ENERGY STAR® Label Awarded

The Hickory Consortium (www.hickoryconsortium.org) awards the Excel Homes model home with the ENERGY STAR® Label (www.energystar.gov). The model, located on the campus of it's Liverpool, Pennsylvania manufacturing facility, rated "excellent" in performance testing.

1. Land/Lot Development

2. Forms/Procedures/Permits

3. Foundation and Site work

4. Site Preparation

5. Modular Home Set

6. Exterior Finishing

7. Interior Electrical

8. Plumbing Connections

9. HVAC

10. Interior Finishing

11. Exterior Final Finish

12. Closing

"Why build Modular?" and Why Build Modular Versus "Site Built?

Information courtesy of Custom Modular Direct
 

The answer: The modular home is better built and is still 10% to 35% cheaper than a "site built" home.

We will try to prove this to you in the rest of this article. But before we get into that we need to define exactly what we are comparing to a "site built" home. There are a number of different categories of homes that are manufactured at factories. These are:

The "Manufactured Home" - This may seem confusing, but the term "manufactured home" is generally used to describe mobile homes (sometimes known as single wide or double wide homes) These are really a totally different category of home. While the remaining categories meet or exceed the state and local residential building codes of the states where they will be located, the manufactured home is built to a different building code. This code, the Federal Construction Safety Standards Act (HUD/CODE), unlike conventional building codes, requires manufactured homes to be constructed on a non-removable steel chassis. Many communities have restrictions on where "manufactured homes" can be located.

The Pre-cut Home - (Also know as kit homes) I believe early in the last century Sears and Roebuck offered kit homes through their catalogue and sold thousands of them. All lumber and other materials for this type of home are precut in a factory and shipped to the building site unassembled. Pre-cut housing packages contain all or most on the material for the central structure on the house. Outside doors and windows generally are included, and more elaborate kits contain everything needed to complete the house. As you can imagine, a great deal of labor (and sometimes additional material) is required to finish this type of home.

The Panelized Home - Panelized buildings consist of factory produced wall panels 8 feet high and ranging from 4 to 40 feet long. Many manufacturers install doors and windows in the panels, which are designed for assembly immediately after delivery to the building site. In only a few days, the roof can be added to complete the exterior on the building. Although more of the home construction on this type of home, as compared to the pre-cut home, is done at the factory you will find that a great deal of additional material and labor is required to finish this type of home. This type of home is essentially a shell when the factory portion of the home is assembled.

The Log Home - Log homes are factory make as kits or hand crafted with solid log walls.. As with a pre-cut home, additional labor is involved to assemble the logs. In many cases additional labor and material must be purchased to complete the home.

Modular or Sectional Home - It is this category of home that we supply and it is this category of home we are comparing to a site built home.The modular or sectional home is about 80 to 95 percent complete when it leaves the factory. Two or more three-dimensional closed wall sections or units, up to 14' wide (sometimes 16' wide) and sometimes in access of 60 feet long are combined to create the finished building. They include all plumbing and electrical systems. The roof and exterior siding are generally installed in the factory. Interior trim, carpeting, tile, flooring, cabinets and fixtures may be installed in the factory before the home is shipped to the building site. Modules can also be stacked to create two or three story single family homes, apartments, condos, hotels and motels

Before we start talking about the virtues of the modular home versus the site built home let me remind you of something you probably are aware off but I want to make sure you are. In modular homes, much the same as you find in other things you buy, you have good, better, and best products. There are good, better, and best modular homes and good, better, and best site built homes. Back where I came from we were advised to always compare "apples to apples". Please do not make the mistake of comparing a best modular home to a good site built home or vice versa. And, when you start comparing modular homes among us and our competitors, be sure and compare "apples to apples" as you shop.

Please consider the following:

• Modular Homes are highly engineered.

• You have assurance that your home will meet or exceed your state and local building code requirements.

• All portions of the home are designed to be built with acceptable and proven methods.

• Material waste is minimized.

• Energy efficiency is maximized.

• Modular Homes are built inside a factory in a climate controlled environment. This provides a number of advantages.

• All construction materials, as well as interior features and appliances are purchased in volume for additional savings.

• Protected from the weather. Work in never delayed because of the weather. Your materials are protected from weather related damage.

• Your home and materials are protected from theft and vandalism.

• Highly trained work force. Work is never delayed because of subcontractor no shows. Workers do only a small portion of the construction on a home but they are real experts on that portion.

 

Modular Homes give you a better quality product versus a site built home.

• Modern factory assembly line techniques. Your home travels through work stations, with all building trades represented. By design, the modern modular factories use larger, more powerful, and more sophisticated equipment. Because all main components are assembled with jigs, precision control is assured.

• Multiple quality control inspections. You have 100% assurance that your homes has been inspected for code compliance and workmanship. In-plant inspectors as well as independent inspection agencies inspect the home on behalf of your state and local government.

• Superior energy efficiency.

• Superior materials. For example, top grade lumber is used in nearly all factory built homes, largely because second grade limber can cause problems with the precision techniques used in the manufacturing plants and thus slow down production.

• Stronger and better built to withstand the rigors of the manufacturing process as well as the transport to the building site.

Modular Homes are delivered to the building site 85% to 90% complete.

• Home is completed sooner. The average time to complete a modular home is 4 to 10 weeks

• Construction loan interest expense for a modular home versus a "site built" home should be less because the construction loan should be of a shorter period.

• Cost of the modular home from the factory is guaranteed.

• No surprising cost overruns.

• Modular Homes cost less

• Lower assembly line wages

• Reduction in lost and damaged materials caused by on-site weather conditions, pilferage, and vandalism.

• Volume purchase of materials, features and appliances.

We hope the above will convince you that the only home to consider building is a modular home. We think the case is very convincing for the modular home versus any other type.
 model home and the samples.