What’s it like to tackle a $2.5 million modular home after only three years in business managing average-sized projects?
- This contractor says that making the jump from 2,500 to 8,000 sq. ft. increased the scope of the project; the bigger scope brought more opportunity for errors.
- A big home may not be inherently more complex. However, this one was because the custom touches the client ordered had to be completed on-site.
- The contractor is part of a franchise and says that the support he received has been crucial to doing such a large, complex project profitably. A new builder who is not part of such a system needs to find good mentors and advisors.
Fernando Calderon is a licensed general contractor in North and South Carolina, is LEED AP certified, and is an accredited Project Management Professional. He’s Franchise Owner & President of Impresa Modular of Charlotte, based in Charlotte, N.C.
After only three years in business, Calderon is currently building his first major modular project — a single-family home, with a budget of approximately $2.5 million. We asked him about his experiences with this home, to provide insight to other modular builders embarking on their first big, complicated project.
Q: What projects had you completed before this home?
A: We’ve done ten single-family homes in the last three years. The smallest was 800 sq. ft. and the largest — until the current project — was about 2,500 sq. ft.
Q: Please describe this project.
A: It’s an 8,200 square foot, single-family home in Waxhaw, North Carolina, near Charlotte. The client already had a floor plan created by an architect with a Feng Shui consultant, and she came to us to see if we could build it with modular.
The outside of the home is pretty much complete and we’re going to start installing cabinets this week [early September 2024]. We’re pouring a 2,000 sq. ft. concrete patio, which will have an overhang roof that we’re also building on-site.
Q: What’s the difference between building this house and a more modest house?
A: Our other houses have been an average of four modules. Some were five. This one was 14. That in itself wasn’t too complicated. Building an 8,000 sq. ft. house isn’t four times as complicated as building a 2,000 sq. ft. house. Not even twice as much. But the scope on this multi-million-dollar home is much greater than with our previous ones.
Usually, we get as much work done in the factory as possible, and modules are delivered pretty much finished, with countertops, cabinets, flooring, trim and siding already done. But for this one, a lot more has been left to do on-site because the client wanted cabinets and other fixtures and finishes even higher-end than the top of the ranges offered by the factory. We’re also doing the siding on-site because the client wants a combination of Hardie plank and stone.
What did make this project more complicated was that there were a lot of parts that were shipped loose that we had to assemble on-site. Assembling, for example, a large, complex roof that comes in many parts is complicated.
Q: What made you think you were ready for this project?
A: Being an Impresa franchise is like being given a business in a box that includes Ken Semler’s thirty years of experience. [Ken Semler is the President and CEO of Impresa Modular, as well as the Publisher of this magazine.] Whenever something comes up and I don’t know what to do, I can call him and we’ll figure it out.
His expertise was essential for determining whether the client’s floorplan could be built and what changes needed to be made. There were all sorts of little details to do with finish and trim that he knew how to resolve. If someone’s not part of a franchise business, I honestly don’t know how else they’d get that level of support — other than through direct business connections they might have.
It was ambitious, but my entrepreneurial personality is to take a risk, jump in at the deep end and figure things out along the way. But there’s no way I could have done it without Impresa. Not just this project — all the projects.
A lot of builders do one or two or three modular projects, and they make a couple of rookie mistakes, and those mistakes can mean they don’t make a profit. And so, they don’t do more modular after that. Without guidance, I would definitely have made those mistakes which would have cost me $1,000 here and $1,000 there. These small mistakes add up and make a project more likely to fail.
Q: What kind of mistakes?
A: Things you don’t think of until they come up. For example, when you set a house, you need a crane. The crane charges per hour and the rate per hour depends on the size of the crane.
When we set the modules, we need a substantially bigger crane than when we set the roofs. On my very first project, it was supposed to be set all in one day, but we could see it was running a little late and it was going to go into a second day. So, Ken suggested that we call and book a smaller crane for the second day. We needed to make this decision by noon of the first day so we could tell the bigger crane to be ready to leave at 4 p.m., so they wouldn’t charge overtime. That probably saved me $1,000 or $1,500 of crane time alone.
Q: How did you get the lead for this project?
A: Our client looked us up on Google. The Impresa website has a blog with good SEO [search engine optimization] and we get a lot of clients who find us online because we’re near the top if they search for ‘modular homes’ and especially if they search for ‘modular homes, Charlotte’ which I think was the search this client made.
She checked us out online and then gave me a call. She’d gotten quotes from conventional builders, and they were very expensive, which is why she wanted to look into other options. The range of what builders charge depends partly on the builder’s reputation and ego, and we were able to build it for less.
Q: How much difference did the client’s attitude to modular make?
A: It was huge. This client is a realtor and had already done her research and she understood what modular is. She wasn’t even pro-modular; she was just open-minded and willing to listen and learn. That’s half — no, it’s 90% — of the battle.
