October 28, 2025 • 29 mins
Bacon might steal the opening, but the real feast here is a tour of where homebuilding is headed—and how to make smarter choices without spending more than you need. We dig into the surprising benefits of building smaller, then show how thoughtful design—10-foot ceilings, full-height storage, and slab-on-grade shop-plus-suite layouts—can turn compact footprints into flexible, livable homes that age with you.
From there we move into resilience. Fortified roofs with better nails, sealed underlayments, and coastal-grade fasteners can cut insurance costs while boosting peace of mind. We compare high-performance panelized shells promising fire, wind, and seismic resistance, and talk honestly about what holds them back: price, manufacturing capacity, and permitting. On the flip side, modular and prefab homes promise speed, but hidden finish work, basic window packages, and transport wear can offset the savings. The smarter play today may be selectively adopting prefab components—like prebuilt dormers—where precision pays off most.
Smart tech finally feels smart. AI room planners let you test paint, floors, and trim in seconds, saving time and mistakes. More importantly, a unified platform like Control4 can run devices from different brands through one brain, ditching a dozen apps for reliable routines. We even wade into emerging health sensors in the bathroom—why proactive insights could help, and when constant data might do more harm than good. Finally, we examine embedded insurance during closing: it’s convenient and can surface coverage gaps early, but independent brokers still win on options, pricing, and bedside manner when claims happen.
If you care about affordability, durability, and sanity, this conversation gives you a blueprint: design only what you’ll use, invest in resilience that pays back, and make your tech work for you—not the other way around. If this helped you think differently about your next build or upgrade, subscribe, share with a friend who’s planning a project, and leave a quick review so more homeowners can find it.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
Welcome to the Carolina Contractor Show with
your host, General ContractorDonnie Blanchard.
unknown (00:07):
Mr.
SPEAKER_01 (00:08):
Donnie Blanchard, when was the last time you went
to the NC State Fair?
Man, it's had to have beenalmost a decade ago.
What's the one thing they alwaystalk about at the State Fair
year after year?
Ah, if I had to choose betweenrides or food, it's gotta be the
food, man.
It's always the weird new fooditems.
I had a coworker who went thisuh past weekend.
They said bacon is the name ofthe game, and he said his
(00:28):
favorite was the uh bacon macand cheese cone.
There was bacon donuts, and hesaid just about anything you
wanted bacon on, they had it outthere at the fair.
Some of the other big things Ithought this was sounded good.
Uh brown sugar hush puppies.
I could have that at breakfast.
Yeah, I don't do breakfast, butyeah, that does sound good.
Okay, Mr.
Literal, but it would be abreakfast food, you dork.
(00:50):
Um cheese curd tacos, andanother highlight was Carolina
Hoe Down, but that evidentlywasn't a food.
That was just a warning thatsomeone had fallen.
But we were not gonna we won'tgo in the details, but uh you
know what?
That would be a good subject fora future show of the Carolina
contractor.
Absolutely.
(01:11):
Carolina Hodown.
Yeah, we'll have to figure outhow to work that in.
Is it a person or is it a thing?
Hey everybody, it's CarolinaContractor Show.
Don't know if you went to thefair.
Uh, me and Donnie have reachedthat point that our kids are
older, so we really don't dragout to big events.
But still, a fun thing to do,and everybody talks about the
fair, and the theme of the fairis bacon.
(01:31):
So today's keyword is going tobe bacon, and that's significant
because at the end of the show,you'll have a chance to win
wonderful prizes if you rememberthat keyword.
If you go to the website,though, you can learn more about
the show.
That's theCarolinacontractor.com.
We've got past episodes there.
We got the links to the YouTubepage, our social media, our
Instagram and our um Facebookand stuff like that.
(01:52):
If you have a question aboutthis show, a past show, a future
show idea, maybe you have aquestion about something you
want to uh us to do a show on,or you maybe have a question
about your house.
We got a great little buttoncalled Ask the Contractor.
It goes to Donnie Blanchard.
He is, of course, our residentgeneral contractor.
So hit the website, theCarolinacontractor.com.
(02:13):
You got anything else uh goingon in your world, Donnie, before
we kick off?
SPEAKER_00 (02:16):
No, um just grateful that the weather is so beautiful
and uh everybody seems to beaffected by that.
Everybody's in a good mood, andand on the job sites we still
have long days.
Well, for the most part, it getsdarker at seven or so, but uh
this is that sweet spot when youare catching up on all your
summer work and and reallytrying to batten down the
(02:36):
hatches for winter.
So all is well in my world, butthank you for asking.
SPEAKER_01 (02:39):
Yeah, you get more work done because you're also
not sweating it out like youwere this past June and July.
SPEAKER_00 (02:45):
No doubt.
This is honeydew season for me,so I'm I'm getting it done, man.
SPEAKER_01 (02:49):
Things are good on both ends of the spectrum.
We're gonna jump in today'sshow, and it's uh building the
future, not back to the future,but building the future.
And Donnie did some research anduh we thought this would make a
good show.
We think a lot of listeners,whether you are buying a house,
if you're thinking about buyinga house, you've been a homeowner
for a long time, uh it's it'scool stuff that's coming up, but
it's mainly with home building.
(03:10):
This isn't necessarilyretrofitting an existing house,
uh, but they're building trendsthat are shaping up this year
and going obviously beyond.
The first thing on this listthat I thought was amazing,
Donnie, was are we reverting thedownsizing to smaller homes?
The square footage has actuallydropped now over the uh past uh
(03:32):
10 years.
SPEAKER_00 (03:33):
Yes, and I'm really glad to see that.
You know, I'm a big proponent ofuh first-time home buyers having
an affordable option, and youcan't hide square footage.
So I I really feel like if wedownsize with the square footage
and just make it make sense fora small, maybe family of four,
maybe family of five, and themore you can squeeze in there,
(03:56):
you know, the the better forthem because in terms of
affordability, there there'sjust no no good option for
somebody in their early tomid-20s, especially if you have
a child incorporated into that.
So uh I think downsizing thesquare footage is very is a very
wise move.
It's nothing we're doing onpurpose, but uh the national
trend that you just mentioned isa real thing.
SPEAKER_01 (04:15):
Yeah, so to give people actual footage numbers in
2015, which they consider thepeak, the average house was
twenty six hundred andeighty-nine square feet, and as
of twenty twenty-three, it wastwenty-four eleven.
Uh for perspective, I alwaysthought my house was uh uh
bigger than the average bear, atleast in my neighborhood, I'm at
(04:35):
uh like uh twenty-two fifty.
Um so I'm still below what theaverage lowest is.
But once one kid moves out orgoes to college, like in my
case, the house gets really bigreally quick.
So I'm not against thinking whenyou're building a house, maybe
lower that square footagebecause a lot of times you end
(04:56):
up having wasted space or thatone room that ends up being a
third or fourth bedroom that isjust stacked with boxes and
storage and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_00 (05:04):
Yeah, it's a catch-all for sure.
And um, I think thinking forwardon whether or not you're on
family land or if you you knowcould be okay to sell when the
kids move out if there's nosentimental attachment there,
uh, those are all good factors.
But one thing that I'm I'mseeing is uh the the young folks
well actually I designed um ashopslash mother-in-law suite
(05:26):
for a younger couple, and theyboth get the best of both worlds
because uh he gets a shop, it'sabout a 30 by 40 shop, um little
under that, but there's amother-in-law suite that's a
one-bedroom attached to the theside, and we we really got
creative because we made theceilings 10 foot and the
mother-in-law suite, which theyou know the cost to go from
(05:46):
eight foot to nine foot toten-foot ceilings is it's a real
number, but you're not talkingthousands and thousands of
dollars.
