Does anybody work out of a Morton Building or other steel structure?

[Russ T.]

Hi guys,
We are bursting out of our garage right now. I'm considering my options. The biggest need is for a very large garage. This garage should hold 4-5 vehicles (2-3 would be commercial carpet cleaning vans), our 24' travel trailer (not a must), and have some space for a work bench, storage, utility sink, etc..

I either need to find a garage off site or move.

I'm wondering if it's cost effective and nice enough (wife is a diva) to consider having Morton build us a home with a large garage/office to work from?

Hail is a real issue here in "tornado alley". How do these buildings hold up?

What other questions should I ask Morton (or other builder) if I sit down with them?

Should I be considering something else?

Thanks!


The Clean Machine

 

[Spurlington]

Just a comment on moving ..

One truck maybe 2 working out of the house isn't too bad .. if you're planning on going 2,3,4 trucks in the future - consider separating home and work .. not sure if you want to mix the family life with employees .. some towns or cities may not even allow the combination in certain areas .. so check on that before making the decision

Now if you had a nice piece of land and were able to build or find a piece with a house blocked by trees and separate access driveway for the shop/warehouse, that would be nice


I've had an employees make my daughters feel weird at one point - not that anything may have happened - just keeping the children feeling safe is priceless

 

[Russ T.]

It would be nice to have a garage attached to an office and work bathroom.

I don't plan on getting very big but definitely value the families privacy. It would feel so good to spread out a little. We've been cooped up and jammed into our 2 car garage all Winter. We live in town and I think I'd like a small piece of land outside of town too.


The Clean Machine

 

[Spurlington]

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This would be cool .. parking for 2 with huge office space on 2nd floor with kit and full bath !!

Id probably want 30ft wide by 40ft long

 

[your_good_sons]

Zoning may frown upon this. They would here. Variances to get residential made commercial are tough. Without a legal building, no way to insure it.
Tomorrow, I am looking at a building that is probably 65+ years old. The main part of the building is a T shirt printing plant. They have a suite that builds/rebuilds office chairs and on the end, a vacant suite, about 1,200 sf. The two suites were added much later, they are steel buildings. I fear they will be bitter cold in winter, boiling in the summer.
This guy wants $6 per sf rent. I would maybe buy the building for $6 per sf, not rent it for more than about $1.50. It was built about 10 years ago after the original building burned to the ground. Melted the siding on buildings 3 doors up. This building will not burn, but there is a notorious bar a few doors down and a street full of Section 8 slums around the corner.
http://www.coldwellbankermoves.com/...9804/2-Prince-Street-Middletown-NY-10940.aspx

 

[Askal]

T his kind of looks like our first shop from 1985. About 1600 Sf plus offices bath upstairs. Worked great for many years.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I live out in the county, way out. Any way out in the county you see many home operated business both with the Morton style buildings separate and some that are part home part business.

The are a little plain to have as a house if you care about looks but as a separate building they can be pretty nice. They stay fairly warm with an overhead shop heater, well at least as warm as you want to afford to spend. Hot in the summer, build with the idea of a cross winds.

If you're willing to move just tell the realtor that you are interested in a property with and out building. I'm sure there are plenty to be had.

 

[Jerry]

I am putting up a shop this spring, 36 x 48x16, with infloor heat, sprayfoam walls, finished inside and out comes to $52.00 per sq ft plus! I live in a really small town and bought the chunck of land a few years back for this purpose. I should be able to get 4 vehicles in it with space to walk around them.

 

[dealtimeman]

i am currently building an additional garage in the back for this purpose, it is only 25x25. I went as big as i could without getting noticed or complaints from the neighbors. i do wish i could have a 30x40. When we need larger I will sell and buy 10 or more acres and have separate ins and outs like stated above.

Also i am always keeping an eye out for cheap commercial buildings to buy and might end up buying a couple, one for LCS and the other as multi tenant to pay for both.

 

[Buck1955]

The last 2 homes I bought had a pole barn just for the biz. I'd have to say I got both barns next to free, and spent 11,000 or so remodeling. Overhead doors, radiant heat, insulation, rewiring. Neither had water which is a pain but costly to put in. The one I'm in now although it is a 1200 SF, I only heat about half of that just enough for the truck, drying equipment and a work bench and rolling tool chest. I put in a 220 volt heater, and a wall mounted LP radiant heater so I can have a backup but this year with LP prices going apeshit, I had an electric source which was nice.

I have a friend that built a metal house / shop that is very nice inside. If I could afford it I would build an ICE BLOCK house which is foam blocks filled with concrete and rebar. They are super insulated, and they claim safe for winds up to 200 mph. Since your in tornado country, that would be ideal and you can do most of the work yourself.

 

[cobra]

At 1.5 per sf your rent would be 305 per month for a 2440sf building? Where do you live and can I move there? Here they wont even talk to you for less than 10 a sf! If I could afford it I would jump on at 6/sf.
We are looking at building 3 car garage for business and ups the home value at the same time. Just sayin

 

[Russ T.]

Ice block house?! Count me in! Sounds ready for a zombie Apocalypse!

Seriously, I'll look into that. Might be hard to get my wife to move into some sort of bunker/igloo though ;-).


The Clean Machine

 

[Desk Jockey]

I came home last week and my wife told me someone bought the property across the road from us. They put in a gravel road a couple of days ago and are building a Morton building to live out of until they can afford the house. We're in both tornado ally and have really cold winters.

Can't even see their building site from my double wide, they are building way back from the road.