May 12, 2025 • 33 mins
The age-old question of modular versus stick-built construction reveals surprising truths in today's housing market. General contractor Donnie Blanchard brings 20 years of expertise to this deep dive, shattering common misconceptions about both building methods.
Most striking is how the traditional cost advantage of modular homes has virtually disappeared. "The modular home cost is pretty much neck and neck with us," Donnie reveals, noting that on recent quotes, the difference was merely $20,000 – and that's before adding customization options that quickly escalate modular pricing.
Beyond dollars and cents, the fundamental differences become clear. Stick-built construction offers unmatched flexibility, allowing homeowners to make changes throughout the building process as they see their space taking shape. Donnie shares how this hands-on approach incorporates local labor and creates truly personalized homes where walls can be moved and features adjusted even during framing stages.
Modular construction maintains its speed advantage, typically completing in 3-5 months versus 7-12 months for custom homes. However, this comes with significant trade-offs. Many buyers don't realize they'll need to handle their own foundation work, driveway installation, and utility connections – essentially becoming their own contractors for critical aspects of the project.
Quality perceptions get challenged when Donnie shares a personal experience working on a family member's modular home. Despite claims of precision manufacturing, he found walls out of square and design flaws like dormer windows positioned too close to roof lines, creating snow and water intrusion issues. "Every wall was out of square. I had to do so much framing, shimming, trimming... it was not at all what I expected."
Whether you're planning your forever home or considering resale value, this episode provides the insider knowledge needed to make an informed decision about which construction method truly aligns with your priorities, timeline, and vision for your dream home.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome to the Carolina Contractor Show with
your host, General ContractorDonnie Blanchard.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Get a hit crush.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Shut up.
So you don't know much aboutBull Durham, do you, Donnie?
I was stunned today.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Yeah, that's a little bit before my time, man, I was
surprised that you got me onthat, because I know I've seen
it, but I just didn't know thenames of the characters.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Me and Donnie were texting back and forth and long
story short, he thought that AIwas so strong that it took this
generic script information thatDonnie wrote and inserted his
name and his company nameautomatically.
And I texted back.
I said that was me, you hayseed.
And then I said to you I feellike I'm the Crash Davis to your
Nuke Lelouch.
And Donnie says who are they?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Oh, I was hurt.
That is funny, man.
You know Crash Davis.
Actually there was a guy when Iwas in middle school.
I guess he failed a couple oftimes and all I remember from
Crash Davis was he got hislicense in eighth grade and
somebody made a sign for himoutside.
So that's where my mind went.
But yeah, yeah, I need torevisit Bull Durham.
In all fairness, I know it's anamazing movie and I remember
(01:13):
liking it as a kid.
I just didn't know thecharacters.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Yeah, and for people out there, if there is more than
Donnie who haven't seen thatmovie, bull Durham great movie
to watch.
Of course, donnie, you know, donot watch it with your girls
around, and I would say that toanybody.
It's not a kid-friendly moviein parts, but I think it's the
best baseball movie.
Second place would be Field ofDreams, also Costner.
(01:36):
I'm not trying to sound like afanboy, but Bull Durham is just.
I quote it.
As I told Donnie earlier today,I probably quote that movie at
least once a week.
It's got all the best lines.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
I wonder how many people know what you're actually
talking about.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
I'll just give them one line that I used to have up
on a board in an old office andit said don't think it only
hurts the ball club.
And that was for reps thatwould come in and say I think I
have an idea, that can, I thinkwe should.
And I would just point at thepicture of Crash Davis talking
to Nuke Lelouch, which is who hesaid that to.
There's your teaser.
(02:06):
Go rent the movie and see it onyour own.
Hey, donnie, we're like the newSiskel and Ebert of DIY.
It's the Carolina ContractorShow.
My name is Eric Smith.
I do inside sales and spewlines from movies like Bull
Durham for home builders inWilson and Greenville.
Donnie is a general contractorwho was unaware of my reference
earlier today.
(02:26):
He's also the owner ofBlanchard Building Company, also
the owner of Sure Top Roofing,and what we do on the show is
not review movies or talk aboutit.
But pop culture sometimes makesan appearance.
But we like to talk about yourhouse, as I used to say the
inside, the outside, the top,the bottom, underneath it,
electrical plumbing, fire pits,barbecuing appliances, things
like that.
And we have Donnie on becauseas a general contractor he
(02:49):
actually knows what he's talkingabout.
So I'm just going to supply thesmart ass remarks and some
information I might be able torelay.
But for the most part, donnieknows a lot more about houses.
The website,thecarolinacontractorcom is a
great place to start.
We're putting these things upon YouTube so you can see past
episodes in all their glory withthe video and audio.
(03:10):
If you want to listen to thepodcast, you can go to the
website and download it there.
It's on any of the formats thatyou prefer it.
Delivery vehicles.
You might say Ask the contractorDo you have a question for
Donnie?
Again, as a general contractor,he can answer the questions you
have about your house.
Submit them right there.
If you have an idea for a show,guest or a subject, submit them
(03:31):
at that same spot.
You can do it there.
Man, we put up stuff from pastshows and cool pictures or
videos and things like that.
That's where all our socialmedia is too.
So again,thecarolinacontractorcom is the
website.
So again,thecarolinacontractorcom is the
website.
Now today's subject.
As I just said a second ago,donnie, you know a lot more
about building and constructionthan I do.
(03:51):
I work in a job that suppliesthe materials but you know more
about actually putting themtogether like a puzzle and
building something that peoplewant to live inside.
And so today's subject I'mgoing to lean on you for, but
we're going to be talking aboutmodular and stick built building
, and you pretty much just dostick built right.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Yep, stick build is, in terms of most custom builders
, that's all they do is stickbuilt.
We don't have the manufacturingcapability to build anything
modular.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
So I'm going to start out by saying of course, I'm
going to lean towards stickbuilt.
That's perfectly fine, but itmeans you also know a lot about
it, and that's why I'm glad wehave you on the show, as usual,
because you can get that insight.
Let's start off with a basicdescription of each, if you
would do that, donnie.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
So stick built construction is what you
primarily see with a custombuild or even in a track build
situation where people arethrowing up houses.
You know, trusses may be acommon part of a track built
home but even still the majorityof the house is stick built and
the definition there really isno set definition for stick
built.
(04:57):
But a stick built home goespiece by piece and I'll start
with the foundation.
Of course.
That goes brick by brick andwhen you get to the floor system
it's joist by joist, stud bystud and rafter by rafter.
So each one of those goes onone at a time and you basically
build it from the ground up.
The difference between that anda modular is that most of the
(05:17):
components from a modular homeare built off site in a
controlled climate atmosphereand they're built inside.
So where you're exposed to theelements with stick build,
you're not exposed to theelements with a modular, and
there's pros and cons to eachand we'll get into that.
But most of the people outthere and where I live and where
(05:38):
you live in Wilson, stickbuilding is the most common
method.
When you get towards the biggercities like Raleigh, which is
right between the two of us, yousee a lot more modular and
track building, where they usetrusses and several components
of the house that are built offsite.
What?
Speaker 1 (05:55):
got you into stick built versus modular, or is
there never really something?
You go into modular first, yougo into stick built first and
maybe decide to do modular.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Yeah, I mean I would think that if you get into
modular, if you're going toschool to be a contractor, more
than likely your curriculum isgoing to be tailored around
stick building because they'regoing to teach you the pieces
and parts of traditionalcontracting.
And modular is not traditionalcontracting, that's just
something that was kind of bornout of the manufactured home,
(06:24):
and that's the differencebetween manufactured and modular
.
Manufactured is more like adouble wide, so it's a different
process.
But I think they tookmanufactured homes and they just
beefed them up and so theymanufactured homes gave way to
modular.
And maybe that's not fair tosay, because if I had to give
credit to modular homes in anyway, shape or form, it would be
(06:45):
that modular homes got theirstart in the early 1900s.
So we had this huge immigrantpopulation come into America, we
had all the soldiers cominghome from the first world war
and they needed somewhere tolive and they needed that place
fast.