And uh another thing we're gonnado is is do eight-foot doors,
which puts the header height atthe windows and doors at eight
foot.
So uh what we're doing is takingadvantage of the cubic footage
of a 10-foot ceiling, and whenwe run our cabinets, we're gonna
run those all the way to theceiling.
(06:06):
So instead of having space uhfor a pantry, we're gonna have
space for upper cabinets.
And will you have to have a stepstool?
Probably, but you know, thatthat's a small price to pay for
a house slash shop combo thatthat is gonna save you$200,000
compared to the same squarefootage of a house.
You know, you want to entertain,you got your shop.
(06:28):
You want to have all yourfriends over, you got the shop,
and then you've got a door tothe house where you can prepare
everything with the kitchen.
It is only a one uh onebathroom, but I really like it.
And after I finished the designand the blueprints, I looked
back and thought, there's a lotof young people that when they
see this thing finished, they'regonna jump on board.
SPEAKER_01 (06:46):
Some of the Leonard type sheds, the designs are
really cool.
Could those be modified to bequalify as a legitimate livable
part of uh a property?
SPEAKER_00 (06:59):
Hmm, that's a good question.
Um, I think if you can insulateand condition anything, then the
answer is probably yes.
You know, how you incorporateplumbing and uh electrical into
that is when you start gettinginto the inspections department
and the pushback from themunicipalities.
So I think it's it's probably anengineering nightmare to try to
(07:20):
make a storage shed into alivable space, but I'm sure it
can be done.
You know, the the tiny housething is is catching fire right
now, and uh several people, uhmy understanding, there's
several people around the countythat are wanting to take land
and do tiny house developments,and and um I'm not against that.
You know, that versus a mobilehome park is sounds pretty
(07:40):
attractive.
It sounds like they could umprobably clean it up a little
bit better with restrictivecovenants and so forth.
So I'm not I'm not opposed toit.
I just think that I think it'son the way.
I think some some solution otherthan government and interest
rates is on the way, and I I'mI'm pulling for that because I
have young kids and and you knowlots of uh folks in their
(08:00):
younger 20s that that I'm Ireally hope have a chance like
we did to have home ownership ata at an affordable price, and it
just ain't there right now.
SPEAKER_01 (08:09):
I'll tell you what, uh I'm thinking down the road,
but uh I would be perfectlycontent if my kids built me not
uh I don't like the micro tinyhomes where your living room
converts to your kitchen,converts to your bedroom, but
think of a a large storage typebuilding, but nice, so a stick
built, and maybe it's two-roomedor partitioned.
If it's got running water, youknow, a bathroom and a and a
(08:32):
sink and and the basics, if mykids said, Hey dad, we're gonna
put one of these with a coveredwalkway out, it's gonna be 25
feet from the house, it'll beelectric and conditioned, and
you can be in there if you needto.
I'm talking, you know, I'm 75,80 years old.
They can have a little camera init or have me with a collar that
beeps if I fall down.
But I could spend the bulk of mywaking time in the the house.
(08:57):
I wouldn't, I don't see myselfhaving a problem with it.
And I think it'd, you know, hey,family stays together that way,
and but you're not intruding oralways in the big house with
them.
Everybody gets a break.
SPEAKER_00 (09:08):
Oh, for sure.
And like I said, with the garageuh slash mother-in-law suite
concept, you know, everything'son a slab, so that's handicap
accessibility right out of thegate because everything's on a
perfectly flat slab, so youdon't have stairs associated
with that.
And uh yeah, I agree with that,and it's funny you say that.
I'd say seven out of ten housesthat I build, the man always
says, Well, I didn't want this.
(09:28):
You know, she wanted all that5,000 square foot house, but I I
could live in my garage.
And like I think we're allpretty much wired the same.
And uh, yeah, same here, but ifmama ain't happy, you know how
that saying goes.
SPEAKER_01 (09:40):
Give me a TV and uh an FL Sunday ticket, and you
know, I don't have to see youfor uh a whole weekend if you
prefer it.
And honey, I did something bad.
Can I be sent to my little uhman cave house?
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (09:52):
I'm not there yet, E, but I'm I'm I'm trying to I'm
trying to get there.
SPEAKER_01 (09:56):
I'm just planning.
I plan way ahead.
All right, another topic uhbuilding for extreme weather.
We this is kind of a no-brainer.
Now, extreme weather isn't new,but techniques of building homes
to be uh more extreme weatherresistant is uh in demand.
Are you, Donnie, as a builder,seeing more demand for that or
(10:18):
people ask questions, hey, whatcan we do to make sure this
house is a little bit strongerwhen those storms come?
SPEAKER_00 (10:24):
So we live in that really nice area of North
Carolina.
We're in central North Carolina,so that's a sweet spot where our
weather is bad from time totime, but we don't get the
hurricanes like they do at thecoast.
And uh, you know, fortunately,the floods like they did in the
mountains, which sounds crazy,but that just happened.
Um I, you know, I think thatcertain parts of the country, I
(10:46):
when I do my uh when I brush upon my articles, I see things
like out west where they havehailstorms uh frequently, then
they're they have the impactresistant glass that becomes uh
a pretty much regular thing.
And um in terms of roofing atthe coast, of course, I do
roofing as well.
So I uh we had some experiencewith fortified roofs back during
(11:08):
the hurricanes of 2018.
That seemed to be the hot topic.
And a fortified roof, it's justa handful of things that you do
differently where they require acertain amount of nails per
shingle, which we do anyway, anduh they require stainless steel
nails, which is you know justcommon sense if you are within
five miles of the coastline, andjust a handful of other things,
meaning like the underlayment ofthe ice and water shield laps
(11:31):
over the starter strip in acertain place, and and they just
had a few things that they wouldcome and check.
But I I will take my hat off andsay that the they did a good
job.
The inspectors were on point,and that fortified uh
certification would actuallysave you money monthly on your
insurance premium.
So it was legit.
And I I want to say the costmight have been around a grand,
and that was from the the extramaterials to the inspection
(11:54):
cost.
But uh, if you add that up uhyear by year, then that that's
really a big savings in yourpocket.
So I think the fortified thingwas legit.
Some of the other stuff, theimpact resistant glass that I
mentioned earlier, they chargean arm and a leg for that
because not everybody does it.
A lot of window manufacturersjust don't have the capability
to crank those out.
So uh they they kind of have amonopoly on that market with
(12:15):
just a few um folks that makewindows.
So I don't think that it's whereit will be, but uh, I'm kind of
on the fence about this one.
Like I know it makes sense andit's not like green, we're not
we're not, you know, gonna we'renot gonna save the planet with
this kind of stuff, but youknow, when a big storm comes
through, do you have peace ofmind?
And I think that part's worthit.
SPEAKER_01 (12:34):
Now, one of the things I thought was cool when I
was reading about some of the uhhousing and and the builds that
were weather resistant was thisuh one company, Restructure
Group's 3D panel system.
Uh it's disaster-resistantpaneling that you build the
house with.
Basically, it's a panel,multiple panels, but you get a
(12:54):
panel and the it's concrete onthe interior and exterior side
combined for one and a quarterinch of concrete.
And the that makes it not umproof, but fire resistant,
hurricane resistant, uh,tornadoes, seismic resistant.
It's just gonna be able toabsorb a lot more of the shock
that a weather or a storm cangive you than the average house.
(13:17):
Inside the middle, and I thoughtyou'd find this interesting
because we talk aboutinsulation, it's insulated and
it's also mold, insect, verminresistant.
Um, and then to keep it alltight and right, it's got this
proprietary, which means theyain't sharing this technology
yet.
