Frequently Asked Questions
DO YOUR BUILDING KITS REQUIRE FOUNDATIONS
Our kits start with a pressure treated sill designed to set on a concrete foundation. We provide complete foundation plans for your contractor to work from. These plans will show either concrete piers (sono tubes) or a continuous concrete frost wall. The large majority of our customers build on the continuous wall, where piers are more often used in a livestock type structure.
WILL I NEED A BUILDING PERMIT?
All projects of this type require approval from your local building and zoning department. Country Carpenters supplies complete detailed plans with an engineers seal for you to obtain your building permits.
CAN I MANAGE CONSTRUCTION OF ONE OF YOUR BUILDING KITS WITH LIMITED CARPENTRY SKILLS?
Difficulty levels vary with each of our models depending on size, height, design complexity and other factors. Our building kits are designed for assembly by a professional carpenter however, many of our customers have managed construction on their own. Included with your kit are color-coded plans and step-by-step construction diagrams. It is important to be familiar with using power tools and you should have a certain level of comfort on a job site.
CAN YOU RECOMMEND A CONTRACTOR IN MY AREA?
Having been in business since 1974, we have made many friends and gained many contacts in the field of construction. If you don’t have the time or desire to manage your building project, and if you don’t have a contractor, we may have worked with someone in your area that we can recommend. When considering a prospective contractor for your project it is not critical that he has worked with one of our kits nor that he have experience with post & beam construction. Because our buildings are pre-cut and color-coded and include step by step construction diagrams, it is most important to hire a reputable contractor willing to work with our support package.
WHAT IS YOUR AREA OF DELIVERY?
We personally deliver our building kits throughout New England. Outside of our delivery area we use a local trucking company who will carry anywhere in the country. They transport on flatbed tractor trailers and the material is set-up for you to off load with a fork lift. Please feel free to contact us for a delivery quote.
DO YOUR PLANS SHOW UTILITIES SUCH AS ELECTRICAL OR PLUMBING?
As we sell post & beam outbuildings, our plans do not show utilities. Most of our customers seem to add simple electrical as a minimum.
DO YOU DO ANY CUSTOM DESIGNS?
We offer a wide variety of New England-style buildings from a catalog of standard models. Although we do not do custom work, we do encourage you to contact us with your building ideas. Our numerous options include lean-to’s, dormers, different window treatments and a variety of doors including a facing package for electric overhead doors. To help you design your building we have developed a “Preliminary Plan Package”, which contains blank elevations of a specific model and symbols of windows and doors for you to cut and paste.