You know, back then they had alot more kids than we have today
.
So I know we've talked about inpast episodes the Sears catalog
(07:05):
house and that Sears cataloghouse was the very first modular
home.
So they built the walls offsiteand of course they had the
insulation in the walls.
I guess they had insulationback then.
A lot of houses I see did notbut any kind of wiring or
anything that would go in thewalls before the shipping
process was all done offsite andthey just shipped those to the
(07:26):
job and put those together likea puzzle.
So I think that the modularhome concept was definitely
beneficial to our country as awhole.
You know, a hundred years ago.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Yeah, and we're not here to make any disparaging
remarks about modular, becauseit's a very fine way to build a
house.
We just want to give listenersand those watching us on YouTube
an idea of what the differencesare.
So let's jump into that.
There's pros and cons to eachand let's break them down into
the two groups, and again, I'mso glad that I have you here,
because you're going to be ableto talk about it with much more
(07:58):
authority than I can.
Let's start with stick builthomes.
Give me some of the advantagesof those, donnie.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Hey, before I get into this, don't sell yourself
short, man.
I know you say that I know allthis stuff, but you've come a
long way.
We've been doing the show forfive years and now you're in
building supply and I think youknew a lot before you went into
building supply.
So I know that you over therebeing modest, but, to everybody
listening, eric's got his ducksin a row when it comes to
construction.
I think, matter of fact, youmight be able to build a house.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Here's why I do that, donnie, and I'm going to give
away the secret now.
Low expectations make everybodysurprised, but if I come across
saying I know all this stuffand then I say something stupid,
then they go.
He's an idiot.
So I always like to lower thatbar.
I call it my good lucky feeling.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
It's got me a long way through life, under promise
and over deliver.
I hear you Boom.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
You got it Okay, all right, so stick built.
Give me some pros.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Advantages are that you can customize a stick built
home pretty much as much as youwant.
And as you go through theprocess you know it takes a
little longer to stick build.
So if you're a homeownerwanting your fingerprint on that
house as the framers are goingthrough, once you physically see
that space and you see thewalls go up and that envelope
closes the house up, you can say, hey, this might look good over
(09:08):
here, this might look good overthere.
So you have the ultimateflexibility and I think that you
know that gives you.
It gives you so many moredesign options.
And, like I mentioned duringthe framing phase, if you want
to move a wall or if you want tochange the size of a tub or a
shower, you have the option todo that.
And another thing that I likeis that you're incorporating
(09:30):
local labor.
So you're giving all thesepeople locally a job.
And people say that folks justdon't want to work.
I don't find that to be thecase where we are, because we
have very high quality subs, wehave very high quality in-house
workers and all those guys.
They've shown up for 15 yearsseven o'clock in the morning
ready to put in a 50, 60 hourwork week.
(09:55):
So, uh, it gives me a lot ofpride to incorporate local folks
into all of my builds.
But, um, I'd say, uh,structurally speaking, a big
advantage would be that, um, ifyou trust a roof or you know, of
course you have a manufacturedhome they have little to no
attic space.
So when you stick build a home,of course you're going to use
two by tens instead of a two bysix truss with a bunch of
bracing and all that stuff, butyou basically triple the size of
(10:16):
your attic space.
So that's a really big deal toa lot of people where that's
their only means of storage andI don't want to get into this on
the show, but we put a beefedup pull down stair in there.
That's insulated very well Inthe case where we don't have
spray foam in the attic.
That insulation is superimportant for your heat loss and
heat gain.
But the last thing I'll say asan advantage is that you get
(10:36):
better homeowner insurance rates.
So stick building is the giftthat keeps on giving in terms of
your homeowner insurance ratesand I think that over time
that's just one of those thingsthat pays for itself.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Real quick.
I want to deviate into thatextra space and you talked about
using a pull-down step.
Are there a couple of quickthings people need to know of
how to turn a bonus room, whatit requires to then be
considered an actual bedroom?
You?
Speaker 2 (11:06):
have to add a closet.
So most building inspectionmunicipalities they say that you
have to have a closet toconsider it a bedroom, which is
easy enough.
But in a bonus room situationyou often have those 45 degree
angle walls where the roof isthe ceiling, not to quote
Michael Jordan but you have the45 degree angle walls where you
know you have to make use ofthat and figure out a creative
(11:28):
way to actually have closetshelving.
If you do in fact incorporatethat into that bonus room.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Could you in theory have an extra bedroom that uses
pull down steps to get to?
Speaker 2 (11:37):
it Not if you tell the inspections department so
it's, you know that'd be, thatwould be, that would be like
your least favorite kid.
So, hey, you know I'm sorrythat you're going to have to do
this every day, but you know,put the stairs back up when you
go to bed.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Yeah, that's it, and then you could lock it.
No, I'm just kidding, please,we're not going to padlock the
doors.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
All right, let's go to some uh some of the
stick-built homes.
Donnie, yeah, like I mentionedbefore, they're very
time-consuming.
You know, when you get into astick-built home you're at the
mercy of the elements and youknow weather is never your
friend when we are.
Of course North Carolinadoesn't have bad weather, but
you know when it's raining youcan't necessarily do the same
(12:19):
thing.
It's not just that it's rainingon where you're working, it's
making the job site a muddy mess.
And of course that you know,especially when you get towards
the finished part of the house,that just makes everything bad.
If you have a lot with reallynice, really nice dirt, that
that translates to red mudeverywhere.
And so, um, people often thinkthat a disadvantage or a con is
(12:39):
the cost.
And what I'm seeing lately isthat, uh, the, the modular home
cost is pretty much neck andneck with us, and I think they
took advantage of the housingmarket being up and they eased
up on their price and they'restill selling.
Of course that's marketing 101.
And the last house that Ipriced against a modular, I want
to say we were about $20,000apart and that wasn't with a lot
(13:02):
of options on the modular.
So I think if you're a personthat wants a modular with with
the options, they really hit youover the head when with with
anything that deviates from thestandard home.
So, um, that's one thing.
I would say that, um, uh, otherthan weather and and time, you
know, the the cost thing'sdefinitely not anything I'd take
(13:24):
into consideration.
So, yeah, it's hard for me tofind a lot of cons for a stick
built because I really feel likethat's the best way to go.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
No, I think that's fair.
I mean, we kind of got a guideof some people's opinions.
But you're right, Depending onwhere you are, the climate can
greatly affect whether the costswill be on par with a modular.
Now, speaking of climate, wetalked about how modular homes a
lot of them are built in aclimate-controlled warehouse.
They're sectioned out, so we'renot going to address the
(13:52):
benefit of having those piecesmade.
We now want to talk to whenthey get to the job site.
So can you give me someadvantages of having picking a
modular home?
It's now at the job site.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
Yeah, well, it's funny you say that about the.
You know the transportation andgetting it to the job site.
What I mentioned about theweather they say, well, weather
doesn't affect a modular install, but try pulling half of a
house on a tractor trailer upthere and you've got a crane.
He has to mobilize andstabilize and you've got to get
half of a house or whatever ifit's in four quarters.
There's a lot of weightinvolved, is what I'm trying to
(14:26):
say.
And if you have bad weather youcan't just pull all those
expensive machines up therebecause you're paying those a
pretty penny by the hour andexpect them to do what they need
to do around the weather or ifyou're the location you're
taking.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
that I mean, if you're taking half of a house,
you want it up in the mountainsor even out in the beach or
there's narrow bridges.
I forgot about thetransportation part.
Yeah, and that's going to addto the cost if you've got a
tricky move right.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Absolutely yeah, and they're going to charge you for
it.
I mean, that's the one thing.
You're not dealing with a GC,with a modular.
So you're dealing with acompany and somebody's probably
got a general contractor licenseup the chain somewhere.
But you're dealing with aproject manager and when they go
out and see your site they'regoing to incorporate it.
I mean, they have to pay thetrucking company, they have to
pay the crane guy to mobilize,so you know they're going to
(15:14):
cover their rear end and thatcost is just going to get passed
on to you as the homeowner.