It's got this proprietary steeltruss system that holds it all
(13:38):
together.
So you can order these panels,basically Lego assemble the
house, and then you can dress upthe exterior and interior
through paint or siding orsomething like that.
But talk about just building a abeautiful uh house.
The shell, everything looksgreat, but inside it's got all
those uh severe weather and anduh I I think in California,
(14:01):
seismic issues that it makes itmore resistant.
That's a smart way to build.
SPEAKER_00 (14:05):
Oh yeah, I I can't disagree with that, not at all.
I mean, it sounds fascinating.
Uh again, where we are in ourpart of the world, we don't we
don't really have to deal with alot of the things they do on the
West Coast.
So of course my brain, mybuilder brain goes back to how
much does that really cost?
And you know, if if I I knowaround here, gosh, houses,
little houses are 400,000,500,000 now.
(14:27):
So uh I'm guessing out therewhen that would have the
equivalent of a house would havebeen 800 to a million, then
that's probably doubling that tobuild one that way.
And I don't know, I think thekey is just them figuring out
how to get it to the populationin an affordable manner, and
then you know, cutting on a lotof the red tape that's gonna be
required by the inspectionsdepartments.
(14:47):
And I don't know.
It's all it's all um it's allone of those things where if it
works, great, but theimplementation is gonna take
years and years, and um I don'tknow if that'll ever hit around
here.
SPEAKER_01 (14:59):
Uh this is Carolina contractor show.
We're talking about somebuilding trends, and uh the
redheaded stepchild has alwaysbeen the modular prefab homes.
Uh is that maybe changing?
We know they're cheaper, but wealways thought they're cheaper
because they're cheaper.
Are you seeing their qualityincreasing?
SPEAKER_00 (15:19):
Not at all.
And I just got my first look atone this past week.
So I'm gonna help a uh friend ofthe family basically finish the
upstairs in their modular, anduh, I was itching to get in
there.
And um, you know, the the salespitch with a modular is if you
can transport it down the roadto 55 miles an hour, it's gotta
be good.
And I'm like, you know, uh I getthat, but what does it look like
at the end of that trip?
(15:40):
You know, that this particularhouse, the shingles had been
peeled back.
I mean, they had they did asmuch as they could at the
factory, and another sales pitchthat they have is that
everything's laser precisebecause it's cut in a controlled
environment, and all that's justI'm sorry, but all that's just
BS.
And um, it, you know, I'll havea lot more to say about it after
I help them finish the upstairs,but little things like they do
the bare minimum on windows, andthat being said, the building
(16:02):
code does hold them accountableto a certain standard, so they
do have to meet the buildingcode, but uh how that
inspections process goes, Idon't know because when it shows
up, it's got drywall, uh,everything that's behind the
walls that you can't see is allin place already.
So I I'm just I'm not a fanbecause of course they um they
they're part of my competition,and I don't even really think
(16:25):
that because a custom built homeversus a modular is just is no
kind, it's no comparison.
But at the same time, uh whatI've seen them do because
they're smart and they're sellthey're cranking these things
out left and right.
And if I tell the uh a scenarioa popular scenario is if I tell
a customer, hey, I'm gonna beabout six to eight months, maybe
a year before I can start yourhouse, well, they're saying,
(16:45):
hey, we can get a foundation inthere and we can have you in in
four or five months, but youstill have to do a septic, you
still have to do a well.
There's a lot of legwork aroundactually the setting of the
house.
And then when you get the houseset, so many things they paint
them just a standard color.
So you've got to paint the wholehouse, you've got to set out the
fixtures, and you've got to do alot of the siding on the
outside, you have to completethe roof.
So there's still a lot to do.
(17:06):
And my reason for saying that isthat they're expensive, man.
I I know somebody, a 2,000square foot house that got away
from me not long ago because Ijust couldn't start in their
timeline and they were expectinga baby.
They went and paid over$400,000for a modular and they weren't
happy with it.
I say that to say a lot ofpeople are okay and they just
they need a roof over theirhead, and it beats the crap out
of renting an apartment becauseat least you're a homeowner, but
(17:28):
several factors to take intoconsideration with a modular.
SPEAKER_01 (17:31):
Okay.
Yeah, you're right.
You rent an apartment and whenyou want to move out, you have
no equity because you arerenting.
I don't care what themanufacturers say, the chances
or the percentage ofmanufactured homes that go up in
value is gonna be more relatedto the land and location they're
at if you own the land than itis gonna be the building.
And they're gonna put everythingin a nice little package and
(17:51):
say, hey, here's a great deal ona house, much like you sell a
car.
They're not gonna tell you theprice of the car.
They're gonna say, what will ittake for me to put you in this
house today?
And they've got that all figuredout.
The fees to get it to your lot,to hook it up.
Oh, they're now selling theappliances because that doesn't
come with it.
And they all say the same thingswhy you should buy a modular
(18:12):
home.
We build them faster.
Well, there's a reason they canbuild them faster.
Uh, they're more affordable.
There's a reason they're moreaffordable.
Sustainability, they're tryingto use the green angle now.
Well, we're using uh recycledparts.
Yeah, I don't want my house madeout of milk jugs.
You gotta look at all thereasons they're selling.
They're not selling higherquality or better or even equal
(18:32):
quality as say a custom build ora stick built.
And you've got to watch out ifyou're thinking this is a good
move, as you said.
They're as expensive as somesmall houses, and the rates and
the things you can get caught inthrough contract can really hurt
you.
SPEAKER_00 (18:47):
They've come a long way, and I will say, you know,
20 years ago that uh modularhome is is what we would think
of as two single-wide trailersput together at a marriage wall.
So basically a double wide, andand they're all rectangular,
simple roof structure.
Um, but now they they've reallygotten complicated and uh
they've pushed the threshold ofof in the design world.
(19:08):
So they they've done just abouteverything they can do to try to
change it up.
And this particular one I lookedat the other day, you know, it
was still you know two nowmostly narrow parts put
together, but they did have aframer coming in to frame a big
gable on the front.
So I think one thing thatthey're trying to do to evolve
is they are incorporatingstick-built components and uh
(19:31):
just trying to make it look alittle more custom with the
finished product.
So if I ever saw an area wheremodular could uh where modular
could take off or I could evenincorporate that into my world,
things like dormers.
So if they could build a dormerin a warehouse and send me a
dormer that I could just plugand play, that'd be wonderful.
If you've ever tried to frame,dormers will make you really
(19:54):
good at cursing.
And uh, and and I mean if youthink about it this way,
somebody worded it like this along time ago.
There's just as many cuts in adormer as there are, you know, a
whole room.
And so, you know, you buildthese three dormers that
somebody wanted for decoration.
They're they're problematic interms of a roof leak, you know,
it's a roof penetration that'sjust not not a great thing.
It doesn't allow a lot ofnatural light in, not a lot of
(20:15):
extra headspace.
You don't get the square footagethat you're you're really um
you're adding to the um theinterior, but you know, that
natural light, those windows,and what it looks like from the
front elevation is why they doit, but I'm not a fan.
SPEAKER_01 (20:27):
I want to get on one thing that I'm very excited
about.
We've done multiple uh shows onsmart devices and how AI can
assist your house.
Um AI and automation is drivingthe next phase of of home design
in every aspect.
My wife and I are looking atputting in flooring and doing
some painting.
You can now take a picture ofyour room with all the clutter,
upload it, it'll clean out theclutter, and then you just click
(20:49):
on the floor and change it towhatever color style you want,
click on the walls, thepainting, change the trim in a
matter of seconds.
Uh, and and you can do it tobuild a house.
Again, we've got past shows atthe Carolina Contractor where we
did a whole thing on smartdesigns, things like that.
