawing which they would quote off of. They wanted roof pitch, pole placement in walls among other things. I sent him my rough drawing and got crickets. I called them back and was told they were really busy and would contact me when they could do a building of my size. I guess a 30x40 with 14’ ceilings is just pocket change and not worth their time. Apologized for bothering them and moved on.
I had another builder who came out, walked the site and talked through my needs and usage. Based on that 2hr talk he generated a quote and got my business.

 

[River19]

@River19 Looking forward to following this thread! I too am on the verge of pulling the trigger on a 30'x40' Post Frame Shop, my triple attached garage that I just finished building got full relatively quick! HA The added space would be awesome for the "toys" so I can maybe park in the garage.

One comment I would suggest you consider is pouring concrete piles (~48") with saddles so your poles in your case wont rot or alternatively heave with the frost that you'd experience. I had a friend install a Pole Barn and after the first winter, nothing was square to the extent that he couldn't open his garage door..

Kyle @ RR Building has a wicked Youtube Channel where he goes over the reasons why not to put the wood structure subsurface (And he's a Kubota guy as well)

Great points, the good news is Morton uses cement footings and a long warranty, which is nice.

 

[River19]

You got them to come out? I reached out to get a quote and my local rep told me he was busy and to send him a detailed drawing which they would quote off of. They wanted roof pitch, pole placement in walls among other things. I sent him my rough drawing and got crickets. I called them back and was told they were really busy and would contact me when they could do a building of my size. I guess a 30x40 with 14’ ceilings is just pocket change and not worth their time. Apologized for bothering them and moved on.
I had another builder who came out, walked the site and talked through my needs and usage. Based on that 2hr talk he generated a quote and got my business.

Like anything else, every office seems to be a different experience. I was assuming I would be chasing them down and I started off with another reputable steel building manufacturer which makes an awesome product at a decent price but the new world of shipping costs killed that deal. The shipping alone would have been $12,000...........

Morton responded to my email within hours, then followed up with a call in a couple days later. A little back and forth and I got a quote within a week. Then 2 weeks later he came out to the house (yesterday) and we finalized the design, order and signed papers and down payment.

The ONE major difference IMHO is that I specifically went with a Morton "Standard" building which was created specifically for common sizes, limited customization (although there was more than I thought there would be) and a shorted lead time. A custom building to your specs they were looking at least to Feb 2023.

 

[johnjk]

Yeah. I went when one of the standard offerings from my builder as well. Custom sizes not only cost more but as you said, take longer to get built

 

[bird dogger]

You got them to come out? I reached out to get a quote and my local rep told me he was busy and to send him a detailed drawing which they would quote off of. They wanted roof pitch, pole placement in walls among other things. I sent him my rough drawing and got crickets. I called them back and was told they were really busy and would contact me when they could do a building of my size. I guess a 30x40 with 14’ ceilings is just pocket change and not worth their time. Apologized for bothering them and moved on.
I had another builder who came out, walked the site and talked through my needs and usage. Based on that 2hr talk he generated a quote and got my business.

I had exactly the same experience here with our local Morton building center. I had contacted them about a building 50' x 70' with 14' sidewalls on my prepared site. Nothing but silence. Reached out again with the same silence on their end.

I found a small contractor who was eager to have my business. He also said without the extra floor gravel and the labor savings of building off of a concrete floor with conventional stud walls it would almost offset the concrete costs. He was right. Months later Morton wanted to talk about a building for me. LOL! I invited them to come and look at my new building on concrete!

If I had been thinking, there was no reason to cut the studs down to allow for the top and bottom plates in the 14 ft. sidewalls. The extra 4.5" in height would've sure been nice to have when installing the overhead doors!

 

[River19]

I think in the current environment especially, any "franchise" or "satellite" office model will have significant swing in customer experience. I think the office I went through is in an odd spot serving northern MA and Southern/Central NH where I am. I know they are busy as the sales guy said they used to do 40-50 buildings per year from that office and last year they did over 90.........that all being said, the lack of response from various locations is BS. It doesn't take much time to reply to an inquiry with a form letter/email giving the rough timeline of bookings etc.

The other thing that was "interesting" is their approach to price increases. They are obviously getting hit with supply chain and fuel increases so they have been increasing prices small amounts monthly or so. I experienced a 3% increase over the 4 weeks I was "negotiating".

All that being said, this stuff isn't cheap. He mentioned a small indoor equestrian ring of 60x110 (which is fairly small actually) came to about $270K once they added on a small porch for $12K. Made my $40-50K building seem like a rounding error.

 

[BXHoosier]

My experience with Morton went well. I sent the local shop an email and had a response within a couple days. Luckily, I had my building built in 2019 before the world went crazy and prices started to skyrocket. They built it in the same colors as my existing Morton garage that was built in 2000 by the previous owner. At least in my area, Morton does not install overhead doors. I bought the doors myself from a local door business and installed them with a friend’s help.

