Anyone have experience with a pre-fab garage?

bobs409

bobs409

 
Administrator
I'm just starting to research these. Looks like a really good way to get a garage FAST with no BS to go through! One even says no site prep needed. :dunno

One thing that I need to find out about is the floor. They are saying 3/4" plywood on 12" floor joists. There is a picture at the one site that shows a 57 Chevy parked in one with that floor. Must be strong enough but how will it hold up?

That is the only thing questionable to me. The wood floor idea must work or they wouldn't sell them. I do love the idea of avoiding concrete! I rate that job right around the same fun as sanding drywall compound on a 90 degree day! :irk :sweat

Prices are around high 5K-low 6K for a one car. They have doubles that come in two parts and are joined on site. I don't think you could build one yourself for that price.

I'm only looking for parking for 2 vehicles, not to work on them so nothing too big or fancy.

There are 2 places near me. One 5 miles away, built by the Amish but no prices yet so I'll have to contact them. The other is around 20 miles but they offer free shipping up to 25 miles. :D

They come with really decent warranty's depending on the building products you select.

Just throwing this out for discussion...


Here are the websites:
https://www.oldhickorybuildings.com/home/

https://www.storageshedspa.com/
 
rstreet

rstreet

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 17
Bob I have one of them used for lawn tractors etc. The siding is deteriorating on mine but the floor seems ok for now, on second roof, plus have rebuilt the big drive up end door but I have not looked under the floor joists lately. I am going to say no to one of these as my father-in-laws siding and roof has been worse than mine! Stay with proper built concrete slab and pole barn construction using proper gauge metal siding and roofing. Make sure all is above finished grade. Use someone experienced with doing these as my big pole barn front people door isn't square and is actually a parallelogram :bang
Robert
 
Carmine

Carmine

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 10
My son just had a prefab metal garage built on a 28'x28'x6" slab of reinforced concrete. He had it installed by the same company he bought it from. They put it together in 1.5 days. He likes the quickness of the install, but did have to wait a while after placing the order. The ceiling is 12' high and he has a 2 post lift in it. I don't recall the cost of the bldg. or concrete, but it was much cheaper then stick built. He had electricity installed and is thinking about insulation and heat. The biggest problem that he encountered was the slab. He had a professional mason excavate, frame and pour the concrete. This was all new construction. Start from scratch. When they came to install the bldg., they measured and the slab wasn't the size it was suppose to be. Not only smaller but also not square. Unbelievable. So, the contractor came back and had to correct it. I don't think he made too much money on that job. This issue put the installation of the garage off for 2 months. I guess these metal garages are quite popular and you have to make an appointment to have it done. They travel around the country doing it. Before having the addition put on my garage, I also looked at having one of these garages installed on a slab. It was much cheaper but I had no room for it. Where I live, zoning doesn't allow for bldgs. to be built in front of your house. I didn't want to go through an appeal process. If it wasn't for that, I would have had one. But, I'm very happy with what I have, Carmine.

BTW, I agree with what Mike said. Don't even waste your time with a wooden floor. I saw some floors where they used asphalt/blacktop. Guess it's ok. Definitely different.
 
bobs409

bobs409

 
Administrator
I'll have to see what they have that goes on a slab. The wood floor idea seemed odd to me. Even pressure treated wood will rot when in contact with the ground. The one site I think says a lifetime guarantee on the floor! They must apply something to the bottom side. ??
 
Iowa 409 Guy

Iowa 409 Guy

Well Seasoned Member
Supporting Member 15
Bob

If you are looking only to park a couple of cars, how about one of those fabric hoop sheds?
 
bobs409

bobs409

 
Administrator
That would be the most economical I'd think. Not sure it's for me though. I wonder how much snow they can support. :D
 
LMBRJQ 60

LMBRJQ 60

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 4
bobs409 said:
I'll have to see what they have that goes on a slab. The wood floor idea seemed odd to me. Even pressure treated wood will rot when in contact with the ground. The one site I think says a lifetime guarantee on the floor! They must apply something to the bottom side. ??
Click to expand...

Some lifetimes are shorter than others Bob...

There will be a lot of clauses with that "life time warrantee"

Steve
 
1958 delivery

1958 delivery

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 2
If you really only want for parking a couple cars check how much in your area to purchase a Sea steel shipping container. They're big, very secure and all you need is room on your property to sit it on, no concrete etc.
 
bobs409

bobs409

 
Administrator
1461778214.jpg


I'd really like to buy the car! :D
 
Tom Kochtanek

Tom Kochtanek

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 13
I was looking to rent some temporary storage space a few years back and decided to purchase a smaller version of what Mike described instead. It's a shipping container that measures 8 by 20 with an 8 foot ceiling. Floor is wooden, but has held up well. Very secure but with no circulation they can get real hot in the summer sun. Best price per square foot for my needs at that time.

I stick built the Manshed at a cost of about $50 per square foot but that has two levels and a lot of concrete, including two driveways. Stick building is definitely more expensive.

This is your birthday present to yourself, right?

TomK
 
bobs409

bobs409

 
Administrator
1958 delivery said:
8'x40 high cube(almost 10' tall) out of Newark is about $2800 plus delivery , you can put a lot in a 40' long container. No concrete.
https://westerncontainersales.com/shipping-container-prices/newark-nj-nyc/
Click to expand...

Tom Kochtanek said:
I was looking to rent some temporary storage space a few years back and decided to purchase a smaller version of what Mike described instead. It's a shipping container that measures 8 by 20 with an 8 foot ceiling. Floor is wooden, but has held up well. Very secure but with no circulation they can get real hot in the summer sun. Best price per square foot for my needs at that time.

I stick built the Manshed at a cost of about $50 per square foot but that has two levels and a lot of concrete, including two driveways. Stick building is definitely more expensive.

This is your birthday present to yourself, right?

TomK
Click to expand...

The problem is that they still LOOK like a shipping container! I don't think I can deal with that. I had considered one of those a while back but gave up on it. Better stick to something that looks like a garage. :D
 
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