Why Cheaper Buildings Are More Expensive

Tristate’s Founder and Head of Sales, Kevin Weaver, has asked prospects the same question many times: "Would you share the specs of the other quote you got?"

Most people hesitate. It feels a little like showing your cards. But Kevin's not trying to win an argument. He's trying to save you from a decision you'll regret in year three.

"Nine times out of ten, I can tell within thirty seconds those numbers aren't measuring the same building," Kevin says. "The truss specs can be different...The post sizing is not to code…Subpar building components. It's not apples to apples. It's not even apples to oranges. It's more like an apple to a picture of an apple."

That's the conversation our sales team participates in many times throughout the year. And it's the reason we wanted to write this post.

Because if you've gotten a few quotes for your building and ours isn't the lowest number on the page, we're not going to pretend otherwise. We're not the cheapest option out there. We never have been. But we'd like to walk you through exactly why, so you can make the call with your eyes open.

The Quote Isn't the Building

Here's something 35 years in post-frame construction has taught us: a low number on a proposal doesn't tell you much about what actually gets built.

Two contractors can quote the same size building and land tens of thousands of dollars apart. That gap has to come from somewhere. 

Usually it's one of three places:

Lower Quality Materials. Cheap man doors, lower quality overhead doors, small footers with no concrete around the posts for uplift protection, post sizing that doesn't meet code standards, and shortcuts to satisfy the bottom dollar but 5 years down the road the building looks 3x its age. 

On paper it looks like the same building, but in year 5, when the roof is sagging or the overhead doors and man doors don't work properly, it's not.

A price that's designed to grow. Some contractors quote a bare-bones base price, knowing full well you'll need to add things once you're already committed. Insulation. A specific door size. Site prep. By the time the "extras" are added back in, the savings you thought you had are gone

Corners you can't see yet. Cheap prices, fast finish times. A crew that's subcontracted out to the lowest bidder. No real project management. These realities don't show up on your quote—it’s two years later when you can’t get ahold of your builder.

We build differently. Our quotes are detailed because we want you comparing the same building, not just the same square footage.