Stick Built vs Modular
- Thread starter hunterridgefarm
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rogdan
Gold Member
rogdan
Gold Member
rogdan
Gold Member
shado
Bronze Member
I too, had to consider living in a modular unit (from major prodding of the wife), we visited several local dealers carrying different lines of manufacturers, letting her do all the talking since I was not convinced a 'box' was what I wanted to spend the rest of my days in. After serious considerations & actually liking some of the mods that we inspected, I was still not impressed with what goes into such homes. One major problem is OSB used for the floor. It might not be so bad for walls, but plumbing fixtures & pipes will leak. They have exterior glue OSB on the market, but from what I saw, they just didn't seem to use any. Actual plywood is what I want, & I need thickness in a floor, none of that stuff needs to be flexing. The walls need to be 2X6, R19 is supposed to work at that width. The windows, all look to be the cheapest on the market, not that they don't look pretty. Any mod plants use Pella? Anderson? Any house wrap behind that plastic siding? How about wiring for today's modern technology? I guess that's why wireless is available, but my entertainment center needs to have a 5.1 speaker setup. And those electrical panels with the quickie install receptical boxes, just does not seem right, or maybe it was just me. And don't get me started on the kitchen cabinets they use!
Now what did I end up doing. We (I need to keep including the wife) had $5000 invested in a round cement slab that we had built to put a dome home on some years ago & got stopped on it. After smelling something burning from too much thinking over it, I informed the wife that if we did the modular, I was not going to let the slab go to waste, would end up at least building some kind of garage on it after moving into a modular. We also had piles of building materials (doors, windows, shingles, plumbing, electrical, etc.) that was accumalated over the years in anticipation of building something. But right now, I ended up using my mother's log cabin as collateral (which I helped build) to borrow money to build a house on that round slab, but go with a post & beam design instead of the dome that I had in mind since I was an infant (roofing it would be a nightmare).
Alas, it has been a year with all that money bulging out of our pocket (keeping the wife in mind again) & still no house. It's hard to do things on your own. If it would be possible, I'd get a contractor to do a house up to a rough-in or dry-in point, then finish the other items myself such as plumbing, electrical, trimwork, etc.. My main point is, I just want a house the way I want it, the type of materials & workmanship I can trust since I'm able to do some of these functions. I have to live here till somebody runs me over, & hopefully that will be for some time to come. I also have items & designs of the house that will always be a conversation starter at those fancy dinner parties that my wife (er, we) want to have, such as a three-bay commercial stainless-steel kitchen sink, almost big enough for the both of us to take a bath.
So my vote goes:Modular-Quickie move in. You build-the essence of oneself.
J.W.
Now what did I end up doing. We (I need to keep including the wife) had $5000 invested in a round cement slab that we had built to put a dome home on some years ago & got stopped on it. After smelling something burning from too much thinking over it, I informed the wife that if we did the modular, I was not going to let the slab go to waste, would end up at least building some kind of garage on it after moving into a modular. We also had piles of building materials (doors, windows, shingles, plumbing, electrical, etc.) that was accumalated over the years in anticipation of building something. But right now, I ended up using my mother's log cabin as collateral (which I helped build) to borrow money to build a house on that round slab, but go with a post & beam design instead of the dome that I had in mind since I was an infant (roofing it would be a nightmare).
Alas, it has been a year with all that money bulging out of our pocket (keeping the wife in mind again) & still no house. It's hard to do things on your own. If it would be possible, I'd get a contractor to do a house up to a rough-in or dry-in point, then finish the other items myself such as plumbing, electrical, trimwork, etc.. My main point is, I just want a house the way I want it, the type of materials & workmanship I can trust since I'm able to do some of these functions. I have to live here till somebody runs me over, & hopefully that will be for some time to come. I also have items & designs of the house that will always be a conversation starter at those fancy dinner parties that my wife (er, we) want to have, such as a three-bay commercial stainless-steel kitchen sink, almost big enough for the both of us to take a bath.
So my vote goes:Modular-Quickie move in. You build-the essence of oneself.
J.W.
OP
hunterridgefarm
Veteran Member
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shado,
Good points and some of the samethings I have considered.
Having only talked to a couple of dealers I have found that they have several "classes" of modulars. One class offers 5/8" and 3/4" plywood for floor, plywood for the roof and walls and one class has OSB board. 2x6 walls and Anderson or Pella windows.