 

[Plant 175]

So the building date is next February ?

 

[rc51stierhoff]

I have a Morton and would absolutely do it over. Their initial price, if looking at just the dimensions off the building look a bit more, however they are not so comparable for same quality of materials IMO (lumber, footings, metal, paint, and fasteners) They make their own and use top quality materials…they also stand behind their product(have an engineered spec and great warranty…even the paint)…and in terms of history they have been around a while. (They did sub out work/items that is not their own - garage doors and foot doors concrete etc if you choose something other than their own…mine had established relationships with the garage doors and concrete and acted as a general contractor….foot doors and other items I provided my spec and product and they installed. That doesn’t mean you could not build something as good or better, but if hiring out they build a very nice barn and in my experience are pretty easy to deal with…lots of papers to sign…lots of paperwork…but they are really good about building to your spec within their engineered solution.

 

[River19]

So the building date is next February ?

Mine will be built most likely in September because I went with a Morton Standard. If you want a building built to a custom spec they were looking into early 2023.

I need to get the site prepped within 120days per the contract. Once that is done they will ship the building to the site. The building components will sit on site and they will find a slot to come over and build it. They think mine will only take 3 days to assemble. As others have said, the overhead doors will be installed by a subcontractor.

 

[TheShadyKubota]

@BXHoosier what dimensions are your shop? I think that's a perfect size for a secondary shop ( I don't have a tone of space without taking down more trees) but it adds a nice look with the porch!

 

[rc51stierhoff]

My bui

Mine will be built most likely in September because I went with a Morton Standard. If you want a building built to a custom spec they were looking into early 2023.

I need to get the site prepped within 120days per the contract. Once that is done they will ship the building to the site. The building components will sit on site and they will find a slot to come over and build it. They think mine will only take 3 days to assemble. As others have said, the overhead doors will be installed by a subcontractor.

My build was 4 hrs from my residence, and it was quick…they dropped a kit pack on site (and it’s ready to go…very little scrap of any kind) and covered it with a tarp…it sat there for a few weeks and thrn boom the scheduled and got it done. It went up very quick. If you want pics you better be on site or have someone there. They are very efficient. I would not call it as impressivve as an Amish barn raising, but it went just as fast…Morton used equipment and just a few people…Blink of an eye if you are 4 hours away.

 

[bird dogger]

Mine will be built most likely in September because I went with a Morton Standard. If you want a building built to a custom spec they were looking into early 2023.

I need to get the site prepped within 120days per the contract. Once that is done they will ship the building to the site. The building components will sit on site and they will find a slot to come over and build it. They think mine will only take 3 days to assemble. As others have said, the overhead doors will be installed by a subcontractor.

I originally had two overhead doors on my 50x70 outbuilding that were installed by the building contractor. about 5 or 6 yrs later I had insulated half of the building and was ready to rent that space out to an owner/operator trucking business. But I needed a new tall door in the end of the building and that's where that extra 4.5 inches of height would've been worth gold as I needed to install a 13'+ high door 16' wide for him. I built and installed the new header and framed out the sides, flashed everything in the same steel and was ready for the door.

This was close to 30 years ago now and I don't recall the exact prices but the door company wanted an exorbitant amount of money to install their door. Something like two to three times the cost of the door. It also required low clearance tracks. Even though it was all framed out and ready for them and I had no old door to remove and haul away. They laughed at me when I said no thanks, I'll install it myself. They said they'd be standing by to take over when I failed.

Everything was up and in place the first day. A couple of hours to set and adjust the giant torsion springs the next morning and it was in operation. With a little measuring, chalk line and plumb bob you can save a pile of money by installing the overhead doors yourself.

 

[BXHoosier]

@BXHoosier what dimensions are your shop? I think that's a perfect size for a secondary shop ( I don't have a tone of space without taking down more trees) but it adds a nice look with the porch!

It’s 24’x24’x10’ with a 6’ porch. The doors are 8’x9’ and 12’x9’. I would have liked to have gone 24’x32’ but there’s a perimeter drain for my septic system about 6’-8’ out from the doors. I hooked up a 200W solar setup with 12V lights and to run an inverter for 120v power. My other Morton building is visible in the background.

 

[fried1765]

Congrats on your new building project, looking forward to your progress.

My 36 x 48 x 12 Morton was built in 1984.
It is still solid, and rust free (1/4 mi. from the open ocean).
I had an initial warranty claim, and they dealt with it in a totally positive manner.
38 years on now, and I am still completely satisfied!
They were a GREAT company to deal with!

 

[TheShadyKubota]

@BXHoosier that I think is the winner. I have a Triple attached already however I’m running in the same boat as you with grade elevations, trees and property lines. That inverter concept is really slick, when I built I brought 400amps to the property, with 200 to the house and another 200 for the future shop.

The porch is tastefully done. Great work!