prefab garage

[Larry 88 traga]

Inspired by some of the "building a dream garage" projects chronicled on this board, I wondered if any members have experience with any of the prefab structures advertised on the web. All steel structures, post and beam, truss systems.....
I looked at a few sites and some looked promising.
Your opinions would be appreciated. Thanks.
Larry

[Larry 88 traga]

bump

[Wrecked944]

One of my colleagues at work bought a prefab garage from this company...

http://www.sturdybuilt.com/

He says he is overall happy with the result and the price. But he says the build quality was mediocre. Not so bad that he is disatisfied. But not as good as a stick built structure. Asked if he would do it all over again, he said yes. He said it took the company five days to install the structure because it doesn't come as a finished piece. Instead, it arrives as a "kit". And he stressed again and again that the price was excellent.

I'd be curious to know how this works out for you. I have also been inspired by the various "Garage Mahal" projects on this website - some nicer than my house. To save costs, I considered using cement block and building it myself. But a neighbor warned me off that idea saying it would be difficult and pricey. I also considered building a steel structure and a friend recommended this website as a source...

http://www.unistrut.com

But I could not figure out how or where to buy the materials (or how to construct a steel building). All told, the project scared the crap out of me and I gave up. So by all means, please let us (i.e. me ) know how it goes for you.

[IROC]

In my neck of the woods, there are numerous companies that specialize in building detached garages. That's all they do. They have it down to a science and can whip these things together in no time at all and do it cheaply.

I had a 24x32 detached garage (my shop) built by one these outfits for $9000, complete - concrete, the building, everything. After the concrete pad had setup enough to build (about a week), they showed up and built the entire shop in about 4 hours. No lie. Incredible.

That was about 6 years ago and I haven't any problems at all. Very good build quality/workmanship.

I only mention this as I've seen some of those pre-fab type of buildings and they are somewhat of an eyesore in a quasi-residential area. If you need something big (like 40x60) then they are the way to go. If not, I would recommend exploring the route I took....

Just a suggestion.

Mike

[CBRacerX]

Send those cheap garage builders up north!!!

Please!!!

I am going to be building a garage-'Mahal' in the next year and I shudder when I think about what a local contractor will charge.


Chris

[Rot 911]

Originally posted by IROC
I had a 24x32 detached garage (my shop) built by one these outfits for $9000, complete - concrete, the building, everything. After the concrete pad had setup enough to build (about a week), they showed up and built the entire shop in about 4 hours. No lie. Incredible.

That is unbelievably cheap! A few years ago I got a quotes for a similar size garage here in mid-Missouri where things are generally cheaper than most other places. Cheapest quote was for $26,000! We ended up buying another house that already had a detached garage which is 30 x 50. You would think that is big enough, but now I want to expand it.

[vash]

garage mahal!!!! that is great!

[RickM]

Funny, this came up in a conversation here today. A colleague, here in Northern NJ, is about to pull the trigger on a 2 1/2 car garage built onsite by these people http://www.durabiltpolebuildings.com/ He's going for the 2 bay verion of the "Large Standard Building" on their home page for $11k. It doesn't include the concrete pad.

I'll see if he knows someone that has one of these units and get feedback.

[toolman]

I built a 30 x 40 complete ( 100amp 220v, insulated, osb wall and ceiling, 16 double 8' florecents, 16 and 8 foot insulated overheads, gas forced air heat, cable TV and phone, exhaust fan for painting ) for about $27500. I had my contractor build the shell and did the rest myself.

[Larry 88 traga]

Gentlemen, thanks for the help. I'll check the suggested companies on the net. Larry