My friends bought a piece of land and they want to put a manufactured home on it . I never thought past the trailor . After going shopping with them on several occaisions there are some Manufactured homes that are really bad looking and one brand that was top of line custom home quality looking. We went on a factory tour at KIT Homes in Caldwell Idaho last Friday and I was impressed at the build quality and sturdiness of the construction. I would have never thought I would say this but I would buy one.
Modular and manufactured homes.
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I investigated them before I built our current home, the quality varied widely and everything seemed to be an added cost option. We ended up stick building this house for less money than any similar modular would cost. The only advantage I found was time. This of course could vary with whats available in your area.
My sister and BILs house is a manufactured house. Erecting the house was complicated by a shoddy pre-assembly of modules. I've framed several dozen houses. There were good frames and not-so-good. A modular house built of pre-fabbed panels made on jigs to maintain squareness and dimensions, should be equal or better than a stick built frame house. Do your home-work and use an erector that is familiar with your model.
A close friend was employed by a well-known manufactured home builder here, good reputation and happy customers. However, he had to visit every single home for remedial work ... the homes take some abuse in the move and there's nothing you can do about it. Drywall cracks, windows and doors that cracked or needed adjustment, that kind of thing. Nothing serious but make sure you have the warranty and talk to some owners.
There is another firm here in the city that builds all their homes indoors in a huge hangar-sized facility. These home have an excellent reputation, no remedial work required most of the time ... they just drop in with a crane, second or subsequent floors are separate and added to the established main floor with the crane. Tradesmen I know have nothing but good things to say about them.
Both are less expensive than building on-site, trades are there and just move from building to building, plumbers, electricians, whatever. With the indoor builder there is also no rain, no weather issues, temperatures of materials are all stable, etc.
So costs are lower, no travel to sites, less time wasted going from building to building, small problems don't hold the job up as there is always other work for the trades and they can come back to yours in one or five days when the problem is sorted out (wrong parts, etc). They are also 100% custom build and without extra costs associated with that.
The big thing is to vet your builder heavily. That makes all the difference. Next would be your building mover/ crane operator, as they can only break things. If all checks out it's a slightly less expensive method of home building, but beware because issues can quickly get out of hand if the builder and mover don't have a good reputation with other owners. Do your due diligence and you should be fine.
There is another firm here in the city that builds all their homes indoors in a huge hangar-sized facility. These home have an excellent reputation, no remedial work required most of the time ... they just drop in with a crane, second or subsequent floors are separate and added to the established main floor with the crane. Tradesmen I know have nothing but good things to say about them.
Both are less expensive than building on-site, trades are there and just move from building to building, plumbers, electricians, whatever. With the indoor builder there is also no rain, no weather issues, temperatures of materials are all stable, etc.
So costs are lower, no travel to sites, less time wasted going from building to building, small problems don't hold the job up as there is always other work for the trades and they can come back to yours in one or five days when the problem is sorted out (wrong parts, etc). They are also 100% custom build and without extra costs associated with that.
The big thing is to vet your builder heavily. That makes all the difference. Next would be your building mover/ crane operator, as they can only break things. If all checks out it's a slightly less expensive method of home building, but beware because issues can quickly get out of hand if the builder and mover don't have a good reputation with other owners. Do your due diligence and you should be fine.
Some of the builders around here (Stanley Martin for one) are using panelized construction, where all of the walls are factory built rather than being framed on site. 84 Lumber makes the panels for them, here's a video showing one of their plants:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6ZgpMD1WKY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6ZgpMD1WKY
Parents had a modular home.
On the plus side it was well insulated and heating/cooling costs not very much.
The negative: Roof had staples on top of shingles and flashing was poorly done. I had to fix leaks.
Plumbing leaked due to fittings not being tight. By that time parents installed a block wall around the perimeter. It was fun crawling in the dark, cramped space chasing leaks.
Nice price with poor craftsmanship.
On the plus side it was well insulated and heating/cooling costs not very much.
The negative: Roof had staples on top of shingles and flashing was poorly done. I had to fix leaks.
Plumbing leaked due to fittings not being tight. By that time parents installed a block wall around the perimeter. It was fun crawling in the dark, cramped space chasing leaks.
Nice price with poor craftsmanship.
Originally Posted By: MONKEYMAN
On the plus side it was well insulated and heating/cooling costs not very much.
Probably it was well air-sealed.
When my new house was being built last year, I went onto the construction site and up into the attic and I put great stuff foam into the gap between the top plate and the drywall, and caulked a few gaps and cracks in the walls that the builder missed and/or the cheap caulk they used wasn't sealing well. (I used $6/tube polyurethane caulk, the caulk they used probably cost $1 a tube,some "siliconized acrylic" stuff). In particular, I made sure that the gap between the bottom plate and the subfloor was sealed.
Was it worth it?
I have a heat pump in the new house, and I put a switch on the aux heat, so the aux heat only works when the unit is in defrost unless I turn the switch on. I haven't turned it on yet this winter. The highest electric bill I've gotten so far is $130 and that includes the electricity I'm using to charge up my 2013 Chevy Volt.
On the plus side it was well insulated and heating/cooling costs not very much.
Probably it was well air-sealed.
When my new house was being built last year, I went onto the construction site and up into the attic and I put great stuff foam into the gap between the top plate and the drywall, and caulked a few gaps and cracks in the walls that the builder missed and/or the cheap caulk they used wasn't sealing well. (I used $6/tube polyurethane caulk, the caulk they used probably cost $1 a tube,some "siliconized acrylic" stuff). In particular, I made sure that the gap between the bottom plate and the subfloor was sealed.
Was it worth it?
I have a heat pump in the new house, and I put a switch on the aux heat, so the aux heat only works when the unit is in defrost unless I turn the switch on. I haven't turned it on yet this winter. The highest electric bill I've gotten so far is $130 and that includes the electricity I'm using to charge up my 2013 Chevy Volt.
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