homes for a modern life
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Modular is not just a type of home Modular is a
lifestyle
DESIGN INSPIRED ...
... BY YOUR DESIRES Discover your unique RITZ CRAFT home. Built just for you ... one house at a time. At Ritz Craft, we’ve been paying careful attention to the expectations of homebuyers since 1953. We work each day to continually develop Ritz Craft Homes as the very best examples of modular, systems-built technology – but even more importantly, we strive to provide each home buying family with comfortable design elements, quality workmanship, long lasting materials and high energy efficiency. Quality, value and your great ideas for your new home ... that’s how we build at Ritz Craft. Visit our website or contact us for more information today! Serving 27 Eastern states from production facilities in PA, MI and NC.
info@ritz-craft.com
www.ritz-craft.com
8 features 5 Book Review
Prefabulous + Sustainable: Building and Customizing an Affordable, Energy-Efficient Home
in every issue
2 Welcome 4 Events
8 Hybrid on the Hillside
A North Carolina Home is an Example of Modular Homebuilding’s Potential and Future
14 Economics and Aesthetics Kanga Room Systems
16 A Modern (Modular) Marvel
If you equate modular homes with your grandma’s mobile home, a look at ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’s latest project will change your mind forever.
Cover Photo: LivingHome, Santa Monica, California. Modular/Steel Frame; Architect: Ray Kappe; Manufacturer: LivingHomes. Photo © Tom Bonner. Above: Woeltjen Photography, Ritz-Craft Homes Fall 2010 | 1
welcome Welcome to the premiere issue of MOD – homes for a modern life. Modular is not just a type of home. Modular is a lifestyle. The idea for this magazine began many years ago with Concrete Homes magazine. As that publication established a reputation for excellence in the industry, we received more and more requests to launch a new publication on other types of system-built homes. We began to realize that we could provide a forum to highlight the many benefits of building and owning a modular home. Thus, we established our mission for MOD – homes for a modern life. With this and every subsequent issue we will take you inside the most impressive and innovative modular homes, provide useful information on the benefits of the modular
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lifestyle through in-depth articles, including new technology and environmental benefits. Our event calendar, home tour, trends columns and features will cater to those who love the modern lifestyle of a modular home. We look forward to inspiring modular homeowners far into the future. We encourage you to become involved with our magazine; please do not hesitate to contact us with questions, topic suggestion and news. Sincerely, The Staff of MOD – homes for a modern life
homes for a modern life Publisher • Editorial Director Brona Stockton
Contributing Writers Jack Frink Suzanna Logan
Photographers Woeltjen Photography
Art Director Kim Worley
Advertising Executive Mike Leifeste (512) 381-0577 • mikel@pcinews.com
Accounting Manager Alicia Glover
Subscriptions Beth Chorba
Web and Network Manager Jim Hall
Publications & Communications, Inc. President Gary L. Pittman
MOD Homes for a Modern Life (ISSN 2157-8923) is published bimonthly by Publications & Communications, Inc., Gary L. Pittman, President, 13581 Pond Springs Road, Suite 450, Austin, TX 78729, 512-250-9023. Subscriptions are available for $20 per year; single copy price is $5.95. Payment must accompany orders. Copyright ©2010 by Publications & Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form without written consent from the publisher is strictly prohibited. Postmaster: Send change of address to MOD Circulation Dept., 13581 Pond Springs Road, Suite 450, Austin, TX 78729.
homes for a modern life BE IN THE KNOW ALL YEAR LONG SUBSCRIBE NOW! $20/YEAR 512.250.9023 | MODULARHOMESMAGAZINE.COM Fall 2010 | 3
events October 3 / November 6 Scranton, PA If you can dream it, Simplex can build it. That’s why the Simplex Homes Open House is the place to be for modular construction options. You’ll find prefab home two-story modular floor plans, modular home ranch floor plans and modular home cap floor plans. Additionally, Simplex custom modular homes services include modular building locations in Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and West Virginia. Simplex Industries, Inc., Keyser Valley Industrial Park, One Simplex Drive, Scranton, PA. simplexhomes.com.
