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speaking of garages


Guest marlin65

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Guest marlin65

In the not to distant future I'll be re-locating in the country away from the rat race. I live in Fla. Has anyone had experiences with these firms that sell pre-fab garages, (Morton Buildings,etc). I'm looking at a 3 car garage used mainly for storing the vehicles but still need some space for a workshop or better yet a place to display auto items, store magazines,kick back and so on.Any suggestions welcome. Thanks.

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Guest Orphanauto

I know a few guys who have bought old gas stations, from the old 20-30's style, and even a bit more modern, used the bay the put the cars in, then put old style pumps in front, with nostalgic signs. then when they wanted to sit out front on a saturday, and shot the breeze with other car nuts, well you get the idea. There is a guy from Fl. that has one like that and it is his business. He uses it for photography. Wish I could give you the name of the place. Just a thought. These old gas stations are kinda hard to sell, so you can get a good deal on one.

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Morton in particular makes a very nice building and at least around here they are at the top if not the best in quality. Morton specializes in steel pole type buildings but what they offer more than many others is a nice array of external and internal options that can all add up for beautiful building when finished. Their prices reflect that though and they are typically on the HIGH end price when looking at a basic steel pole building. By pole building I am referring to a building with widely spaced larger size posts either set in the ground or anchored to a concrete footing with horizontal 2x4 or 2x6 lumber attached to the posts as a mounting surface for the siding. The trusses are wood frame and the roof and siding are steel. If you have the budget for a Morton building I don't think you'd be sorry. If I had the money and having an upscale look was important, thats what I would do. There are many lower cost alternatives that serve the same purpose without the extra bling and prestige of the Morton name.

In general, a well constructed steel pole building is a very good choice for a garage because they are relatively inexpensive per Sq ft (Morton is an exception to this rule) and look nice. Part of the reason they are less expensive is because they go up quick minimizing labor costs. Around here a good crew can have a 30x50 building shell up and closed in in about 3 days. There are a lot of vendors for these so shop around. Some offer just the basic shell building while others will add whatever bling you want. We compared Morton when looking for a horse barn and while they offered a quality building, they were about %20 higher compared to similar buildings that served the purpose.

So it will come down to your budget. I have seen Morton structures on large million plus dollar estates so they are considered one of the elites in this type of construction. Steel buildings have essentially no maintenance and thats a big plus in my book.

If you will be in an area where theft is a problem steel buildings do not offer the security of a block building because the metal siding can be cut away fairly easy to gain access.

One more thing about pole buildings is its also relatively cheap to get a building with a higher ceiling in the event you would want a 4 post lift to stack an extra car some day. This is a very attractive option that many are doing since the price of these lifts are under $3000. If you put in a standard height 8' ceiling and decide later on you need space for an extra car, a lift is out of the question. At the very min you need 10' and that will allow stacking 2 lower profile height cars similar to a Riviera. 12' is preferrable.

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