Karsten subflooring

[arfmom]

Oak Creek Homes puts 1/2 tongue and groove plywood in ALL of the modular homes standard and OSB in all of their mobile homes and....you get a 20 year warranty on your subfloor. I hope that you have done your homework. Don't rush to make your decision, get all the answers first.


http://www.oak-creek-homes.com/default.asp

[Angela Vasquez]

I live in NM and we are considering a Karsten home although I think I may look into the oak-creek homes now that I have read this info. We do have two kids and I had not even considered the plywood flooring. Any other suggestions for a new buyer?

[Scott]

The one thing that you all have to realize is that the main reason Karsten uses D-3 floor decking as a standard and not plywood is cost. From what I understand, it is also a little stronger than plywood depending on who you ask of course. They are already going above and beyond on most of their other standard features that it becomes difficult to be price competetive with the low end market or even some of the mid level homes on the market. Palm Harbor, Solitaire, and some others generally use plywood flooring however they choose to cut corners in other areas like exterior siding, eave widths, sidewall insulation, windows, etc.. The thing that you get from these companies who use plywood standard is a huge lumber surcharge that usually is in the $2,000 - $3,000 dollar range. You would probably save money going with a Karsten home and just putting the plywood option in your home.

[jgn]

When I met with Karsten plywood was an option and to me OSB or plywood is the only choice. D-3 is strong but if it gets wet you have a real problem. As to PH, Solitaire and the question of siding I couldn't disagree more. PH uses Hardipanel and Solitaire uses smartpanel, both good products, karsten uses Hardi so your statement is not true. Every manufacturer has the heavest home (can't figure that one out but that is what they say). Karsten make a very nicewell constructed home but they are on the premimum side, Solitaire makes a nice well constructed home, plain but nice, and they are on the lower side and PH is in the middle. If more bang for the buck and good construction is what you are looking for than Solitaire is the answer, if you want top of the line than Karstan. All three of these companies have very good reputations just fine the one that fits.

[Scott]

I agree on a couple of points. First that plywood is the only choice as far as floor decking goes. OSB is fine for repelling water but as far as strength goes, it is absolutely horrible. I also agree that Solitaire does build a structurally sound home. The major complaint I see with them is the fact that they do not use R19 insulation in their 2x6 sidewalls and that seems to defeat the purpose. I'm not sure what region you are in but PH does not use Hardi panel any more in Texas so you may be in a different area than me. However, I can't disagree more about Smartpanel. Smartpanel fades very quickly thus needing to be painted every couple of years if you want it to look decent and also if there is not a vapor barrier installed at installation of the home, the warranty on the smartpanel siding is voided.

[Michelle]

we currently are looking into upgrading possibly t a modular home, can anyone give the truth to them being cheaper than a site built, but as strong? Any help would be appreciated, I want to avoid the houndings of the sales people.

[Michelle]

I don't know if this will hepl, before we bought ours, the dealer had a peice of the floor (like a 2x2in) immersed ina jar of water with a lid on it sitting on his desk, there was no swelling to the wood, that stuff is treated pretty heavily for that purpose. I recommend you do the same thing, take a peice home with you and put it in a jar of water to see the resistance it has. I hope this helps and good luck....

[rmurray]

Have you ever seen magic tricks???...inside that jar no product would have a problem....but in the open air..is another story....Good Luck with yours...

[rmurray]

Prcie is only part of the story....Value is the rest...salespersons are there to help you..not hound you...A good salesperson will inform you of the value involved....But be careful not to fall for magic tricks again...smile..