October 16 Martinsville, VA For the chance to view model homes, take tours of the factory and visit a state-of-the-art design center, attend Nationwide Homes’ Fall Open House Event. From 9 AM to 2 PM, guests can find out how a home looks when it comes out of Nationwide’s factory with a Home Set Demonstration (including a crane-lifting demonstration!). The event is open to families, as there will be free food, door prizes, special activities for the kids and a WZBB Super Country remote with music and prizes. 1100 Rivas Rd, Martinsville, VA. nationwide-homes.com.
November 4-5 Scottsdale/Fountain Hills, AZ This year’s program for the Arizona Housing Association (AHA) 2010 Annual Convention & Golf Tournament – AKA the 2010 Economic Summit – will feature a keynote presentation by Michael Bond, PhD from U of A’s Eller College of Management that will include a surprising three-year housing forecast. The program will include an excellent panel of lenders who will share information regarding qualification requirements, improving appraisals and how to get a customer approved. We’ll have a fun-filled Texas Hold’em Tournament, golf at the award winning We-Ko-Pa Golf Club, Installer Training and more! Fort McDowell Resort & Casino, Scottsdale/Fountain Hills, AZ. Contact: Kim Merrill (480) 456-6530.
November 7-10 New Orleans, LA The only national event for the systems-built industry, the Building Systems Councils Showcase is a chance to meet with top decision makers, connect with suppliers and manufactures from all over the country and get the education necessary to succeed in the systems-built industry. Manufacturers of log, modular, panelized and concrete homes and products and housing components, professionals in new home sales and marketing, mortgage banking and associated fields and Building Systems media members should attend. The New Orleans Marriott, New Orleans, LA. nahb. org. Contact: Monica Sober (800) 368-5242 x8133.
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the basics of Modular What is a modular home? Modular homes are comprised of two or more modules built in a factory, transported to the building site and installed on a foundation to create a permanent housing structure. Each module is fabricated to meet local and state building codes where the home will be located. Why consider a modular home? Today’s modular home offers construction of the highest quality. Modular home builders can build the home of your choice using the latest building technology, and in a controlled factory environment by specially trained workers protected from untimely weather delays. Benefits of modular: • All aspects of the construction process are controlled. • The weather doesn’t interfere with construction, cause costly delays and warp or damage building materials. • Technicians, craftsmen and assemblers are on the same team and professionally supervised. • Inventory is better controlled and materials are protected from theft and weather-related damage. • All construction materials are purchased in volume for additional savings. • Modular homes come with all features you would find in a site-built home and can be custom-built to your preferences using the latest in computer-assisted design. • Modular homes are financed using conventional mortgage products, and viewed exactly the same as sitebuilt homes in construction codes and zoning laws. • Because of their incredible efficiency, modular homes save money over time.
book review Text | Jack Frink
+ Prefabulous
sustainable Building and Customizing an Affordable, Energy-Efficient Home
Written By Sheri Koones Foreword by Robert Redford Published by Abrams
A
As interest and use of modular homes increases across the United States, a book like Sheri Koones’ Prefabulous + Sustainable: Building and Customizing an Affordable, Energy-Efficient Home will come in handy for homeowners looking to lead a greener lifestyle. The book takes an in-depth look at some 20 odd MOD homes across the country and sorts them depending on the labels “Green,” “Greener” and “Greenest.” A foreword by revered actor and environment activist Robert Redford adds a further touch of authority to the book. Once the book gets down to business of talking about the MOD homes it’s a bit repetitive, though. Every house is introduced with the same formula: an outside establishing shot of the home and bird’s-eye view of the room layout. The reading gets more interesting once you go inside. The photography is pristine and the houses are spotless; of course, that’s how it’s supposed to be for a book like this. But these are places where people live their lives, and →
The exterior is composed of both stucco and fiber cement siding. Landscaping was kept to a minimum using rock, which helps retain soil permeability for storm water absorption, accented with droughtresistant plants. Highland House, Denver, Colorado. Modular; Architect: Brad Tomecek, Studio H:T; Manufacturer: Barvista Homes; Builder: John Cianci, Eco-Infill. Photo © Ben Tremper. Fall 2010 | 5
book review
6 | MOD homes for a modern life
book review
above The garage was site-built, but designed to exceed local building codes and to withstand winds of 160 miles per hour. The garage is separated from the house to prevent toxic fumes from entering the living space. The Wave Cottage, WaterSound, Florida. Modular; Designer: pv+r; Manufacturer: Nationwide Homes; Builder: Wave Construction. Photo © Jack Gardner Photography. left Front trellises deflect sun, keeping the house cooler and conserving energy. All deck wood is FSCcertified tigerwood, a very dense South American hardwood that is smooth and splinter-free. Siding is beautiful FSC-certified cedar, which is extremely weather resistant. LivingHome, Santa Monica, California. Modular/Steel Frame; Architect: Ray Kappe; Manufacturer: LivingHomes. Photo © Tom Bonner.
