We posted this entry a while back here on Modular Musings, but we felt it was worth a second look. It’s really indicative of how far the modular home industry has come over the years and how more people are embracing modular construction and its many benefits.

For various reasons, modular homes are popular in New England (more than 10 percent of all new homes in the northeast U.S. are modular). Even new homeowners in upscale areas like Martha’s Vineyard are taking notice of the benefits of modular construction.

Martha’s Vineyard Magazine did a feature on the rise of modular homes in the island community for its spring/summer 2008 issue. The modules for the home at the center of the story were pulled across Vineyard Haven’s harbor on a barge and transported by police-escorted flatbed trucks to their final destination.

The article discusses the many benefits of modular construction, including the financial perks that have led so many Vineyarders to go modular:

What makes the Vineyard a hungrier modular market than most? Follow the money: Certainly, modular customers everywhere benefit from the economies of scale realized by big factories that purchase basic materials, from drywall to grout, in bulk. For Islanders, the resounding cost differential is labor. “Sixty dollars an hour is what I have to charge for labor here versus fifteen to twenty dollars off-Island,” says builder Ray Maciel, one of several Vineyard contractors whose business today is all modular all the time. After adding the expense of shipping boxes across land and water, and renting a crane to move them into place, Vineyard homeowners report shaving a quarter to nearly a half off the budget for an equivalent stick-built home.

It’s a long article, but one of the best we’ve seen about the modular housing boom. Check it out on the Martha’s Vineyard Magazine website and don’t miss the mention of Excel Homes/Avis America and the helpful how-to section at the end.

We posted this entry a while back here on Modular Musings, but we felt it was worth a second look. It’s really indicative of how far the modular home industry has come over the years and how more people are embracing modular construction and its many benefits.

For various reasons, modular homes are popular in New England (more than 10 percent of all new homes in the northeast U.S. are modular). Even new homeowners in upscale areas like Martha’s Vineyard are taking notice of the benefits of modular construction.

Martha’s Vineyard Magazine did a feature on the rise of modular homes in the island community for its spring/summer 2008 issue. The modules for the home at the center of the story were pulled across Vineyard Haven’s harbor on a barge and transported by police-escorted flatbed trucks to their final destination.

The article discusses the many benefits of modular construction, including the financial perks that have led so many Vineyarders to go modular:

What makes the Vineyard a hungrier modular market than most? Follow the money: Certainly, modular customers everywhere benefit from the economies of scale realized by big factories that purchase basic materials, from drywall to grout, in bulk. For Islanders, the resounding cost differential is labor. “Sixty dollars an hour is what I have to charge for labor here versus fifteen to twenty dollars off-Island,” says builder Ray Maciel, one of several Vineyard contractors whose business today is all modular all the time. After adding the expense of shipping boxes across land and water, and renting a crane to move them into place, Vineyard homeowners report shaving a quarter to nearly a half off the budget for an equivalent stick-built home.

It’s a long article, but one of the best we’ve seen about the modular housing boom. Check it out on the Martha’s Vineyard Magazine website and don’t miss the mention of Excel Homes/Avis America and the helpful how-to section at the end.

Jack Gizienski joined the Excel Homes team in October 2007 as our vice president of operations and immediately began making plans to build his modular dream home for himself and his wife. It took a little while for Jack to finalize the specific plans for the home – the initial concepts were designed by Jack on a napkin! – but last month, his dream became a reality in the form of a 3,300 square foot ranch style home in Mechanicsburg, PA.

The home has four bedrooms, three full bathrooms and a three-car garage. Although modular homes are typically more energy efficient than stick-built homes, Jack designed his house to be even more efficient through the use of advanced insulation methods, geothermal heating and air conditioning, ENERGY STAR rated appliances and thermal pane, Low E windows.

The seven modules that make up Jack’s house were delivered to the site and lowered into place by a crane and a team of workers known as the “set crew.” The first module was set into place just after 9 a.m. and the last module (one of two that would make up Jack’s three-car garage) was set at 6:10 p.m. Not bad for one day’s work! While the modules were being built in our AvisAmerica facility in Avis, PA, construction was underway on the foundation and basement of Jack’s house.

