clayton vs palm harbor in texas

[jennifer]

Help Please!!!
I am looking to purchase a manufactured home, but have heard the same amount of negative and positive on them. We are limited in Texas as to a builder. I know to stay away from Oakwood after reading this site. But now my question comes down to which is a better home in the long run? A Clayton or a Palm Harbor???? Are there any other well built homes I have missed in Central Texas I should consider? Are there any specific questions I should be asking these builders, besides how long their warranties are and how thick are the outside walls? Also, after looking at these homes, would it still be better to go with the (i don't know what they are called) the old pre-made walls or the new textured walls. It seems during the move, that the textured walls will crack, where as the old walls are made to bend a little. Please forgive my ignorance and if there are any suggestions I am ready and waiting on responses.

[jgn]

You have several choices in Texas and several choices of Palm Harbor as well. Depending on your budget Palm Harbor, Karsten, Patriot are all nice homes. The Palm Harbor Austin plants 05/07 build a higher end home with 1/2" tape and texture, plywood sub flooring upgrades on some other models are standard at these plants. You will also pay more for these homes. Their other plants make nice homes but without the frills.
I would go with tape and texture. There will be some damage in delivery but that can be fixed without a problem. The vinyl clad walls do not give you much opportunity to change things, with a lot of work, where with drywall you can paint any color you want.
Be sure to visit different plants and see how the homes are built. Ask a lot of questions so you feel comfortable about the decision you make.

[Tina]

I too live in Texas and have been checking out the different manufactured homes available. I have been doing a lot of research. Patriot is a good home and manufactured in Waco. They have standard 2 x 6 exterior walls along with tape and textured walls, bull-nosed corners. I agree, I would go with the tape and textured walls because you can paint and/or wallpaper to give it more of a designer look. I had a stick built home and had the drywall crack. It is very simple to repair as with the tape and textured. I used vinyl spackling, smoothed it out, did a little sanding, painted and WAALAA!... good as new! I walked through a Patriot (Victorian and Crystal Valley) when I lived up in the midwest and was very impressed. Patriot has several manufacturing facilities that are also available in Texas. Heritage American by Patriot is built in Missouri, as with Patriot of Alabama. Patriot of Texas is built in Waco which may be your best choice because you don't have far to drive to visit the factory and watch your home be built. Patriot also has a cool website that actually shows the outside of the home of whatever floorplan you are interested in. It also gives you ideas on landscaping around your home as well. Their website is www.PatriotHomes.com and just select the area. They will even give you the sales centers where you can go to and look along with their availability of the different divisions you can select from.
I am not familiar with Palm Harbor or Clayton other than going to their website. However, if I had to choose between Clayton or Palm Harbor, I would have to choose Palm Harbor. That is only based on what I have read on this website. The only advice I can give (and I am not that educated on the manufactured home area) is don't rush into anything, take your time and weight out the pros and cons. Also, buy the books that is highly recommended on this website. Good Luck.

[Tina]

One more thing. When shopping for a home, as hard as it may be ... look past all the "fluff". The most important thing is the structure of the home. In my opinion, it is a must to have at least 2 x 6 exterior walls (if not 2 x 8) and upgrade on your insulation. The higher the R factor the better. Do not let anyone tell you that you will not need a high R factor insulation for your area because it will in the long run have a lot to do with your utility bills. Some insualtion is blown in and some is rolled. Personally, I would want both (if possible), blown to get in all the little cracks and crevices and rolled to avoid settling of the blown in. The flooring is most important...plywood and the thicker the better. The windows and doors must have double or triple headers along with the interior doorways (if possible). The overhang on the exterior at least 12 inches...don't settle for anything less. Shut off valves at all water mains, toilets, sinks and washing machine, etc. Nothing less than 200 amp for your electrical wiring. Last but not least is your siding and roofing. Go with the best roofing you can get. The cedar siding is nice and weathers beautifully (if you like that look), but it also involves a lot of maintenance. I want to say the Hardi Plank (I think that is what they call it) siding is your best bet. I am sure someone out there on this website who knows more about this than I do will give you more input than what I can. To include correct me if I am wrong which is perfectly fine for I am also trying to learn as much as I can on this subject. One more thing...I believe the old walls you were referring to is called gypsum board.

