It’s almost a month into the new year, and we hope everyone is having a Happy New Year.

And yes, we do believe it will be a happy one. When it comes to real estate and construction, 2011 probably won’t go down in the record books as one of the most flourishing years in history, but it was at least better than 2010 and 2009. That improvement makes us optimistic that the coming year will continue this upward trend. If you agree or disagree, feel free to register your opinion in our poll in the sidebar on the right.

We’d also like remind you to take some time to make a few New Year’s resolutions. Perhaps they include building a new home or making a few renovations to an existing one. Whatever your resolution, if there’s anything we can do to help, just let us know.

In July, the Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN) stopped by our Liverpool facility to shoot an episode of the behind-the-scenes factory show, PCN Tours. The episode aired in August, but it’s available online for the first time and we’re happy to offer that video on our website.

Highlights from the first half of the video  include:

• 3:42 – Excel Homes director of architectural design and innovation, Steven Saffell, discussing the critical role that our builder partners play in the modular home construction process and how they work with the customer to create the home they want.
• 6:28 – Excel Homes Sales Manager Dave Reed offering a glimpse of the raw materials that go into building a modular home.
• 8:09 – Using an automated four-head saw to create precisely cut floor joists.
• 9:27 – Making floors, including the use of floor glue (in addition to nails) to add strength to the floors.
• 11:26 – Building interior walls, which includes mounting drywall with both glue and screws.
• 16:00 – The advantages of building indoors, including the ability to caulk and seal all plumbing penetrations
• 16:50 – Using lags to keep interior walls square and true and using spare sheeting behind drywall to provide support for shelving and reinforce drywall seams to make the walls stronger.

The following was posted here on Modular Musings back in 2009, but it’s good insight, and good insight is always worth a second look.

Builder magazine gets passed around a lot here at the Excel offices, and for good reason. It’s chock full of insight into the things builders need to know about how to succeed (or at least stay above water) in today’s tumultuous economic climate. Excel Homes works with more than 600 builder partners throughout the U.S., so any nugget of information we can absorb and pass along is good for both us and them.

Recently, Builder magazine published an article entitled “6 Lessons For Builders From the Housing Bust.” It contained suggestions for ways builders can change the way they work in order to maximize profits and make better homes.

Though all the tips are valuable (feel free to read them here on the ProSales website), the first tip was perhaps the most relevant to today’s climate (no pun intended). It was called “Build Smarter,” and it talked about the need for builders to create homes that are more energy efficient, especially as regulations on new homes becomes stricter.

As the builder of modular homes, we couldn’t agree more. In fact, we’ve been shouting this advice from the roof tops for the past decade or more. Modular homes are among the most energy efficient homes available, and much more efficient than comparable stick-built homes.

The same “Build Smarter” tip also suggested building smaller homes (yet still energy efficient) to lower pricing and remain competitive. This again falls right in line with the teachings of modular construction. Modular homes can be purchased in various sizes, from smaller two-person dwellings to massive mansions capable of housing a small army. The good news about small modular homes: They’re easy to upgrade later on.

It’s almost as if Builder magazine was reading our minds.

The following was posted earlier this year, but we thought it deserved another look. A full set of photos from the construction of the project can be seen here.

Last year, Excel delivered five custom-designed cottages to The Madeira School, an independent all-girls boarding and day school, grades 9–12, located 12 miles outside Washington, D.C., in McLean, Virginia.

Known as the “Griffith Cottages,” the energy-efficient one-story, 3-bedroom / 2-bath homes were designed to blend into the existing rural setting and have been designated as housing for Madeira faculty and their families. The cottages feature energy efficient design, small footprints, standing seam metal roofs and hardwood floors throughout.

The project was made possible through a grant from the Mary Mae Foundation, a private foundation with the goal of rewarding academic excellence at secondary, independent schools. The grant funds, secured by Headmistress Dr. Elisabeth Griffith, must be used to provide faculty housing, and periodically one school is selected to receive a $500,000 grant for construction. The $2.1 million project fulfills Dr. Griffith’s vision of The Madeira School as “a residential learning community in which adults live on campus and act as teachers, advisors, coaches, role models and friends and are committed to educating girls.” The remainder of the funding was provided by the school’s capital campaign, “Cottages for Community.”

According to Excel sales representative Andy Scholz, the company was introduced to the Mary Mae Foundation directors through a referral from Mary Gaiski, executive vice president of the Pennsylvania Manufactured Housing Association (PMHA). “They became convinced that modular construction offered the most cost-effective, time-efficient solution – without sacrificing quality or design options,” says Scholz. The Foundation’s funding requirements now mandates that, while the housing design may change to fit an individual school’s needs, the housing itself must be built via modular construction.

Excel worked in tandem with the Mary Mae Foundation, general contractor Great Falls Construction and project manager Advanced Project Management, which dealt exclusively with the school.

Recently, The Madeira School held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Griffith Cottages. “Everyone from the Foundation and The Madeira School is absolutely delighted with the outcome,” says Scholz. “The general contractor, Great Falls Construction, did an excellent job with the project, and more importantly, they were all extremely pleased with the quality of the design and workmanship from Excel. The one comment that was consistent from just about every official who had anything to do with this project was, ‘We would do another project with this team anytime.‘”

Scholz also notes that the Madeira project can be easily replicated at almost any location. “Projects of this nature and size are generally small enough that all the parties can stay involved and make sure everything flows smoothly,” he says. “We’re ready to do this again.”

In this photo taken at our Liverpool, PA, production facility, we see two modules ready to hit the road enroute to their final destination.

