[Farmall] Only Slightly off topic: Shop and Storage building for Farmall Tractors

Tue Apr 11 16:19:31 PDT 2006

Larry,

While I would agree with Mr. Umland about the savings of doing  
whatever finish work you can, I feel I must caution anybody  
considering this kind of job NOT to hire any "local boys" who happen  
to need the work. The "appropriate skills" are not the only required  
qualifications.

I do not think I am an un-sophisticated person. I hold several  
university degrees and have successfully negotiated the sale/purchase  
of several homes and other parcels of real estate. I spent a career  
negotiating contracts, and built a 24 X 35, cathedral ceiling great- 
room onto my home, doing all the flooring and interior finishing myself.

I made the sad mistake of hiring a local boy to build a pole barn/ 
workshop on the basis of one informal reference. He bought much of  
his material at Menards, as I could have done, but unfortunately, he  
hired his crew out of the local saloon, where he apparently conducted  
all his business and spent most of his days. Some days they showed up  
at noon, some weeks they showed up not at all.

When we signed the contract he told me we could have the building up  
in 11 days.

Eleven months later, after consulting two lawyers, I got the building  
finished. We couldn't get the final papers notarized because he had  
no identification; his drivers license was being held by the court.

Fortunately for me, most of the subs he hired (to do the concrete,  
electrical, excavating, etc.) were honest and competent, so the final  
product is minimally serviceable, but the finish is poor and a whole  
lot of things had to be re-done. What was supposed to be my  
retirement present to myself, and the place where I could work on all  
my projects, turned into a nightmare.

Along the way I had a lien placed against the title of my home,  
because he had not paid for materials.

All things considered he was a very lucky crook; I don't own a gun.

Please, do yourself a favor. Get several references from people who  
have COMPLETED projects. Get several credit references,  talk to  
banks, suppliers, sub-contractors, etc. Go out and look at buildings  
he has completed and talk to the owners. If there is the slightest  
doubt, RUN!

There are hundreds of good contractor/builders out there, and just  
enough sleaze-bags to require caution.

John

On Apr 11, 2006, at 11:52 AM, Arthur Umland wrote:

>    Good to learn Lrry that you will have a great facility to store  
> and work on your IH collection. One option that you may want to  
> consider worked well for me. I purchased the pole shed materials in  
> a package through Menards and hired a couple of local people with  
> appropriate skills to construct the building. Saved a few dollars  
> over having the "big boys" construct it, and my construction site  
> would not have met all of their specifications for a work site  
> which includes a large surrounding area for them to move in all  
> their motorized truck, crane, and lift equipment. I dare say that I  
> have one of the squarest pole sheds built!

--Apple-Mail-3--1013353333
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Content-Type: text/html;
	charset=ISO-8859-1

<HTML><BODY style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; =
-khtml-line-break: after-white-space; "><DIV>Larry,</DIV><DIV><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV>While I would agree with Mr. =
Umland about the savings of doing whatever finish work you can, I feel I =
must caution anybody considering this kind of job NOT to hire any "local =
boys" who happen to need the work. The "appropriate skills" are not the =
only required qualifications.<DIV><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>I do not think I am an =
un-sophisticated person. I hold several university degrees and have =
successfully negotiated the sale/purchase of several homes and other =
parcels of real estate. I spent a career negotiating contracts, and =
built a 24 X 35, cathedral ceiling great-room onto my home, doing all =
the flooring and interior finishing myself.<DIV><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>I made the sad mistake of =
hiring a local boy to build a pole barn/workshop on the basis of one =
informal reference. He bought much of his material at Menards, as I =
could have done, but unfortunately, he hired his crew out of the local =
saloon, where he apparently conducted all his business and spent most of =
his days. Some days they showed up at noon, some weeks they showed up =
not at all.</DIV><DIV><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>When we signed the contract =
he told me we could have the building up in 11 days.</DIV><DIV><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Eleven months later, after =
consulting two lawyers, I got the building finished. We couldn't get the =
final papers notarized because he had no identification; his drivers =
license was being held by the court.</DIV><DIV><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Fortunately for me, most of =
the subs he hired (to do the concrete, electrical, excavating, etc.) =
were honest and competent, so the final product is minimally =
serviceable, but the finish is poor and a whole lot of things had to be =
re-done. What was supposed to be my retirement present to myself, and =
the place where I could work on all my projects, turned into a =
nightmare.</DIV><DIV><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Along the way I had a lien =
placed against the title of my home, because he had not paid for =
materials.</DIV><DIV><BR class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>All =
things considered he was a very lucky crook; I don't own a =
gun.</DIV><DIV><BR class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Please, =
do yourself a favor. Get several references from people who have =
COMPLETED projects. Get several credit references,=A0 talk to banks, =
suppliers, sub-contractors, etc. Go out and look at buildings he has =
completed and talk to the owners. If there is the slightest doubt, =
RUN!</DIV><DIV><BR class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>There =
are hundreds of good contractor/builders out there, and just enough =
sleaze-bags to require caution.</DIV><DIV><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>John</DIV><DIV><BR><DIV><DIV>=
On Apr 11, 2006, at 11:52 AM, Arthur Umland wrote:</DIV><BR =
class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type=3D"cite"><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; "><SPAN class=3D"Apple-converted-space">=A0=A0 =
</SPAN>Good to learn Lrry that you will have a great facility to store =
and work on your IH collection. One option that you may want to consider =
worked well for me. I purchased the pole shed materials in a package =
through Menards and hired a couple of local people with appropriate =
skills to construct the building. Saved a few dollars over having the =
"big boys" construct it, and my construction site would not have met all =
of their specifications for a work site which includes a large =
surrounding area for them to move in all their motorized truck, crane, =
and lift equipment. I dare say that I have one of the squarest pole =
sheds built!</DIV><BLOCKQUOTE =
type=3D"cite"></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><FONT =
class=3D"Apple-style-span" =
color=3D"#006312"></FONT></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>=