Cost estimate for Existing Metal Building

[Weldor]

Don't know about the tariffs, but the mills had play catch-up after relying on cheap import materials for years. Now some are paying Americans to make steel, and it costs more. Big logistical nightmare.

 

[TaperPin]

I’m always impressed with any stud wall shell over a slab that can be built for less than $100/sqft. That’s pretty cool.

In colder climates with seismic, high wind and snow loads, and deep footers to get below the frost line the costs go out the roof. Add in picky building departments, mandatory engineer stamps on the plans and everything gets overbuilt pretty quickly. The cheapest outbuilding I can ever remember from a residential general contractor was added on to the price of a bigger project and was $150/sqft. Heck, extending a big roof on a stucco house to act as a patio cover (so there aren’t any walls to add to the price), was in the $150/sqft range.

In many areas of the country about 1/3 of the construction labor is being deported, so that will suck carpenters away from residential projects to higher paying commercial work and drive up prices. Add in material costs going up quickly and many contractors are hesitant to give firm prices unless the project will start in the near future. One sub was joking he hopes to lose all of his bids that start a year from now since a big jump in labor costs could bankrupt an outfit.

The curious thing is so far this year new construction costs haven’t jumped much, but contracts were signed last year for this year’s construction. 2026 will be interesting to watch. Demand for new houses in areas with big housing shortages are falling quickly and a couple big builders are cutting prices 15%. If nothing else suggests the economy is headed down, or uncertain at best, that sure does.

 

[renagde]

I've been gathering quotes to build a pole barn. 24x48, 30x40, both about the same cost. 14' walls, 2 overhead doors, 4 windows, scissor trusses, 28ga steel all around. All of my quotes came back around the $25-30k window. This is the shell only, concrete adds another $8k, excavating maybe another $10k (quite a bit less without water retention and if you have a level property), spray foam floor, walls and roof is $12k.

 

[renagde]

Looking like steel tariffs caused a step change in pricing. Makes sense.

Makes the existing building a significant value, and why I was going through this exercise!

Shouldn't much. Most steel has been American made for years, tariffs mostly affected aluminum as most of the ingot is coming from overseas.

 

[TaperPin]

 

[renagde]

View attachment 954495

Not a good representation of the current market. First quarter steel was down quite a bit so of course it looks bad. Our steel is close to the same prices we were paying in 2018. Down quite a bit to the highs in 2023 and 2024.