when Koones dives into the homeowners’ aspirations and reasons for going modular the variety and dependability of MOD homes is explicitly, effectively illustrated. The houses are not all works of radical modern architecture and futuristic living conditions, which will come as a surprise to those who have a preconceived notion about what a modular home looks like. Some, like the Highland House, do indeed look like the next phase of architecture, but just as many would fit right in on a typical suburban sprawl. A couple of the prefab homes even look like conventional farmhouses. And just like each house has its own unique story and tenants, there are also unique construction details and strategies that need to be communicated to the reader. Helpful sidebars explain things like recycled denim insulation, fiber cement siding and a “living” roof. The book goes so far as to direct curious readers to where they can learn more about these individual points of MOD homemaking. Also, while the book makes no secret of the cost that goes into such living spaces, it also explains the many ways pennypinchers can save on the bottom line and still be environmentally conscious. Prefabulous + Sustainable is a bit too regimented in presentation to avoid small lulls in the reading experience, but it has been compiled with an obviously sincere desire to make home living safer for man and animal alike. And reference books don’t need to read like great fiction to be effective. Because of its gorgeous presentation, its treasure chest of illuminating information and its heart-on-its-sleeve approach, Prefabulous + Sustainable: Building and Customizing an Affordable, Energy-Efficient Home is about as effective an introduction to green living a novice homemaker could hope to find. MH Fall 2010 | 7
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Text | Jack Frink Photography | Woeltjen Photography
Hybrid on the Hillside A North Carolina Home is an Example of Modular Homebuilding’s Potential and Future
above The Decks' ornately-decorated living room. right The master bathroom, created by Ritz-Craft Homes. far right An example of Ritz-Craft's excellent cabinetry work, in the dining room.
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T
This North Carolina house is known by the employees of Ritz-Craft Homes as “The Grand Teton Plan,” but to homeowners Jason and Tina Deck it’s simply “our beautiful home.” The Decks had the modular home built from scratch in an area that was previously unpopulated, but they are far from novices at this type of construction project. This is their ninth house. “One of the big issues was affordability,” Tina Deck says. “The cost point was our biggest reason for choosing [Landrum, South Carolina house builders] Maston Homes. We knew the company through our own business (a ready-mix concrete business). I can walk into Maston and pick all the materials for the house out in one stop. We ended up feeling like we got a whole lot more out of our money than we expected. There were no surprises at the end.” Maston Homes and its owners, Mike Stone and Colleen Dolan, have worked with the Decks before. The company also has 15 years of experience in modular home construction, having cultivated an approach Stone refers to as “hybrid.” Hybrid construction is a combo of pre-made modular components and on-site customization that ends up making basically every Maston home project unique. The Deck household sits on a hill on the edge of a river in a location that was at one point tied up in a vast plantation land holding. Mike Zangardi, marketing director for custom modular manufacturer Ritz-Craft Homes, was impressed with how much professionalism the couple brought to the project. “These are home buyers who have owned several homes previously, they knew very specifically what they were looking for in a new home and new home builder,” Zangardi says. “They were very interested in modular construction because they wanted consistent quality and energy efficiency, and Maston Homes was attractive because of the quality of their reputation.” With the collective experience of the three major parties, it is hardly a surprise that the construction was as painless and efficient as possible. Even with the seemingly precarious home position (“their site access was up an extremely steep driveway,” remembers Zangardi) there weren’t any impossible obstacles for the team. “We use a remote control house tug, which helps us in all of our movements in getting modular components to the site,” Maston Homes owner Mike Stone explains. “There is some specialized equipment to help get the modular components to the site, but that remote tug was pretty much everything we needed.” “We took the customer’s plan and modified it to include certain features that made