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New Home Construction in RTP area of NC

| Posted in General Discussion on August 27, 1999 02:12am

*
Hello:
My wife and I are considering a move to the RTP area of North Carolina, and recently took a trip to check out real estate. Obviously a booming area, but a lot of what I saw being built did not impress me. Large developments, production home construction, NO BASEMENTS. We are interested in building a new home, but want to go with a local contractor who will work to our specs. I want to avoid the “…choose one from column “a”, two from “b”” approach. My background with the trades traces back to working for my fathers’ GC company, where they did custom work, building only 3 to 5 homes a year. My father and his partner were from the old school, on site with hammer every day, and gained an excellent reputation over a 35 year career. So, what I am looking for is information on finding someone of the same ilk in the RTP area. I am not asking for recommendations (unless you feel comfortable offering them), rather I am looking for a resource through which I could interview prospective contractors to get a feel for the market. As an aside, what is the deal with no basements? Obviously lots of clay in the area, but from my neck of the woods (NW PA), we have our share of blue clay and still put basements in (many a summer spent on the business end of a shovel digging footers). Just curious.

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  1. Guest_ | Aug 13, 1999 11:28pm | #1

    *
    Pat,

    The deep frost line up north requires even deeper foundations that work well as basement walls. Add a slab and you have your basement. Pretty cheap space. The shallow frost line down in the south makes basements much more expensive.

    The south has lots of new homes, so national trends toward subdivisions and cheaper construction leave us with a high percentage of ticky tacky boxes. A little footwork to find the right designer and builder will pay off in a home with the quality and features you want. There are still folks out there who understand the difference.

    BTW, basements might also be less popular anywhere due to radon concerns, SAD, and their reputation for moldy maintenance problems.

    I grew up in RTP - Chapel Hill is the best corner of the Triangle.

    Welcome to the South!

    Dave

    1. Guest_ | Aug 14, 1999 01:39am | #2

      *I live in Raleigh NC. To reinforce what Dave said, since footers are 4' or so deep where you currently live, your already 1/2 the way there so why not build a basement? In the RTP area footers are only 12" deep. To me, basements are just another place where you end up storing a bunch of unused stuff that you need to get rid of anyway. We use walk up attics to store all that junk!If you really want a basement though, go with concrete.As far as buying a home in this area, from what you have said, you are looking for a custom built home. Plan on $100 a heated square foot or so, possibly more if you want to live in Chapel hill or have a taste for "fine homebuilding" i.e.; all brick, solid counter tops, etc.As far as exact location, buy a home as close as possible to where you are going to be working.

      1. Guest_ | Aug 14, 1999 01:51am | #3

        *Dave,I am not trying to pick a fight,And prob. I am mis-interpreting your post.You are not seriously thinking that it is more expensive to build a basement in the south than up north?The same amount of materials and labor would be needed in either location to build the same basement so what would account for the price difference.Or do you mean that in the south a basement would be an additional expense over what is REQUIRED in that locale(but the actual cost would be the same in either location?)I was interested to see the start of a house being framed this spring in N.C.Carpenters were working in a beautifull grassy field,undesturbed except for a few concrete block piers.No mud Anywhere. They were framing in the first floor and the grass was still growing under the house.Good Luck,Stephen

        1. Guest_ | Aug 14, 1999 02:20am | #4

          *Hi Stephen,I meant your second interpretation. Basements would require similar materials and effort in both locations, but you aren't already halfway there in the south. Actually, I would guess identical basements to be more expensive in the north because labor and materials are generally less expensive in the south.Our shallow footings lead to some bizarre field experiences. One house had footings so shallow and poorly set that one of the piers fell over one day. The workers hefted it back up straight and went about their business as if nothing had happened. I think the house was built without improvement to that footing, and hasn't had any problems in the 10 or so years since.Dave

  2. Pat's_wife_Donna | Aug 16, 1999 01:06am | #5

    *
    Hi, fellas. So, any suggestions where we would want to start, as far as getting put in touch with these elusive 3-to-5 homes a year custom builders?

