Modular or stick built, what's your flavor?

[roermo]

Well my 3-ｽ cents worth on this topic:
1. You can always find exception to statement made for or against modular homes.
2. I sell real estate in Northern Missouri; here the value drops like a stone.
2a. Exception, if it is on a foundation full basement, acreage, well cared for.
3. In this area it is a stigma that is carried with the homes, weather its right or wrong
4. Ask your banker if he makes loans on modular, not the salesman selling the unit.
5. Ask your banker for a name of an appraiser in your area and call him up ask him what the trends are for modular homes in your area.
With that all said I have seen some very well built units. But still all in all they do not have the resell value here, find this out for your area.

Good luck.

 

[RichNJKubota]

My 2 cents:
1. SIPS are really good products and I'd recommend them.
2. I looked into manufactured homes and found Solar Strategies near Philly to be a good bet.
3. Build a solar heated house. It'll save you thousands of $ over the years.

 

[Wayne County Hose]

If you are having a basement under it, get an engineer to spec out a steel beam to run the length of the entire basement. That way, you have a completely open basement. They have to bring out a crane to set the house anyway, so have them set the beam, too. Save a bit of money.

48' x 12" I beam, already spec'd into the house.

 

[davitk]

We've had our issues, but the vast majority of them are directly related to the incompetent GC & the subs he hired.

Imagine that.

One problem I've seen is when some yo-yo decides to become a modular General Contractor because he can afford the franchise fee, but doesn't know squat about building. Building is so much about relationships, relationships with suppliers, subcontractors, bankers, zoning officials, etc. A good GC is worth the premium you pay him to do all that easy work; you know, most of what he does is just making phone calls and scheduling people.....

 

[flusher]

Okay, I need to put up a house. Not a good time of year to do it. The wife wants modular because we could be in by March 1st. I want stick built because I feel it's a better house. Either way, it's the same floor plan. I think I can do a stick built a little cheaper as I have loads of friends willing to help do the finish work. I'll have the framing, siding, roof, windows, plumbing, elect. and all that stuff contracted out. I'll have it finished to the sheetrock and take it from there. Because of time, I can not do most of this type of work. It needs to get done. Our last home was a modular and there was some real cheap garbage materials used. It was about 15 years old.

So, what is your experience or thoughts?

Much of the knock against manufactured homes arises because of skimping on the foundation. I've seen nice 2500 sf triple-wide modulars costing nearly $200K set on those inexpensive "toad pad" supports (i.e. 4" thick x 3-ft diameter concrete pads supporting a stack of concrete blocks). If there's any ground movement at all, these pads will shift and heave with respect to each other causing grief to the structure.

I paid an extra $20K to have 24" high x 6" thick concrete stub walls along with 6" thick concrete runners to support my 1800 sf manufactured home.

The runners and stub walls are reinforced and interconnected with #4 rebar. The interior supports for the modules are attached to the runners which keep them from moving with respect to each other. There's a 2x6 PT sill plate attached to the top of the stub wall so the periphery of the module can be attached to those walls.

I also had a Vector tie-down system installed to hold the modules to the support columns. That system is approved by the Florida for use in hurricane country.

The only noise I hear out from this house is the expansion and contraction of the HVAC ducts when the furnace is running.

My homeowner's insurance is no more expensive than for an equivalent stickbuilt house because of the materials of construction and the stout foundation.

I have all this construction photo-documented in a nice data package so when it comes time to sell potential buyers will see the construction details.

 

[UpstateNYMarine]

Wayne County Hose,

My wife and I recently built a home here in Upstate NY. We did tons of searching (well I did) and from what I found the modular was the best route for us. We had originally planned to use the Sun product like you are looking at but decided to go with a Guildcrest home instead, it was an energy star home and from what I researched built much better. We made our own floorplan by going through literally thousands and piecing one together of our own. We moved in the home in July and I have been hard at work finishing the basement ever since (I can finally have that bar/gameroom).

I know there are plusses and minuses with Modulars but this is how we looked at it:
+ Modular built indoors and no rain
+ Much faster construction time
+ I felt better about being a GC on a Modular
+ We were able to customize everything
+ I was able to do a lot of finish work on the inside
+ Compared to what we were given to stick build we saved about 65,000
+ Cheap to heat

- You have to decide a lot of details before the house arrives
- Some onsite changes can be made but others cannot
- You can't see it being built from scratch.

What we ended up with is almost a 4,000 s.f. (including finished basement) cape cod with a three car garage that is cheap to heat from Propane and cooling costs are cheap as well. I couldn't believe how energy efficient this home is. Not one person that comes in the house believes its a modular. We disguised the marraige wall with a trayed effect and it came out great.

The one thing that I would highly suggest you look at is the HVAC system. If you are going to do forced air (which I would highly suggest), you need to make sure they do all the proper runs. Have your onsite HVAC guy picked out and have him look at the plans. Make sure they have plenty of runs and returns headed to the second floor. Sun would only put in one run and one return to the attic, which would work fine for heating a modular but is horrible for AC. Just be cautious and it really helps to have all your onsite guys look at the plans before you sign them and put the house into production.

Anyway best of luck and if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

- You can't see it being built from scratch.

This is very true. In regards to TBN we can see it either and question every step of the way

 

[thatguy]

we went stick built.. BUT the entire difference is yoru builder.. If you get a good/great builder you get quality.. Go with a bargain basement builder you get unsquare rooms/walls etc...

Quality does cost, but long run quality is worth it..

Brian

 

[MossRoad]

48' x 12" I beam, already spec'd into the house.

Good job!

 

[dbdartman]

Dartman, that's a nice place you have there. Half modular and half stick. Were you looking for a problem? I equate that to being married and having a girlfriend. One woman is enough of a headache, I don't need 2.

There's really no problem with the factory built parts getting along with the stick built parts. It's more an issue of the stick built parts being built wrong & using under-sized joists. I was forced to install a lam-beam & lolly columns under the utility room. When the front-load washer went into spin cycle, EVERYTHING in the room danced! 2X10 "I" joists just don't cut it in a 20' span! Should have been (IMHO) 2X12's. Then there's the car port. The front cross beam is a 6" wide beam. Why there was a 4" wide beam installed on the back is a mystery to me. Even more mysterious is the missing column that was never installed under that back beam! That beam will be installed in '08!

Then there was the GC... He boxed the upper cabinets in one of the kitchens up to the ceiling. Every return to the wall was out of plumb! The worst was the one you see when you first walk into the kitchen; 20" tall & 3/4" out of plumb!!!!! One of the subs told me he was a really good cabinet maker.

Oh, & did you know that a "left-hand door" in residential trim is the exact opposite of a left-hand door in commercial trim? That's what the GC told me after I called him on installing a right-hand door in the cellar, I SWEAR!!!! I saw red! Had to just walk away, because he would have been hospitalized & I would have been in jail!

And before it comes up, I didn't have ANY say in hiring the GC. My parents made that decision before my father became really sick. We went the route we did so we could be moved before Dad died. Needless to say, we didn't move in until 15 months AFTER he died! At least he got to see the unfinished inside once before he was too sick to get out.

I could go on, but it's not good for me...

I hope those garages are filled with old Mopars.

Sure are! Well, not quite "filled," there's room for Mom's Toyota Highlander in there!