Modular Homes?

My husband and I bought a modular home in December of last year. All in all, I thought it was a good investment. I agree with the "do your homework" logic. They look great and they seem pretty easy to tackle but they can be something of a money pit if you're not careful. We are constantly fixing cracks in the wall from where the house settles. There are also lots of repairs to be made as far as cupboard doors falling off because of cheap building materials chosen, etc, in addition to the fact that I don't think our floor has ever been level. There is a reason they are cheaper to build- just be sure to consider that before you buy. Best of luck!

Hello OOHUM:
I couldn't agree more. You will have plenty to keep you out of trouble there. We will try to help any way possible. I don't believe in luck, only blessings, so we will bless you with all the information you can use.
Glenn

High end modular:

Any one know if the 2 story $200k+ modulars are classified as regular houses as far as apprasials go.

And how do resale values go for the standard modular?

Maybe it's now a little bit late.
but still hope it helps.
There are several advantages of modular homes.
1, The prices generally run about 15% to 20% lower than other types of houses.
2, They are most likely to be more energy efficient than its traditional neighbors, because they are built in a controlled environment, produce less waste, and are assembled faster.
3, The best thing about modular homes is that you will have much more architectural freedom because they are built to local codes.

Here is an article, what you should know about modular homes, from the website, which provides some information.
And There are lot's of them by online searth,
this is another www.raisearoof.com, something similar.

True the homes are built in an environment which is controlled. Beyond that you are at the mercy of the installation contractor. These homes are not fully assembled when trucked down the road, and things get damaged in transport. I have seen water running down an outside wall in a rain storm where the insulation got soaked. The installer continued the next day to sheet rock and finish the interior, he had a deadline.
I am not trying to put a bad image to all modulars, just don't sugarcoat it saying they are better. There are pro's and cons to all building. I want you to tell us the good with the bad, let folks make up their own minds with intelligent discussion.
Another thing I can't understand is the less waste part, if you have a 2 story building you have way more material to build the modules. A double floor and ceiling joist construction comes to mind, how is that not wasteful?
And the last issue is the quality of material, you get what you pay for. Plastic trim, plug together wiring which is hard to improve or add to, glued parts off-gassing everywhere, you can smell it.
Some companies are better than others, and you can improve the home if you pay more, but then it does not compete with the stick built price.
I understand the concept of building in a controlled environment, but having installed many modulars and built many homes, I go for the old style stick built.
Unless you can afford a post and beam.

Getting off soap box now.

hornest have one of these home are nice it is cheaper and very affordable the secret is if you maintain it when something breaks .just fix it and don't take your tim cause then you are asking for problens ok .

now can any one help me out i baught a moble trailer home and it is very drafty especially in one of the bathrooms can some one tell me how to stop the draft any good ideas

stallion1265 said:

now can any one help me out i baught a moble trailer home and it is very drafty especially in one of the bathrooms can some one tell me how to stop the draft any good ideas

Click to expand...

One way to locate the source of a draft is to burn an incense stick and move it around the room to see where the smoke trail is diverted. Start with the windows and intersections of floor, walls and ceiling.

Good luck.

My bet is on the water heater space which opens to the outside; probably has a big crack around it.
Glenn

ToolGuy, Good show. I like your sense of humor. I have been a builder for 38 years and had a dealership for a company in PA. I am in MD and the local modular company in the lower DE area shipped all over Maryland. They went out of business a few years ago and it was a good thing. They built junk. The good thing is the houses keep me busy. The company I sold for was 4 hours away and I toured the plant 4 times to check out the building and process. I was impressed and hooked up with them. I would say the best thing to do is #1 make sure its not a trailer. #2 tour the plant, if they do not want you to tour the plant. Stay away. I have always used fir plywood on all of my houses and do not have the warping as with cheaper pine. We have built houses from 1000 sq ft to 9800 sq ft and if you take pride in your work, its worth it and shows in the end. G

I also have set up many real moduler homes, so as long ago as 25 years ago in NH . And I 100% agree with the poster that the quailty varies all over the place on these.
It's a shame companys like Clayton, Champion, Fleetwood were allowed to try and pass there mobil homes off as Moduler. It distroyed the market with there cheaply built homes. A friend of mine does the punch list for Fleetwood in this area and everytime I see him he has at least 3 pages of flaws he has to go back and fix.
People and bankers in some area are under the mistaken impression that modeler are something new and there all made like trailers so have less resale value, so it's harder sometimes to get a loan for one or even be allowed to put one in certin area because the locals think it's going to bring down there property values, even though it's not true.
I've also seen time and time again where the hacks that the company sends out to finish off the home just do not care and mess up a perfectly good home.
Things like when there installing the siding on a very cold day cutting it to tight so the first warm day it buckles up. I caught them installing seamless gutters with sheetrock screws because they forgot the box of hidden hangers and put a seam right over the front door which of cource leaked.
There was a dead circut to the master bathroom so they ran a while new line, which is fine except they ran it right over the water filters under the house so tight that we could not change the filters.
I found where someone had broken off the whole top, back side of the nailing flange on a big window and all they did was dump two tubes of caulking in the hole instead of replacing the whole window.
Most use preformed vinyl fashia material, it never works and just buckes up and falls off.
Time and time again after screwing up all that stuff the home owner would give them the job of adding a porch or a garage onto the house instead of paying my company.
They added a one car garage with no flashing between the two building, The shorted the sheathing for the siding on a block knee wall so much you could see cars drive by. Installed shutter of a differant color then the house.
Installed the ledger board for the deck by just nailing it to the vinly siding and while doing that punched a hole in the siding.
It got so bad people were hiring me to stand around all day and make sure things got done right.

All of the modular proponents say that they appraise the same as a stick-built home. Does anyone have experience and can confirm that?

Are you aware of any companies doing a good job building modular and who you would recommend?

I'm sure there are lots of horror stories, but it would be nice to hear about the companies that are doing it right.

Joel