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
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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
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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.
When I moved to Georgia, I lived in an older(1988) Modular home. I was impressed, It was by no means like the double wide we lived in overseas, Its actually closer to the brick house I own now. The only issue I had with the quality was that the vinal siding was cheap and the floor seam was visible. Other than that, no one that visited could tell it was modular. Construction is almost identical to stick built. The challenge is convincing your insurance company or realtor when the time comes, that it isnt a trailer. In short, a mobile home has a metal frame and a title. A modular is an off site,built stick home. I'm sure like any othe house, you can cut corners or do it right. You'll be happier in the end if you do it right, spend a little extra now and save time and money later. I dont think it matters stick vs modular if you have a reliable builder who will build it how you want it.
N80
Super Member
hunterridgefarm, let me throw one more option into the mix. Have you considered a log cabin kit? A log cabin would surely be right at home in Western NC.
I built my own 1000sq ft hunting cabin from Southland Log Homes. But they make anything from little cabins to huge homes. They make custom kits too.
http://www.southlandloghomes.com/
Of course a log home is something you'd like or not like so the whole idea might be off base. But, my cabin, and several other log homes I looked at are among the sturdiest structures I ever seen.
Southland is top notch all the way and I would highly recommend them, but there are several manufactures on I-26 south of Hendersonville and Flat Rock that are worth looking at.
I built my own 1000sq ft hunting cabin from Southland Log Homes. But they make anything from little cabins to huge homes. They make custom kits too.
http://www.southlandloghomes.com/
Of course a log home is something you'd like or not like so the whole idea might be off base. But, my cabin, and several other log homes I looked at are among the sturdiest structures I ever seen.
Southland is top notch all the way and I would highly recommend them, but there are several manufactures on I-26 south of Hendersonville and Flat Rock that are worth looking at.
ByronBob
Veteran Member
I won't slam a modular but when my stick built was going up they forgot in several places to nail the studs with the plywood exterior. I put my hand on the wall in the kitchen and almost fell through the studs. They forgot 3 studs in a row and wrapped the wall outside already.
I can't help but think if it was a modular what I might have missed if it came ready to set up. Maybe it's not an issue but I could daily stay on top of what they built that day before it was too late to go back.
Just my experience talking anyway... /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
I can't help but think if it was a modular what I might have missed if it came ready to set up. Maybe it's not an issue but I could daily stay on top of what they built that day before it was too late to go back.
Just my experience talking anyway... /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
shado
Bronze Member
Yes, your'e right, those higher grade of materials are available from the mod plants, if you want to pay the piper to make one to standards as stick built. Now back when we were first touring the dealers, the first modular that impressed me was a single level (and less square footage) Oakwood home. Even though it was not sitting on a permenant foundation at the time, it just felt like a regular house. Must have been the 1/2" sheetrock. Did not care for the layout since it was restrictive do to a regular 'box' design, but I was impressed at the time until the sales guy mentioned 100 grand. The impression started to drain down a little. Then we ended up at another place, two story with dormers, more square footage (a lot), and 16 grand cheaper. But, the cheaper feeling kicked in after going over it a little. Bringing it up in standards like the Oakwood we saw earlier, probably would have pushed it above the 100 grand deal. That's the price to pay when wanting custom items over standard issue, thus leaning me back to wanting to do things (what I can) myself.
Yes, a lot of OSB out there but code should require it to be exterior glue type so at least it would last a while longer. Checking the subfloor of one modular, they used the regular stuff, right where dampness collects. The surface of the underside was already showing roughness (coming apart)
I'm not that against modulars, some I see would be real nice to live in, I'm just taking a harder route to save money & end up in it when my retirement years come around.
J.W.
Yes, a lot of OSB out there but code should require it to be exterior glue type so at least it would last a while longer. Checking the subfloor of one modular, they used the regular stuff, right where dampness collects. The surface of the underside was already showing roughness (coming apart)
I'm not that against modulars, some I see would be real nice to live in, I'm just taking a harder route to save money & end up in it when my retirement years come around.
J.W.
Jagmandave
Veteran Member
I'm pretty much following the same route as Shado, going to sub out the cement work, walls, etc, then do my own plumbing, electrical and so on. Building with ICF's requires a different mindset, since it becomes very hard to pentrate concrete walls for that pipe you forgot about! Other than that, likes SIPS and modulars, it allows you a dry house pretty quick, then you can move on as your own pace, style and financial abilities dictate. There's something to be said for choosing a home and having it built and livable in a short time tho......
I'm going to have a couple of SIPs manufacturers price out my plans, but I still have a problem building my house out of termite food, so I expect that unless there are large savings, I'll stick with my ICF's. Plus too and also, here in tornado country, a concrete house has to be about the safest place to ride out the storm - my plans include a concrete "safe" room..............
I'm going to have a couple of SIPs manufacturers price out my plans, but I still have a problem building my house out of termite food, so I expect that unless there are large savings, I'll stick with my ICF's. Plus too and also, here in tornado country, a concrete house has to be about the safest place to ride out the storm - my plans include a concrete "safe" room..............
OP
hunterridgefarm
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Just wanted to say thanks to all for you post and information you have provided. I never thought I would get this many replies but I am glad I did.