Jack (in the red shirt) was on hand throughout the day to oversee the construction of his new home. Like most new modular homeowners, he was understandably excited about the process. Here, he goes over some details of the home’s plans. Since he designed the home himself over the course of a year, he pretty much knew every square inch like the back of his hand.

Here, the first module is lowered onto the foundation. The entire process of backing a module in front of the crane, hooking up the crane’s cables to the module, lifting it into the air, lowering it into place and securing it onto the foundation takes about one hour.

Module number three, which makes up the front portion of the house, is lifted off of the flat bed it arrived on (the metal platform in front of the two workers) and onto the foundation. As the module is slowly moved into place, the member of the set crew (in orange) holds a rope to prevent the module from swaying or bumping into the other modules.

After each module is set on the foundation, the set crew makes sure the edges are perfectly aligned with the foundation. Here, a member of the set crew makes some minor adjustments (with the help of the crane) to the smaller module on the back of the house.

The day after the modules were installed, the crane lifted the roof into place. After that, the crew from CB Homes took over, connecting the utilities and putting the finishing touches on the exterior and interior of the home. That process took about 10 weeks to complete and the Gizienskis were in their new home for Thanksgiving dinner.

A full set of photos from the day can be seen here. We also videotaped the installation of all seven modules and, through the miracles of time-lapse editing, have boiled the nine-hour process down to three minutes. We’ll post that video here on Modular Musings in the near future!

Last week, we wrote about the research phase of the modular home buying process. It’s one of the most important steps. Luckily, there’s no shortage of information available online, but if you’re a more traditional learner, you’ll be happy to know that there are several books available that will shed some more light on the modular home buying process.

One of those books is “The Modular Home” by Andy Gianino. Andrew is the president of The Home Store, which is the largest modular home builder in New England. (Many of the homes they build are Excel Homes, but that’s not why we love this book!) 

The best thing about The Modular Home, aside from the wealth of information included in it, is how the information is presented. Andrew goes into an incredible amount of detail in each chapter, but he does it in a way that is clear and understandable for those who might not know much about modular homes or the building industry in general. To make his point, Andrew uses checklists, sketches, hints and even throws in some “what not to do” case studies.

The book includes 11 chapters, such as “Why Build Modular,” “Selecting a Dealer,” “Finding and Preparing a Building Lot,” and “Financing a Modular Home.”

We’ve read a lot of books about modular homes over the years, and whether you’re a home builder or a potential home owner, Andrew’s is by far one of the best resources out there. In fact, we like the book so much, we’re going to purchase three copies and give them away here on Modular Musings to three commenters chosen at random. If you can’t wait to get your hands on a copy, they’re also available on Amazon.com.

Boston Globe blogger and real estate guru, Rona Fischman, wrote last week about her recent modular epiphany. Rona admits that she once confused modular homes with manufactured homes. However, after some research and witnessing some “very attractive” modular homes being built in her neighborhood, Rona is now a tried and true believer in the value and beauty of the modular home.

Rona goes on to list the many reasons why modular homes are smarter choices than stick built homes, including the facts that modular homes are higher quality, less expensive, better for the environment and quicker to build.

Journalists are only human, which is why so many of them harbor the same misconceptions about modular homes that many other people do. That’s why it’s refreshing whenever influential voices like Rona see the light about modular construction and why we’ll feature those  breakthroughs here on Modular Musings whenever we encounter them.

After Hurricane Andrew struck Florida in 1992, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) studied the performance and strength of various buildings and found that modular homes stood up to hurricane-force winds much better than standard site-built homes.

The secret to modular homes’ strength lies in the manufacturing process. To help the modules withstand the demands of the transportation process, modular homes are built with an average of 20 percent more materials than regular homes (and often at less cost!). These materials include bigger, stronger wall studs and floor joists, which means a sturdier frame overall.

The stricter inspection process behind each home also contributes to modular’s superior staying power. Not only is each module is inspected prior to leaving the factory, but the home is inspected again by independent local inspectors after it arrives and is placed on the foundation at its final destination.