Homes by Vanderbilt - Sanford area

SHINTON

SHINTON

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2005
Location
Triad area of NC
http://www.ncmodulars.com/

Wanted to see if any of our Sanford area folks work there, know someone who does, or owns/lives in a home made by them, etc?

We are making an offer on 3.5 acres here locally and will be building a 1 story home on there. Have heard and read good things about the modulars (old thread on here I re-read this weekend) and was hoping to get first hand info on them.

There is another company called Select Homes, they have about 6-8 various sites in the state, we viewed one of their homes in Mocksville, just off Hwy 601/I-40. Info on them will be well appreciated too.

We will be building in Forsyth County if that matters, land is perked, spoke with inspector again this morning to clear what we want to do, etc, all is good!

Sam
 
We looked at them about 6-7 years ago when we built the house we are in now. Vanderbilt is just a couple of miles down from where we built. Dollar for dollar, I don't think there was a big difference between a modular and stick-built on site in the size and quality range we built in. Of course, this house we built with a 'five year plan', to move on in five years...but in a couple more weeks, it will be six years, and we'll be here at least 2 more. We didn't build a house to last the rest of our lives.

They do cut corners as opposed to high-end construction. So do the low end stick-builts. So do the high-end stick-builts.

I just hope the homes aren't built like the sample garages they have across the street. One, if it's still there....where should be a rim joist across the ends of the 2x12 2nd story joists...is just the back side of the outside siding. :O ...at least the compared to the way I learned to build things, it's wrong.
 
orange150 said:
I have always heard that modulars were usually built stronger than stick built because they are built in house than shipped to location.
Click to expand...

From what I understand they are built with 2x6 walls on 16" center, whereas stick built is 2x4 on 16"

I believe the insulation rating is R19 (vs I want to say R13 but could be off there...) I remember a brief discussion on here of how useful insulation is for saving on heat/cooling bills, vs windows vs attic...I think attic was #1, windows #2 and wall #3? They are wrapped with tyvek like sheeting...

Attic is supposedly "deeper than regulation" of the wool like stuff. I cannot remember the depth he told me though.

Then one guy was telling me in his bonus room area he went back and put in styrofoamish sheets in between the rafters under the roof. Then put in sheetrock and about a 1.5 ton unit to heat/cool that area, ran it all along one side under the non-usable part etc.

The only other useful fact I remember was that the footing are 12" instead of the normal 8" This means there will be a crawlspace and so we will put in a small porch on the front and a ramp (wheelchair access...this IS a 30 year/lifetime build for us, and wife has some medical issues, planning for the worst)

Keeping my fingers crossed, making offer on the land tomorrow, will be nice, 3.x acres, tis a shame though there was no boulders onsite that I found for crawling! :driver:
 
They seem stronger, but I don't know. We set them with our cranes and they seem to go together pretty good and have got to be strong to hold together without damaging when lifted with the crane.

Let me know when you are ready to put it together and I'll get ya a fair price on the crane work...
 
SHINTON said:
From what I understand they are built with 2x6 walls on 16" center, whereas stick built is 2x4 on 16"
I believe the insulation rating is R19 (vs I want to say R13 but could be off there...)
Click to expand...

Either way....I'm not knocking modulars, just pointing out some of the reasons I chose stick-built. (or may chose modular next time)

My house, I went with 2x6 walls. When working with him on the quote, builder said it only cost $500 more than the 'standard' 2x4. Think about it...the only real cost difference is the diff between studs (about 140 pcs for my house), slight increase in cost of insulation, and a little more for window jambs...that's it...labor remains pretty much the same.

I figure i've made that back by now...my power bills run about $75 winter, $95 summer.

You build, you get it your way. We looked at one neighborhood of modulars...you got to pick the plan, but could make absolutely no changes, until after you closed and did the "remodeling" yourself.

I was able to do some stuff on mine...little things that made life easier later... like curtain blocks at every window, blocking for towel bars.

Remember, the "code" that they compare to is an absolute minimum....many builders (and modulars) exceed what is required by code, just as a matter of good construction principle. Some don't.
 
My Gf's parent's house is half-n-half. first floor is modular, second floor is stick built. its been there for probably 8 years and is holding up very well. The only thing i will say is....if there is an option to upgrade bathroom stuff (i.e. tub and surround, toilet, sink etc.. do it! they use some cheap stuff.
 
Sam - the wife and I just went through this, and I was a big proponent of modulars..