All right.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
So again, we're not trying to bad mouth them.
There's got to be someadvantages, Advantages to
modular.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
I just can't help it.
Okay, advantages One One it isfaster.
So where it may take usanywhere from, you know seven,
eight, nine months to build ahouse and on these larger ones,
you know it takes over a yearand somebody's building 5,000
square foot house.
There's just no wayrealistically, because each
(15:49):
trade takes a lot longer.
And you and we've talked aboutsubcontractor shortages.
It's not necessarily there's ashortage on subcontractors, it's
that they can't find good help.
So if they a trade or, I'msorry, a task that would have
taken two weeks, five, 10 yearsago, that's going to take them
three weeks because they justdon't have the folks and the
owners of the business.
I'm seeing them having to gettheir hands dirty again and
they're getting back involved.
They're.
You know there's 60, 65 yearold guys who are having to train
(16:11):
new people because you knowthey can't find qualified help.
But anyway, I keep getting offon tangents.
But they, modular homes aredefinitely faster, you know, I'd
say three to four or fivemonths versus double that for
what we can offer, and that'sfair.
Yeah, and quality control wouldbe the other thing, because if
they're built in a climate,controlled atmosphere, you know,
(16:33):
I mean nothing gets wet,nothing's exposed to the weather
and you know that wall from theoutside all the way to the
inside, drywall, paint and trim.
You know it's all or for themost part it's all site ready
when it leaves that factory.
So that's pretty much all I canthink of Eric.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
No, that's that's fair.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Two things.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
We got.
Part of the disadvantage istransportation costs.
Some people say that that's anadvantage.
It just depends on where you'regoing.
I do think, though, and wouldyou agree, that the perception
is that modular is lower quality.
Is that a fair assumption, oris that not fair anymore?
Speaker 2 (17:10):
That's a tough question to answer but I'm going
to put it out there.
And if anybody has a modularhome I'm not picking on you
because you probably had upuntil the last couple of years
when house prices shot up, youprobably had significant savings
for going with a modular.
But I'll just say that modularhomes.
I think there's about 120, 130modular home facilities in the
country and I read a funny factthat 25 of those are in Texas.
(17:34):
So I guess expect to see a lotmore modular there.
But big state, so that's fair.
Anybody who's cranking outhouses to the tune of 130
manufacturing plants that arespread out across all 50 states.
They're going to have dealswith window companies.
They're going to have dealswith drywall companies,
insulation companies, even rightdown to the electrical wire.
(17:55):
So they're not stupid.
They're going to put theprojected amount of houses that
they think they can build in ayear out there and they're going
to say, hey, window company A,b and C, I know you have all the
same R value, you meet the sameenergy code.
How cheap can you go If youwant to sell this many windows
this year?
Who can have the best price andso I see the trickle down from
(18:17):
that is that they are going toget the cheapest window to meet
the minimum energy code and I'llget into this in a moment
because I experienced thispersonally but they're going to
have the cheapest product thatmeets the lowest code standard
possible.
And so, yeah, I don't think thatthe misconception is wrong.
(18:38):
I think that the misconceptionis people who've lived in
modular homes and they've said,hey, we had issues with our
windows.
Hey, and you know.
They've said, hey, we hadissues with our windows, hey, we
had issues with, you know, oursiding, or whatever the case may
be.
So I think that people who say,hey, this is not as good as a
custom, they're right.
And me, as a custom builder,the opposite of what I just said
(19:02):
is I do my homework on the bestproducts available and we don't
always go with the cheapestproduct, because we've seen over
the course of 20 years by theway, this is our 20 year
anniversary for BlanchardBuilding Company, so, yeah, but
over 20 years time, we've seenthings hold up or we've seen
things break down and, of course, if something doesn't pass the
test, we don't ever use it again.
So my goal is, if a homeownercalls me back, it's just to say
hello.
So it's definitely a differencein material standards for
(19:26):
custom built stick built versusthe modular folks.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Well, I do agree, because with a modular you're
basically assembling A to B andB to C and if something happens
that you're having trouble withthat, you're going to hammer it
together.
You're going to find a way,we're going to make A connect to
B.
We don't have the ability tomake big adjustments or even
small adjustments like you wouldon a stick builder, a custom,
(19:49):
and I want to be careful oncustom because it always makes
it sound like it's exorbitantlyexpensive when we're just
talking a general stick build.
We're going to compare the sametype of house if it were
modular or stick built.
You, donnie, you've doneinsurance adjusting.
You're familiar with theinsurance industry.
Is there a difference ongetting insurance for a modular
home than a stick built?
Speaker 2 (20:09):
So there is a big difference on manufactured homes
.
So double wides, mobile homes,those we talked about.
Rcv, which is replacement costvalue or replacement cost
coverage is the way people wordit in a past show and meaning
that if you have an insuranceclaim, they're going to
depreciate that claim and if youfollow through with the repairs
that they pay you for, theygive you that depreciation back.
(20:30):
It's recoverable and that'swhat you get with replacement
cost value.
Most manufactured homes do notqualify for that, meaning if you
have damage they do an ACVpolicy and they keep that
depreciation.
So that could be as much ashalf of your insurance claim.
So with modulars, I don't knowexactly the formula they use for
discounting something that ifit's modular, but I think that
(20:52):
modular and stick builderprobably pretty close in terms
of insurance rates.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Well, let's talk real life experience with this,
because I know you don't domodular, but you've probably
done work on modular homes andyou've done enough, whether it's
a renovation or an upgrade orrepairs that it gave you a good
insight of some of the pros andcons of it.
But give us a couple real lifeexperiences you have when it
comes to work and say on amodular stick, built you know
(21:17):
inside.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
now, yeah, I had a family member that wanted a
house built, I don't know.
It's been five, six years agoand I was so busy that I said,
look, it's going to be, I'm ayear booked out so I can't do it
right now.
And they wanted a basement andthe modular company gave them
very attractive price.
And I said, well, roll with it,because they were on a time
(21:41):
crunch and they needed to movein sooner than later.
Well, fast forward a couple ofmonths from that conversation
and they got the basement wallput in.
Everything was fine.
I was kind of, you know, justsubtly sticking my nose in the
bill just to make sure thateverything was okay.
And they come back to me andsay that the modular company
won't finish the second floor,that we have to hire a
(22:02):
contractor to do that.
And I said, well, okay, I cantake that on.
So if they get the house inplace, I'll fall in behind them.
And and uh, you know hate toadmit this, but curiosity was
killing me.
I wanted to see what they weremade of and how they really did
this.
And the product overall productwasn't terrible.
Um, and I'll say that when theyset the house, they cracked the
basement wall.
That was number one, uh, so wehad to come in there.
(22:24):
You know lots of hassles withengineering.
Uh, the response is what I waslooking for.
So I wanted the modular companyto say, hey, we will fix this,
no matter what heck or highwater, we're going to make sure
you're happy and you just don'thave that element.
With modular.
They're they're cranking out,they're a numbers game over
there, so they're cranking outas many uh potential houses as
they can.
And, um, that, when it came tosomething that that was a real
(22:47):
issue, you know, a crack,baseball, anything subgrade with
a crack and it's not okay.
So, um, and and I was surprisedby the attention that they gave
the homeowners.
But, like I mentioned earlierin the show, they don't have a
dedicated general contractor onthe job.
You know that theaccountability just is not the
same.
So, um, they get the house set,homeowner moves in.
I come in to do the renovationof the second floor, which was
(23:09):
basically wiring, insulation, uh, drywall, paint, trim and
flooring.
And, um, you know, I noticedthat the windows that they had,
uh, they didn't meet the energycode had just changed that year,
and the windows that were inthe manual, uh, modular, I'm
sorry they didn't meet thecurrent energy code, but of
course the inspectionsdepartment didn't call that out.
So I don't know if they're incahoots or what have you, but
(23:31):
you know just, it was problemafter problem, and when they
claim that it's everything isvery precise because it's in a
climate controlled atmosphereyou know they're not bad at
marketing is what I'll say tothat because they know what to
say that appeals to the averageperson.
