If you google "pole buildings" or "pole barns" and "stick built" garages/shops/buildings/etc., you'll find threads on other forums on this topic. We haven't built our shop yet, but I have researched it over the last couple years. For me, I found companies that specialize in this at our local home & garden expo, via word of mouth, on craigslist under services and on my county's permit web site. My county gives all the information on what permits were applied for and what company is doing the work; it basically gave me a list of who was building the shops locally and how much they are valued at.. I've done lots of driving around to look at the work done and see if it is what I'm after.... Since we plan on finishing our shop to match our house and insulating it, a pole building vs. stick-built building is around the same price. There is no point, for us, to pursue a pole building because of it. If you don't want to insulate and don't need to match finishes (on all sides,) a pole building will likely cost much less.

I've been lurking for a bit (OK, I've been obsessively reading several of the GW home forum boards for the past few weeks) as we are in the early stages of building a house. Basically we know the style and location (farmhouse, just outside Concord NH). Just googled Brian Eagen Builders as mentioned by FiveZs and he is in the next town over. I am oddly excited by this! Anyway, just wanted to say hi and I'm sure in the next few months you'll all get sick of my questions! I welcome any and all advice about home building, kitchen design, landscaping, etc. Thanks. Also, odd question-I know Crown Point cabinets are highly recommended and also fairly expensive but... I don't live in a wealthy area and it seems almost everyone who does a kitchen here uses Crown Point. Perhaps a NH discount (yeah, in my dreams). Susan

When this question comes up here I hardly ever use the terms "architect" or "home designer" or "architectural technologists" or "draftsman", instead opting for "creative person" or "person of talent". In lieu of a big retype let me just C&P another post of mine in another thread where this came up: Now back to the draftsman vs. architect part of this thread. As with any profession, there are great architects and poor architects. And there are also great draftsmen and poor draftsmen. I personally know architects I wouldn't trust to design a house for my dog (Here Miss Martha gets up, commences with excessive tail wagging, puts her front paws on my lap and is trying to mightily to lick my face) "DOWN GIRL...DOWN!!". And back when I had a big firm (16 people with 6 architects) we had a guy who started out as the office boy as a senior in high school but 5 years later he was our lead designer. VERY creative. Over the years encouraged him to get a degree but no interest. Here he would be called a draftsman. And I would have trusted him to design my own house.....(and Miss Martha just barked in agreement when she read that!). That's why, for my posts here I usually get away from the "architect" or "draftsman" labels and use the term "Person of talent" . Here, I just look at posted plans and judge from those without regard for credentials. You need a person of talent. Of course, how one finds that person is the $64,000 question but really no different then finding a good car mechanic, veterinarian (here Miss Martha just barked with approval!) or accountant. And compensation for the person of talent doesn't have to be expensive or the process time consuming. Maybe time for more C&P's later on that topic but for now it's dinnertime. And BTW, glad you're at least thinking of getting a....hmm...forgot the term....oh yeah!!! person of talent! In that plan you posted I had to ask myself "Is there a house attached to that garage???" And the best of luck with your build. Exciting times for sure!!!

@User - I have no idea about drama and I am uninterested in adjudicating it. However, I do believe you have some misconceptions. I don't think Houzz has a team of volunteer moderators, they have an automoderator and a select few paid moderators (Emily may be the only moderator, or there may be a relatively small team) but it is unlikely that spamming the forums, which is against the terms of service, is going to change the moderation. You are unlikely to get this in front of different eyes. To Spike, Gardenweb was a community, but to Houzz Gardenweb is a resource. If they have decided that the benefits provided by some posters are a net positive, then they have done so. While I understand and sympathize with your frustration, your best course of action is likely to keep posting and ignoring the drama (you could be like me and lean into it) or you could simply choose not to add your input to posts. I understand that you would choose differently were you moderating, but let's recognize that it is their right to manage the site in a way you disagree with. ETA: This was in response to a post complaining about moderators that has been removed.