| Modular Homes
Modular refers to a method of building a home, rather than a type of home. A modular home can be built in a factory from a stock modular home plan or from a customized plan, to the state, local or regional codes of where the home will be set up. They come in 1, 2 or more completed sections, and in different architectural styles (Cape Cod, Victorian, Ranch, Raised Ranch, Traditional, Saltbox, Split-Level, Two-Story, etc.). Modules are transported to the site on steel carriers, which are then removed, and reused for transporting other homes (some states allow for a State Code Modular home to retain an HUD-like steel frame). A modular home is set upon a permanent foundation. [Click on a link below to learn more]
| Advantages |
Modular homes are built by skilled carpenters, plumbers, and electricians in an ideal work environment, enhanced by state-of-the art equipment. This results in a speedier building process, in on-site completion which is substantially faster than other building methods, in a high level of customization and design flexibility, and in lower prices.
It requires exceptional organization, but today's modular home sales representative records a customer's needs, wishes and mental images, communicates them from their sales office to the manufacturer's designer department and on to the manufacturing line with exceptional precision including numerous options and details. |
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| Suitability |
Modular homes are suitable to virtually any environment (rural, suburban, and urban) and any climate. They have typically not experience the zoning restrictions and discriminative ordinances sometimes applicable to manufactured and mobile homes. |
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| Delivery |
Delivery and setting is usually the responsibility of the manufacturer, while the builder provides final finishing. A modular home can be delivered within 6-8 weeks and assembled and ready for occupancy within 1-3 weeks after delivery to the site. The homes are usually delivered within a 300-mile radius of the factory. |
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| Process |
When a home leaves the factory, the interior walls already have drywall, all fixtures are in place and the exterior cladding has already been mounted. Once modules arrive at the site, a crew of 4 to 6 can have the home completed in 1-3 weeks. Delivering and placing the home onto the foundation requires the use of a crane. |
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| Limitations |
The modules built in the factory must be transported to the site. The constraints for using public roadways limit the sizes of the modules which presently can't exceed 11 feet in height and 16 feet in width. However, the modules can span a length of up to 60 feet. Modular construction cannot accommodate last minute changes because it has beem premade and the fixtures have already been set. |
Systems-Built Homes
What is a systems-built home? It is a method of building which uses a combination of building systems: component, panelized and stick. During this process the panels or whole sections of homes are built under quality controlled conditions at a factory and then assembled at the home site. Systems-built houses are not, strictly speaking, modular or panel homes, rather they are conventional homes, built with systems technology. Systems-built homes, like site-built structures, are built to meet or exceed the state, regional or local building codes, just like stick-built homes
[Source: Modular Homes Directory USA] |