But every wall was out ofsquare.
I had to do so much framing,shimming, trimming, and it was
(23:57):
so much work that I'd neverexpected it, because I thought I
was coming into this laser,precise, everything, square,
plumb level, and it was not thatat all.
One other thing that we ran intois that the dormer windows were
so close to the roof line thatwhen it snowed I think they got
10 inches of snow that year andthere was snow up past the
bottom of the window so ofcourse the snow melts, the
water's trying to seep in thewindows, and that's just one of
(24:17):
those things where you got tolive with it.
Because what are you going todo?
You can't.
You could change the windowsout and all that, but you're
looking at a repair that'smeasured in thousands versus
hundreds, to remedy thatsituation.
So, personally speaking, didnot have a good experience when
I encountered my first modular.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Now there's one other thing we need to consider.
When you have a stick builderor a modular, decision to make
is down the road we like tothink forever home is our first
home.
For a lot of people theyrealize going in it's a starter
home.
Most important thing, when youstart off with a small house and
you start a family and you needmore room, is you got to sell
what you're in?
I'm just going to make a gutassumption here.
(24:57):
Reselling a modular, the returnon your investment, your ROI,
is not nearly as good as a stickbill.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
Well, I think that is dependent on the market and the
area, because I have seenmodular sell for more than I
ever thought that they would,and that's because there's
obviously a housing shortage.
When you see the apartmentsfill up and their max capacity
on a big apartment building,then somebody with a decent
house with a little bit of landis far more attractive than
living with your neighbor 10feet away.
(25:26):
So I'd say that up until thevalue of the houses jumped up
and everybody's moving to NorthCarolina, that was definitely
the case and as a matter of fact, I think we did a show similar
to this several years ago and atthat point in time manufactured
homes actually depreciated.
So the point that I made backthen is stick built, appreciated
(25:48):
and manufactured, meaning themobile homes double wides.
They actually went down invalue as they aged.
So yeah, that's a lot to takeinto consideration there.
That's a question to ask yourlocal realtor, because they'll
have their finger on the pulsefor what they've been seeing in
recent months.
Gotcha.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Okay, so modern times .
That may have changed if thehousing issue wasn't what it is
today.
Yeah, that might change.
I don't know if we address this, donnie, about modular homes.
So there's one thing that abuyer has to do you can go to a
modular home retail and say welike this one, we like these
amenities and everything, andthen they're going to say we
(26:24):
talked about delivery.
But they're going to saywhere's your address?
And you're going to be what doyou mean?
Our address.
Yeah, you got to have that,don't?
You have to do like your owndriveway and even septic or well
water if you need that.
That's on you, the buyer'sresponsibility right.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
Yep, I probably should have mentioned that
before when you ask aboutmisconceptions for modular, but
that is that's probably thebiggest one, because people
don't realize that they'll giveyou a foundation plan but they
expect you to put your ownfoundation in, meaning you have
to have a footing contractor,you have to line up your
foundation contractor.
When the house comes into playand is actually set on site, you
(26:59):
have to have a plumbing,mechanical and electrical
contractor.
So PME that we always preachabout, all three of those guys
have to come in just to hookeverything up and I do believe,
from a liability standpoint,that they stray from offering
those folks.
So the modular folks that I'vehad any kind of interaction with
say, hey, if you've got aplumber, call your guy or what
(27:20):
have you, because they don'twant something to go south with
the plumbing, mechanical orelectrical guys, and then you
know that fall on them.
Another thing like you mentioned, the driveway.
That's a big deal.
Can you get a driveway anddriveway pipe in there, your
well and your septic?
The cost of the well and theseptic is going to be exactly
the same whether you're stickbuilding or you have a modular.
And another fine tune point isthat where we include appliances
(27:42):
in our allowances.
So we'll put the range in foryou, we'll put the microwave in
for you, because we wire for allthose.
Those wires can't just behanging out of the walls, uh,
with the wire nuts on them.
So we have to put all that in,and the modular companies often
put that on the homeowner, sothat's an extra cost you have to
absorb that.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
They're not always upfront about and, donnie, not
to put you on the spot, but thisis something to homeowners who
have to.
Can you do that, donnie, or doyou have to call somebody to put
it in you?
Speaker 2 (28:15):
absolutely have to call somebody.
You have to call theunderground, locate folks and
you have to clear it with themunicipality.
So oftentimes you have to gothrough planning, zoning and
with septic and well, you've gotto go through environmental,
health and that's a lot oflegwork.
That if you have a dedicatedgeneral contractor, they do all
that stuff for you and they fillout all the paperwork.
You have to pay the fee whenand that should be expected.
(28:36):
But at the same time you knowthe modular folks really make
you play contractor probably alot more than you're comfortable
with.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
And if you're getting near the highway with your
driveway or your building andyou have to put in special
drainage, you got to get the DOTinvolved because your
contractor can't arbitrarilymess around too close to state
roads.
So now you got anothergovernment entity to get
involved, and that doesn't makeit fun.
So, diane, let's wrap it up Ina nutshell.
(29:03):
We know where you stand.
You're a stick builder, but, ina nutshell, what are some of
the things you need to considerthen?
If you're going to get stickbuilt versus modular, I guess
really we got to focus onmodular.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
Right Timing is really the only thing I can
think about.
The only area that they can getme on and I will willfully let
go is that they can get you inthere faster than I can, and the
pricing got so close hererecently that they can't beat me
on price like they used to.
And I would say that if youwant your own fingerprint of a
house, then you know a custombuilder is definitely a better
(29:39):
option and you know optionsgalore throughout the house.
And if you want to changethings and I have some wonderful
homeowners right now, but, myGod, we change things every week
and you know I go with the flowI don't really get upset about
change orders because Iunderstand that is the position
that I've selected to be in.
(30:01):
I've chosen to be a custombuilder and that word, custom,
is just that.
So if you're going to makechanges and I'm not the kind of
guy maybe I shouldn't put thisout there on the air but unless
it's a major, major change, Idon't charge for change orders.
If it's a phone call and a fewemails and maybe you know
different materials deliveredinstead of what we planned on
originally, I think it's part ofthe relationship aspect that
(30:22):
you just roll with that, keepyour homeowner happy and you
know I think that will lead to alot of business down the road.
So that's our take on it andyou know, if you can, you can
wait an extra few months.
I think that you get a muchbetter product.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
I would look at it this way You're in the framing
process and you go as the homebuyer man, I would have loved to
have had a bay window on theend of this house.
You can go to your contractorand say hey, man, we're still at
framing.
Is this possible Versus amodular?
Sorry, you've already pickedyour house.
You're going to have to stickwith the one you got.
Maybe you can call a DonnieBlanchard type to come in and
(31:00):
put one in later.
But nah, there's no changeorders on this, unless you want
to buy a whole brand new unit.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
A lot of elements are similar to track building.
With that, you know a trackbuild, they try to, I guess they
make it look like they're stickbuilding, but they use a lot of
trusses, they use a lot ofstuff built off site and in the
very beginning, before you canactually step foot in that house
, you have to make a lot ofthose decisions up front, which
is wonderful for the builderbecause he has a blueprint for
start to finish and he doesn'thave to flex or bend for you.
(31:30):
But you know track building andmodular homes they share a lot
of similarities in that aspect.
So, like I mentioned before,you're getting a qualified GC
and you're getting somebody tohold your hand through the
process and who's going to do alot of the legwork for you.
And that 15% to 20% that wecharge definitely has some value
because you're paying the sameamount of money with a lot less
(31:53):
decisions as the homeowner.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
Donnie Blanchard, general contractor and owner of
Blanchard Building Company.
You can find his information onFacebook and on Instagram.
See the stuff that Donnie cando.
Also suretoproofingcom he ownsthat also.
But again, we're not downplayingmodular homes, but there are
some things that you need toconsider when choosing a home.
(32:15):
And a stick built does havesome major advantages, as we
just discussed on the show, andwe'll put more information up on
the website.