sense to do on-site,” Stone continues. “There was a lot of customization and rock work. The ceiling and porches were custombuilt, and the home is very rustic because sits over top of that river. You can literally flip a marble out and hit the water; it’s only 40 feet below.” Aside from the house’s obvious beauty and its striking location, there are additional marketplace ripples that add to its appeal. “From my POV this was an exciting project because this home was one of the plans that we offered in a fairly new brochure, The Lake and Lodge Collection,” Zangardi says. “About a year and a half ago we introduced the collection for customers seeking mountain-lifestyle homes. The Decks were attracted to a design that included very specific features that would embrace their vision for the architecture of their new home. It’s exciting for us because Ritz-Craft is continually exploring new housing styles that can be efficiently built with our modular building system, and this plan is a great example of how home owners seeking on-their-lot construction can satisfy their desires quickly and effi- → Fall 2010 | 11
top The Hillside House's kitchen, with appliances from Maston Homes. above Another view of the Decks' beautiful kitchen/dining area. opposite page top The Decks' beloved open-floor plan in the master bedroom. opposite page bottom The unfinished Grand Teton Plan on Ritz-Craft's factory floor.
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ciently through modular construction. Even in a soft market, there are still niche opportunities available for new home construction.” The houses and plans Ritz-Craft developed during the recent housing downturn are more energy efficient with modest-tomoderate square footage. This is following a trend that both Zangardi and Stone have noticed popping up in the home market. There has been a rush of owners who had previously lived in $750,000 - $1 million homes who are now choosing new living spaces based less on square footage and more on overall quality. The cliché of “quality over quantity” seems to be the name of the game in the world of 2010 American home construction. “People are really sensitive about controlling the cost,” Stone says. “In our projects, the home foundation is done on-site, and you may have some intangibles, but you can wrap your arms around the project enough to get a fixed price.” The “intangibles” Stone refers to might include the extensive on-site customization Maston Homes put together after Ritz-Craft had delivered the modular base components for the structure. “All the porches and upper levels of the house were finished on-site. Also, the appliances, rock work and antique fireplace mantle/cupboard were done on-site,” Stone says. “The garage was built into the bank complete with an upper level media room and breezeway connector to the front porch. The homeowners also selected special fixtures like copper lav sinks which were installed on-site. “We’re trying to build as green as possible,” Stone continues. “But the materials are the same as conventional houses. We use 2X6 exterior walls, which aren’t required by code – but it’s what we do. Here we chose from a combination of floor systems, open-web truss, in some cases 2x10, either OSB product or plywood. When you put the components in and plumbing, flooring, light fixtures, etc. it all comes down to what the customer’s preference. If you go underneath or inside or outside the house you can’t tell it’s a modular home. The engineering is really high-quality; we’ve come a long way in 15 years. The customers’ demands and wants have modified and complicated the floor plans so the factories have to comply and now we have some really unique floor plans. It’s not two boxes put together anymore. Plus, the on-site/factory hybrid building method is more common.” Stone doesn’t want to take all the glory, though. He says “the basic functions of the
home were all gotten from [the Ritz-Craft] warehouse. The great cabinetry and the amazing master bathroom came from there.” Deck has her own high words for Ritz-Craft. “We hired a sub-contractor to help put the countertops in, and when he came in for sizing, he said – and this is a straight quote – ‘I’ve been in million-dollar homes and this is the first time I’ve seen the width on every cabinet be the same.’ He had no reason to say that, he didn’t work for Ritz-Craft, but he hadn’t ever come across that in a site-built home. We were very impressed by that.” In November, the Decks will have lived in the “Grand Teton” house for a year, and are still extremely happy with their decision to go modular. “When we first started,” Tina says, “we were thinking that because of the modular components certain aspects, like the flooring, would be lower quality. We went outside Maston homes for the flooring, but when we saw what they had we wish we had stayed totally in-house.” “I couldn’t have picked a better home. We just love being near water, basically,” Deck continues. “We loved it because it’s secluded, we’re
