Lester Buildings

This message is a reply to an archived post by Tramway Guy on March 30, 2009 at 12:30:59.
The original subject was "Lester Buildings".

I don't recommend buying a Lester Bldg. at all, I bought one and just weeks ago I had to pay an Amish Crew from Graber Buildings to come in and fix the mistakes and poor workmanship on it. Some of what Lester Bldgs. did is to short me on roof dripstop that I paid extra for and they shorted me on exterior 3/4" plywood that I told them I wanted on all exterior walls and they incorrectly engineered the exterior of my bldg. Lester Bldgs. also provided me with one of their Lester Dealer/Builders from out of state telling me he did "Good Work", which was a lie. A few weeks after he built my bldg. and left town and we had our first rain I found that I had 25 leaks in my roof, I had puddles all over inside my bldg. Before this Lester Dealer left town he told me if he had to come back it would be a $500 minimum, so I ended up fixing these leaks myself, and what I found was that he had installed the roof screws missing the purlins. It took me 2 years to finish and move into my Lester Bldg. at which time we started noticing more serious problems, so I called in the Amish to check my bldg. out who found several problems, but before I paid them to fix them, I first called in the Lester Buildings Regional Manager and asked for help. This Lester Manager was shocked at my bldg. problems, but after he spoke with Lester Upper Management he said Lester doesn't feel any responsibility for what they called my "Building Issues", and would not be helping me, so I paid the Amish Crew just weeks ago to fix my Lester bldg. and the following is what they found: 8 roof purlins not nailed, not one nail in them, they actually lifted one up and out to show me, which would explain why it sounded like my roof was going to blow off on windy nights. Gaps/Openings in my roof valleys where wind was blowing in and had blown my attic insulation away in those areas, cold wind was also finding its way into my furnace plentum/duct work. A lot of soffit only had one staple holding it on and when the staples tried to go thru the steel they bent only allowing 3/8" to go into the facia board, which would explain the rattling we were hearing, also they used vented soffit on the gable ends which should have been solid soffit. Facia boards barely on the trusses and nails missing the truss, we had to sister nailers on the sides of some trusses. Facia cover not cut to fit causing the ends to dip down an inch. 2 bird blocks not installed and the ones that were installed were not nailed, again not one nail in them, I personally screwed every one of them off myself. When I turned Lester Buildings into the Better Business Bureau they responded to my complaint by putting most of the blame on their Lester Bldgs. Dealer/Builder, you know, the one they provided to me and told me he did "Good Work". This Lester Bldgs. Dealer/Builders name is C&C Construction, Willis Childress is the owner, and he did do poor workmanship on my Lester Bldg., but I would never had known he existed if Lester Bldgs. had not provided him to me and said he did "Good Work", but Lester Bldgs. is also at fault for shorting me on roof dripstop and exterior plywood that I paid extra for and the incorrectly engineering of the exterior of my bldg. When the Lester Bldgs. Regional Manager told me that Lester Upper Management would not be helping me, I asked them if they could at least give me a discount on the soffit materials that I needed to make the repairs with and they said no! On their reponse to the BBB though they said they allotted me those materials and made it sound like they just gave them to me, I responded back and let them know that Lester Bldgs. would not allot those repair materials to me until I paid full price for them, which was around $2,500. So I paid for some Lester materials twice. With what I went thru with my Lester Bldg. I would not recommend anyone to buy a Lester Building, if you want a good building I can give you the name and number of some good Amish guys.

Take it up with Lester. You don't need to keep bringing it up every week!

Well you bought a "cheap" building and now you have found out why they are Cheaper. I have two Morton building and one Lester. The Morton buildings I built. The Lester was on the one place when we bought it. I have thought about tearing it down several times. It has been nothing but a head ache for me. The metal is thinner and the paint looks like crap. The rafters have had to be repaired as the original plates started to pull out of the wood. Several of the rafters started to sag. I make it a pint to not park anything very valuable in it. I would not be upset if it fell in then I would be done with the piece of crap. LOL

Lester manufactures (at least) two grades of buildings. Maybe we ought to agree on which product we're discussing.

I could not be happier with the one I have which was built in 2012.

If Lester is like most building manufacturers, their builders and dealers are private contractors. Did you sign a contract with Lester or with the builder? From what little I know about Lester, they make a good product, but that's besides the point. Every single issue you raise is between you and your builder, because that's the contractual relationship. You're bad-mouthing Lester because you think you have a better chance getting something out of a deep-pocketed corporation than an out-of-town builder. If you think you've been cheated, take your builder to court.

The poster's name is "robot" and the *SAME* post keeps coming up over and over...

You think maybe he *IS* a robot? Hmm?

Wrong Mark. I signed contracts with both, Lester Bldgs. for the bldg. and things like dripstop on the house portion that they shorted me on and 3/4" exterior plywood that they shorted me on and they incorrectly engineered the exterior of my bldg., but it took me 2 yrs to finish and move into my Lester bldg., which is too late to go to court. Lester also provided the Lester Bldgs. Dealer/Builder from out of state that they said did good work, just weeks after this guy left town and we had our first rain, I had 25 leaks in my roof. So, both Lester Bldgs. and their Lester Dealer are at fault here.

JCarrol, I was not told of any cheaper verses more expensive Lester Bldg. I did pay extra for my columns to be on 6'center rather than the standard 8' even though Lester told me it was not necessary, but I built out in the open and I wanted a stronger structure. And I paid extra for 3/4" plywood on all exterior walls that I was shorted on and I paid extra for the dripstop that I was shorted on. I know that there are builders out there that do poor workmanship, but I didn't think Lester would allow any to be Lester Dealers, so I trusted them that I was getting a quality builder.

Lazy, I did take it up with Lester before I paid the Amish Crew to come in and fix it, but they couldn't care less. And yes, I do keep bringing it up because if I can keep one person from going thru what I went thru on my Lester Bldg. than its worth me to keep bringing it up.

Your wrong JD. I didn't buy a cheap bldg. Lester was more expensive than the two other well known companies that I got bids from, but I liked the way Lester did their Purlins and with me paying extra to make it a stronger structure I should have been happy and I would have been if both Lester Bldgs. and their Lester Dealer had done what I paid them to do.