The red markings on the wrapper provide valuable information about each module. The five-digit number is a serial number unique to each and every home which links the module to the builder and homeowner. The same number is also posted in the cabinet under the kitchen sink in all homes to make it easier for the homeowner to do home repairs or order replacement parts in the future. For example, if the home buyer wants to replace a shutter or find out the exact color and make of the kitchen counter tops, they can contact their builder and reference this number, which will allow the builder to access the necessary information quickly and easily.

The letter below the number – B on the left and A on the right – indicates the order in which the modules should be placed on the foundation. The “CT” and “ME” markings denote the state each modular will be delivered to. In this case, both modules are bound for New England – Connecticut on the left, and Maine on the right.

In July, we wrote that the Pantone Color Institute had named Honeysuckle as its 2011 “Color of the Year.” Those of you who hope to incorporate the hottest colors into your home (but would prefer something a little less pink) will be happy to learn that the Paint Quality Institute has issued a statement identifying earth tones as the inspiration behind the 2012 paint palette.

The Paint Quality Institute expects various shades of blues, greens and violets to star as predominant interior design colors in the coming year, but PQI also makes some predictions for exterior hues. The following is an excerpt from the Institute’s report:

Shutter colors will begin to shift away from the traditional look of high-contrast green, red, or black to a more monochromatic palette. “You’ll see more shutters that are painted just a shade darker than the siding,” says (Paint Quality Institute color expert Debbie) Zimmer. “Owners of homes with stone exteriors can get in on things by matching the shutter color to the dominant color of the stone.”

Despite all the new colors and trends, Zimmer says some things in the paint world will remain the same in 2012: “Top quality 100% acrylic latex paint will continue to provide the best performance and the best value to budget-conscious homeowners,” she says.

With Thanksgiving just six days away (it might be time to take that 25-pound turkey out of the freezer), we felt an entry about kitchen design was in order. But with the holidays around the corner, we also thought people might not want to spend $15,000 (or even $5,000) to give their kitchen a makeover.

A recent article in the Vancouver Sun offered several tips for updating your kitchen without spending a fortune. Among the dozen budget-friendly suggestions by the newspaper:

• COLOR YOUR WORLD – Bright, colorful accessories on countertops “instantly add that wow factor.” For inspiration, check out our recent blog entry on 2012 color trends.

• BRIGHT IDEA – Installing dimmer switches to control overhead lighting not only allows you to adjust brightness to match your mood, but it also saves electricity.

• COMPARE AND CONTRAST – Painting your walls is one of the easiest and most inexpensive ways to breathe new life into an old space. For the kitchen, the walls should contrast with the cabinets.

• ATTENTION TO DETAIL – Adding new handles and knobs to your cabinet doors is a simple way to make a big difference in the overall look and feel of the kitchen.

The complete list of kitchen design ideas can be found on the Vancouver Sun website. As for that 25-pound turkey, we’d be more than happy to offer some roasting tips, but we’re much better at building kitchens than we are at using them.

The most stressful part of the new-home building process isn’t choosing the floor plan. It isn’t selecting a builder or choosing which countertop to install in the kitchen. It isn’t even finding the land on which to build (although that’s up there on the stress meter). No, the part of the home-building process that would-be home owners lose the most sleep over is figuring out how to finance their dream.

We’ve attempted to help buyers overcome that hurdle (or at least give them a boost) with a series of “Ask the Financial Experts” entries here on Modular Musings, but gathering information and knowledge is only the first step in a long and stressful mortgage process.

Excel Homes is now proud to announce that we’ve taken our assistance a step further by partnering with Premier Home Mortgage, Inc., to offer Express Financing – a unique financial tool that actually simplifies the home-buying process. Express Financing offers combined construction and FHA permanent financing for modular homes – with one qualification for the entire amount required to build your new house.

Our brochure explains the benefits of the Express Financing program:

• Down payment as low as 3.5%
• Land equity or gifted down payments accepted
• No payment during construction
• One-time approval, no additional documentation
• Credit score as low as 620 accepted
• Flexible qualifying options
• Pre-approval in 48 hours

More information about Excel’s Express Financing program, including the aforementioned brochure, can be found on our website.

For home buyers, the benefits speak for themselves, but the program also benefits our builder partners by making the modular home-buying decision a whole lot easier for prospective customers. And when it comes to the already-stressful process of building and financing a home, anything you can do to make it easier is a good thing.

Our monthly Second Saturday Factory Tours started in May and we’re happy to announce that in the six months since it began, the program has exceeded our expectations.

To recap, the Second Saturday program is basically an open house for both builders and prospective home buyers. On the second Saturday of each month, we open our doors for tours of our 200,000-square-foot facility and walk-throughs of our model home. Each prospective home buyer who attends the tour also receives $1,000 in complimentary credit toward the purchase of any new home options available in our custom-home product catalog.

Our next Second Saturday tour will take place on November 12th and is open 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at our Liverpool facility (10642 S. Susquehanna Trail, Liverpool, PA). No appointment is necessary. Whether you’re a builder or a soon-to-be home owner, we hope to see you there!

Excel Homes’ sister modular construction company, All American Homes, has been involved in some pretty ambitious residential projects lately. Among these is a community called Toby’s Lane in the mile-high city of Boulder, Colorado.

One of the project’s most impressive features is that the all the homes received the LEED Gold certification for achievement in green homebuilding from the US Green Building Council. In fact, Toby’s Lane homes are the only homes in Boulder with LEED Gold status – an impressive achievement considering the region’s outstanding track record with green construction.

According to Thistle Communities, the real estate company that oversaw the project, Toby’s Lane homes “are designed with features such as tankless water heaters, 90% efficient furnaces, double hung (Low-E) vinyl windows, state-of-the-art Icynene foam and fiberglass batt insulation in the ceilings and walls. Additionally, all the homes are solar ready, with the necessary conduit for solar panels installed on the roof.”

More info about Toby’s Lane is provided in the video below.