But if you're thinking long term, I spoke at length with 2 people at work who've owned good modulars in the past. To sum it up:

* You can all but forget adding more wiring for anything. And, all the wiring is run to a central spot in each section, not up or down as traditional.
* The sections will settle slightly differently, and since the sections are stiff, you'll see it in where the pieces meet, far more noticable than normal settling in a stick built.
* Though they've done quite a bit with making the interiors and exteriors look nicer, I could show you 5 stick-built plans that we're considering that blow away any modular. There's certain room shapes and dimensions that just can't be done off-site, and what you end up with are very rectangular-shaped rooms.
* Of the 5 stick-built plans I have here, 3 specify 2x6 framing as well. 1 of them doesn't specify it, and one is 2x4.

This was comparing the high-end "custom" modulars, not the more basic ones, so it may be a better comparison. In the end, I'm going stick-built because of the floor plan flexibility and appearance. Oh, both of the people I spoke with had their current home stick-built...

(on an aside, I wish I could convince the wife into a 1-story, for the future... but I'm just making sure the stairs are compatible with one of those electric chairs :rolleyes: )
 
Just remember - even with 6" stud walls and R19 batts, you still have an R3 cavity every 16" O.C. You can get R15 batts in a 4" wall, but the big jump comes from an inch or two of EPS in place of (or on top of) sheathing. That way, you have a continuous insulating surface with few seams.

Tyvek is primarily a waterproofing system. You get some draft reduction from it, but it should be treated as a drainage plane. It's to keep the moisture that gets behind the brick or siding from wetting the sheathing and insulation.

The width of your footing is determined by the load bearing capacity of the soil and the weight of the structure being supported.

If you have a crawl space under the house, you want to install a continuous vapor barrier on the soil, insulate the stem walls, and condition the crawl space. Same goes for the attic - the best systems put the insulation against the exterior sheathing and condition the attic volume. You can go with a prefab roof panel -- they're usually 3-4" of EPS or polyisocyanurate board sandwiched between OSB or gyp board, or Dupont has a manual on sealed attic systems that is a bit more conventionally framed.

HTH

SHINTON said:
From what I understand they are built with 2x6 walls on 16" center, whereas stick built is 2x4 on 16"
I believe the insulation rating is R19 (vs I want to say R13 but could be off there...) I remember a brief discussion on here of how useful insulation is for saving on heat/cooling bills, vs windows vs attic...I think attic was #1, windows #2 and wall #3? They are wrapped with tyvek like sheeting...
Attic is supposedly "deeper than regulation" of the wool like stuff. I cannot remember the depth he told me though.
Then one guy was telling me in his bonus room area he went back and put in styrofoamish sheets in between the rafters under the roof. Then put in sheetrock and about a 1.5 ton unit to heat/cool that area, ran it all along one side under the non-usable part etc.
The only other useful fact I remember was that the footing are 12" instead of the normal 8" This means there will be a crawlspace and so we will put in a small porch on the front and a ramp (wheelchair access...this IS a 30 year/lifetime build for us, and wife has some medical issues, planning for the worst)
Keeping my fingers crossed, making offer on the land tomorrow, will be nice, 3.x acres, tis a shame though there was no boulders onsite that I found for crawling! :driver:
Click to expand...
 
Since we got some good discussion going here, I had looked at those styrofoam houses with the concrete poured centers a few years ago. Insane amount of insulation value... thoughts, good bad or indifferent?

One of the guys in the CTB was building one, I went by and checked it out, pretty cool stuff, sorta do it yourself, do a couple rows and then pour in new concrete, rebar in those for strength.

Biggest issue I saw was the interior walls, running any kind of electric and then only that thin piece of metal to hit when attaching wallboard inside...

EPS...what is the layman's term for that / if I was to ask about it at the builders?

And I think you were saying combine it, with the right type of roofing material (EPS sandwiched) and you are going the right direction? What do you do in the eaves to keep the heat from escaping there?
 
EPS == Extruded Polystyrene. Everybody has a name brand for it... Owens Corning is Foamular XPS or something. It's basically a rigid foam insulation board. The nominal R-value is low. Usually R4-5 per inch. But because it's a continuous surface, you get more value out of it. I have a chart around here somewhere that has 4" and 6" stud cavity walls in metal and wood, with various amounts of batt insulation in them... the total R value for the wall is never more than R7 or R8. All those little air gaps and wood bridges add up.