kinda all by ourselves. What we love most is that this is such an open floor plan; the atmosphere is so open and airy. The size is perfect. Everyone at Maston was wonderful. Our on-site construction supervisor, Tony, was a treasure. They’re lucky to have him. We feel like we’ve made some friends and would work with them again. Usually when you build a house with someone you end up hating them.” Stone offers similar sentiments. “It’s a good clean job and the customer is well-satisfied. They had a lot of cost savings; they said when everything was done, even with all the customization, it felt like they saved $200,000. It’s a cool house; we’ll probably build it again.” Both Zangardi and Stone see a bright future for modular models like the one the Decks currently reside in. As longtime veterans of the housing industry, they see the trend the public is angling toward: more energy-efficient, cost-effective housing needs. “People are looking for new, up-to-date construction this often doesn’t exist in the general real-estate market,” Zangardi says. “They’re looking for customized experience. I think today’s housing relative to inventory in market is a lot like the market for neck-ties. The old ones just aren’t in style anymore.” Zangardi concludes, “My favorite part is that we had a great design that was enhanced by the home-building skills of the high-quality home builder we worked with. We had several completed modules along with 3D Dormer parts assembled by the factory, but the builder, with his high skill level, added the front porch and breezeway and tied it into the garage. The work was beautifully orchestrated and the result was excellent. We had home buyers who were experienced, an experienced high-quality builder and a new exciting model from out catalogue. These things working in harmony gave us a great result.” MH Fall 2010 | 13
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Economics and Aesthetics:
Kanga Room Systems
M
”Modular homes are an idea I’ve been interested in for a long time,” begins Jason Ellis, part-owner, Vice President and Chief Designer of product for Kanga Room Systems. Located in Bruceville, Texas, Kanga Room is a manufacturer of pre-fabricated, modular-style buildings. “I own the company with my father, Jeff, and my brother Jeremy. Jeff is an engineer who has spent most of his professional life in production of large equipment,” says Ellis. “We’ve been in the building field for a decade, and we both felt there was a more efficient, better way to build homes.” Most of Kanga Room’s buildings are smaller in size. The product line runs the gamut from the typical standard 8x8 buildings all the way to 20x24 and 20x26. “An 8x8 could be something like a tool shed, and if you go larger – say 10x12 – you’re probably going for an office or hobby room,” explains Ellis. “The larger sizes beyond that are for things like guest houses or smaller vacation cabins.” “I’m big into aesthetic design elements,” Ellis continues. “The concept of these smaller structures kept coming up in my mind. I thought, ‘Well, perhaps, there’s a way to build smaller modular units.’” Kanga Room can start with one size and design it so the customer can actually add additional rooms to the structure during construction or even at a later time. They can make amendments to the house as the customer’s budget allows without going through an entire re-modeling process. “There was a smarter way of going about construction. With dad’s background as a production engineer, he’s constantly looking to improve the product and make it more effective for the customer in terms of space and meeting their future needs within the modular aspect,” says Ellis. Thus, Kanga Room Systems can build more efficiently to cut expenses, thereby providing a superior product at lesser cost. For a hypothetical customer, the Kanga Rooms Systems treatment would start with picking from one of the five distinct styles of modular buildings. “We’ve got a modern style, a bungalow style (a mid-century aesthetic), a rustic and a cottage-style that includes two buildings in cottage style,” Ellis says. “So the customer says ‘I need a home office,’ or they may be a retiring couple who wants a lake property and goes RVing for half the year, who are getting rid of their old home and downsizing. We design space for that; they can live comfortably. We work with them to determine what size they’re looking for. They can go and visit our site [kangaroomsystems.com] to see our options, as well.” “From there,” Ellis continues, “we assess their site and what type
