Elkhorn Barns expanding sales area
Mar. 10—Thad Unruh is happy to stand by his products.
Or in them.
Unruh and his crew at Elkhorn Barns in Baker City build a variety of all-purpose structures at the business at 600 David Eccles Road in south Baker City. The buildings are sold at multiple locations in Oregon and Western Idaho.
"We have dealers that sell in The Dalles, Hermiston, Pendleton, Milton-Freewater, Island City, Enterprise, Fruitland, Ontario, Vale, Weiser, Donnelly, Emmett, and soon to open in Umatilla, Condon and Marsing," said Unruh, drawing a wide radius on his map. "We're going through a major expansion, maybe into Cambridge, Cascade, Caldwell, we'll see. Possibly Parma."
Unruh said he started the business with his brother in 2014.
Thad Unruh bought out his brother's share about a year and a half ago.
Elkhorn Barns has a production crew of about 10 employees, and Unruh adds four or five more during the busier spring and summer.
Workers rotate among trussing, framing, walling and roofing as the sheds are assembled.
Elkhorn Barns operates in a building constructed in 1975 by Ellingson Lumber Co. as a plywood plant.
Unruh said artifacts remain from the building's original use, including light panels and wiring chutes for machines that required a massive power supply. The veneer roller and industrial dryers had a dedicated breaker room, and the adjacent building even had a crane mount and rail access.
Although trains were used to haul plywood, Unruh relies on trucks to bring in materials and to deliver sheds, including Travis Jantz of Elkhorn Transportation Services.
Part of Unruh's production strategy is having his metals custom manufactured to his specifications, so for the materials shipping in there's very little waste coming out. Sawdust makes up the bulk of the byproducts.
"(Our sheds are) engineer certified, with rent to own and 90 days same as cash, and all our set up and deliveries are free within 30 miles of a dealership," Unruh said.
His transportation contractors maintain a photo competition, for an annual calendar, documenting the sheds in stunning locations during travel and delivery.
"We build on average about 80 buildings a month," Unruh said.
He's anticipating he'll need to nearly double production this summer to meet the rush, and 150 structures are on site now.
Models range from a basic four-wall design to fully wired, foam-insulated, color-matched, and animal/child safe buildings. Sizes range from 8-foot by 8-foot units to ones as large as 16 feet by 40 feet.
In addition to delivering fully assembled structures, Elkhorn Barns can arrange to have a building constructed at a site that trucks can't reach. More information is available by calling Unruh at 541-519-2968 or by email, elkhornbarns@gmail.com.
