Survival and Emergency Preparedness

So...we ordered this all steel building last May. Contracted a guy to come in and do the excavating to build a pad for it. Basically a gravel/limestone pad. Took him all summer to finally finish it but he got it done.

The building was delivered on Thursday 9/22 and they finished it on Friday. It's 24wx40L. Has a 12' door on the house side and a 10' door on the back. Big enough for my tractor, ATV, mini bikes, travel trailer, flat trailer and all the rest of my junk.

Pretty interesting watching them put it together. 3 man crew, took them about a day and a half to finish it from start to finish. Kind of big erector set.

The roof trusses are pre made. They then slip them over the verticle post which then slip over vertical pegs on the ground bars. They then stand them up one by one.



Once erected they start screwing in the horizontal support beams. Everything is held together by self tapping metal screws.

They add siding and then frame the doors and windows with 2x2 tubing which is what the rest of the frame is made of.


They can pretty much put the doors and windows anywhere during the build process. Originally we had the big overhead doors centered and the little door on the side. After looking at the framing, I changed the location of all three doors and the windows. I put the window up high to make it harder to break into the building but still allow light in. Didn't really think we would use them for ventalation, rather we would just open a door.


The rocks are to keep the bank from washing away. They had to bring the grade up about 5'

nice...

Very nice building. Are you going to run power over to it?

Bmyers wrote: ↑Mon Sep 26, 2022 7:40 am Very nice building. Are you going to run power over to it?

Eventually it'll have power.. The problem in my area is finding an electrician that will actually show up. In the mean time I'll probably rig up some solar lights inside and out.

Great! I like that you used professionals and did not treat it as a DIY project.

bdcochran wrote: ↑Mon Sep 26, 2022 12:01 pm Great! I like that you used professionals and did not treat it as a DIY project.

10 or 15 years ago I'd a built it myself, these days not so much.

I've been pricing pole barns and buildings for a couple years. Even with the local Amish building me a wood barn, it would have cost $10K more than what I paid. and that included the larger 12' door, a 10' door and two windows. Caught a sale in April and locked in a price.

It did not include the excavating and sand/gravel they had to bring in to raise the grade up 5' or so.

It is a shame that when you have work to be completed it is so difficult to find those that want to make any money to come complete the job.

"The problem in my area is finding an electrician that will actually show up."

Not a new problem in this world. Back when my successful b-i-l (contractor with 36 people working for him) was starting off, I tried to find him a job as an estimator. The daughter of a contractor was hiring. She asked if my b-i-l were married or living with a girlfriend. She told me that without having someone to kick a guy out of bed to go to work, it wasn't happening for a lot of guys.

Since November 2021, I have had repeated promises that a qualified mechanic would show up at my house. Many missed appointments. Going on almost a year now.

Bmyers wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 10:17 am It is a shame that when you have work to be completed it is so difficult to find those that want to make any money to come complete the job.

What was funny was when he took the job he assured us that it would be done on time because....he was from downstate originally, had the downstate work ethic and you couldn't depend on the locals to show up.

So far he's missed 4 deadlines...Memorial day, July 4th, August 15 and Labor Day. It's cost him $1K in penalties we wrote into the contract. Not to mention $1K in bonuses to get the job done on time and we had to cancel a $6K patio project which he never started and will never finish. Finishing, cleaning up's new deadline is Oct 1. So overall he's leaving $8K on the table.

We would have dumped him months ago but couldn't find anyone to take his place...and he actually does good work but man is he severely attention deficit (ADHD).

The storage building was going to be the last thing to finish off the compound had we gotten the patio and other landscaping done. Now the patio going to have to wait until next year.

Sorry to hear about all the struggle. It is a shame that finding good service is so difficult anymore.