Okay, what I wanted to say thatreally got me excited is there's
a company out called Control 4,and they may have solved the
(21:13):
equivalent of uh streamingservices.
You know how you have to havelike 11 streaming services to
get all the shows you want towatch, and everybody says,
remember the old days where youjust had one thing and you got
all that stuff?
Control 4 has an integrated homemanagement system for all your
AI and smart devices, and it canwork any combination of smart
(21:35):
devices, even if they're made bydifferent manufacturers, into
this one unit and run them allfrom the one control center,
from the one brain center.
So you don't have to only useone type of smart device for
your doors, windows, lights.
Whatever you have, it canintegrate them into it.
And again, one controller.
You don't even need apps anymoreto control all your smart
(21:57):
devices in your house.
SPEAKER_00 (21:58):
Yeah, that's been a long time coming, man.
I I know that everybody's beencompeting.
Honeywell, Nest, uh, Ecobee,everybody's got their best
version of the same product outthere, but I think that's
genius.
And um, what's the price tag onthat control for?
SPEAKER_01 (22:11):
Well, it like anything, it depends on what you
want it to do, how many servicesyou have.
If I could have one device thisbig and I could control
everything that's from adifferent manufacturer, I'm
already interested in gettingit.
SPEAKER_00 (22:26):
Hey, one thing that uh jumps off the page this week
I ran across the coolest smartdevice, and I I think the
technology's still got a longway to go.
I sent it to the group text, thefamily group text, and I got
just drilled because everybody'sthinking, you know, are you
serious?
Is this really a thing?
I'm not taking pictures of mypoop.
And what it is, is a uh it's aKohler, you know, Kohler is a
(22:48):
popular name in plumbing, butit's a um it's basically a uh
health analyzing uh toiletattachment, and it's called a
Dakota.
So if you look up Kohler Healthonline, Kohler Health will take
you to the page that has theDakota is their featured item,
and Dakota is with a E.
It's a D-E-K-O-T-A, I believe.
But um it has uh 1,200 sensorsbuilt into it, and it kind of
(23:11):
looks like one of those littleair fresheners that clips on the
inside of your toilet, but alittle wider.
And um anyway, um it analyzesany kind of uh matter that ends
up in the toilet, you know,daily.
And uh everybody gave me hellabout it, but I thought if
there's something out there thatcan get ahead of something that
(23:33):
might take you out of thisworld, then I'm all about it.
It's six hundred dollars rightnow, and uh so you know I do
know that that's that's probablythe pilot program for this kind
of technology, but and it'llonly get better, but I just
think it's awesome thatsomething will monitor your
daily your daily progress andyou know could potentially give
you a lead that saves your life.
SPEAKER_01 (23:52):
And I'm not saying I'm against it, but me being
surviv uh securing my salvationof my Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ, I don't want to leavethis world early, but I know my
destination.
I want to live, and I've hadcoworkers and stuff that have
the smart watches, and they'lljust be doing their normal
routine.
And I remember one on this lady,she stopped midway walking from
(24:14):
a printer and went, my bloodpressure just spiked.
I wonder what's wrong.
I probably should sit down.
I need to check my other voice.
And I'm like, I know one reasonyour blood pressure's going up
because you're freaking outabout your watch telling you
your blood pressure just wentup.
So I'm kind of mixed on everyday getting a report.
Um, you know, so I'm not againstit.
(24:36):
Each his own.
Um overall health is important.
So you're right.
If something can say, hey, youmight want to have this checked
out, but then there's thehypochondriacs that would just
be absolutely a ball of anxietyif even more devices could tell
them every nuance of theirhealth.
I've got people that tell meI've learned that I snore too
(24:56):
much.
I've got to do something aboutit because the stupid smart
devices are analyzing theirsnoring and farting and
everything else.
Well, maybe they should theyshould just sell them to men
because we're bad about going tothe doctor.
SPEAKER_00 (25:07):
I don't know.
SPEAKER_01 (25:08):
We wouldn't wear the watch, we wouldn't do it.
We just you know, I just I wouldjust uh probably attach to my
dog just to see what the resultscame back, and the doctor goes,
Oh my god, your heart beats 400beats a minute.
How did you run 20 miles an houryesterday?
And you've got mange.
We've got to see you soon.
Um, last thing I want to talkabout trends, and that's gonna
be uh a little technical, and Iknow you have a past life and
(25:30):
insurance, uh, embedded homeinsurance, and it's where
builders are now integrating theinsurance directly into the home
buying process.
Um me only going through theprocess once, I cannot recall,
but they're saying you puthomeowners' policies, you could
even put car and life insurancepolicies in the sales and
(25:51):
closing stages of a house, andthat's gonna allow the buyer to
get quotes, select the coveragethey want, and bind all those
policies together, and theirterm is with minimal friction,
which I mean, which theyobviously mean it saves time and
makes it easier.
I didn't realize it was that bigof a problem, but I guess it's
enough of a problem or uh anissue that it's advantageous
(26:16):
just to go ahead and have allthat ready when you're closing
on your house.
SPEAKER_00 (26:19):
Well, since this isn't a big thing yet, um it
makes me think two things.
Uh, number one, a pro would bethat if it is tailored towards
new construction homes, thenthey're probably gonna be uh
more upfront about the optionsthat that you may need to
address.
In terms we talk about havingendorsements on your insurance
policy like sewer backup orflood insurance, it's a
(26:41):
completely separate policy andyou're in a floodplain that a
lot of people wouldn't think toeven ask for that.
So uh up front, if the insurancecompany is giving you their
sales pitch, then maybe theysay, hey, if you do this right
now, you know, we're insuringthese 100 homes in this
subdivision, but we need to tellyou that you need X, Y, and Z
for the appropriate coverage forsomething that that would
probably happen.
The con would be that it'sprobably gonna be some of the
(27:04):
big players who have commercialsduring the Super Bowl.
So uh we always preach about uhbeing advocates for for smaller
insurance companies because thesmaller insurance companies
usually represent 10, 20, 30different companies that may be
a better fit for you.
So I think the fact that eventhough they may give you a
couple options, I don't knowthat those couple options will
be financially competitive withsome of the smaller players.
And some of the smaller players,if you do in fact have a claim,
(27:27):
just have a better bedsidemanner, and the adjusters tend
to be better because they're notstaff folks who you're just a
number to.
So I don't know how that's gonnashake out, but it is interesting
to see that they're trending inthat way.
SPEAKER_01 (27:39):
Yeah, you know a big home builder who builds
thousands, tens of thousands ofhomes a year, big insurance
companies would be licking theirchops at the opportunity to
partner with them.
But you're right, theindependent home builder isn't
gonna even be an interest tothem.
And I've also said when it comesto insurance, uh get an
insurance broker or at least tryone out because they're going to
contact six, seven, eightdifferent insurance companies
(28:03):
and find the best rate andcoverage for you.
And that works very well.
Get those small, independent,local people that can give you a
better deal than because ifyou're seeing a football player
with a football coach andanother football player, you
know right then there's millionsof dollars being paid out, and
they're gonna get that moneyback somehow or the other, and
(28:25):
it's gonna come through policycost.
SPEAKER_00 (28:27):
Yep.
Kickbacks are definitely a thingwith that.
SPEAKER_01 (28:29):
Yeah.
Well, we kind of run out oftime, but we kind of hit
everything we wanted to.
So a lot of these uh thesetrends, some of them are
construction, some of them areuh very cool with the smart
device integration.
I love the idea of having onecontroller for everything.
The insurance, um, I'mdefinitely with you.
Uh talk to somebody face to facein a small room, and that's
gonna be a little bit better foryou.