Mostly, when people hear ‘modular’ they automatically think mobile or manufactured home. They’re imagining a trailer home. Eight out of 10 people who call me don’t understand that a modular home is exactly the same as a site-built home, and that we can do any style and size. I’ve gotten quicker at figuring out which callers are confused, and which are looking for something we don’t offer.
Q: How did you gain her confidence that you could handle a big project, even though you’re new?
A: If I hadn’t had the weight of Impresa behind me, I doubt I’d have been able to convince her, even though she trusted me personally. Her main concerns were about whether we’d be able to deliver the quality promised and whether we had the ability to complete a project of this scope. Every time she had doubts, I told her about the Impresa team behind me, and the company’s reputation. Without that, I would probably have had to have a couple of other successful projects under my belt with similar scope.
She did ask for references from my previous clients, and from Impresa’s.
Q: How did you price the home? Did the price/scope change from the initial plan?
A: Part of the beauty of modular is that, once we’ve given the manufacturer the specs, they can give us an accurate quote for how much it’ll be for the house to be built and delivered.
The general contracting scope was not that much different from other projects I’ve done, except more square footage. Instead of a 2,000 sq. ft. foundation, it’s a 4,000 sq. ft. foundation; instead of 2,000 sq. ft. of siding, it’s about 4,500 sq. ft.
There were minor changes in the factory part of the design, like having a door open the other way. The biggest change was because the loan appraiser said the master bathroom needed a little more “oomph.” Basically, it needed to be fancier so that it would hold up to the pricing for a house of that size. So, we had to make the shower and tub bigger and enclose them in a single, bigger space.
Most of the price changes happen with the on-site portion, just like with any other project — because we have to quote for them six to eight months before we actually start doing them, and costs of materials can change, and the client can change their mind about things. On this project, changes in material costs were negligible. Originally, the exterior walls were all going to be siding, but this was changed to the first four feet of the wall being stone, and siding above that.
Q: What unexpected problems did you run into? What will you do differently on the next big project?
A: On my four or five box houses, there were only eight or ten loose pieces that were quite big — such as roof panels. On this project, there were three whole trailers, with 45 or 50 loose pieces that needed to be lifted by crane and assembled on-site. If everything went perfectly, each piece was set in five minutes. But if any little adjustment was needed, it could take 15 or 20 minutes. If you multiply that by the number of parts, that’s the difference between the expected five days to set the house, to the ten days it actually took.
The roof was complex and had lots of pieces. Not just large roof panels, but also tiny roof pieces to finish off edges or around corners. There were also a lot of wall panels for this house. The center part of the front of the house is 26 ft. high. That whole wall is one big piece that’s 26 ft. high and I think 13 ft. wide, one for the front and one at the back that’s full of windows. All of those windows were shipped loose and we had to set them all in. This house also had a big game room and 8 ft. by 15 ft. of it was completely panelized and shipped loose.
The factory organized the parts so they could be safely and efficiently transported, which made sense. But, next time, it would be good to have had them organized by the order in which they need to be set. For example, when we started putting together what we’ll call roof number one (which is made of four pieces), we placed the first two and then discovered that piece number three was at the bottom of the pile on the next trailer, which we hadn’t even started unpacking yet. Usually, it’s not a big deal, because there aren’t very many pieces, but in this case, we had to basically set the pieces in the order they were packed, not necessarily the order we wanted to assemble them. We had to adapt and improvise.
I’m so thankful we had the best client. She’s very educated and very understanding. She knows construction and that some things don’t go exactly as planned, but that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world. We just have to figure out how to work around it.
She’s very happy with the house and wants to do a bunch more like these for other people and will use hers as a showroom.
Q: What advice would you give to other builders with a similar experience level contemplating a job like this?
A: Plan it way in advance and be ready for curve balls and be flexible enough to adjust to them.
Also, manage client expectations. Make sure you’re on the same page from the beginning. Building a custom home is like having a child. In the end, it’s beautiful, the most beautiful thing you’ve ever done, and you’re happy with it and proud of it for the rest of your life. But the process of raising it can be nerve-wracking and stressful. At times, you want to cry, you want to laugh, you want to tear your hair out. Sometimes, you think the whole world is coming to an end and there’s no way out. But we will tell you not to worry, we knew this could happen, and we’ll get through it.
And, once we’re in that situation, I can tell the client to remember that I said there’d be some dark times when everything seems overwhelming. This is that time. Just relax, I’ll take care of it, and we’ll get through it together.
It’s such a simple thing to do, but it’s critical in managing client expectations which, at the end of the project, helps determine the customer experience and their perception of quality — which impacts the reputation of our company.
Zena Ryder writes about construction and robotics for businesses, magazines, and websites. Find her at zenafreelancewriter.com. All images courtesy Impresa Modular of Charlotte.
