Cover-All buildings

Hey any of you guys have a Cover-All building? I want to put up some type of machinery/hay storage building this spring and was looking for some input? I really like the amount of light they let through..but will they hold up the snow in Central New York?

Thanks! Mike

Don't know about Cover-All buildings. I assume they are hoops with fabric covering. There are quite a few hoops around here (West Illinois) that have taken the snow quite well.

However, the neighbor bought a hoop building (don't know the brand) last year and did everything on the cheap. It now looks like he is trying to "shrink-wrap" everything that he has parked in there. :>)

I've got two of them. Both are Silver Stream- 30X70 and 30X84. I've had them about 10 years, and so far so good. The covers don't show any sign of deterioration yet. One has metal pipe rafters and one has laminated wood rafters. The metal rafters are much easier to erect.

My e-mail is open if you have any questions.

John

have two Cover-alls 40x80 6 years old and we get a lot of snow both are just fine snow dose not stay on them slides right off

If you are talking about the exact name Cover-All buildings the ones in our area have a big NO NO NO NO written all over them. Save your money till you can afford a decent long lasting structure.

Our insurance agents, and adjusters are taking aim at them.

They are like a trailer court, they seem to attract violent winds.

But as we all know just like the trailer homes , some are good some aren't, but go under the same heading as a general rule.

The hoop buildings with metal on the sides are a step up. They however some how think that a 1/2 inch reinforcing rod 18 inches long shoved in the soft ground every ten foot is solution for high wind damage.

I know of one farmer with must be 8-10. He got a deal from his unckle the salesman of the year. His was used for hogs, NOTE THE WORD (WAS) and all I can say is OH MY!

I have talked to numerous folks wanting those type buildings. I simply say don't ask me just go look for yourself, but not at a distance.

I've seen a few car ports that are used for a shade tree to have near the house. Not so bad if you are not expecting much, just the basics.

However in towns I understand if my building decides to move to your lot, my homeowners insurance is liable for your damages.

Trampolines, swiming pools, out door hot tubs, and temporary structures are points of intrest to insurance companies. They only loose so many times before they avoid the problems.

looks like we were posting at the same time. i should have said mine are on cement floors and one is on 8ft. cement side wall and both ends are plywood have a 18 ft. x 14 ft over head door in on and a 12 x14 in the other both are rock solid. the high one has radiant floor heat and is insulated with 2 in. styrofoam [it will bend with the contour of the frame] i have a 4 post truck hoist [12,000 lb] in i heat with a outdoor wood boiler all day today never got above 5 worked in shop all day in my tee shirt. the way mine is set up in a pole shed type the cost was over 100,000 dollars i have these two for under 40,000 and my ins. co has no problem with them

We absolutly must be talking apples and oranges. And again there are sometimes reasons buildings fail.

I will have to say however $60,000.00 differance sounds like a lot for a roof, and one sidewall being your end walls are probably the same price. We don't find near that much differance in total costs as a general rule in our area.

Our insurance companies had no problems ten - fifteen years ago. And the unckle that sold all the buildings is known for ..shall we say less than perfect is good enough.

But I must warn you however I USED to like my ex-wife, and so did almost every man in town...I have photos.... Just a kiddin.

From reports / rumors there is one manufacture that is meeting a oncoming train, and he is driving another train full speed ahead. Law suites are going faster than sales. Just a rumor from some guys that used to work there, and decided to work elsewhere.

I don't know why people in Iowa would be seeing opposite results of what I have seen in my travels in Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana. In my local area CoverAlls are becoming very common for the horse folks, mostly for indoor arenas but several have stalls in them also. I know of close to 15 CoverAll structures at dairy farms. Moat of these barns are built on a short pony wall and are stout as heck. I have looked into them for the last 3 or 4 years to be used for a tie stall dairy barn. There is one woman in Northern New York and 2 somewhere up in Canada that milk cows in them. I haven't seen them but have seen a photo display book of the one in New York and have talked to the lady on the phone. I have yet to hear anyone who actually has one, wish they had built anything else. And as far as insurability, the one I see most often is a friends horse boarding setup, and was very easy to insure thru Farm Bureau. Come to think of it, I can't understand why they would be hard to insure. The way they are anchored to the foundation or pony wall is as solid as any stick built barn on a footer. The tarp covers have great warranties on them now, so the technology has come along way in the last 15 years.
I don't have one yet personally but have done my homework on the Cover All brand barns and would not be afraid to put one in use, even with West Michiagn winds and weather.