(28:50):
You'll probably get just asgood, if not better, a deal on
getting insurance.
Hey, uh, check out the website,the Carolinacontractor.com, and
you can get uh more informationabout the show or if you got any
questions, comments.
And Donnie, what was the show'suh keyword today?
SPEAKER_00 (29:05):
Uh state fair food.
Key word.
Oh, bacon, bacon, bacon, bacon.
He's the host of the show, andhe didn't even know the key
word.
He went with a key phrase.
SPEAKER_01 (29:14):
We covered a lot between that and now.
Yeah, we did, and we're we'reburning neurons off, and our
brains don't fire quite asquick.
But uh, I do appreciateeverybody tuning in and again
hit that website,deepcarolinacontractor.com, and
we hope uh you guys will checkus out next week.
Thanks for the support,everybody.
Love you guys.
Welcome to the Carolina Contractor Show with
your host, General ContractorDonnie Blanchard.
unknown (00:07):
Mr.
SPEAKER_01 (00:08):
Donnie Blanchard, when was the last time you went
to the NC State Fair?
Man, it's had to have beenalmost a decade ago.
What's the one thing they alwaystalk about at the State Fair
year after year?
Ah, if I had to choose betweenrides or food, it's gotta be the
food, man.
It's always the weird new fooditems.
I had a coworker who went thisuh past weekend.
They said bacon is the name ofthe game, and he said his
(00:28):
favorite was the uh bacon macand cheese cone.
There was bacon donuts, and hesaid just about anything you
wanted bacon on, they had it outthere at the fair.
Some of the other big things Ithought this was sounded good.
Uh brown sugar hush puppies.
I could have that at breakfast.
Yeah, I don't do breakfast, butyeah, that does sound good.
Okay, Mr.
Literal, but it would be abreakfast food, you dork.
(00:50):
Um cheese curd tacos, andanother highlight was Carolina
Hoe Down, but that evidentlywasn't a food.
That was just a warning thatsomeone had fallen.
But we were not gonna we won'tgo in the details, but uh you
know what?
That would be a good subject fora future show of the Carolina
contractor.
Absolutely.
(01:11):
Carolina Hodown.
Yeah, we'll have to figure outhow to work that in.
Is it a person or is it a thing?
Hey everybody, it's CarolinaContractor Show.
Don't know if you went to thefair.
Uh, me and Donnie have reachedthat point that our kids are
older, so we really don't dragout to big events.
But still, a fun thing to do,and everybody talks about the
fair, and the theme of the fairis bacon.
(01:31):
So today's keyword is going tobe bacon, and that's significant
because at the end of the show,you'll have a chance to win
wonderful prizes if you rememberthat keyword.
If you go to the website,though, you can learn more about
the show.
That's theCarolinacontractor.com.
We've got past episodes there.
We got the links to the YouTubepage, our social media, our
Instagram and our um Facebookand stuff like that.
(01:52):
If you have a question aboutthis show, a past show, a future
show idea, maybe you have aquestion about something you
want to uh us to do a show on,or you maybe have a question
about your house.
We got a great little buttoncalled Ask the Contractor.
It goes to Donnie Blanchard.
He is, of course, our residentgeneral contractor.
So hit the website, theCarolinacontractor.com.
(02:13):
You got anything else uh goingon in your world, Donnie, before
we kick off?
SPEAKER_00 (02:16):
No, um just grateful that the weather is so beautiful
and uh everybody seems to beaffected by that.
Everybody's in a good mood, andand on the job sites we still
have long days.
Well, for the most part, it getsdarker at seven or so, but uh
this is that sweet spot when youare catching up on all your
summer work and and reallytrying to batten down the
(02:36):
hatches for winter.
So all is well in my world, butthank you for asking.
SPEAKER_01 (02:39):
Yeah, you get more work done because you're also
not sweating it out like youwere this past June and July.
SPEAKER_00 (02:45):
No doubt.
This is honeydew season for me,so I'm I'm getting it done, man.
SPEAKER_01 (02:49):
Things are good on both ends of the spectrum.
We're gonna jump in today'sshow, and it's uh building the
future, not back to the future,but building the future.
And Donnie did some research anduh we thought this would make a
good show.
We think a lot of listeners,whether you are buying a house,
if you're thinking about buyinga house, you've been a homeowner
for a long time, uh it's it'scool stuff that's coming up, but
it's mainly with home building.
(03:10):
This isn't necessarilyretrofitting an existing house,
uh, but they're building trendsthat are shaping up this year
and going obviously beyond.
The first thing on this listthat I thought was amazing,
Donnie, was are we reverting thedownsizing to smaller homes?
The square footage has actuallydropped now over the uh past uh
(03:32):
10 years.
SPEAKER_00 (03:33):
Yes, and I'm really glad to see that.
You know, I'm a big proponent ofuh first-time home buyers having
an affordable option, and youcan't hide square footage.
So I I really feel like if wedownsize with the square footage
and just make it make sense fora small, maybe family of four,
maybe family of five, and themore you can squeeze in there,
(03:56):
you know, the the better forthem because in terms of
affordability, there there'sjust no no good option for
somebody in their early tomid-20s, especially if you have
a child incorporated into that.
So uh I think downsizing thesquare footage is very is a very
wise move.
It's nothing we're doing onpurpose, but uh the national
trend that you just mentioned isa real thing.
SPEAKER_01 (04:15):
Yeah, so to give people actual footage numbers in
2015, which they consider thepeak, the average house was
twenty six hundred andeighty-nine square feet, and as
of twenty twenty-three, it wastwenty-four eleven.
Uh for perspective, I alwaysthought my house was uh uh
bigger than the average bear, atleast in my neighborhood, I'm at
(04:35):
uh like uh twenty-two fifty.
Um so I'm still below what theaverage lowest is.
But once one kid moves out orgoes to college, like in my
case, the house gets really bigreally quick.
So I'm not against thinking whenyou're building a house, maybe
lower that square footagebecause a lot of times you end
(04:56):
up having wasted space or thatone room that ends up being a
third or fourth bedroom that isjust stacked with boxes and
storage and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_00 (05:04):
Yeah, it's a catch-all for sure.
And um, I think thinking forwardon whether or not you're on
family land or if you you knowcould be okay to sell when the
kids move out if there's nosentimental attachment there,
uh, those are all good factors.
But one thing that I'm I'mseeing is uh the the young folks
well actually I designed um ashopslash mother-in-law suite
(05:26):
for a younger couple, and theyboth get the best of both worlds
because uh he gets a shop, it'sabout a 30 by 40 shop, um little
under that, but there's amother-in-law suite that's a
one-bedroom attached to the theside, and we we really got
creative because we made theceilings 10 foot and the
mother-in-law suite, which theyou know the cost to go from
(05:46):
eight foot to nine foot toten-foot ceilings is it's a real
number, but you're not talkingthousands and thousands of
dollars.
And uh another thing we're gonnado is is do eight-foot doors,
which puts the header height atthe windows and doors at eight
foot.
So uh what we're doing is takingadvantage of the cubic footage
of a 10-foot ceiling, and whenwe run our cabinets, we're gonna
run those all the way to theceiling.
(06:06):
So instead of having space uhfor a pantry, we're gonna have
space for upper cabinets.
And will you have to have a stepstool?
Probably, but you know, thatthat's a small price to pay for
a house slash shop combo thatthat is gonna save you$200,000
compared to the same squarefootage of a house.
You know, you want to entertain,you got your shop.
(06:28):
You want to have all yourfriends over, you got the shop,
and then you've got a door tothe house where you can prepare
everything with the kitchen.
It is only a one uh onebathroom, but I really like it.
