I want a pole barn built and Canestoga Builders gave me a good quote. I’m having trouble finding online reviews. I was wondering if anyone has dealt with them? They specialize in pole barns.
No help here. I looked at a variety of pole buildings when deciding on the garage. Finally deciding to go with a traditional stick built. Ended up being far less expensive. Maybe the builder was doing me a favor?
Boy, I think your builder did you a favor! One of the primary benefits of a pole barn is the cost versus a stick built. I built a 30x50 barn with 2 9x8 and a 16x9 overhead doors, 2 man doors and 7 simple windows and a concrete floor for $22,000 7 years ago. My secretary had a fair,reputable local carpenter quote her and her husband a 2 car garage-I think it was $ 24,000. It was insulated and sheet rocked on the inside. My brother was the lead contractor- him, my self, and some friends did the building. He did the excavating gratis ( well I bought him a Stihl 362 for his help.) I did hire the garage door installation, as well as the electrical and the concrete work. Don't have any experience with Conestoga. My thoughts are to look at their construction specs and see of they are satisfactory to you. The actual building isn't finish carpentry-more strength-I mean if a couple of school teachers, a mechanic, and a lawyer with an excavating contractor as foreman can do it, it can't be that hard!!
Be very careful whom you hire. Insist on seeing one of the barns they build for a client inside and out. Don't use 29 gage metal go with 26 gage or the first hailstorm will kill your building. Pay attention to what grade wood they use or you end up like me with grade 3 trash in load bearing places like roofing. Also check all the corners of the building and see how well they were closed. Ask for an extra wide ridge cover with proper covers underneath. How well you need it build depends on what you want to do with it. If you can afford it go with overhangs all around or at least on 2 sides. i wished i had done all four. Any windows try to keep under overhang or they will leak. Get a reputable company to do the concrete if you intend a concrete floor inside or do it yourself if you know how. There are so many things that can go wrong. You are also in an area where you will have to do worry about snow loads make sure the roofing structure is up to the task. Don't just take their word for it. Check on local building requirements for pole barns they have dramatically changed in the last couple of years. If you have questions i'll help all i can.
Good points made by Luci. I bought my "kit" from a local company-I have seen several buildings built with their components-siding, trusses, lumber- and knew they sold a quality product. They also were local and knew the snow load requirements-I didn't need engineered plans but their plans are accepted in the neighboring communities that require them. My concrete guy was someone my brother had worked on dozens of jobs with, and he had also poured an apron in front of his garage.
Heavier gauge is always preferred, but the norm for pole barns is 29 gauge which is most often .014 galvalume. The heavier gauge that is used much less frequently is 26 gauge. Find out who produced the panels and I might be able to provide some insight. The paint is very critical also, find out whose paint it is...
Everlast has a unique product as I understand it... They import the painted steel and if I'm correct they don't use Galvalume but a zinc magnesium alloy. I do not know the paint supplier since it's imported. Only thing to be concerned with is that whoever rollforms the metal needs to warm it during the rollforming to prevent cracking of the coating. I think everlast does this but they also sell coil to other rollformers and they would need to heat it also before forming to reduce the chance of corrosion on the bends. See if they will offer you a paint warranty. Should be 40 years.
Have you already ordered that? If not there are a lot of things i wouldn't do. I didn't see any dust/water guards also called rat guards for the bottom of the walls. What are you intending to do with your barn? i wouldn't use anything under 26 gauge metal for anything. I even use it to cover my firewood, doesn't blow off as easy and doesn't crunch up when it does and can stand a large hail. The price difference is not that much check it out, it's well worth it. Will C i hate to disagree with you. That is exactly why you get so many bad contractors. Oh that is easy we can do it, lets go advertise. It's one thing to build for yourself , we do almost everything. However a lot of those so called contractors who build these barns don't have a clue what they are doing and suing them afterwards is nearly impossible unless you have an engineer draw up complete plans for them and they sign to agree. Those buildings look simple but seemingly small mistakes can become very major problems later on.
Your quote has vented soffits, do you have any kind of ridge venting? Those two go together one alone makes little sense. Mine is all closed with foam insulation sprayed in. You may also consider 2x6 2 ft on center instead of 2x4 for the walls. It gets pretty windy and all you have is flexible 29 gauge metal and 2x4 to handle the impact. Also check which grade wood he uses if it is number 3 (they don't tell you unless you ask) that has no real structural capacity because of all the knots and flaws.