Text | Jack Frink
of foundation will fit the location best. We can do on-site assessments especially easily if the customer lives in Texas. We check what electrical work will be necessary, check for plumbing if they want to put in a bathroom, and give them a quote there. We do have our base prices listed on our instruments, but installation cost varies site to site. After all the prep work we come to a conclusion on size and cost and construct the panel components in factory. We work with the customers; we’re very hands-on in determining whether they need to contact local municipality or not. We do that for customers, usually, to help them through a confusing, time-consuming process. That stuff can be a real headache.” The Kanga Room factory is where half of every building project the company undertakes takes place. The panel components that make up the homes are constructed there. Once built, all materials are shipped and installed on-site. This makes the entire construction process simpler and faster. Says Ellis, “We do everything from skid foundations on patio stones to placing [the panel components] on slabs. The erection only typically takes 3-4 days, but it can be longer due to inspections and/or plumbing. Any building we make that measures less than 200 square feet typically will not have to go through a permit process. You always have to get permits for electrical needs, but if it comes in under 200-square-feet, the building itself does not need to be permitted. If it’s just an electrical building, and we don’t have to go through installation permitting, it should be a 3-day process.” The environmental benefits of modular home building are very prevalent in Kanga Room Systems’ leaders’ minds. “That’s another big aspect,” says Ellis. “If you just drop materials at site and ask framers to do it, you always end up with a lot of waste. When you can control things in a more manufactured setting, you dramatically decrease waste. We design around materials to eliminate waste. We also use green materials – everything used in our home construction is green to some extent. Smaller living equals green.” Kanga Room Systems works within all accepted residential framing standards. The goal is a faster way of building a unit while matching the same standards as conventional, manufactured homes. The company places a premium on aesthetic design and use top-quality materials that are chosen to give a good appearance. The houses are more economical because Kanga Rooms can build more efficiently. The savings their methods create are passed onto the customer. MH Fall 2010 | 15
A Modern (Modular) Marvel Text by Suzanna Logan
If you equate modular homes with your grandma’s mobile home, a look at ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’s latest project will change your mind forever. 16 | MOD homes for a modern life
In the past, the words “dream home” and “modular home” were rarely uttered in the same breath, but that has begun to change in recent years. A remarkable example is Jennifer and Jeremy Williams’ new home in Pine Mountain, Georgia. Life for the couple and their two children has never been easy. Their son, Jacob, now six, was diagnosed with Spina Bifida before he was born. A few years later, Jeremy, head coach of a local high school football team, was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease. The family has endured the physical and resulting financial hardships with a quiet strength and grace, living in a tiny, run-down home they purchased over a decade ago. Although the home’s foundation was cracked and a leaky air conditioner had infected the walls with mold, that wasn’t the worst part for the Williams. Because the home was far from disability-friendly, Jacob could not navigate the home in his wheel chair and Jennifer was forced to carry him from room to room. → Fall 2010 | 17
But all that is in the past now, and the deserving couple and their two children have received a brand new 3,700-square-foot dream home – modular dream home, that is. If you halted at the word “modular,” envisioning a boxy, double-wide trailer, think again. Modern modular homes have come a long way from their simplistic, pre-fabricated predecessors. Today, the end result of modular construction is the same as its traditional
“
ville, Virginia. Employees worked around the clock to complete the home in time for shipment. As with most modular projects, the home was about 90 percent complete when it was shipped to the William’s property, with the remaining ten percent of work, including electricity and plumbing, being finished on site. The building strategy behind modular homes – to complete as much of the home
It was a 24-hour work site, but it was the happiest job site I’d ever seen in over 20 years in the business.