    A realtor? I don't think that would work - we sat down with a nice lady who only wanted to talk about the already existing mammouth subdivisions with their pre-chosen super contractors.

    The yellow pages? Builder's suppliers? Being that we're 10 hours away right now, it's a rather daunting task.

    Can we do our homework and investigative work from here, over the phone and internet?

    Any suggestions would be helpful. Don't be afraid to drop any names or phone numbers.

  3. Guest_ | Aug 17, 1999 01:41am | #6

    *
    Sounds like a difficult task to accomplish long distance.

    Considering that this area is a little larger than Mayberry (No Opey jokes please!) I think that what you need to do is first identify 1 or 2 areas where you think you would like to live. Builders don't like commuting anymore than anyone else, and if you want to live in East Raleigh, and locate a West Durham builder, he probably wouldn't do it. Usually a builder has a team of subs that won't travel much more than 1/2 hr either.

    Use a map to identify areas that you think you might be interest in. Come visit, but before making the trip, use your realtor to identify neighborhoods of custom homes (assuming a neighbor hood is what you are interested in) that are in your approximate price range. While looking for areas, (in person) look for custom builders signs out in front of houses that are of a style, general price range, and quality that might interest you.

    Once you zero in on an area, make a list of builders, and call them and ask them to mail you a list of references. You may find that some are so busy that they don't have time for you, so be prepared for that. Call all the references. Once you have made some tentative selections, if possible, visit the area again, tour some of the builder's under construction/ newly finished properties, and talk to buyers again.

    If you don't have time for any of this, either arrange for temporary housing (a rental) here while you go through the builder selection/building process, or buy a spec/existing home.

  4. Pat_Peters | Aug 17, 1999 08:41pm | #7

    *
    I want to thank everyone for the advice, you have given us a starting point. Appreciate it.

  5. Guest_ | Aug 27, 1999 02:08am | #8

    *
    So you to want to become Damn Yankees. Those are the ones like myself who have moved down here and have not gone back. When I first moved down here, all I did was go OH MY GOD, they can do that and get away with it. And then it dawned on me , I'm not in new england anymore ,and they just have different ways of doing things down here. Just like I found out in Maui,and California and other places I have lived ,and practiced the art of homebuilding and repairing. If you do move down, remember there are regional differences in the building ( mmmpphh), and you may have to for go a basement for a different alternative. Speaking of attick storage, I once did punch out work on a house that had an attick space bigger than my 1500sqft house.

    There are plenty of good contractors down here, but if you are looking for a personalized home, I would suggest talking to a real estate person and getting a nice little lot somewhere away from the subdivisions, and go the classic route of building . Feel free to email for some of my sources on builders that I have worked with( and were comfortable with), on quality houses. then again the other folks who have chipped in were good sources as well. Good luck and be patient its extremely busy down here.

  6. Pat_Peters | Aug 27, 1999 02:12am | #9

    *
    Hello:
    My wife and I are considering a move to the RTP area of North Carolina, and recently took a trip to check out real estate. Obviously a booming area, but a lot of what I saw being built did not impress me. Large developments, production home construction, NO BASEMENTS. We are interested in building a new home, but want to go with a local contractor who will work to our specs. I want to avoid the "...choose one from column "a", two from "b"" approach. My background with the trades traces back to working for my fathers' GC company, where they did custom work, building only 3 to 5 homes a year. My father and his partner were from the old school, on site with hammer every day, and gained an excellent reputation over a 35 year career. So, what I am looking for is information on finding someone of the same ilk in the RTP area. I am not asking for recommendations (unless you feel comfortable offering them), rather I am looking for a resource through which I could interview prospective contractors to get a feel for the market. As an aside, what is the deal with no basements? Obviously lots of clay in the area, but from my neck of the woods (NW PA), we have our share of blue clay and still put basements in (many a summer spent on the business end of a shovel digging footers). Just curious.

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