I will keep you updated as to our decision. Over the next few weeks we will be meeting with builders, and modular dealers.
This weekend we will be deciding exactly where we want to locate the house and start getting quotes to cut the road and clear for building site. I will do as much of the work as possible until its time to bring in the heavy equipment.
We should be getting a new camera soon so I will post pictures showing progress if anyone is interested.
I will keep you updated as to our decision. Over the next few weeks we will be meeting with builders, and modular dealers.
This weekend we will be deciding exactly where we want to locate the house and start getting quotes to cut the road and clear for building site. I will do as much of the work as possible until its time to bring in the heavy equipment.
We should be getting a new camera soon so I will post pictures showing progress if anyone is interested.
Varmintmist
Platinum Member
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Yes, your'e right, those higher grade of materials are available from the mod plants, if you want to pay the piper to make one to standards as stick built. )</font>
Plywood isnt a standard of stickbuilt, 12/2 isnt a standard of stickbuilt, CAT5 isnt a standard of stickbuilt (was in the mod), plastic doors are just as standard in stick as they are in mods. If you want those, you pay if you want to upgrade, you pay, period. If you do go for upgrades with a mod you pay less because the mod builder buys in bulk and gets a better price. The plywood that went into my floor never got wet because the guys knocked off early on Friday. The spackle and paint dried evenly because it was done inside in a controlled envrioment.
I have to tell you that I have been in tons of new homes in my job in the last 20 years and there is no magic wand that makes stick built better. It comes down to the builder, and even at that, you cant go by the name.
Here is the list of standard features, the options are listed underneath. Some builders like ours wont sell the home without some features like housewrap.
http://www.smihomes.com/features.htm
..............................
Hey Byron, if they forgot to nail the wall in a mod, it would blow off at 65 miles an hour /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif They would have found it. Maybe along the road, but it would have been found. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Plywood isnt a standard of stickbuilt, 12/2 isnt a standard of stickbuilt, CAT5 isnt a standard of stickbuilt (was in the mod), plastic doors are just as standard in stick as they are in mods. If you want those, you pay if you want to upgrade, you pay, period. If you do go for upgrades with a mod you pay less because the mod builder buys in bulk and gets a better price. The plywood that went into my floor never got wet because the guys knocked off early on Friday. The spackle and paint dried evenly because it was done inside in a controlled envrioment.
I have to tell you that I have been in tons of new homes in my job in the last 20 years and there is no magic wand that makes stick built better. It comes down to the builder, and even at that, you cant go by the name.
Here is the list of standard features, the options are listed underneath. Some builders like ours wont sell the home without some features like housewrap.
http://www.smihomes.com/features.htm
..............................
Hey Byron, if they forgot to nail the wall in a mod, it would blow off at 65 miles an hour /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif They would have found it. Maybe along the road, but it would have been found. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
ByronBob
Veteran Member
Hey Byron, if they forgot to nail the wall in a mod, it would blow off at 65 miles an hour They would have found it. Maybe along the road, but it would have been found.
Varm,
I guess my point was that once the walls are up, siding is on and the house is together you never really know whats behind the wall or how it will stand up to a storm in the future. So I go to sleep at night knowing that every inch of this stick built house is as good as it can be because I was here morning and night to be the QC man on the job.
Varm,
I guess my point was that once the walls are up, siding is on and the house is together you never really know whats behind the wall or how it will stand up to a storm in the future. So I go to sleep at night knowing that every inch of this stick built house is as good as it can be because I was here morning and night to be the QC man on the job.
mountainhome
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Hunteridgefarm, we are doing the same type of research for the same area. I found a website for a modular company that offers an owner/builder program that allows you to do some of the finish work yourself. I have not fully investigated them yet, just found them and I still live in Florida. The name is Mountain Brook Homes, and they are based in Asheville. I plan to check anybody I get serious about with the local BBB, and whatever else organizations I can find. Keep me posted, and I will do the same. Gary
hey all,
here's another two cents for the kitty. just built a modular and love it. served as my own contractor, so just the house, set was $47/square foot. 2x6, 16" centers, solid floor joists, hardi plank siding, lots of extra windows, a 12/12 roof with third floor i'm almost done with building out. after much consideration i set it on superior walls basement. i'm very impressed with the construction of the house. i've been restoring victorian houses for the last 15 years, so i was pretty picky. make sure whoever sets the house has alot of experience, that can be tricky. also, the achilles heel is the ends of the house where all the seams are. i did over kill and wrapped with tyvek and then put 1/4" foam on the ends for wind infiltration.
paul
here's another two cents for the kitty. just built a modular and love it. served as my own contractor, so just the house, set was $47/square foot. 2x6, 16" centers, solid floor joists, hardi plank siding, lots of extra windows, a 12/12 roof with third floor i'm almost done with building out. after much consideration i set it on superior walls basement. i'm very impressed with the construction of the house. i've been restoring victorian houses for the last 15 years, so i was pretty picky. make sure whoever sets the house has alot of experience, that can be tricky. also, the achilles heel is the ends of the house where all the seams are. i did over kill and wrapped with tyvek and then put 1/4" foam on the ends for wind infiltration.
paul