But there's a reason you stickwith stick built, no pun
intended, I guess.
Donnie, there you go.
Yep, all right, we thank youfor tuning in and hope this gave
you some inside information onthe differences between stick
built and modular homes, becausethere are some big differences
(32:37):
and, again, cost isn't theadvantage like it used to be for
a modular home.
You can pay just as much forthat as you can a stick build in
a custom home.
So go to the website, get moreinformation.
Thecarolinacontractorcom and Iwant to thank Donnie for coming
in and giving us his expertiseon stick built homes and the
contradictions and thecomparisons and pros and cons to
(32:58):
modular building, and we hopeto catch you again next week.
Have a great day everybody.
Thanks for listening to theCarolina Contractor Show.
Visit thecarolinacontractorcom.
Welcome to the Carolina Contractor Show with
your host, General ContractorDonnie Blanchard.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Get a hit crush.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Shut up.
So you don't know much aboutBull Durham, do you, Donnie?
I was stunned today.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Yeah, that's a little bit before my time, man, I was
surprised that you got me onthat, because I know I've seen
it, but I just didn't know thenames of the characters.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Me and Donnie were texting back and forth and long
story short, he thought that AIwas so strong that it took this
generic script information thatDonnie wrote and inserted his
name and his company nameautomatically.
And I texted back.
I said that was me, you hayseed.
And then I said to you I feellike I'm the Crash Davis to your
Nuke Lelouch.
And Donnie says who are they?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Oh, I was hurt.
That is funny, man.
You know Crash Davis.
Actually there was a guy when Iwas in middle school.
I guess he failed a couple oftimes and all I remember from
Crash Davis was he got hislicense in eighth grade and
somebody made a sign for himoutside.
So that's where my mind went.
But yeah, yeah, I need torevisit Bull Durham.
In all fairness, I know it's anamazing movie and I remember
(01:13):
liking it as a kid.
I just didn't know thecharacters.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Yeah, and for people out there, if there is more than
Donnie who haven't seen thatmovie, bull Durham great movie
to watch.
Of course, donnie, you know, donot watch it with your girls
around, and I would say that toanybody.
It's not a kid-friendly moviein parts, but I think it's the
best baseball movie.
Second place would be Field ofDreams, also Costner.
(01:36):
I'm not trying to sound like afanboy, but Bull Durham is just.
I quote it.
As I told Donnie earlier today,I probably quote that movie at
least once a week.
It's got all the best lines.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
I wonder how many people know what you're actually
talking about.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
I'll just give them one line that I used to have up
on a board in an old office andit said don't think it only
hurts the ball club.
And that was for reps thatwould come in and say I think I
have an idea, that can, I thinkwe should.
And I would just point at thepicture of Crash Davis talking
to Nuke Lelouch, which is who hesaid that to.
There's your teaser.
(02:06):
Go rent the movie and see it onyour own.
Hey, donnie, we're like the newSiskel and Ebert of DIY.
It's the Carolina ContractorShow.
My name is Eric Smith.
I do inside sales and spewlines from movies like Bull
Durham for home builders inWilson and Greenville.
Donnie is a general contractorwho was unaware of my reference
earlier today.
(02:26):
He's also the owner ofBlanchard Building Company, also
the owner of Sure Top Roofing,and what we do on the show is
not review movies or talk aboutit.
But pop culture sometimes makesan appearance.
But we like to talk about yourhouse, as I used to say the
inside, the outside, the top,the bottom, underneath it,
electrical plumbing, fire pits,barbecuing appliances, things
like that.
And we have Donnie on becauseas a general contractor he
(02:49):
actually knows what he's talkingabout.
So I'm just going to supply thesmart ass remarks and some
information I might be able torelay.
But for the most part, donnieknows a lot more about houses.
The website,thecarolinacontractorcom is a
great place to start.
We're putting these things upon YouTube so you can see past
episodes in all their glory withthe video and audio.
(03:10):
If you want to listen to thepodcast, you can go to the
website and download it there.
It's on any of the formats thatyou prefer it.
Delivery vehicles.
You might say Ask the contractorDo you have a question for
Donnie?
Again, as a general contractor,he can answer the questions you
have about your house.
Submit them right there.
If you have an idea for a show,guest or a subject, submit them
(03:31):
at that same spot.
You can do it there.
Man, we put up stuff from pastshows and cool pictures or
videos and things like that.
That's where all our socialmedia is too.
So again,thecarolinacontractorcom is the
website.
So again,thecarolinacontractorcom is the
website.
Now today's subject.
As I just said a second ago,donnie, you know a lot more
about building and constructionthan I do.
(03:51):
I work in a job that suppliesthe materials but you know more
about actually putting themtogether like a puzzle and
building something that peoplewant to live inside.
And so today's subject I'mgoing to lean on you for, but
we're going to be talking aboutmodular and stick built building
, and you pretty much just dostick built right.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Yep, stick build is, in terms of most custom builders
, that's all they do is stickbuilt.
We don't have the manufacturingcapability to build anything
modular.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
So I'm going to start out by saying of course, I'm
going to lean towards stickbuilt.
That's perfectly fine, but itmeans you also know a lot about
it, and that's why I'm glad wehave you on the show, as usual,
because you can get that insight.
Let's start off with a basicdescription of each, if you
would do that, donnie.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
So stick built construction is what you
primarily see with a custombuild or even in a track build
situation where people arethrowing up houses.
You know, trusses may be acommon part of a track built
home but even still the majorityof the house is stick built and
the definition there really isno set definition for stick
built.
(04:57):
But a stick built home goespiece by piece and I'll start
with the foundation.
Of course.
That goes brick by brick andwhen you get to the floor system
it's joist by joist, stud bystud and rafter by rafter.
So each one of those goes onone at a time and you basically
build it from the ground up.
The difference between that anda modular is that most of the
(05:17):
components from a modular homeare built off site in a
controlled climate atmosphereand they're built inside.
So where you're exposed to theelements with stick build,
you're not exposed to theelements with a modular, and
there's pros and cons to eachand we'll get into that.
But most of the people outthere and where I live and where
(05:38):
you live in Wilson, stickbuilding is the most common
method.
When you get towards the biggercities like Raleigh, which is
right between the two of us, yousee a lot more modular and
track building, where they usetrusses and several components
of the house that are built offsite.
What?
Speaker 1 (05:55):
got you into stick built versus modular, or is
there never really something?
You go into modular first, yougo into stick built first and
maybe decide to do modular.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Yeah, I mean I would think that if you get into
modular, if you're going toschool to be a contractor, more
than likely your curriculum isgoing to be tailored around
stick building because they'regoing to teach you the pieces
and parts of traditionalcontracting.
And modular is not traditionalcontracting, that's just
something that was kind of bornout of the manufactured home,
(06:24):
and that's the differencebetween manufactured and modular
.
Manufactured is more like adouble wide, so it's a different
process.
But I think they tookmanufactured homes and they just
beefed them up and so theymanufactured homes gave way to
modular.
And maybe that's not fair tosay, because if I had to give
credit to modular homes in anyway, shape or form, it would be
(06:45):
that modular homes got theirstart in the early 1900s.
So we had this huge immigrantpopulation come into America, we
had all the soldiers cominghome from the first world war
and they needed somewhere tolive and they needed that place
fast.
You know, back then they had alot more kids than we have today
.
So I know we've talked about inpast episodes the Sears catalog
(07:05):
house and that Sears cataloghouse was the very first modular
home.
So they built the walls offsiteand of course they had the
insulation in the walls.
I guess they had insulationback then.
A lot of houses I see did notbut any kind of wiring or
anything that would go in thewalls before the shipping
process was all done offsite andthey just shipped those to the
(07:26):
job and put those together likea puzzle.
So I think that the modularhome concept was definitely
beneficial to our country as awhole.
You know, a hundred years ago.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Yeah, and we're not here to make any disparaging
remarks about modular, becauseit's a very fine way to build a
house.
We just want to give listenersand those watching us on YouTube
an idea of what the differencesare.