The concrete houses have the same problems as the modulars, or SIPS panels, etc... it's a non-conventional building system, running wires/plumbing/ducts/etc is more difficult. It's harder to make changes later, or halfway through construction, etc. There may be some payback in other ways, but it's not necessarily a net benefit. Personally, I think those concrete systems are expensive and overkill. Crazy high insulating value, but if you decide 6 mos from now that the bedroom window is too small, you're fawked.

The system with the composite panels isn't vented. You just stuff the eaves full of batt insulation or blown, etc. The Dupont Tyvek system is vented, but it only allows for a 2-3" deep vent space directly under the sheathing, then the insulation starts.
 
my buddy back in Edenton bought a Vanderbilt mod (2 story) about 4 years ago? Anyways, it's pretty nice and you (me anyway) can't tell that it's a modular
 
Call This Guy, He does alot of the higher end mods. that are a super high quality unit.
Marion Arnsdorff : 239-898-4921 I'm not trying to sell somthing, but he can give you some great advice on these!
My parents live in a Log Modular and we've worked on quite a few of the normal framed mods.
I like them all, It's really about what you want!
 
We had a modular built by Nationwide Custom Homes, moved in November 2007. Their closest factory to us is in Siler City, and we got to tour it and see out home in process. Pretty cool.

When we priced it, the modular came out cheaper than higher-end builders we talked to. We had a lot of flexibilty with options, changes, and design. We have several angled walls, not all rectangles. But to what Rich said - there are *some* things they can't do. Where the pieces meet (the "seam" down the middle) is called the marriage wall, and door casings on that wall are thicker than normal because that wall is thicker. And there is a limit to where and how rooms can extend across that wall, since it's a supporting structure. But that did not limit anything we wanted to do, other than being unable to put a pocket door on the closet in our bedroom (can't do a pocket door in the marriage wall).

Nationwide has a model home center on I-40 near Rock Creek Dairy Road - this is just east of Greensboro, way before Burlington. I think you get to it by exit 135 or 138. Anyway - the big white model house with dormers - we built a modified version of that. Build on a different floorplan to cut down the square footage a little to bring down the cost. I also got a full drive-in basement/garage.

One main reason we went with modular because it was faster. They set our house on the foundation on like 08/09/2007 and we moved in 11/01/2007. I think they started grading in June, and if there hadn't been a mix up with the county permits, we would have closed earlier (house was done in factory but had to wait to be set until permits were fixed). We were living with my in-laws, so wanted to get the hell out of there ASAP. Also, we were building near my in-laws, so I couldn't have my jack-ass father in law going over during a stick built process and screwing with the workers all the time.

Another reason, when I look back now, is that you get most of the stuff done in the factory under more controlled conditions. I'm not talking about just weather (which is a big one), but also supplies, sub-contractors, etc. Based on just the limited amount of subs we had to deal with, I'm glad we didn't have more to deal with.

The house did get some sheetrock cracks from the move and setting on the foundation. There is a 1-year warranty - they fixed all the initial cracks, and we'll be calling them back to do any more before November (only have some seams gaping at molding, no cracks). I don't know if this settling is worse than a stick built house. I have no frame of reference. I do know that our old stick-built house, built in 1966, still had sheetrock cracks when we lived there a few years ago. :)

They did make some mistakes, but the fixed them all. I would imagine this could happen with a stick built house too.

My recommendation whoever and whatever you go with is always to ask for what you want, even if they don't like it, or don't want to build it that way. It's their job to give you what you want, and you're paying for it. Our first salesperson was great with the design of our house, but then she left. The second guy would have refused to do for us what she did - would have told us it couldn't be done. We got lucky I guess that the design was basically complete before we had to work with him. :)

Oh - also, check with the builder on optional brands of HVAC equipment. I was told by an HVAC friend that what we got is the "low end brand that all contractors use" - not terrible, but there's better (longer lasting) stuff out there. I didn't even think about getting a better brand there.

I wonder if Rockcity did the crane work on my house? :) I thought the crane was from somewhere near Greensboro, but I can't remember.
 
thecarman said:
They did make some mistakes, but the fixed them all. I would imagine this could happen with a stick built house too.
Click to expand...

Ya got that shit right. There were plenty of things that needed to be fixed when my house was built. I'd highly recommend budgeting in some $$ for a home inspection prior to moving in.. My inspector found some really good little items.

And Richard - I'm :lol: about your in-laws comments..
 
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