Putting another building in.

Discussion in 'Back to Basics' started by Thunder5Ranch, Apr 29, 2018.


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  1. Thunder5Ranch

    Thunder5Ranch Monkey+++

    I have kind of fallen in love with these portable buildings and what you can do with them. I won't buy a new one simply because they repo so many and mark them down quite a bit 5%-30% off of new price depending on damage done by the person they repo'd them from. Call them a handyman special that cost $5,000-$7000 instead of $8,000-$12000 for a brand new one.

    The one I am putting in now is a 12'x32' with a side man door and a front overhead garage door. It burned me for $5,800 Vs $8,300 for one just like it sitting beside it. Only things wrong with it is the previous owner cut a hole in the wall for a AC and put three 4" holes in the floor....... errr raised rabbits in it for 6 months and let them pee and poop on the floor. No problem as the treated plywood most of the manufacturers use on the floors is some very durable stuff. Odor might be a problem but this one is going to be used for tools, storage and workshop, so some rabbit marble and urine left overs is not a big deal..... and the building sat on the lot for year getting aired out good before I bought it.

    I am kind particular about site prep for where a building will get set. Little things like a over hanging hickory limb turn into a big deal when the nuts from 50 feet up start raining down in the fall :)

    Ideally a nice level concrete pad is best. But I have a large supply of 3" rock available and use it. In this buildings case it took 28 tons to make a solid base and the first 14 tons got wallowed into a foot of oatmeal consistency mud. Once that got a little solid over a couple of nice days I layered on the next 14 tons and while it is still spongy under the 6 ton tractors weight the tractor does not break through. So I am calling it goof enough for a 12,000 pound building with the weight dispersed much more than the tractors.

    The RR ties will go under the buildings skids cross ways. Since they are heavy and I like spending as little time as possible under heavy buildings held up by mules... I use the tractor to push the ties under on one side and put a chain on the ties on the opposite side and pull then under. It only takes a couple of seconds to get under and unhook the chain and roll back out. Yes still a couple seconds of risk but the easiest way I have found, with the least time under the building.

    My oldest building is the one I converted into a commercial kitchen and I bought it in 1992 to store stuff in on my first piece of land while I was overseas and it is still rock solid and in great shape today. So they last and easy enough to move if you have gooseneck flat bed or a drop deck trailer. Do need oversize load permits though for the wider ones.

    The one I turned into my home is a 14x46 lofted model and after two years I have no complaints about it. That one cost $9,800 and I have put around $15,000 of materials, plumbing, insulation and electrical into it on top of the $9800 but no matter how you count it $25,000 for a home is cheap now days..... More so a custom one with lots of built in hidey holes.

    They probably are not for everyone but if you don't need 2500 sq feet of living space they make fine cabins and you don;t have the headache of framing and building the shell yerself.

    But again the most important part is the location and base you set the building on. I would highly recommend that you not use cinder blocks to sit them on. I sat one on C blocks and over the years have watched one block after another shatter and have to be replaced with cut off chunks of RR tie. Which is a total PITA! Seen a lot of folks just set them on the ground and then later stand there scratching their head wondering how they are going to jack it up to get blocks under it. Also a PITA. Block it up enough to atleast be able to get a stubby bottle jack under the skids :) RR Ties are my preferred blocking a they won't crush and under a building and sitting on rock, even old ones will last forever and 2 1/2 days ;) Anyway since my new work shop is arriving tmrw and the site prep work is all done, though I would share a bit about it.

    DSC00170.JPG
     
  2. ochit

    ochit Monkey+

    Wishing you an smooth easy build.
     
    Thunder5Ranch likes this.
  3. Dunerunner

    Dunerunner Brewery Monkey Moderator

    Sweet deals... Awaiting the finished pics! :D
     
    Thunder5Ranch likes this.
  4. Gator 45/70

    Gator 45/70 Monkey+++

    Nice! I would spray a little simple green on the floors to get rid of the smell.
     
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  5. duane

    duane Monkey+++

    I don't know about your state, but in New Hampshire a portable building on skids is considered personal property and I know of several back in 2008-9 when all the foreclosures were going on that were bought for as little as $1 for a $3,000 shed to $500 or so for metal carports or portable garages. People had no way or where to move them and just wanted to make sure the bank or the realtor didn't get them for free. Not trying to be a vulture, but if you know people who are losing their place, good wood stoves, washer and dryers,sheds, greenhouses, carports, etc are all fair game and in most cases the little that you give them is very much appreciated. They do make nice buildings and the well built ones are great, some of the big box stores sell junk. I like a concrete slab best with reinforcement around the edges and cable tie down points. The town lets me call it portable as it is not "permanently" attached to a foundation as is my greenhouse. Used J bolts in concrete and pressure treated sill on my woodshed, one open side, and pay taxes on it as permanent structure. If it were on skids, I wouldn't. Never have been able to understand either the mind of a woman or of the tax assessor.
     