So let's jump into that.
There's pros and cons to eachand let's break them down into
the two groups, and again, I'mso glad that I have you here,
because you're going to be ableto talk about it with much more
(07:58):
authority than I can.
Let's start with stick builthomes.
Give me some of the advantagesof those, donnie.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Hey, before I get into this, don't sell yourself
short, man.
I know you say that I know allthis stuff, but you've come a
long way.
We've been doing the show forfive years and now you're in
building supply and I think youknew a lot before you went into
building supply.
So I know that you over therebeing modest, but, to everybody
listening, eric's got his ducksin a row when it comes to
construction.
I think, matter of fact, youmight be able to build a house.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Here's why I do that, donnie, and I'm going to give
away the secret now.
Low expectations make everybodysurprised, but if I come across
saying I know all this stuffand then I say something stupid,
then they go.
He's an idiot.
So I always like to lower thatbar.
I call it my good lucky feeling.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
It's got me a long way through life, under promise
and over deliver.
I hear you Boom.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
You got it Okay, all right, so stick built.
Give me some pros.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Advantages are that you can customize a stick built
home pretty much as much as youwant.
And as you go through theprocess you know it takes a
little longer to stick build.
So if you're a homeownerwanting your fingerprint on that
house as the framers are goingthrough, once you physically see
that space and you see thewalls go up and that envelope
closes the house up, you can say, hey, this might look good over
(09:08):
here, this might look good overthere.
So you have the ultimateflexibility and I think that you
know that gives you.
It gives you so many moredesign options.
And, like I mentioned duringthe framing phase, if you want
to move a wall or if you want tochange the size of a tub or a
shower, you have the option todo that.
And another thing that I likeis that you're incorporating
(09:30):
local labor.
So you're giving all thesepeople locally a job.
And people say that folks justdon't want to work.
I don't find that to be thecase where we are, because we
have very high quality subs, wehave very high quality in-house
workers and all those guys.
They've shown up for 15 yearsseven o'clock in the morning
ready to put in a 50, 60 hourwork week.
(09:55):
So, uh, it gives me a lot ofpride to incorporate local folks
into all of my builds.
But, um, I'd say, uh,structurally speaking, a big
advantage would be that, um, ifyou trust a roof or you know, of
course you have a manufacturedhome they have little to no
attic space.
So when you stick build a home,of course you're going to use
two by tens instead of a two bysix truss with a bunch of
bracing and all that stuff, butyou basically triple the size of
(10:16):
your attic space.
So that's a really big deal toa lot of people where that's
their only means of storage andI don't want to get into this on
the show, but we put a beefedup pull down stair in there.
That's insulated very well Inthe case where we don't have
spray foam in the attic.
That insulation is superimportant for your heat loss and
heat gain.
But the last thing I'll say asan advantage is that you get
(10:36):
better homeowner insurance rates.
So stick building is the giftthat keeps on giving in terms of
your homeowner insurance ratesand I think that over time
that's just one of those thingsthat pays for itself.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Real quick.
I want to deviate into thatextra space and you talked about
using a pull-down step.
Are there a couple of quickthings people need to know of
how to turn a bonus room, whatit requires to then be
considered an actual bedroom?
You?
Speaker 2 (11:06):
have to add a closet.
So most building inspectionmunicipalities they say that you
have to have a closet toconsider it a bedroom, which is
easy enough.
But in a bonus room situationyou often have those 45 degree
angle walls where the roof isthe ceiling, not to quote
Michael Jordan but you have the45 degree angle walls where you
know you have to make use ofthat and figure out a creative
(11:28):
way to actually have closetshelving.
If you do in fact incorporatethat into that bonus room.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Could you in theory have an extra bedroom that uses
pull down steps to get to?
Speaker 2 (11:37):
it Not if you tell the inspections department so
it's, you know that'd be, thatwould be, that would be like
your least favorite kid.
So, hey, you know I'm sorrythat you're going to have to do
this every day, but you know,put the stairs back up when you
go to bed.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Yeah, that's it, and then you could lock it.
No, I'm just kidding, please,we're not going to padlock the
doors.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
All right, let's go to some uh some of the
stick-built homes.
Donnie, yeah, like I mentionedbefore, they're very
time-consuming.
You know, when you get into astick-built home you're at the
mercy of the elements and youknow weather is never your
friend when we are.
Of course North Carolinadoesn't have bad weather, but
you know when it's raining youcan't necessarily do the same
(12:19):
thing.
It's not just that it's rainingon where you're working, it's
making the job site a muddy mess.
And of course that you know,especially when you get towards
the finished part of the house,that just makes everything bad.
If you have a lot with reallynice, really nice dirt, that
that translates to red mudeverywhere.
And so, um, people often thinkthat a disadvantage or a con is
(12:39):
the cost.
And what I'm seeing lately isthat, uh, the, the modular home
cost is pretty much neck andneck with us, and I think they
took advantage of the housingmarket being up and they eased
up on their price and they'restill selling.
Of course that's marketing 101.
And the last house that Ipriced against a modular, I want
to say we were about $20,000apart and that wasn't with a lot
(13:02):
of options on the modular.
So I think if you're a personthat wants a modular with with
the options, they really hit youover the head when with with
anything that deviates from thestandard home.
So, um, that's one thing.
I would say that, um, uh, otherthan weather and and time, you
know, the the cost thing'sdefinitely not anything I'd take
(13:24):
into consideration.
So, yeah, it's hard for me tofind a lot of cons for a stick
built because I really feel likethat's the best way to go.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
No, I think that's fair.
I mean, we kind of got a guideof some people's opinions.
But you're right, Depending onwhere you are, the climate can
greatly affect whether the costswill be on par with a modular.
Now, speaking of climate, wetalked about how modular homes a
lot of them are built in aclimate-controlled warehouse.
They're sectioned out, so we'renot going to address the
(13:52):
benefit of having those piecesmade.
We now want to talk to whenthey get to the job site.
So can you give me someadvantages of having picking a
modular home?
It's now at the job site.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
Yeah, well, it's funny you say that about the.
You know the transportation andgetting it to the job site.
What I mentioned about theweather they say, well, weather
doesn't affect a modular install, but try pulling half of a
house on a tractor trailer upthere and you've got a crane.
He has to mobilize andstabilize and you've got to get
half of a house or whatever ifit's in four quarters.
There's a lot of weightinvolved, is what I'm trying to
(14:26):
say.
And if you have bad weather youcan't just pull all those
expensive machines up therebecause you're paying those a
pretty penny by the hour andexpect them to do what they need
to do around the weather or ifyou're the location you're
taking.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
that I mean, if you're taking half of a house,
you want it up in the mountainsor even out in the beach or
there's narrow bridges.
I forgot about thetransportation part.
Yeah, and that's going to addto the cost if you've got a
tricky move right.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Absolutely yeah, and they're going to charge you for
it.
I mean, that's the one thing.
You're not dealing with a GC,with a modular.
So you're dealing with acompany and somebody's probably
got a general contractor licenseup the chain somewhere.
But you're dealing with aproject manager and when they go
out and see your site they'regoing to incorporate it.
I mean, they have to pay thetrucking company, they have to
pay the crane guy to mobilize,so you know they're going to
(15:14):
cover their rear end and thatcost is just going to get passed
on to you as the homeowner.
All right.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
So again, we're not trying to bad mouth them.
There's got to be someadvantages, Advantages to
modular.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
I just can't help it.
Okay, advantages One One it isfaster.
So where it may take usanywhere from, you know seven,
eight, nine months to build ahouse and on these larger ones,
you know it takes over a yearand somebody's building 5,000
square foot house.
There's just no wayrealistically, because each
(15:49):
trade takes a lot longer.
And you and we've talked aboutsubcontractor shortages.
It's not necessarily there's ashortage on subcontractors, it's
that they can't find good help.
So if they a trade or, I'msorry, a task that would have
taken two weeks, five, 10 yearsago, that's going to take them
three weeks because they justdon't have the folks and the
owners of the business.
