Re: Lester Buildings

I seldom hire a contractor, but if I do, I watch them work and look over their work each day. Some crews intentionally cut corners, some crews don't even know the "correct" way to to do their work. An attitude of "thats good enough" instead of do it right the first time seems prevalent. I'd rather do it myself, that way if it is screwed up I can blame me. Unfortunately there is a lot of truth to the saying "Good help is hard to find". Just my .02 worth gobble

I have a two year old 48 x 50 Lester building with which I am very
pleased. I do NOT agree that they are all the same - looked at
Cleary, and two others (can't remember the brand).

Then a good contractor is essential - can a good cook make a light
cake with stale baking soda? can a bride burn the roast?

Purlin location and fastening, truss compression member stiffening,
pole piers, wind bracing, condensation insulation, pole construction
- these are different among brands.

The whole proverb is " Good help is hard to find, Let alone any help" .

I disagree with you! I bought a Lester Bldg and just a few weeks ago I had to pay an Amish Crew to come in and fix the mistakes and poor workmanship on it. Just weeks after it was built I found that I had 25 leaks in my roof, which I ended up fixing myself because this Lester Dealer/Builder said it would be a $500 minimum for him to come back, I found that when they installed my roof screws they missed the Purlins. This is a Lester Dealer/Builder that Lester Buildings Regional Manager provided to me, advising that they can do it in my time frame and that they did "Good Work", which was a lie.
I paid Lester Bldgs. extra for dripstop to be applied on the house roof portion of my bldg. but was shorted on the areas from the front porch that goes back into the house peak, a large area. I also paid Lester Bldgs. extra for 3/4" plywood to be installed on "All Exterior Walls", but again I was shorted, Lester Bldgs. later admitted to the Better Business Bureau that they only engineered the exterior plywood up to the bottom of my soffit. They also used vented soffit on my gables, which should have been solid soffit. A lot of my soffit only had one staple holding it on and the staples bent trying to go thru the steel only allowing 3/8" to go into the facia boards. (8) Roof Purlins were not nailed, not one nail in them, the Amish pulled one of them up and out to show me, which would explain why it sounded like my roof was going to blow off on windy nights. 2 bird blocks not installed, the ones that were installed were not nailed at all, I personally screwed everyone of them off myself. Facia boards barely on the trusses and the nails missing the truss, we had to sister boards onto the sides of some trusses. Facia covers not cut to fit properly causing the ends to dip down an inch. Gaps/Openings in the roof valleys which allowed wind to blow my attic insulation away in those areas, also on windy nights cold air was finding its way into my furnace plentum/duct work. Lester Buildings later put most of the blame on the Lester Bldgs. Dealer/Builder C&C Construction, you know, the one that they recommended to me as doing "Good Work" With all that in mind, I would not recommend buying a Lester Building, I would recommend Graber Buildings though, their Amish built by people that in my eyes care about attention to detail.

I disagree with you on the Lester Bldg. I bought one and just weeks ago had to pay an Amish Crew to come in and fix the mistakes and poor workmanship on it. Things like: I paid extra for roof dripstop on the house portion but they shorted me, I paid extra for 3/4" plywood on all exterior walls but again they shorted me, they incorrectly engineered the exterior of my bldg. They also recommended one of their Lester Dealer/Builders from out of state telling me he did "Good Work" which was a lie. Just weeks after he built my bldg. and left town we had our first rain at which time I noticed I had 25 leaks in my roof and being he told me before he left if he had to come back it would be a $500 minimum, I ended up fixing all the leaks myself and what I found was that they installed the roof screws missing the purlins. It took me 2 years to finish and move into my Lester bldg. at which time I started finding more serious problems and just weeks ago I had the Amish come in and fix those problems, but before I did I called the Lester Regional Manager out, who was shocked at my bldg. problems, but after he spoke with Lester Upper Management, he said Lester does not feel any responsibility for my bldg. issues, so I paid the Amish to fix my Lester Bldg. and the following is what they found: 8 roof purlins not nailed at all, the Amish actually lifted one up and out to show me, which would explain why on windy nights it sounded like my roof was going to blow off. Gaps/Openings in my roof valleys where wind was blowing in and had blown my attic insulation away, cold wind was also finding its way into my furnace plentum/duct work and I"m sure rain was coming in too. A lot of my soffit only had one staple holding it on and when the staple tried to go thru the steel it bent only allowing 3/8" to go into the facia board. Lester used vented soffit on the gables which should have been solid soffit. 2 bird blks not installed and the ones that they did install were not nailed at all, I personally screwed everyone of them off myself. Facia boards barely on the truss and nails missing the truss, we had to sister nailers on the sides of some trusses. Facia cover not cut to fit properly causing the ends to dip down an inch. After I turned Lester Bldgs. into the Better Business Bureau they responded back by putting most of the blame on their Lester Dealer/Builder, you know, the one they recommended to me as doing "Good Work". This Lester Dealer/Builders name is C&C Construction, Willis Childress is the owner, and he definitely did poor workmanship on my Lester Bldg. but I would never had hired him if Lester Bldgs. had not provided him to me and said he did "Good Work", and the fact that Lester Bldgs. shorted me on different materials and incorrectly engineered the exterior of my bldg. I would definitely not recommend buying a Lester Bldg. I even asked Lester Bldgs. to at least give me a discount on the materials we needed to make the repairs on my Lester Bldg. and they said no to that too, so I ended up paying Lester Bldgs. twice for soffit materials. They got me good.