History (page down for pictures...this tirade merely reflects my experiences with the building trades and their government counterparts)
Hangar was ordered in February of 1999. 42' (wide) x 48' (deep). From Miracle Steel, under trade name of Miracle Truss. Very accurately built, very high quality fabrication. An excellent company to deal with. When you have 1000 pounds of steel 20' in the air over an ancient forklift, it's nice to have the holes line up perfectly.
It took Miracle Steel until July to deliver prints so I could give them to architect (design slab, mods for local covenants, etc.), until August to deliver the steelwork. Architect took til September, his engineer took a month to sign off, San Juan county decided my property might be partially wetland (even though I already have a house there, and my APPROVED-BY-THEM septic system sits squarely in the middle of what they were questioning) which required a wetland consultant coming out and saying all was fine, and finally issued building permit on 14 December 1999. Unfortunately the winter rains set in a week prior, so impossible to start anything til June. (I had a bulldozer parked in the mud next to house for 6 months to prove it). So by year 2000, I had site prep during June and slab in July (45 yards of concrete). The slab and site prep cost close to $20k; it was so much because the low-lying ground needed a lot of fill, and the engineer is a very conservative type, so he specified a yard of concrete under each truss leg. And I live on an island, where everything, including laborers, has to be imported. Contractors were also hard to find, and I essentially had only one choice (remember back to when the economy was booming???)
In August I got a rude awakening; the contractor wanted $37K to erect the building on my slab ($17K labor, $16K materials, $4K profit (????)), and I would have to cover transportation costs, electrical, and anything else he forgot to include. (Note that metal structure was already bought and on-site, and slab was done). At this point I made the decision to erect the hangar myself.
To get the building shell up, I paid $11K for materials, $3K for miscellaneous labor, $900 transportation, and $45 to repair the starter on the borrowed 1937 forklift with leaky hydraulics and engine. About 150 hours of my time. And learned a lot and actually had fun doing it. My materials costs include the framing nailer and other new toys/tools.
Applying the Siding
The HardiPanel is heavy; a 4x10 sheet weighs approx 100 lbs. I hired two workers to help get the sheets into place. Prior to sheeting we wrapped the building with a Tyvek lookalike, and being winter, a wind storm that week shredded the Tyvek. It blew so hard that the Tyvek flapping in the breeze all night made sleep impossible. Oh well...back to building supply store for more Tyvek.
Some shots during siding:
Applying sheet metal
I used Champion Metal for the roof and doors (see link elsewhere on this page), because it matched the house and we have a fairly restrictive covenants (no metal buildings, which is why I couldn't just use the MiracleSteel-provided siding and roofing...it would have been MUCH cheaper!) Some shots from applying sheet steel to the bifold door (note the use of aircraft sheetmetal techniques):
The picture above shows a very handy little clip (I made two of them); it hooks over door frame and holds a piece of sheet steel in place so I can screw it down. Otherwise I would need at least four arms and an armspan of 15' or more, and those attributes I do not have.
Electrical
I dug a 30" trench from meter base on property line up to the hangar, a distance of 85' or so. In January. So the trench was really a big mudpuddle; I had to rent a ditch pump to keep the water out so I could even out the bottom and guarantee 30'' min throughout. I also put in 1-1/2" water pipe at same time since water comes onto property next to the meter base.
Electricians wired in the 220 for the bi-fold door, gave me three dual outlets and a 220 outlet on each wall, 5 quartz halide lamps under the roof, outside lights/switches, and a pair of 150-watt protected incadescents. The halide lamps are 800 watts each and light up the hangar very nicely. Its a pleasure working out there at night. Price on the whole electrical thing was $6200, which included all cabling, meter, new meter base, lights, switches, outlets, and getting the permit and inspection. And of course transportation to and from Decatur for four days (they were based on Lopez).
A week after the work was done the power in my house started acting flakey, of course on a cold rainy night. I discovered the meter base was emanating steam, the ground was hissing, and rocking the meter base caused a distinct reaction from somewhere underground. By the time I got back to house (3am), all the power to the house had died. Electricians came out Monday and discovered they had pushed the new meter base steel shafts into the cable servicing the house. They fixed it up for me (probably calling the electrician at 3am Sunday morning didn't have anything to do with their responsiveness) and all is now working fine.
Finish Work
Soffets were cut from the same siding material; 2x4s were spaced every 2' to support the soffets and slotted airvents. Seams were sealed with mostly Big Stretch caulk, although some polyseamseal was also used. 1x3 cedar was used for the corner trim. I applied a Glidden Dura-something from Home Depot, about 12 gallons; two coats of French Silver. Corner strips were primed and painted to match charcoal sheet metal. Finally I installed galvanized metal gutters on both sides with a downspout in each corner of the building.
Finished Hangar
Siding: single-faced cellulose fiber-reinforced concrete building board, tradename HardiPanel, Sierra 8. This stuff is non-combustible and doesn't rot. Kind of heavy (a 4'x10' sheet weighs about 100 lbs), but two or three people can handle it fine. One person will NOT be able to do it!
Roofing: 1" standing rib interlocking metal, 1' rib spacing. Matches my house. Again, fireproof and long life. I installed it over 7/16" OSB and 30# roof felt for better durability, appearance, rigidity of building. Champion Metal
Paint: Glidden, Ever-something. One of the better exterior latexes at Home Depot. Color is French Silver.