I am in the beginning process of building my new home. It is the basic choice of the two methods of contruction. Both styles are conventional construction methods but one is built in afactory and shipped to you and joined together on site and the other is build stick by stick on site.

I am really drawn to the modular method due to spped on completion (6-12 weeks) compared to 8-16 months for the stick built. Both are fully customizable in the floorplan to finish surfaces.

Anyone have a new home built recently that can give me some real world experiences?

 

Don't know where you got your time line of a stick built taking that long, but I would think 12-16 weeks is more than enough. Did mine is 16 and I even did some of the finish work after hours while working full time job (paint,paper,varnish, lighting finals etc, alarm system, telephone/cable TV pre-wire and finish).
If a builder is taking that long to finish, he is ******* it and not doing a very good at scheduling his work crews. I was my own general and floating the construction loan meant time was critical as I was paying interest on the bill.

 

boxcar,

I'm in the trades and have worked with both.
How much footage are you looking at?
What's the site like?

What kind of info are you looking for?

 

I am looking for about a 1800sqft home. I have 10 acres that I will be builing on. It is mostly wooded with a 4 acre chunk of open pasture with a free draining sand based soil with no ledge or boulders.

What I am looking for is there a major reason to consider one or the other. The modulars a a bit cheaper in price but not by enough to make that the deciding factor. Of course the stick built builder says go with stick built and the modualr says go with modular.

 

One of my best buds works for a custom home builder. (5-15k sqft, 1-5 million bucks)

THey have one of the modular places build all the walls and ship them in, but unlike just setting 2 modular halves together, these walls are set wall by wall.

He likes that the house goes up quicker, theres no theft of materials, and it can be under roof, protected from the elements quicker

THey build about 10 houses a year

 

We built a new house in 2006.They started building it in April and we moved in the last day of June.The only thing that wasnt completed was the deck.The basement took a tad longer than we had planned on cause the new door neighbours landscaping started to cave in (oooops !!!)all that aside,our house is 1150 square feet on the main floor,and we are just now finishing the basement.That was going to be an extra 25 thousand to complete by the builder but doing the trade hiring and some of the framing ourselves we are going to finish it more in the 10 thousand dollar area.Thats one extra bedroom,one 5 piece bathroom and a large rec room.We love our house and since we got to pick out what we wanted for flooring and cupboards and counter tops,etc.its kind of special.Whatever you decide to do it will be wonderful,sounds like your lot is beautiful....Good Luck !!!

 

If it were me I'd ask both builders for addresses of jobs they currently have going on near you. Take a drive and look at both of them. Personally I'm not a fan of the fingerjointed wood they use in some construction. I would think a walk around some frames in progress would help you make your decision.

 

I would go Modular.

You have the advantage of having the foundation already to go to set the house on back-filled and minimum garbage to clean up.

All Materials especially Kiln-dried lumber would not be out in th elements for any length of time, Avoid major Theft loss,etc, etc.

 

I have had both, and would go with stick built over modular. You can modify your plans when into construction with stick built; once the modular is started it is difficult if not impossible to modify. I believe stick built homes retain more value over the years. As for time frame, a good general contractor should have the home built within 5-6 months. But, like someone else said, you should go to each style home and inspect each. Ask to see a modular sold/set 10 years ago. Ask to see a stick built home built 10 years ago, and ask each homeowner their opinions. Good luck!

 

I think that there have been several good points especially with going to see those built, but I would wonder about going back 10 years unless I was sure that the same products and processes were used then as now. The finger joint studs were used on my garage and they said that with them you have straighter studs so there is less problems when sheetrocking. Value on a modular will probably drop more than a stick, but a lot of it depends on if it looks like a double wide or a stick built house. Insurance is also another thing that I would inquire about. I do believe that a modular house built in a controlled environment will have a better chance of having a quality home than one with the material exposed to the weather. Security would be less of a issue even if you are out in the boondocks. In some cases that makes it a better target since people will be around less.
In the end I'd look at the value over time, insurance and cost than whether it was stick or modular. Either way has pluses or minuses and depend a lot on who is doing the building.

 

We call this "panellized" construction. It does cut down on waste, but it can be challenging to make "adjustments". Plus you need some kind of crane or boom onsite throughout the process.

Modulars are getting better and better. Like any engineered product they are pushing closer to the 'limit' and some I've been on/in don't have the "solid" feel of a stick built home.

There is an advantage in speed. Your house is dried in when it arrives.

There's less disruption to the site, because there's no framing crew to speak of, And few if any weather related delays.
All that needs be done is setting an accurate foundation. (an aside here, I still don't trust panelized basement walls set in gravel)

That said, I'd hate to see the framer go the way of the cowboy.

Interior finish/fitout will take some time regardless of which one you choose. You can't expect marble floors, granite counters or something like that to survive a road trip.
But maybe none of this is in your plans/budget.

It's real wealthy down where I live and most Modulars are bought/built to expedite construction and minimize carrying costs.
Construction loans are steep compared to a mortgage, and anything that gets a C.O. quicker and/or, the house on the market sooner helps a lot.

As has been mentioned much depends on how complex your plan is.

As far as Buck 1's post goes, try and think through your plans first!
Nothing's more disruptive and frustrating to a contractor and crew than change orders.
If you're going to stick build find exactly what you want and go with it.

Just my 2c

 

I use to sell these homes not too long ago and if anything ever happened to the one I am in now, I definately would go modular. I toured one of the factories that builds these (Schult) and they do not chintz on any materials. One good thing like everyone else has mentioned, time. Up here, mother nature can put a damper on getting one built in a timely fashion. I also know cost per square foot is quite a bit less v/s a stick built home.

 

I purchased a new modular in 93,and stick built a new house in 00.Wish I had never fooled around with the modular.Lets face it if it comes in on wheels its a house trailer.you can put lipstick on a hog and its still a hog.
Modular homes will in no way hold their value like a stick built.as for time frame.My home is 3200 (two story brick)heated square ft plus a two car garage.A crew dried my house in ,,in 14 working days.basically I was living in mine within 60 days from start date.

 

I have to go with a big thumbs down on the modular, too. I don't know what it's like in your neck of the woods, but around here, the modulars don't get inspected the way a stick-built does. That's because the plans were pre-approved by an engineer (down to every receptacle and plumbing fixture), and there is only a very short list of acceptable changes. I toured a local distributor and walked through all their models--none of floor plans even approached normal or logical. The kitchen layouts were horrendous, and every single one had those idiotic "garden tubs". And, by the time I got to ones that were a little more solidly built and the floor plan was bearable, the cost pushed them well beyond the cost of a comparable stick-built home.

And, like 99whiteford said, you're putting lipstick on a pig. Everyone can spot a modular from miles away, so they don't hold their value. They scream, "white trash that sold the ex's Harley".

Jason

 

I can say the inspections are more strick up here on the mods v/s the stick built. In some cities around here, they won't even let you put one up in the city limits. Heck, I know of a town not too far from here, if you were going to put one up, it had to be 2 miles away from the city.
As far as value, I can't argue with you on that. Just like a vehicle, the minute it leaves the lot, might as well knock off five grand or so from the value. I agree with you on the tubs. I hated them too. I had ordered a couple of homes for the lot for display and didn't put them in. Got chewed out from the boss, but they sold right away.