modular homes here in florida are expensive to insure

typical insurance and you have to take depreciated value on it,
dwelling-25000
liability-300k
personal property-12500
hurricane ded-500 and aop ded-500
price is about $1500 bucks

they figure they dont hold up well in hurricanes,lol

 

I'll see if I can get some pic's of "building block" houses that have gone up around here.
You might be VERY surprised.

 

Alright I'm confused now. Are we talking modular homes like double wides. Or are we talking modular homes that are basically regular stick built homes but built in a factory(We were a distributor and contractor for these). I think we are talking bout the factory built homes but let me know.

 

There is an article in this months This Old House magazine about the buildup of a 4200 sq ft "modular" house and the pro's and con's of each modular and stick built.

 

My statement regarding asking the contractors to show stick built homes built 10 years ago and modulars set 10 years ago will illustrate how each one lasts over the years. My experience is that the stick built homes age fine, but the modulars do not fare as well. I have seen modulars that were four years old that looked like they were twenty years old. Cheaper materials, poorer construction, and overall less quality.There are some very good modular homes, but I still maintain that they are not as good as a stick built home.

 

There is a third option in companies like Arrow homes, They build in moduals and erect on site. Kind of a combination stick buildt modular. Down side of the modular is the insulation options are limited. If you go that way get the BOCA modular, better buildt then a regular modular. THe Arrow style and stick buildt you can get a better insulation package and save a bundle on heat. I have a neighbor that went with a stick buildt, used the Nycene foam insulation in the walls,6" thick to fill the 2 x 6 wall and R40 in the attic. On a 2400 sqft home it used under 350 gallons of propane to heat, cook and do hot water for one year in northern michigan. most modulars are in the 1200-1400 gallon range with the best insulation package availiable. This also makes a dent in the air conditioning bill.

 

I think modulars. Manufactured homes come with a frame that stays with the home. Modulars can either be put on a crawl space or a basement. You probally know this already, but just letting everyone else know.

 

From some of the posts it appears some people are mixing up Modular homes with Mobile homes.
There is a difference.

 

Yeah it happens all the time. That is why I wanted to see what he was looking for before going into a long post. A lot of people call mobile homes modular homes around here not thinking anything of it.

 

There is a BIG difference

I'm pretty sure the OP is talking MODULAR, I can't see an eighteen hundred square foot box getting an over the road permit.
Not to mention his talk of digging a foundation......

 

Yes the O/P is but not a few others.

Back in 2003 I was trying to figure out either buying property and putting a Modular house on it or a log house kit
or

just buying an experienced house and not having to do anything.

Back in 1972/73 I was the material handling supervisor for a MOBILE Home plant and either approved or rejected what suppliers sent us.

I can't tell you how many Full Trailer loads of Lumber I rejected due to moisture content.
This is just around the time the industry was turning to Kiln-dried lumber.
Mobile homes of the day 1972 were made from material from one end of the spectrum to the other.
I was also in charge of setting up a system of recycling the unused material rather than simply sending to the dump.

In 2003 I visited a modular housing building company a few miles down the road from me and the quality of the material is far above what is was then but of smaller dimension.

I also had a hand in building a number of custom built homes and it is so time consuming not only building everything in the vertical and mucking about in the mud, and cleaning off material,etc,etc. That was much harder and much more tedious than modular housing of today

Now we have modular engines in our trucks.

 

some of the modular homes that are built now are not mobile homes...they build each room of the house and bring them in on a flat bed and crain them into their spot and bolt them to the room next to it. they can do 2 stories even and they look just like a stick built house, because they really are one just built off site and assembeld on site...

 

Yes the modular homes are very nice these days. One of the ones we built is here (Overton Corporation - Norfolk Street). The gray home is stick built and the green is a modular home. It came in on flatbeds in 4 separate boxes. Once it gets on site a crane lifts them into place and they are sealed together.

You can not tell looking at these to houses that one is stick built and the other is a modular. Just as it has no effect on the value of the home. You need to look at the modular home contractors other work and make sure that it is a good quality home (same with the stick built contractor). Also if you have the company the modular contractor uses I can see if they are a good quality supplier. Modular homes have many plusses if done correctly. Some of the only problems with them are your floorplans may need to be adjusted to work with the separate boxes, changes can be harder to make, and you do not get to view it during construction.

In the end it really just depends on what contractor you would rather work with. Both forms of construction will get you to the same place it is just a matter of picking the contractor that is going to get you there easier with the least headache and highest quality for the best price.

 

A modular is a stick built home, just done under controlled conditions. I think they have to be a little stronger as they have to be moved to the site. One thing to check with the local codes IF you might be planning an attached garage. Some areas require fire code rock in the interior wall of the house as well as the garage. One summer it took 3 of us 8 weeks to shell out a 2600 sq ft Lindahl home. From the footers to the roof and windows and doors. Good luck with your project, it sounds like fun.

 

Thanks for the replies. Yes modular and mobil homes seem to get mixed up. Here is a few that I am looking at.

Here is the stick built

http://nefinehomebuilding.com/pdf_files/HadleyRanch.pdf

Here is a modular example that I like.

Go Modular, Inc.

Go Modular, Inc.

Modular Homes - Modular & Manufactured Home Floor Plans, Renderings and Interior Pictures

Modular Homes - Modular & Manufactured Home Floor Plans, Renderings and Interior Pictures