I'm seeing them having to gettheir hands dirty again and
they're getting back involved.
They're.
You know there's 60, 65 yearold guys who are having to train
(16:11):
new people because you knowthey can't find qualified help.
But anyway, I keep getting offon tangents.
But they, modular homes aredefinitely faster, you know, I'd
say three to four or fivemonths versus double that for
what we can offer, and that'sfair.
Yeah, and quality control wouldbe the other thing, because if
they're built in a climate,controlled atmosphere, you know,
(16:33):
I mean nothing gets wet,nothing's exposed to the weather
and you know that wall from theoutside all the way to the
inside, drywall, paint and trim.
You know it's all or for themost part it's all site ready
when it leaves that factory.
So that's pretty much all I canthink of Eric.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
No, that's that's fair.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Two things.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
We got.
Part of the disadvantage istransportation costs.
Some people say that that's anadvantage.
It just depends on where you'regoing.
I do think, though, and wouldyou agree, that the perception
is that modular is lower quality.
Is that a fair assumption, oris that not fair anymore?
Speaker 2 (17:10):
That's a tough question to answer but I'm going
to put it out there.
And if anybody has a modularhome I'm not picking on you
because you probably had upuntil the last couple of years
when house prices shot up, youprobably had significant savings
for going with a modular.
But I'll just say that modularhomes.
I think there's about 120, 130modular home facilities in the
country and I read a funny factthat 25 of those are in Texas.
(17:34):
So I guess expect to see a lotmore modular there.
But big state, so that's fair.
Anybody who's cranking outhouses to the tune of 130
manufacturing plants that arespread out across all 50 states.
They're going to have dealswith window companies.
They're going to have dealswith drywall companies,
insulation companies, even rightdown to the electrical wire.
(17:55):
So they're not stupid.
They're going to put theprojected amount of houses that
they think they can build in ayear out there and they're going
to say, hey, window company A,b and C, I know you have all the
same R value, you meet the sameenergy code.
How cheap can you go If youwant to sell this many windows
this year?
Who can have the best price andso I see the trickle down from
(18:17):
that is that they are going toget the cheapest window to meet
the minimum energy code and I'llget into this in a moment
because I experienced thispersonally but they're going to
have the cheapest product thatmeets the lowest code standard
possible.
And so, yeah, I don't think thatthe misconception is wrong.
(18:38):
I think that the misconceptionis people who've lived in
modular homes and they've said,hey, we had issues with our
windows.
Hey, and you know.
They've said, hey, we hadissues with our windows, hey, we
had issues with, you know, oursiding, or whatever the case may
be.
So I think that people who say,hey, this is not as good as a
custom, they're right.
And me, as a custom builder,the opposite of what I just said
(19:02):
is I do my homework on the bestproducts available and we don't
always go with the cheapestproduct, because we've seen over
the course of 20 years by theway, this is our 20 year
anniversary for BlanchardBuilding Company, so, yeah, but
over 20 years time, we've seenthings hold up or we've seen
things break down and, of course, if something doesn't pass the
test, we don't ever use it again.
So my goal is, if a homeownercalls me back, it's just to say
hello.
So it's definitely a differencein material standards for
(19:26):
custom built stick built versusthe modular folks.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Well, I do agree, because with a modular you're
basically assembling A to B andB to C and if something happens
that you're having trouble withthat, you're going to hammer it
together.
You're going to find a way,we're going to make A connect to
B.
We don't have the ability tomake big adjustments or even
small adjustments like you wouldon a stick builder, a custom,
(19:49):
and I want to be careful oncustom because it always makes
it sound like it's exorbitantlyexpensive when we're just
talking a general stick build.
We're going to compare the sametype of house if it were
modular or stick built.
You, donnie, you've doneinsurance adjusting.
You're familiar with theinsurance industry.
Is there a difference ongetting insurance for a modular
home than a stick built?
Speaker 2 (20:09):
So there is a big difference on manufactured homes
.
So double wides, mobile homes,those we talked about.
Rcv, which is replacement costvalue or replacement cost
coverage is the way people wordit in a past show and meaning
that if you have an insuranceclaim, they're going to
depreciate that claim and if youfollow through with the repairs
that they pay you for, theygive you that depreciation back.
(20:30):
It's recoverable and that'swhat you get with replacement
cost value.
Most manufactured homes do notqualify for that, meaning if you
have damage they do an ACVpolicy and they keep that
depreciation.
So that could be as much ashalf of your insurance claim.
So with modulars, I don't knowexactly the formula they use for
discounting something that ifit's modular, but I think that
(20:52):
modular and stick builderprobably pretty close in terms
of insurance rates.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Well, let's talk real life experience with this,
because I know you don't domodular, but you've probably
done work on modular homes andyou've done enough, whether it's
a renovation or an upgrade orrepairs that it gave you a good
insight of some of the pros andcons of it.
But give us a couple real lifeexperiences you have when it
comes to work and say on amodular stick, built you know
(21:17):
inside.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
now, yeah, I had a family member that wanted a
house built, I don't know.
It's been five, six years agoand I was so busy that I said,
look, it's going to be, I'm ayear booked out so I can't do it
right now.
And they wanted a basement andthe modular company gave them
very attractive price.
And I said, well, roll with it,because they were on a time
(21:41):
crunch and they needed to movein sooner than later.
Well, fast forward a couple ofmonths from that conversation
and they got the basement wallput in.
Everything was fine.
I was kind of, you know, justsubtly sticking my nose in the
bill just to make sure thateverything was okay.
And they come back to me andsay that the modular company
won't finish the second floor,that we have to hire a
(22:02):
contractor to do that.
And I said, well, okay, I cantake that on.
So if they get the house inplace, I'll fall in behind them.
And and uh, you know hate toadmit this, but curiosity was
killing me.
I wanted to see what they weremade of and how they really did
this.
And the product overall productwasn't terrible.
Um, and I'll say that when theyset the house, they cracked the
basement wall.
That was number one, uh, so wehad to come in there.
(22:24):
You know lots of hassles withengineering.
Uh, the response is what I waslooking for.
So I wanted the modular companyto say, hey, we will fix this,
no matter what heck or highwater, we're going to make sure
you're happy and you just don'thave that element.
With modular.
They're they're cranking out,they're a numbers game over
there, so they're cranking outas many uh potential houses as
they can.
And, um, that, when it came tosomething that that was a real
(22:47):
issue, you know, a crack,baseball, anything subgrade with
a crack and it's not okay.
So, um, and and I was surprisedby the attention that they gave
the homeowners.
But, like I mentioned earlierin the show, they don't have a
dedicated general contractor onthe job.
You know that theaccountability just is not the
same.
So, um, they get the house set,homeowner moves in.
I come in to do the renovationof the second floor, which was
(23:09):
basically wiring, insulation, uh, drywall, paint, trim and
flooring.
And, um, you know, I noticedthat the windows that they had,
uh, they didn't meet the energycode had just changed that year,
and the windows that were inthe manual, uh, modular, I'm
sorry they didn't meet thecurrent energy code, but of
course the inspectionsdepartment didn't call that out.
So I don't know if they're incahoots or what have you, but
(23:31):
you know just, it was problemafter problem, and when they
claim that it's everything isvery precise because it's in a
climate controlled atmosphereyou know they're not bad at
marketing is what I'll say tothat because they know what to
say that appeals to the averageperson.
But every wall was out ofsquare.
I had to do so much framing,shimming, trimming, and it was
(23:57):
so much work that I'd neverexpected it, because I thought I
was coming into this laser,precise, everything, square,
plumb level, and it was not thatat all.
One other thing that we ran intois that the dormer windows were
so close to the roof line thatwhen it snowed I think they got
10 inches of snow that year andthere was snow up past the
bottom of the window so ofcourse the snow melts, the
water's trying to seep in thewindows, and that's just one of
(24:17):
those things where you got tolive with it.
Because what are you going todo?
You can't.
You could change the windowsout and all that, but you're
looking at a repair that'smeasured in thousands versus
hundreds, to remedy thatsituation.