”
– Dan Goodin, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Nationwide Custom Homes
stick-frame counterpart: a comfortable home designed to fit any budget, lifestyle and aesthetic preference. There is, however, one key difference: modular homes can be built in a fraction of the time and at a lower cost. The Williams’ home is case in point to the extreme – Extreme Makeover: Home Edition to be exact. The Williams were chosen to be the recipients of the ABC hit show’s first modular home. Nationwide Custom Homes, Inc., a modular subsidiary of Palm Harbor Homes, partnered with ABC to take on the seemingly impossible: to raze the Williams’ old home and build a new handicap-accessible structure in just seven days. Although the Williams were not involved in the design process to maintain the surprise element, a team from ABC worked closely with Nationwide to come up with a floor plan that was sure to please the family of four. The result was a three-bedroom, two-bathroom split-floor plan with a bevy of handicap-friendly features, such as extra-wide doorways and wheelchair-accessible showers. “Every accommodation was made in terms of accessibility,” explains Dan Goodin, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Nationwide, who headed up the project. While the building frenzy began on Feb. 21 and extended over the next seven days – a period that also included decorating the interiors of the home – the process began weeks earlier in the Nationwide factory in Martins18 | MOD homes for a modern life
as possible in a factory-controlled setting and put the finishing touches on at the building site – makes it an ideal choice when time is of the essence. Typically, a modular home takes between two days and two weeks to build in the factory and can be placed onto a prelaid foundation in 30 to 45 days, says Dan. Of course, it can be done faster, if necessary, such as in the case of the William’s home. As with traditional stick frames, modular homes can follow a cookie-cutter layout or be custom-made to fit owner specifications. The Williams’ home, for example, was suited to meet the needs of the family and included an unusually large amount of modules – thirteen in total. Dan says that homes generally include three modules or boxes, but as with stick-frame construction, imagination is the limit in modular building. A modular home can be as large as desired with one caveat: each box must fit within highway width and height restrictions. For an expansive design, more modules, rather than larger modules, are used to form the home and can be stacked in unique configurations. Although anything is possible, Dan warns that a too-complex design will negate the usual benefits of modular construction, requiring longer building times and higher costs. For the Extreme Makeover project, longer construction time was not an option despite the number of modules. Dan and his crew had just 109 hours to complete the home
from start to finish. Once the modules arrived, it took only a matter of hours until a crane had set all thirteen into place, a reality owing to the thousands of workers who came out to support the project. “It was an intensely crowded job site,” explains Dan, who counted over 2,700 volunteers who helped make the Williams’ dream home a reality. Skilled workers donating their labor, including plumbers, electricians and roofers, worked alongside local volunteers who helped with tasks like clearing away debris. “It was a 24-hour work site, but it was the happiest job site I’d ever seen in over 20 years in the business,” says Dan. While the Williams’ job site was hardly short of labor, Dan says pre-fabricated homes are a smart choice for anyone living in areas where skilled work is hard to come by, as most of the work is completed in a controlled factory-setting. Conversely, he notes that modular homes are an equally sensible choice in a city where small lots and narrow streets make long-term construction a hassle. Other benefits of modular building include fewer weather delays and plenty of opportunity for eco-friendly features. The latter is welldemonstrated by the Williams’ home. Despite the house’s neutral exterior owing to the stone and wood elements, the residence is green to the core. Conditioned crawl spaces and foam insulation were incorporated into the design to keep the home cool in the summer and warm in the winter. In addition, a local company who heard about the project offered to install solar panels on the roof to further reduce energy use. Thanks to the use of energy-efficient materials, the home met the highest level of green building standards set by the national certification company Eco-First. All of the earthfriendly inclusions mean big savings for the Williams family. “Although the home is about three times the size of their prior structure, the Williams’ utility bills will be the same or even less,” says Dan. The utility bills may be the only thing comparable between the Williams’ old home and their new modular beauty. Jennifer made it clear that she was thrilled with the interiors, declaring them a “mother’s dream” at a press conference for the show. It seems that “dream home” and “modular home” are quite fitting in the same sentence, after all. MH
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&Resources2
Financial Stability2
Why you should build your HiPerformance home with the extreme team When Extreme Makeover: Home Edition looked for its first ever modular homebuilder, they came to Nationwide Homes for our more than 50 years of experience building the HiPerformance Way. At Nationwide we pride ourselves in superior, quality construction and quick turnaround. We have created solid modular construction that is stronger and greener than the traditional stick-built home. And, best of all, you can customize your design ideas at Nationwide Homes. That’s why Nationwide is the better choice for modular homebuilding. Now let’s make your home project a resounding success. Come talk to the team at Nationwide.
The home we built for the
Williams family in Pine Mo
untain, GA.
r: Home Edition. ve eo ak M e em tr Ex r fo er The original modular build
See the story at www.nationwide-homes.com. Contact us at (800) 216-7001.