[Scott]

If you are comparing PH vs. Clayton in Texas you need to specify which PH you are talking about. 3 of the PH factories will far surpass Clayton in quality while the other 2 will be far behind Clayton. Have you checked out Karsten of Texas built in Breckenridge. These homes will far surpass them both. They have extended their factory warranty from a 1/5 like PH and Patriot have to a 1/10 year warranty. That is 5 years longer than any factory warranty than anyone else offers and the only way they build their homes is with 2x6 exteriors, 2x8 floor joists, 2x4 interior walls, 8 foot sidewalls, Hardi siding, 30 year shingles, 1/2" tape and texture throughout etc.... You would spend quite a bit of money to upgrade to these specs with any PH or Clayton and 2x4 interior walls and 8 foot sidewalls are not even an option with either of the two. I agree with the other post about Patriot that their homes are very nice as well Theirs are built similar to the Karsten home. I looked at the Karsten homes in Abilene and was very impressed as they were the most residential looking homes that I have seen, and I have seen them all.

[Amber]

I recently purchased a home manufactured at the Palm Harbor Austin 05 plant. I live in the Big Country area of Texas. Now, I've only been in there for a little over a week, but I am very, very happy with my home. The home has R40 insulation in the roof, R19 walls, and R18 in the floor. I have 2X6 walls, 2X8 floors (3/4 inch plywood, tongue& groove). We got the Hardi-Panel siding, and Hardi-Panel skirting as well. Of course, everything is tape and textured with a seamless join (that was pretty amazing to watch happen) at the marriage line, and 3 inch crown moulding. We have hardwood cabinets, and ceramic tile floors in the kitchen, dining area, guest bathroom, master bath commode area, and mud room. There are shut-off valves throughout, as well a whole house shut-off, carpet was laid on tack strips, we have stainless steel appliances. We had upgraded to the best thermal package. Some of the tile was an upgrade. We also put in an Austin stone fireplace.

Because of the requirements of the underwriter for our mortgage, we will have a 10 year warranty (purchased), rather than a 1/5. This is, however, unusual. If you are in Texas and if you or your spouse is a veteran, you might want to check out the Texas Veterans Land Board, which offers a discount on mortgage rates, for disabled vets and teachers, as well as a discount through the Greenbuilding program.

The gentleman who came and did the factory trim-out was amazing! He found and fixed little flaws we never would have noticed.

We do have 90" sidewalls, rather than the 8 ft. offered by some other manufacturers. My husband is 6'4", and the ceiling are nevertheless "high enough" and the home has an very airy feeling.

Karsten does have some very pretty homes. If at all possible, you might want to visit the plant where your home may be built. Check out everything you can so you can make the best informed decision.

Good luck with your purchase!

[Scott]

I would say that you made a good choice on your home purchase. The 05 plant does build a pretty good home if you upgrade it the way you did. Did you upgrade to the energy star rated home? PH builds energy star homes but no matter what the sales person says, in order to make it energy star rated you have to utilize a heat pump versus a standard furnace. And I will be buying a Karsten due to the fact that I can't see myself living in a home with 2x3 interior walls.

[jennifer]

so, what i'm getting is stay away from clayton, and now i need to look into the partriot/karsten/palm harbor homes? this gets so confusing. i really appreciate all the input ya'll have given me. i am so glad i'm not having to buy it tomorrow. ha! thanks again for all your input and i look forward to more input on my narrowed down three choices of homes.

[David Harris]

Hello Jennifer, Do yourself a favor in making the best housing decision you could make look furthur into Palm Harbor Homes they offer you the peace of mind in regards to follow thru service and doing things right the first time. That is there exclusive "Gold Key Care Service" only provide by Palm Harbor Homes. Also there "EnergyManagement Systems" that will save you money in Energy Savings and giving you the "Very Best Home Fro Your Money". Ask your nearest sales center also about there "Mission Statement" that the company stands behind. Good Luck on yoour next purchase.

[trmimo]

You speak of Palm Harbor in the third person as though you are objective, but we see your address is palmharbor.com