So, personally speaking, didnot have a good experience when
I encountered my first modular.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Now there's one other thing we need to consider.
When you have a stick builderor a modular, decision to make
is down the road we like tothink forever home is our first
home.
For a lot of people theyrealize going in it's a starter
home.
Most important thing, when youstart off with a small house and
you start a family and you needmore room, is you got to sell
what you're in?
I'm just going to make a gutassumption here.
(24:57):
Reselling a modular, the returnon your investment, your ROI,
is not nearly as good as a stickbill.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
Well, I think that is dependent on the market and the
area, because I have seenmodular sell for more than I
ever thought that they would,and that's because there's
obviously a housing shortage.
When you see the apartmentsfill up and their max capacity
on a big apartment building,then somebody with a decent
house with a little bit of landis far more attractive than
living with your neighbor 10feet away.
(25:26):
So I'd say that up until thevalue of the houses jumped up
and everybody's moving to NorthCarolina, that was definitely
the case and as a matter of fact, I think we did a show similar
to this several years ago and atthat point in time manufactured
homes actually depreciated.
So the point that I made backthen is stick built, appreciated
(25:48):
and manufactured, meaning themobile homes double wides.
They actually went down invalue as they aged.
So yeah, that's a lot to takeinto consideration there.
That's a question to ask yourlocal realtor, because they'll
have their finger on the pulsefor what they've been seeing in
recent months.
Gotcha.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Okay, so modern times .
That may have changed if thehousing issue wasn't what it is
today.
Yeah, that might change.
I don't know if we address this, donnie, about modular homes.
So there's one thing that abuyer has to do you can go to a
modular home retail and say welike this one, we like these
amenities and everything, andthen they're going to say we
(26:24):
talked about delivery.
But they're going to saywhere's your address?
And you're going to be what doyou mean?
Our address.
Yeah, you got to have that,don't?
You have to do like your owndriveway and even septic or well
water if you need that.
That's on you, the buyer'sresponsibility right.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
Yep, I probably should have mentioned that
before when you ask aboutmisconceptions for modular, but
that is that's probably thebiggest one, because people
don't realize that they'll giveyou a foundation plan but they
expect you to put your ownfoundation in, meaning you have
to have a footing contractor,you have to line up your
foundation contractor.
When the house comes into playand is actually set on site, you
(26:59):
have to have a plumbing,mechanical and electrical
contractor.
So PME that we always preachabout, all three of those guys
have to come in just to hookeverything up and I do believe,
from a liability standpoint,that they stray from offering
those folks.
So the modular folks that I'vehad any kind of interaction with
say, hey, if you've got aplumber, call your guy or what
(27:20):
have you, because they don'twant something to go south with
the plumbing, mechanical orelectrical guys, and then you
know that fall on them.
Another thing like you mentioned, the driveway.
That's a big deal.
Can you get a driveway anddriveway pipe in there, your
well and your septic?
The cost of the well and theseptic is going to be exactly
the same whether you're stickbuilding or you have a modular.
And another fine tune point isthat where we include appliances
(27:42):
in our allowances.
So we'll put the range in foryou, we'll put the microwave in
for you, because we wire for allthose.
Those wires can't just behanging out of the walls, uh,
with the wire nuts on them.
So we have to put all that in,and the modular companies often
put that on the homeowner, sothat's an extra cost you have to
absorb that.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
They're not always upfront about and, donnie, not
to put you on the spot, but thisis something to homeowners who
have to.
Can you do that, donnie, or doyou have to call somebody to put
it in you?
Speaker 2 (28:15):
absolutely have to call somebody.
You have to call theunderground, locate folks and
you have to clear it with themunicipality.
So oftentimes you have to gothrough planning, zoning and
with septic and well, you've gotto go through environmental,
health and that's a lot oflegwork.
That if you have a dedicatedgeneral contractor, they do all
that stuff for you and they fillout all the paperwork.
You have to pay the fee whenand that should be expected.
(28:36):
But at the same time you knowthe modular folks really make
you play contractor probably alot more than you're comfortable
with.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
And if you're getting near the highway with your
driveway or your building andyou have to put in special
drainage, you got to get the DOTinvolved because your
contractor can't arbitrarilymess around too close to state
roads.
So now you got anothergovernment entity to get
involved, and that doesn't makeit fun.
So, diane, let's wrap it up Ina nutshell.
(29:03):
We know where you stand.
You're a stick builder, but, ina nutshell, what are some of
the things you need to considerthen?
If you're going to get stickbuilt versus modular, I guess
really we got to focus onmodular.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
Right Timing is really the only thing I can
think about.
The only area that they can getme on and I will willfully let
go is that they can get you inthere faster than I can, and the
pricing got so close hererecently that they can't beat me
on price like they used to.
And I would say that if youwant your own fingerprint of a
house, then you know a custombuilder is definitely a better
(29:39):
option and you know optionsgalore throughout the house.
And if you want to changethings and I have some wonderful
homeowners right now, but, myGod, we change things every week
and you know I go with the flowI don't really get upset about
change orders because Iunderstand that is the position
that I've selected to be in.
(30:01):
I've chosen to be a custombuilder and that word, custom,
is just that.
So if you're going to makechanges and I'm not the kind of
guy maybe I shouldn't put thisout there on the air but unless
it's a major, major change, Idon't charge for change orders.
If it's a phone call and a fewemails and maybe you know
different materials deliveredinstead of what we planned on
originally, I think it's part ofthe relationship aspect that
(30:22):
you just roll with that, keepyour homeowner happy and you
know I think that will lead to alot of business down the road.
So that's our take on it andyou know, if you can, you can
wait an extra few months.
I think that you get a muchbetter product.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
I would look at it this way You're in the framing
process and you go as the homebuyer man, I would have loved to
have had a bay window on theend of this house.
You can go to your contractorand say hey, man, we're still at
framing.
Is this possible Versus amodular?
Sorry, you've already pickedyour house.
You're going to have to stickwith the one you got.
Maybe you can call a DonnieBlanchard type to come in and
(31:00):
put one in later.
But nah, there's no changeorders on this, unless you want
to buy a whole brand new unit.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
A lot of elements are similar to track building.
With that, you know a trackbuild, they try to, I guess they
make it look like they're stickbuilding, but they use a lot of
trusses, they use a lot ofstuff built off site and in the
very beginning, before you canactually step foot in that house
, you have to make a lot ofthose decisions up front, which
is wonderful for the builderbecause he has a blueprint for
start to finish and he doesn'thave to flex or bend for you.
(31:30):
But you know track building andmodular homes they share a lot
of similarities in that aspect.
So, like I mentioned before,you're getting a qualified GC
and you're getting somebody tohold your hand through the
process and who's going to do alot of the legwork for you.
And that 15% to 20% that wecharge definitely has some value
because you're paying the sameamount of money with a lot less
(31:53):
decisions as the homeowner.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
Donnie Blanchard, general contractor and owner of
Blanchard Building Company.
You can find his information onFacebook and on Instagram.
See the stuff that Donnie cando.
Also suretoproofingcom he ownsthat also.
But again, we're not downplayingmodular homes, but there are
some things that you need toconsider when choosing a home.
(32:15):
And a stick built does havesome major advantages, as we
just discussed on the show, andwe'll put more information up on
the website.
But there's a reason you stickwith stick built, no pun
intended, I guess.
Donnie, there you go.
Yep, all right, we thank youfor tuning in and hope this gave
you some inside information onthe differences between stick
built and modular homes, becausethere are some big differences
(32:37):
and, again, cost isn't theadvantage like it used to be for
a modular home.
You can pay just as much forthat as you can a stick build in
a custom home.
So go to the website, get moreinformation.
Thecarolinacontractorcom and Iwant to thank Donnie for coming
in and giving us his expertiseon stick built homes and the
contradictions and thecomparisons and pros and cons to
(32:58):
modular building, and we hopeto catch you again next week.
Have a great day everybody.
Thanks for listening to theCarolina Contractor Show.
Visit thecarolinacontractorcom.
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