And after I finished the designand the blueprints, I looked
back and thought, there's a lotof young people that when they
see this thing finished, they'regonna jump on board.
SPEAKER_01 (06:46):
Some of the Leonard type sheds, the designs are
really cool.
Could those be modified to bequalify as a legitimate livable
part of uh a property?
SPEAKER_00 (06:59):
Hmm, that's a good question.
Um, I think if you can insulateand condition anything, then the
answer is probably yes.
You know, how you incorporateplumbing and uh electrical into
that is when you start gettinginto the inspections department
and the pushback from themunicipalities.
So I think it's it's probably anengineering nightmare to try to
(07:20):
make a storage shed into alivable space, but I'm sure it
can be done.
You know, the the tiny housething is is catching fire right
now, and uh several people, uhmy understanding, there's
several people around the countythat are wanting to take land
and do tiny house developments,and and um I'm not against that.
You know, that versus a mobilehome park is sounds pretty
(07:40):
attractive.
It sounds like they could umprobably clean it up a little
bit better with restrictivecovenants and so forth.
So I'm not I'm not opposed toit.
I just think that I think it'son the way.
I think some some solution otherthan government and interest
rates is on the way, and I I'mI'm pulling for that because I
have young kids and and you knowlots of uh folks in their
(08:00):
younger 20s that that I'm Ireally hope have a chance like
we did to have home ownership ata at an affordable price, and it
just ain't there right now.
SPEAKER_01 (08:09):
I'll tell you what, uh I'm thinking down the road,
but uh I would be perfectlycontent if my kids built me not
uh I don't like the micro tinyhomes where your living room
converts to your kitchen,converts to your bedroom, but
think of a a large storage typebuilding, but nice, so a stick
built, and maybe it's two-roomedor partitioned.
If it's got running water, youknow, a bathroom and a and a
(08:32):
sink and and the basics, if mykids said, Hey dad, we're gonna
put one of these with a coveredwalkway out, it's gonna be 25
feet from the house, it'll beelectric and conditioned, and
you can be in there if you needto.
I'm talking, you know, I'm 75,80 years old.
They can have a little camera init or have me with a collar that
beeps if I fall down.
But I could spend the bulk of mywaking time in the the house.
(08:57):
I wouldn't, I don't see myselfhaving a problem with it.
And I think it'd, you know, hey,family stays together that way,
and but you're not intruding oralways in the big house with
them.
Everybody gets a break.
SPEAKER_00 (09:08):
Oh, for sure.
And like I said, with the garageuh slash mother-in-law suite
concept, you know, everything'son a slab, so that's handicap
accessibility right out of thegate because everything's on a
perfectly flat slab, so youdon't have stairs associated
with that.
And uh yeah, I agree with that,and it's funny you say that.
I'd say seven out of ten housesthat I build, the man always
says, Well, I didn't want this.
(09:28):
You know, she wanted all that5,000 square foot house, but I I
could live in my garage.
And like I think we're allpretty much wired the same.
And uh, yeah, same here, but ifmama ain't happy, you know how
that saying goes.
SPEAKER_01 (09:40):
Give me a TV and uh an FL Sunday ticket, and you
know, I don't have to see youfor uh a whole weekend if you
prefer it.
And honey, I did something bad.
Can I be sent to my little uhman cave house?
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (09:52):
I'm not there yet, E, but I'm I'm I'm trying to I'm
trying to get there.
SPEAKER_01 (09:56):
I'm just planning.
I plan way ahead.
All right, another topic uhbuilding for extreme weather.
We this is kind of a no-brainer.
Now, extreme weather isn't new,but techniques of building homes
to be uh more extreme weatherresistant is uh in demand.
Are you, Donnie, as a builder,seeing more demand for that or
(10:18):
people ask questions, hey, whatcan we do to make sure this
house is a little bit strongerwhen those storms come?
SPEAKER_00 (10:24):
So we live in that really nice area of North
Carolina.
We're in central North Carolina,so that's a sweet spot where our
weather is bad from time totime, but we don't get the
hurricanes like they do at thecoast.
And uh, you know, fortunately,the floods like they did in the
mountains, which sounds crazy,but that just happened.
Um I, you know, I think thatcertain parts of the country, I
(10:46):
when I do my uh when I brush upon my articles, I see things
like out west where they havehailstorms uh frequently, then
they're they have the impactresistant glass that becomes uh
a pretty much regular thing.
And um in terms of roofing atthe coast, of course, I do
roofing as well.
So I uh we had some experiencewith fortified roofs back during
(11:08):
the hurricanes of 2018.
That seemed to be the hot topic.
And a fortified roof, it's justa handful of things that you do
differently where they require acertain amount of nails per
shingle, which we do anyway, anduh they require stainless steel
nails, which is you know justcommon sense if you are within
five miles of the coastline, andjust a handful of other things,
meaning like the underlayment ofthe ice and water shield laps
(11:31):
over the starter strip in acertain place, and and they just
had a few things that they wouldcome and check.
But I I will take my hat off andsay that the they did a good
job.
The inspectors were on point,and that fortified uh
certification would actuallysave you money monthly on your
insurance premium.
So it was legit.
And I I want to say the costmight have been around a grand,
and that was from the the extramaterials to the inspection
(11:54):
cost.
But uh, if you add that up uhyear by year, then that that's
really a big savings in yourpocket.
So I think the fortified thingwas legit.
Some of the other stuff, theimpact resistant glass that I
mentioned earlier, they chargean arm and a leg for that
because not everybody does it.
A lot of window manufacturersjust don't have the capability
to crank those out.
So uh they they kind of have amonopoly on that market with
(12:15):
just a few um folks that makewindows.
So I don't think that it's whereit will be, but uh, I'm kind of
on the fence about this one.
Like I know it makes sense andit's not like green, we're not
we're not, you know, gonna we'renot gonna save the planet with
this kind of stuff, but youknow, when a big storm comes
through, do you have peace ofmind?
And I think that part's worthit.
SPEAKER_01 (12:34):
Now, one of the things I thought was cool when I
was reading about some of the uhhousing and and the builds that
were weather resistant was thisuh one company, Restructure
Group's 3D panel system.
Uh it's disaster-resistantpaneling that you build the
house with.
Basically, it's a panel,multiple panels, but you get a
(12:54):
panel and the it's concrete onthe interior and exterior side
combined for one and a quarterinch of concrete.
And the that makes it not umproof, but fire resistant,
hurricane resistant, uh,tornadoes, seismic resistant.
It's just gonna be able toabsorb a lot more of the shock
that a weather or a storm cangive you than the average house.
(13:17):
Inside the middle, and I thoughtyou'd find this interesting
because we talk aboutinsulation, it's insulated and
it's also mold, insect, verminresistant.
Um, and then to keep it alltight and right, it's got this
proprietary, which means theyain't sharing this technology
yet.
It's got this proprietary steeltruss system that holds it all
(13:38):
together.
So you can order these panels,basically Lego assemble the
house, and then you can dress upthe exterior and interior
through paint or siding orsomething like that.
But talk about just building a abeautiful uh house.
The shell, everything looksgreat, but inside it's got all
those uh severe weather and anduh I I think in California,
(14:01):
seismic issues that it makes itmore resistant.
That's a smart way to build.
SPEAKER_00 (14:05):
Oh yeah, I I can't disagree with that, not at all.
I mean, it sounds fascinating.
Uh again, where we are in ourpart of the world, we don't we
don't really have to deal with alot of the things they do on the
West Coast.
So of course my brain, mybuilder brain goes back to how
much does that really cost?
And you know, if if I I knowaround here, gosh, houses,
little houses are 400,000,500,000 now.
