Graham heath or Fowler and Gilbert

[Henry020484]

Does anyone have experience of working with either of these companies?

Grainstorage mainly.

 

[Hotbed]

I’ve put up a Graham heath building and Fowler and Gilbert, both the same size, on a 100x50 you’ll find the Graham heath building has about 640kg less steel in the frame, they use narrow but deep steels (only manufacturer I know that does this) they are a pig to stand up as the rafters try to fall over, opposed to the standard wider steels, they put 40 roof lights in opposed to 20, which makes roofing it a bit of a nightmare, they also don’t supply washers on an agricultural building, why I don’t know as every other building manufacturer does, you’ll get more for your money with a Fowler and Gilbert building and they are a lot nicer to deal with.

 

[Riley]

Fowler and Gilbert for me put a shed up of them last year I’m very pleased with it would/will go back to them.

 

[Dave6170]

I have a 120x40 fowler and gilbert. Its very good. Lots of steel. Has a neatly designed canterlever aswell. 2 bolts in each purlin not like our other sheds.

 

[David.]

Does anyone have experience of working with either of these companies?

Grainstorage mainly.

Just read the spec.

 

[Pan mixer]

I have two F and G buildings and am very happy with them. Plenty of steel.

Sometimes the end bays will be smaller on some buildings - "this is because you ordered a 60 by 50 building, Sir and the last bay has to be half a stanchion narrower to make it exactly 60 feet long."

One of my F and G buildings is like that, the other has all the bays the same size, bummer when you are fitting panels though

 

[Whitepeak]

Rang Graham Heath last week about roofing a silage pit, couldn't be bothered to even quote!

 

[Henry020484]

All very interesting, thanks for sharing

 

[Henry020484]

Got to make a decision by the end of the month as steel price is going up!

 

[TomB]

Had a Graham heath shed put up two years ago, it’s a nice building, the only complaint is the paint quality is a bit patchy. I don’t think I would do another not galvanised.

 

[pappuller]

Had 3 f&g buildings here in the last 5 years all been fine and competitive on price

 

[dannewhouse]

paint quality isn't the best on fowler buildings either, we pay for galv now and be done with ... they are about the cheapest but certainly not low quality.

as for the end bays being about 3" narrower to allow for width of building being exact, you get sent a foundation drawing of your shed before the order and you sign it to confirm spec? you should have noticed it and altered it.

 

[Pan mixer]

paint quality isn't the best on fowler buildings either, we pay for galv now and be done with ... they are about the cheapest but certainly not low quality.

as for the end bays being about 3" narrower to allow for width of building being exact, you get sent a foundation drawing of your shed before the order and you sign it to confirm spec? you should have noticed it and altered it.

I may have had a foundation drawing but I think that it went straight to their digger man who put in the holes etc and I didn't twig - didn't matter though.

 

[Banana Bar]

GH bit rough and ready, on site H&S questionable. Much cheaper than others, you get what you pay for.

 

[Muck Spreader]

Had an F&G building shipped over here about 6 years ago. good quality and nice people to deal with.

 

[MD @Minshall Buildings]

Both these companies should design and fabricate to CE so I wouldn't be too concerned about the steel content too much as neither are likely to fail in your lifetime,if at all.

More important is the finishing of the steel. Galvanized is far and away the best, as current UK SO2 corrosion rates suggest exposed zinc coating of 85 microns( BS1461 minimum standard [and most have in excess of 100 microns on them]) should last 40 plus years and that's before you actually get to the steel !

Just think about the national grid and how many of those galvanized pylons have stood un-renovated since the late 50's?

If painting, its all about the preparation of the steel after fabrication( Including welds, plates, cleats,etc) and then blast cleaning before painting ( which very few do!).......

As a test, get a piece of rusty steel yourself and spray it with some paint and it will look good.. but how long before that paint fails?

Quality remains long after price is forgotten!

 

[S J H]

GH bit rough and ready, on site H&S questionable. Much cheaper than others, you get what you pay for.

GH Have been one of the most expensive when ever I priced them.

We have 2 at home and were very pleased, but I think they've changed a lot since, on a quote for a grain store last year, they were using very small steels in comparison to the other firms.

 

[dannewhouse]

what about wareing? always find them deere aswell?
saw f and g wagon in Huddersfield yesterday

 

[stablegirl]

This really gets on my nerves, we have just put up a very large shed, for which i priced over 10 different companies.

Every one was going to be CE marked and every one had different steel spec?

Surely they should all be the same?

 

[TheTallGuy]

This really gets on my nerves, we have just put up a very large shed, for which i priced over 10 different companies.

Every one was going to be CE marked and every one had different steel spec?

Surely they should all be the same?

No, CE doesn't stipulate how a building is designed only that it must be designed to meet the requirements of the site and welded correctly. Simple things such as the design of the connections between the stanchions and the rafters can change what size steels are required. Then of course there's nothing (other than cost) to stop a firm from over engineering their design.