Steel pre-fab buildings are the way to go I think. A while back a buddy and I were looking at investing in building some. He had put several of them up in the mid-90's and said it was not bad at all. I think in the end with maintenance and waterproofing and stuff you come end up with a superior structure for less time and money. My dad's hangar is manufactured by Star.

http://www.starbuildings.com/
http://www.us-buildings.com/product.html
http://www.eaglespan.com/hangar.htm
http://www.frisomat.com/hangars.htm
http://www.steelbuildings.org/

I built my 36x40 wooden hanger in 1997 for about 8 grand. I like it better than steel because it feels warm. It faces south and the doors are tranlucent fiberglass and it never gets very cold inside. My rental hanger (tin) is miserable in the winter.
Dave

Our hangar is insulated with what looks like 6" thick bagged fiberglass. The low cost of Dave's hangar does sound appealing though.

Z

Building a quality hangar has many pitfalls. Everyone thinks you just mail order a building and it over. In todays overregulated society the cost of the metal or wood is about 1/10 the price you will pay for the completed hangar. I am just finishing up with a hangar project at the Carson City airport that includes 47 hangars from t-hangars to large boxes. If you have specific question you can pm me.

N18NV wrote:Building a quality hangar has many pitfalls. Everyone thinks you just mail order a building and it over. In todays overregulated society the cost of the metal or wood is about 1/10 the price you will pay for the completed hangar.

Yep, we are being choked to death by regulation and bureaucracy. Ask 'em who's responsible when it falls down and they still point at the builder. So, where's all your money going and what is it buying anyway?

Quick, knock me off my soapbox before I get carried away...

I can't imagine 45k for a hanger. The most expensive component was the forty foot trusses. They were 2 grand. It took eleven yards of concrete at 60 bucks. Some siding, osb, sheetrock and rolled roofing and a few weekends with a nailgun and viola. Complete with building permit. I just finished a 22 x 30 detached garage stucco and lightweight concrete roof and it came to just under 15k. Of course that's with me working for free.



Here's a shot of MLB standing in front of the hanger at beautiful downtown Spanish Springs International Continental Regional. If you look close you can see the HID's in the left wing. I made the solar doors with fiberglass panels from Home Depot. Welded the square tube with a MiG welder. Inside is a gas fridge, a 15kw generator, an air compressor. It's got a flush toilet, shower and even a washer and dryer. Oh yeah, a 75000btu furnace and a swamp cooler, too. jmtgt, I'd be happy to show it to you. Good excuse to fly out there.

Sounds like Jr.CubBuilder needs to hire Superdave to build his hangar. Sounds like I should have had Superdave build my hangars.

N6EA, costs are driven by the demands from the buildings codes and the wish list of our airport authority. We have to design the building to commerical standards. The majority of the costs are in the ground as well as the costs to bring the utilities to the project. The airport has certian requirements for the asphalt and building construction and as a developer I have even higher standards. For example, in our last 30,000sq' building we have over 1200 yards of concrete to make sure it stays in place though wind, snow, and earthquakes. I do not want to be the guy on the short end of the legal battle.

Our airport and I am sure other public use airports are the same, don't allow backyard barns to be built.

N18NV wrote:Sounds like Jr.CubBuilder needs to hire Superdave to build his hangar. Sounds like I should have had Superdave build my hangars.

N6EA, costs are driven by the demands from the buildings codes and the wish list of our airport authority. We have to design the building to commerical standards. The majority of the costs are in the ground as well as the costs to bring the utilities to the project. The airport has certian requirements for the asphalt and building construction and as a developer I have even higher standards. For example, in our last 30,000sq' building we have over 1200 yards of concrete to make sure it stays in place though wind, snow, and earthquakes. I do not want to be the guy on the short end of the legal battle.

Our airport and I am sure other public use airports are the same, don't allow backyard barns to be built.

N18NV,
There are fixed costs to construct whatever you want to put up and for that I have no problem. It is the mitigation fees based on pipe dream development (county/cities dream not the developer), building permit fees, if a residence is involved, there are school fees, let's not forget future expansion of utilities beyond the effected project. What I'm saying is we get nailed for a bunch of bureaucracy that serves no real function other than to support and feed on itself. Guess what else, as the price of construction goes up so does the tax base that you'll be paying property tax on. So, you've paid the bloodsuckers once and based on that value you'll continue to pay for the life of the property. All for what? I still contend building department or not, you will always be the one on the hook as the builder/developer. The city/county, as well as they were paid for permits, inspections etc. will never be held responsible for anything other than making everything more expensive. When you say that 10 % is material cost (and I completely agree) I'm saying something is wrong with our system of government. If they (government) could see past the ends of their nose(s) they would see that economical development broadens the tax base and ultimatley puts more money in the coffers. Of course they want it all up front because they are looking at next years budget not five years down the road.

Just my .02...

BTW, I'm in construction also...

We have as good a situation as you could hope for here in Carson City. 30% of the blood sucking tax dollars stays at the airport for operating costs and AIP dollars. The rest, off to the blood suckers, their over inflated budgets and cost of living raises every year while my pay stays the same and I lose ground because of the cost of living.

Next step food stamps or work for the government be less productive and then there is a reason to hire someone to help me in my job.