Morton Buildings garage

Nicholas Studer

PCS Elected Director 2022-2025
I thought I would share some brief experiences with the construction of my "Ambulance Station" last year with Morton Buildings. https://mortonbuildings.com/

I was recommended to utilize them by John Burchfield, who also had one from them. Morton is a national company that builds a hybrid between typical wood-frame construction and metal buildings. In their case, the building's frame is wood, but it has a metal skin. They are known to be very high end. We chose them for the resale value, warranty, and the fact the concrete, electrical, insulation, and building itself would all be handled internally. We appreciated this latter fact in particular as it eliminates the factor of multiple different vendors trying to blame each other if there are problems that arise later.

In the end, the building is extremely well-constructed. It is primarily built at a plant, and then delivered for assembly on-site. Concrete is then poured once the structure is up. The construction team was top-notch and put it together very quickly. The sub-contractor used for electrical was excellent, and I hired him for some odd-jobs following the build. The concrete was very well-done by their sub-contractor. I painted the concrete about a month later, and the asphalt driveway/parking pad was placed by a local contractor.

The main issues we encountered are best related to the local office. The local sales consultant was fired at the tail-end of the handful of days of actual construction. I was told had apparently been feeding mistruths back to his management who of course wanted to salvage the contract with as little expense as possible. Please note the combination of fiber insulation on the walls the thermal panels in the roof is not common for Morton, usually the fiber is only used with a drop ceiling also covered in this fiber. This was specified by the local consultant, and supposedly is a "mistake." However, I ended up happy with it because the fiber cuts out a fair bit of the noise. Additional insulation was put up in the "triangles" shown later by my request. I would be happy to discuss further details off-line with PCS members who are considering purchase of a new building.

In the end, I would consider Morton again but I've learned a fair bit. I am very happy with my ambulances on-site, safe, and easily accessible.
 

Attachments

  • 2017-04-25 22.22.16.jpg
    2017-04-25 22.22.16.jpg
    90.8 KB · Views: 279
  • 2017-05-07 19.17.34.jpg
    2017-05-07 19.17.34.jpg
    94.2 KB · Views: 277
  • 2017-05-07 19.18.50.jpg
    2017-05-07 19.18.50.jpg
    89.9 KB · Views: 280
But............. aren't you short a couple of stalls? Does the Olds have to sit outside??
 
Very nice Nicholas, thank you for sharing the story and images with us. I think your sales rep probably did not represent the Morton company well and now he is probably out doing the same for another company. For the life of me, I cannot understand why some sales people insist on telling lies, or misrepresenting facts, those people don't usually last long, but they make it harder for the honest, straight-shooter sales person and their companies.
 
pole buildings are quite common around here there there name is on top. your problems are normal and not with the building it's self. as with anything else as soon as you get it up you wish. nice part of them is adding on is easy if you have room. now then if they were fire trucks you could get at least three more in that space. I will say get a ceiling in as soon as you can. that light tin makes a decent one.
 
But............. aren't you short a couple of stalls? Does the Olds have to sit outside??

No - nothing will live outside. I have an attached garage, plus a covered carport I use for my daily driver.

There is a long story involving my current life status that is better left to offline discussion. Previously, my expectation was that one of these vehicles would most likely be off-site for paint/restoration at any one time. That will no longer be the case for some time. There was also expectation of moving in a few short years, and while this may be so it is not likely to be in the manner previously expected. Luckily, something has come up that will eliminate the concern of an "extra ambulance" that I will share soon.

pole buildings are quite common around here there there name is on top. your problems are normal and not with the building it's self. as with anything else as soon as you get it up you wish. nice part of them is adding on is easy if you have room. now then if they were fire trucks you could get at least three more in that space. I will say get a ceiling in as soon as you can. that light tin makes a decent one.

Roof is insulated as well - just has the panels. It's apparently not very efficient to mix insulation styles, but se la vie. Seems to do its job.
 
Thanks for sharing the photos Nick, seems it turned out nicely. It would be a nice side piece in The Professional Car to see how other members have created their shops/garages and what the feel are necessary must haves to service, maintain and/or restore a procar.
 
Thanks for sharing the photos Nick, seems it turned out nicely. It would be a nice side piece in The Professional Car to see how other members have created their shops/garages and what the feel are necessary must haves to service, maintain and/or restore a procar.

I agree, and thought the same. However, I believe the TPC staff have all the material they need/want for the forseeable future. That is why I posted this here.

I wrote an article on the multiple, previously unknown Pinner-Chryslers of Dutchess County, NY about two years ago there wasn't much enthusiasm for it. I'll pop that up here as well sometime soon.
 
It looks great Nick and I, for one, am envious. I have a beautiful space(large enough for 6 cars) for my cars......... but I have to write a rent check every month and it chaps my @$$ to be renting!

If you invest in some wheel casters, you could shoe-horn another rig in there!
 
Not a Morton building but....

Here's my garage. It is 32 feet wide by 30 feet deep and doors are 10 feet high. It was built by Conestoga buildings in New Holland, Pennsylvania. They were very easy to deal with and I would highly recommend them. I had thicker concrete put in for a future lift and the garage is insulated and pre-wired for a heater. Now all I need is another pro-car :D
 

Attachments

  • 20180512_140133.jpg
    20180512_140133.jpg
    94.7 KB · Views: 122
  • 20180512_140150.jpg
    20180512_140150.jpg
    94.8 KB · Views: 118
  • 20180421_113913.jpg
    20180421_113913.jpg
    96.5 KB · Views: 120
....... Now all I need is another pro-car :D

Have I got a great deal for you!!! :eek: Nice looking garage, but you will need more height if you want to put an ambulance on a lift and get under it. My garage is 12' high, and I had to crouch down while working on the underneath of the 1963 Pinner Chrysler, and that was with the beacon removed.
 
Back
Top