Pole barn build

rice

FNG
Joined
Jan 11, 2016
Messages
40
Location
Spokane, WA
Hanson kits use the minimal amount of lumber/material and the maximum amount of labor which is not included in their price. I build and have a friend that got in a hurry and ordered a Hansen kit. He gave me the prints to look at for a install price and while their prints are very detailed their girt/purlins system has 1/2 the lumber local kits use. They also use smaller posts spaced close= more install labor. I told him sorry not interested in building and explained why. He is now wondering why he didn't call me first and has a kit being delivered he can't send back.
 

ben h

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jun 17, 2012
Messages
276
Location
SLC, UT
cnelk, I show that drawing to all our customers. It's funny how people have no grasp of that or that there is variability in pricing between high quality materials and low quality, yet all of them have bought a nice shirt and a shirt to mow the lawn in, but they're baffled by the concept that a nice faucet or whatever costs more than a cheap one.

I also do engineering and I'm curious if your engineer who's stamping plans for $400 is a "moonlighter" or an actual insured firm? I don't see how they could do it that cheap, unless it was really boilerplate and they essentially already had it done. Also, depending on the complexity of the building, good engineering, usually ends up saving more $, so spending $1k could save money. Perhaps not on a pole barn, but building projects in general. A few months ago a friend of mine asked me for a quote for engineering on a retaining wall, I told him $1200 (it's a big wall), and he was floored by that price and got someone else to do it for less money. He showed me pictures of the footings and I laughed my ass off! I would have saved him at least $2k on concrete alone, going with a more thorough design, i.e. sharpening my pencil and spending time on it to save $. I even told him that and he still thinks I'm too high (by saving him money?). He's also a contractor and he doesn't get that. Sometimes it's hard to tell when you're getting bids who's cheaper, particularly with design, if you don't know what you're doing.
 
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