    Last edited: Apr 29, 2018
  6. Thunder5Ranch

    Thunder5Ranch Monkey+++

    Does not matter if it is on skids or a foundation here, anything over 10x10 is taxed as a perm structure :( The move from this state is not far off and I have all the buildings where it is a simple matter to unhook the electric, water and sewer lines and winch them up on my trailer and take off to a less hostile State.
     
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  7. Thunder5Ranch

    Thunder5Ranch Monkey+++

    There really is no smell just the tell tile white circles that rabbit urine was there. I will pain the floor with killz mixed with coarse sand anyway since it is just going to be a work shop and storage.... coarse sand just have some traction under the feet.
     
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  8. Bandit99

    Bandit99 Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    T5R, I am curious as I have thought many times about getting one of these pre-built sheds. Yours is 12' x 32' which is 384 sqft. I am curious if you have to get a building permit? I have to get one for anything over 200sqft which is permanent and obviously adds cost to the building.

    I am considering getting a Container, maybe a couple, this Summer as think this will get around the permit, it's just for firewood and maybe a few tools...
     
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  9. duane

    duane Monkey+++

    You will have to check with your town, I can't build anything over about 12 by 12, or make any major modifications to my property without a permit and inspections, but a container on a slab, semi trailer, car port, greenhouse, while taxed, don't require a permit as they are "temporary" structures. I can not put up a 6 sq ft sign without a permit, but can park a licensed semi box with the whole side painted in a sign and it doesn't require a permit. As always, if someone doesn't want you to do something, the officials will usually wimp out to protect themselves, and the "law" will be interpreted in the way that will cause the least political damage and minimize legal costs.
     
  10. Thunder5Ranch

    Thunder5Ranch Monkey+++

    Yeah what Duane said, it comes down to individual Counties or Towns. A guy bought a 5 acre place up the road and moved a shipping container in found out his property taxes went from $17 per year for a bare piece of scrub land to $378.60 because the container is considered a perm structure, because it is larger than 10x10 and a higher tax because it is made out of steel rather than wood. The County one County South that he moved it from considered it temp and not taxable. When the tax man came to asses my cabin portable, I argued it was not a perm structure and that I could easily move it at any time. He disagreed, I hooked my GN Trailer up backed up to the building and winched it on to the trailer and said "YES I Can" It still raised my taxes $258 per year and I lost both of my appeals. This new one because it has a overhead garage door will only raise the taxes $178. Of course my 12x14farrowing sheds run $100 per year each on taxes, the 14x21 steel carport that is a hen house $312 per year, 12x16 carport I made into a greenhouse $184, 30x96 high tunnel cost $1,100, open sided 30x40 pole barn $440 base farmland tax on the home 40 acres was $68 when I bought this place 10 years ago, base tax on the land now is $590 and some change........... and according to the tax man will be raised in increments 450% over the next 3 years. Wife can't retire soon enough and we can put IL in the rear view mirrors........... 18 months.......

    But yeah the amount things can vary between even adjacent counties can be thousands of dollars. A lot of the repo buildings are folks that bought them, had it brought in and set and found out a few months later that they are not allowed where they are. The one I am getting today was folks that lived 2 miles outside of town and didn't realize or understand that even though they were outside of town, the town had annexed their area into the City limits and strictly prohibit portable buildings of any kind and forced them to get rid of it, their goats, rabbits, and chickens as well. Wrong in every sense of the word but not a damn thing they could do about and they failed to do the research before buying their place to know what was allowed and what was prohibited. That happens a lot. Particularly with towns annexing 5-10 miles outside of towns into their City limits.

    The one thing good in my County is it is unincorporated and no zoning restrictions or permits out in the County as to what I can modify or build....... I am just going to get the hell taxed out of me for anything I improve or build..... LOL a 5' deep stock pond for example is a recreational lake and is taxed at $400 per based on surface area at the high water line..............
     
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  11. Gator 45/70

    Gator 45/70 Monkey+++

    I put in a 12x20 portable building on some land in Beaurgard parish
    Didn't even bother to ask if I needed a permit.
     
    oldawg likes this.
  12. Thunder5Ranch

    Thunder5Ranch Monkey+++

    Well it is in and those RR Ties kept telling me that I ain't getting any younger!

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