Ragen Place Shop

Located on Ragen Place in Townsend, Montana, this 40×80×16 stick-frame shop was built with future living quarters in mind. The owner planned to finish out the interior living space down the road, so H&H framed the building to accommodate that conversion from day one, including interior partition framing, and trusses spaced at 2 feet on center to support future sheetrock installation.

Not every shop built is just a shop. Some owners plan to build the structure in phases, finishing out the living space later as the budget and timeline allow. H&H has the experience to build for that phased approach, which means the initial structure doesn’t just meet today’s needs but is engineered from the ground up to support what’s coming.

Future-Ready Framing

The trusses in this build are spaced 2 feet on center, instead of the standard 4-foot spacing used in most shop buildings. That tighter spacing is specifically designed to support sheetrock ceilings and walls when the owner is ready to finish out the interior living quarters. It’s a detail that adds cost upfront but saves significant time and money during future conversion, with no structural retrofitting required.

Plumbing and Interior Framing

H&H completed all interior partition framing and plumbing rough-in work during the initial build. Running plumbing lines and framing interior walls is dramatically easier when the building is still open and accessible. Waiting until after the shell is complete means tearing into finished work, which adds cost and delays.

Loft Storage

A loft area with a built-in staircase provides overhead storage space, taking advantage of the 16-ft eave height to maximize usable square footage without expanding the building’s footprint.

This was the fourth project H&H completed for the same owner. That kind of repeat business speaks louder than any marketing claim. When a client comes back three more times after the first build, it’s because the work was done right, the process was professional, and the finished product held up.

H&H earns a significant portion of its business through referrals and repeat clients. The Ragen Place Shop is a clear example of why.

The primary challenge on this project was labor availability. Finding and retaining skilled crew members during the build window required careful scheduling and resource management to keep the project on track and meet the owner’s timeline expectations.

This is a reality of construction in Montana: labor markets are tight, and the builders who deliver consistently plan for that constraint rather than being surprised by it. H&H managed the crew and schedule to complete the build on time despite the labor shortage.