There are hundreds if not thousands of these buildings here in Ontario. Most people like them. However 2 years ago in our region 8 of them went down in one snowstorm, livestock, machinery, whatever. The explanation was unequal snow load, all the insurance companies and manufacturers said sucks to be you.

We had a 30x50 one up until last month. The snow on one side slid off but not on the other side and down she went. This was a single arch and all the new ones are double arch due to this problem in general(snow). I'm really not sure how they get away with putting up stuff that doesn't meet snowload requirements. It would likely be worth it to put up a wood frame building with real wood trusses and forget about the whole Cover-All thing. We figure the bales is what held it up during high snow loads for the last 10 years and they weren't in there this time. I will add that they are bright inside and open as well. The double arch is also quite a bit stronger and problems with these are less frequent but still present under the right conditions.

I don't have one, but I've priced them and looked into them some.
I like the concept...
I dind't like the price. I could build a pole frame for less money, clad with Galvalume.

I haven't heard of any problems with snow load on them locally. I do know of two that have lost their covers though.
I beleive the 'sucks to be you' line applies if that happens...
Think I'd pass. Not just Cover-All, but all the rest too unless there's some big kind of price advantage that offsets the risk you take with them.

Rod

I erected a 40" x 64" CoverAll hoop building 4 years ago for my alpacas and I love it. Not sure why folks think they are not insurable. My Farm Bureau agent didn"t hesitate when I asked about insurability. We get some pretty severe weather here in north central Iowa, ie. strong winds in excess of 40 mph and heavy snows, but I have not had any problems. My building has 7" side walls covered with steel and wood structure end walls also covered with steel. My building has trussed arches 16" on center. I"d put up another building like it in a second.

I"ve seen a few buildings put up locally by trees. I"ve kind of wondered, when the wind picks up and branches get to blowing how well the fabric covers hold up?

Same here. I was surprised. Cost was expensive. I might just as well put up a pole barn.

We have put up 3 hoop buildings, used as hog barn, machine and round bale storage. We are very happy with them. Erected them ourselves.
They say the tarp will last 10 years, so after 11 years, an 80mph wind blew one away. Frame work OK so we pulled a new one over. Cost of new tarp was $5200.Cost has gone way up since we put it up 11 years ago. I think the total cost then was $3500 for the tarp, frame, posts, gravel. Snow has never been a problem, just keep the tarp tight. (and don't have any trees hanging over them.)
However we can't get insurence on them.At that time they were much cheaper to put up than a metal shed so we didn't worry about it.
I don't know what the prices are now, I'd still go with a hoop if they are much cheaper than a metal building.
Brian(MN)

Like Oliver Power says,I think they're pretty pricey. Leo put one up this summer. Said he could have built a pole barn for less. I don't know what brand of anything that he used,but he said the cover was thinner than a silage bag. He wasn't impressed.

There's one at the bull test station that's been there for several years. Don't know if it's the same make or not,but they say as long as you keep tightening the tarp so there isn't any flap in it,it's great.

I used to work for a small company in western pa that installed the Super Structure brand. There are dozens in this area (lake effect snow belt area included) and all seem to be doing fine. The only problem I've noticed is some guys get too carried away on tightening or not tightening at all over the years. Tarps will last many years if well cared for. For the 30' or 40' wide on 4' or 6' walls you could install it yourself and save little money. The wider ones take a little more equipment and help. A 3 man team can put up a 30' x 100' in ten hours on a good day.