(14:27):
So uh I'm guessing out therewhen that would have the
equivalent of a house would havebeen 800 to a million, then
that's probably doubling that tobuild one that way.
And I don't know, I think thekey is just them figuring out
how to get it to the populationin an affordable manner, and
then you know, cutting on a lotof the red tape that's gonna be
required by the inspectionsdepartments.
(14:47):
And I don't know.
It's all it's all um it's allone of those things where if it
works, great, but theimplementation is gonna take
years and years, and um I don'tknow if that'll ever hit around
here.
SPEAKER_01 (14:59):
Uh this is Carolina contractor show.
We're talking about somebuilding trends, and uh the
redheaded stepchild has alwaysbeen the modular prefab homes.
Uh is that maybe changing?
We know they're cheaper, but wealways thought they're cheaper
because they're cheaper.
Are you seeing their qualityincreasing?
SPEAKER_00 (15:19):
Not at all.
And I just got my first look atone this past week.
So I'm gonna help a uh friend ofthe family basically finish the
upstairs in their modular, anduh, I was itching to get in
there.
And um, you know, the the salespitch with a modular is if you
can transport it down the roadto 55 miles an hour, it's gotta
be good.
And I'm like, you know, uh I getthat, but what does it look like
at the end of that trip?
(15:40):
You know, that this particularhouse, the shingles had been
peeled back.
I mean, they had they did asmuch as they could at the
factory, and another sales pitchthat they have is that
everything's laser precisebecause it's cut in a controlled
environment, and all that's justI'm sorry, but all that's just
BS.
And um, it, you know, I'll havea lot more to say about it after
I help them finish the upstairs,but little things like they do
the bare minimum on windows, andthat being said, the building
(16:02):
code does hold them accountableto a certain standard, so they
do have to meet the buildingcode, but uh how that
inspections process goes, Idon't know because when it shows
up, it's got drywall, uh,everything that's behind the
walls that you can't see is allin place already.
So I I'm just I'm not a fanbecause of course they um they
they're part of my competition,and I don't even really think
(16:25):
that because a custom built homeversus a modular is just is no
kind, it's no comparison.
But at the same time, uh whatI've seen them do because
they're smart and they're sellthey're cranking these things
out left and right.
And if I tell the uh a scenarioa popular scenario is if I tell
a customer, hey, I'm gonna beabout six to eight months, maybe
a year before I can start yourhouse, well, they're saying,
(16:45):
hey, we can get a foundation inthere and we can have you in in
four or five months, but youstill have to do a septic, you
still have to do a well.
There's a lot of legwork aroundactually the setting of the
house.
And then when you get the houseset, so many things they paint
them just a standard color.
So you've got to paint the wholehouse, you've got to set out the
fixtures, and you've got to do alot of the siding on the
outside, you have to completethe roof.
So there's still a lot to do.
(17:06):
And my reason for saying that isthat they're expensive, man.
I I know somebody, a 2,000square foot house that got away
from me not long ago because Ijust couldn't start in their
timeline and they were expectinga baby.
They went and paid over$400,000for a modular and they weren't
happy with it.
I say that to say a lot ofpeople are okay and they just
they need a roof over theirhead, and it beats the crap out
of renting an apartment becauseat least you're a homeowner, but
(17:28):
several factors to take intoconsideration with a modular.
SPEAKER_01 (17:31):
Okay.
Yeah, you're right.
You rent an apartment and whenyou want to move out, you have
no equity because you arerenting.
I don't care what themanufacturers say, the chances
or the percentage ofmanufactured homes that go up in
value is gonna be more relatedto the land and location they're
at if you own the land than itis gonna be the building.
And they're gonna put everythingin a nice little package and
(17:51):
say, hey, here's a great deal ona house, much like you sell a
car.
They're not gonna tell you theprice of the car.
They're gonna say, what will ittake for me to put you in this
house today?
And they've got that all figuredout.
The fees to get it to your lot,to hook it up.
Oh, they're now selling theappliances because that doesn't
come with it.
And they all say the same thingswhy you should buy a modular
(18:12):
home.
We build them faster.
Well, there's a reason they canbuild them faster.
Uh, they're more affordable.
There's a reason they're moreaffordable.
Sustainability, they're tryingto use the green angle now.
Well, we're using uh recycledparts.
Yeah, I don't want my house madeout of milk jugs.
You gotta look at all thereasons they're selling.
They're not selling higherquality or better or even equal
(18:32):
quality as say a custom build ora stick built.
And you've got to watch out ifyou're thinking this is a good
move, as you said.
They're as expensive as somesmall houses, and the rates and
the things you can get caught inthrough contract can really hurt
you.
SPEAKER_00 (18:47):
They've come a long way, and I will say, you know,
20 years ago that uh modularhome is is what we would think
of as two single-wide trailersput together at a marriage wall.
So basically a double wide, andand they're all rectangular,
simple roof structure.
Um, but now they they've reallygotten complicated and uh
they've pushed the threshold ofof in the design world.
(19:08):
So they they've done just abouteverything they can do to try to
change it up.
And this particular one I lookedat the other day, you know, it
was still you know two nowmostly narrow parts put
together, but they did have aframer coming in to frame a big
gable on the front.
So I think one thing thatthey're trying to do to evolve
is they are incorporatingstick-built components and uh
(19:31):
just trying to make it look alittle more custom with the
finished product.
So if I ever saw an area wheremodular could uh where modular
could take off or I could evenincorporate that into my world,
things like dormers.
So if they could build a dormerin a warehouse and send me a
dormer that I could just plugand play, that'd be wonderful.
If you've ever tried to frame,dormers will make you really
(19:54):
good at cursing.
And uh, and and I mean if youthink about it this way,
somebody worded it like this along time ago.
There's just as many cuts in adormer as there are, you know, a
whole room.
And so, you know, you buildthese three dormers that
somebody wanted for decoration.
They're they're problematic interms of a roof leak, you know,
it's a roof penetration that'sjust not not a great thing.
It doesn't allow a lot ofnatural light in, not a lot of
(20:15):
extra headspace.
You don't get the square footagethat you're you're really um
you're adding to the um theinterior, but you know, that
natural light, those windows,and what it looks like from the
front elevation is why they doit, but I'm not a fan.
SPEAKER_01 (20:27):
I want to get on one thing that I'm very excited
about.
We've done multiple uh shows onsmart devices and how AI can
assist your house.
Um AI and automation is drivingthe next phase of of home design
in every aspect.
My wife and I are looking atputting in flooring and doing
some painting.
You can now take a picture ofyour room with all the clutter,
upload it, it'll clean out theclutter, and then you just click
(20:49):
on the floor and change it towhatever color style you want,
click on the walls, thepainting, change the trim in a
matter of seconds.
Uh, and and you can do it tobuild a house.
Again, we've got past shows atthe Carolina Contractor where we
did a whole thing on smartdesigns, things like that.
Okay, what I wanted to say thatreally got me excited is there's
a company out called Control 4,and they may have solved the
(21:13):
equivalent of uh streamingservices.
You know how you have to havelike 11 streaming services to
get all the shows you want towatch, and everybody says,
remember the old days where youjust had one thing and you got
all that stuff?
Control 4 has an integrated homemanagement system for all your
AI and smart devices, and it canwork any combination of smart
(21:35):
devices, even if they're made bydifferent manufacturers, into
this one unit and run them allfrom the one control center,
from the one brain center.
So you don't have to only useone type of smart device for
your doors, windows, lights.
Whatever you have, it canintegrate them into it.
And again, one controller.
You don't even need apps anymoreto control all your smart
(21:57):
devices in your house.
SPEAKER_00 (21:58):
Yeah, that's been a long time coming, man.
