I think you misread - its 40x52. Vinyl siding takes care of the paint
problem.

No, I used 50x100x16 because it's the size I just finished ( well almost
finished:-) building and I knew the price of it.


I agree that there's no way I could match the *base* price for a prefab
metal building - I was talking about hte *complete* price of the
structure.
It would probably cost a bit more now - plywood prices have gone kinda
crazy, but when I did the pricing out, the metal buildings came out about
as
expensive as traditional. I included the maintenance costs, and figured on
a
20 year ocupancy. Traditional construction came out a bit less expensive
up
front, and a bit less in the long run too. Some of the factors that
probably
made a difference:

I have lots of windows (windows for metal buildings are expensive for
some reason)

I will give you that, the windows are much more $$ for the metal walls and
I'm not sure why, must be a volume thing.

I needed a clear span (advantage in metal building - the trusses I
ended
up using were expensive)

I needed a 2 story structure (cost a *lot* more to add the second
story
in metal)

Well the really expensive part of the second floor is the same the floor
joists and plywood for the floor is common for both building methods.

The metal building does require that you support the ends of the joists on
some sort of wall so I just used 2x6 studs to frame out an inside wall on
the perimeter of the building where I have the 2 floors.


I needed something that would match the existing house, as it's
attached
(added a lot to the metal building cost)

yep would be a problem with a metal building.


The reality was (for me, anyway) that the balloon (the actual shell of the
building - what the metal buildings call the "base package") was pretty
inexpensive compared to the overall project. Foundation, windows, roof,
heat, electric, etc all added up. Any savings that might have been
realized
inteh "base package" were lost because of special considerations that
needed
to be taken into account for the rest - things like you can't just staple
up
wiring, siding to match the existing place is extra, finished interior
walls
can't be aniled or screwed up - first you have to provide nailers,
etc.....


Most of the costs are similar for both buildings, they all need
foundations, electric, heat, etc.... The roof is cheaper on the metal
building by far, and lasts a lot longer than most shingles too. For the
electrical I wanted to run all of it in conduit, so the cost for me would be
a wash.

Hey maybe I should start a new thread with how to install the wires for my
service. Can I run the 600 amps @480 Volt for my service drop on 18 gauge
lamp cord instead of the dual 350 kcml I'm running:-)


Anyway, in my case, metal buildings were just not a good (read economical)
solution.....

I did not mean to imply that in your case that the solution you did was not
a good choice, but rather for most buildings ( that don't have to match or
attach to an existing structure ). The metal building is just about the
cheapest way to build a larger building. On some smaller structures, or
special cases like yours that might not be the case.

William.....


-_JD


"William" wrote in message
news:HLRpb.106304$e01.365096@attbi_s02...

"jduprie" wrote in message
news:A6Epb.100104$Tr4.266608@attbi_s03...
I did a bunch of reserach on this a few years ago. Turned out that the
total
cost for a traditional balloon frame (stud) building was about the
same
as
the cost for a metal building. Mine is 52x40. The interior is faced
with
OSB, the floor is Advantec (a composite plywood), the cieling is
unfinished
drywall. I've also got a 5' basement, and an "attic" that has an area
about
20x52 that could easily be finished (the roof trusses used up about
10'
on
each side). the best part is that it matches the other buildings on
the
property - I don't have to deal with the ugly metal building look.....

--JD



I find that rather hard to believe, I don't see how you could build (
for
the basic structure ) a 100' x 50' x 16' (clear span building out of
wood
framed construction (have you priced OSB lately? and forget plywood!)
for
less than the base building cost of 18k for the metal building I paid.
You
would have to also include the shingles and paint!

William.....