Fortunately I have built things all my life, remodled a couple houses and worked with a friend and his dad who have built houses their entire lives. I mainly worked with them to learn how to build from the ground up, with the intention of building my own house. And this experience has become very valuable in looking at modulars.
Thanks for your info.
Good points and some of the samethings I have considered.
Having only talked to a couple of dealers I have found that they have several "classes" of modulars. One class offers 5/8" and 3/4" plywood for floor, plywood for the roof and walls and one class has OSB board. 2x6 walls and Anderson or Pella windows.
Fortunately I have built things all my life, remodled a couple houses and worked with a friend and his dad who have built houses their entire lives. I mainly worked with them to learn how to build from the ground up, with the intention of building my own house. And this experience has become very valuable in looking at modulars.
Thanks for your info.
OP
hunterridgefarm
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2005
- Messages
- 2,117
- Location
- Western NC
- Tractor
- Kubota L3130DT, Kubota L185DT, JD LX277
rogdan,
Thanks for the pictures, very interesting.
It looks like you are going to have to move alot of dirt? It looked like your grade level was about 3/4 of the height of your basement door.
Thanks for the pictures, very interesting.
It looks like you are going to have to move alot of dirt? It looked like your grade level was about 3/4 of the height of your basement door.
rogdan
Gold Member
We have since back filled with two blocks showing. Basement walkout is a project for next year, I'm not sure what I will have done there. There was plenty of finish grading and I will have a steep section of yard, the price of living in WV.
rogdan
Gold Member
This is a local modular company versus the other two we looked at that represent regional (maybe national) companies who build elsewhere. We deferred on their standard Anderson window for a Simonton(WV built) which are double hung. I was skeptical of OSB but this company puts a 3/8" plywood subfloor over it and the floors seem pretty solid. We have 2x6 walls with R-19 in the walls and floor, R-30 in the ceiling.
We stayed basic in the offered options as otherwise the saving over stick built dwindles. We did decide on solid raised panel doors in the kitchen cabinets. In the end we scaled down our plan for a full custom 3500 sq ft home in the burb's for this 2000sq ft cookie cutter to bulid in the middle of the family farm( after all I still plan to buy a tractor one day too) /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif We will never be able to sell with a clear conscience, so priority began to shift to affording a country life such as buying and gasing up 4x4's.
http://www.buildgh.com/features.html
We stayed basic in the offered options as otherwise the saving over stick built dwindles. We did decide on solid raised panel doors in the kitchen cabinets. In the end we scaled down our plan for a full custom 3500 sq ft home in the burb's for this 2000sq ft cookie cutter to bulid in the middle of the family farm( after all I still plan to buy a tractor one day too) /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif We will never be able to sell with a clear conscience, so priority began to shift to affording a country life such as buying and gasing up 4x4's.
http://www.buildgh.com/features.html
Varmintmist
Platinum Member
shado, hate to tell ya, but you see tons of OSB in stick built. Since the price of lumber went up, plus OSB is not the old partical board, different ball of wax.
As to cheap wiring and such. My modular is wired in 12/2 with a Cutler Hammer 200A service panel. The only phone jack I had them put in they wired with CAT 5. My windows are double hung and the walls are 2x6 fully insulated. Plumbing fixtures are Delta. The whole thing is has housewrap. The entire floor is plywood because I paid for a upgrade from the OSB simply because of installing hardwood floors. You want to nail to plywood. My kitchen cabnets are a name brand (escapes me at the moment) and are high quality. I could have gotten better if I wanted.
I think some of you are thinking doublewide when someone says modular. That isnt the case. A double wide is a trailer, a modular comes on a trailer is a few pieces and a stick built comes on a trailer in many peices.
They are all boxes, just depends on where you build them.
As to cheap wiring and such. My modular is wired in 12/2 with a Cutler Hammer 200A service panel. The only phone jack I had them put in they wired with CAT 5. My windows are double hung and the walls are 2x6 fully insulated. Plumbing fixtures are Delta. The whole thing is has housewrap. The entire floor is plywood because I paid for a upgrade from the OSB simply because of installing hardwood floors. You want to nail to plywood. My kitchen cabnets are a name brand (escapes me at the moment) and are high quality. I could have gotten better if I wanted.
I think some of you are thinking doublewide when someone says modular. That isnt the case. A double wide is a trailer, a modular comes on a trailer is a few pieces and a stick built comes on a trailer in many peices.
They are all boxes, just depends on where you build them.