I I know that everybody's beencompeting.
Honeywell, Nest, uh, Ecobee,everybody's got their best
version of the same product outthere, but I think that's
genius.
And um, what's the price tag onthat control for?
SPEAKER_01 (22:11):
Well, it like anything, it depends on what you
want it to do, how many servicesyou have.
If I could have one device thisbig and I could control
everything that's from adifferent manufacturer, I'm
already interested in gettingit.
SPEAKER_00 (22:26):
Hey, one thing that uh jumps off the page this week
I ran across the coolest smartdevice, and I I think the
technology's still got a longway to go.
I sent it to the group text, thefamily group text, and I got
just drilled because everybody'sthinking, you know, are you
serious?
Is this really a thing?
I'm not taking pictures of mypoop.
And what it is, is a uh it's aKohler, you know, Kohler is a
(22:48):
popular name in plumbing, butit's a um it's basically a uh
health analyzing uh toiletattachment, and it's called a
Dakota.
So if you look up Kohler Healthonline, Kohler Health will take
you to the page that has theDakota is their featured item,
and Dakota is with a E.
It's a D-E-K-O-T-A, I believe.
But um it has uh 1,200 sensorsbuilt into it, and it kind of
(23:11):
looks like one of those littleair fresheners that clips on the
inside of your toilet, but alittle wider.
And um anyway, um it analyzesany kind of uh matter that ends
up in the toilet, you know,daily.
And uh everybody gave me hellabout it, but I thought if
there's something out there thatcan get ahead of something that
(23:33):
might take you out of thisworld, then I'm all about it.
It's six hundred dollars rightnow, and uh so you know I do
know that that's that's probablythe pilot program for this kind
of technology, but and it'llonly get better, but I just
think it's awesome thatsomething will monitor your
daily your daily progress andyou know could potentially give
you a lead that saves your life.
SPEAKER_01 (23:52):
And I'm not saying I'm against it, but me being
surviv uh securing my salvationof my Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ, I don't want to leavethis world early, but I know my
destination.
I want to live, and I've hadcoworkers and stuff that have
the smart watches, and they'lljust be doing their normal
routine.
And I remember one on this lady,she stopped midway walking from
(24:14):
a printer and went, my bloodpressure just spiked.
I wonder what's wrong.
I probably should sit down.
I need to check my other voice.
And I'm like, I know one reasonyour blood pressure's going up
because you're freaking outabout your watch telling you
your blood pressure just wentup.
So I'm kind of mixed on everyday getting a report.
Um, you know, so I'm not againstit.
(24:36):
Each his own.
Um overall health is important.
So you're right.
If something can say, hey, youmight want to have this checked
out, but then there's thehypochondriacs that would just
be absolutely a ball of anxietyif even more devices could tell
them every nuance of theirhealth.
I've got people that tell meI've learned that I snore too
(24:56):
much.
I've got to do something aboutit because the stupid smart
devices are analyzing theirsnoring and farting and
everything else.
Well, maybe they should theyshould just sell them to men
because we're bad about going tothe doctor.
SPEAKER_00 (25:07):
I don't know.
SPEAKER_01 (25:08):
We wouldn't wear the watch, we wouldn't do it.
We just you know, I just I wouldjust uh probably attach to my
dog just to see what the resultscame back, and the doctor goes,
Oh my god, your heart beats 400beats a minute.
How did you run 20 miles an houryesterday?
And you've got mange.
We've got to see you soon.
Um, last thing I want to talkabout trends, and that's gonna
be uh a little technical, and Iknow you have a past life and
(25:30):
insurance, uh, embedded homeinsurance, and it's where
builders are now integrating theinsurance directly into the home
buying process.
Um me only going through theprocess once, I cannot recall,
but they're saying you puthomeowners' policies, you could
even put car and life insurancepolicies in the sales and
(25:51):
closing stages of a house, andthat's gonna allow the buyer to
get quotes, select the coveragethey want, and bind all those
policies together, and theirterm is with minimal friction,
which I mean, which theyobviously mean it saves time and
makes it easier.
I didn't realize it was that bigof a problem, but I guess it's
enough of a problem or uh anissue that it's advantageous
(26:16):
just to go ahead and have allthat ready when you're closing
on your house.
SPEAKER_00 (26:19):
Well, since this isn't a big thing yet, um it
makes me think two things.
Uh, number one, a pro would bethat if it is tailored towards
new construction homes, thenthey're probably gonna be uh
more upfront about the optionsthat that you may need to
address.
In terms we talk about havingendorsements on your insurance
policy like sewer backup orflood insurance, it's a
(26:41):
completely separate policy andyou're in a floodplain that a
lot of people wouldn't think toeven ask for that.
So uh up front, if the insurancecompany is giving you their
sales pitch, then maybe theysay, hey, if you do this right
now, you know, we're insuringthese 100 homes in this
subdivision, but we need to tellyou that you need X, Y, and Z
for the appropriate coverage forsomething that that would
probably happen.
The con would be that it'sprobably gonna be some of the
(27:04):
big players who have commercialsduring the Super Bowl.
So uh we always preach about uhbeing advocates for for smaller
insurance companies because thesmaller insurance companies
usually represent 10, 20, 30different companies that may be
a better fit for you.
So I think the fact that eventhough they may give you a
couple options, I don't knowthat those couple options will
be financially competitive withsome of the smaller players.
And some of the smaller players,if you do in fact have a claim,
(27:27):
just have a better bedsidemanner, and the adjusters tend
to be better because they're notstaff folks who you're just a
number to.
So I don't know how that's gonnashake out, but it is interesting
to see that they're trending inthat way.
SPEAKER_01 (27:39):
Yeah, you know a big home builder who builds
thousands, tens of thousands ofhomes a year, big insurance
companies would be licking theirchops at the opportunity to
partner with them.
But you're right, theindependent home builder isn't
gonna even be an interest tothem.
And I've also said when it comesto insurance, uh get an
insurance broker or at least tryone out because they're going to
contact six, seven, eightdifferent insurance companies
(28:03):
and find the best rate andcoverage for you.
And that works very well.
Get those small, independent,local people that can give you a
better deal than because ifyou're seeing a football player
with a football coach andanother football player, you
know right then there's millionsof dollars being paid out, and
they're gonna get that moneyback somehow or the other, and
(28:25):
it's gonna come through policycost.
SPEAKER_00 (28:27):
Yep.
Kickbacks are definitely a thingwith that.
SPEAKER_01 (28:29):
Yeah.
Well, we kind of run out oftime, but we kind of hit
everything we wanted to.
So a lot of these uh thesetrends, some of them are
construction, some of them areuh very cool with the smart
device integration.
I love the idea of having onecontroller for everything.
The insurance, um, I'mdefinitely with you.
Uh talk to somebody face to facein a small room, and that's
gonna be a little bit better foryou.
(28:50):
You'll probably get just asgood, if not better, a deal on
getting insurance.
Hey, uh, check out the website,the Carolinacontractor.com, and
you can get uh more informationabout the show or if you got any
questions, comments.
And Donnie, what was the show'suh keyword today?
SPEAKER_00 (29:05):
Uh state fair food.
Key word.
Oh, bacon, bacon, bacon, bacon.
He's the host of the show, andhe didn't even know the key
word.
He went with a key phrase.
SPEAKER_01 (29:14):
We covered a lot between that and now.
Yeah, we did, and we're we'reburning neurons off, and our
brains don't fire quite asquick.
But uh, I do appreciateeverybody tuning in and again
hit that website,deepcarolinacontractor.com, and
we hope uh you guys will checkus out next week.
Thanks for the support,everybody.
Love you guys.
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