Anybody build a modular home??

Ick. Try this:

http://www.rocioromero.com/home.htm

 

I can tell you that my wife's Aunt and Uncle built one on their lake up north. It was a pretty amazing sight to see these 6 pieces of a house come together in 1 day. At the end of the day they had a house that was sheetrocked and wired for electricity. All they had to do next is hook up the plumbing and lay carpet and do some finishing work. THe whole thing took about 4 weeks to finish. 4 weeks and their new house was ready to be moved in.

 

They put one next door...it would have been OK on the ground but they blocked it up like a Mobile Home!

Looks kinda strange, towering 4' taller over the neighbors.....We were hoping Rita would be a direct hit!...

They do appear to be better built.....than the old "double wides"...

 

As long as we're throwing out options, this is one I am looking at:

http://www.heritagebuildings.com/steel_homes/story.asp

Before you laugh, note that they do custom as well. I am planning a steel frame because of the design of the house I am building. (Think lots of glass.) Rather than reinvent the wheel, I can order off the shelf from their parts bin and get what I need cheaper and easier than specing out every beam and girder from scratch.

 

Been somewhat distanced from the homebuilding industry for many years now, but built custom homes here in California for about 25 years, before moving into development of a different sort.
Often, important things, such as decks/patios, attached garages, porches, driveways, underground, dihydro monoxide, septic/sewer, permits, fees, etc. are included in the cost of a site-built home. I don't believe that is the case with most modulars.
It is easy to be swayed by a price that is 60% of a site-built home, but often, when the day is done and the project complete, the prices are very comparable.
My experience was that cost overruns were usually the result of the owner changing their minds and upgrading, but not always, because the home building industry is full of incompetant people. I cannot overstress the importance of choosing a reputable builder with a good track record.
I would never buy a home sight-unseen, but if it works for some people (and I know it does), then that's cool. They should, however, be very knowledgeable about the thousands of components going into their new building/home--what performs well, and what does not--because they won't have an experienced builder/contractor on hand to keep them from making regrettable errors or 'outsmarting' themselves with products and materials.
Not criticizing anyone's choices, just trying to share what I've learned.
Keith

 

i built a tree house once.

 

Did you decorate it yourself?
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LMFAO !!!!!!! done by queer eye for the staright guy....

 

No laughter here! Steel is a superb building material, especially when the building has large openings (windows, etc.) and is subject to high wind loads or earthquake concerns, or both.
Use caution in the choice of steel studs for exterior walls, though. One of our local builders constructed a new home for some 'environmentally concerned' customers who wanted as 'green' a home as possible. Condensation formed on the steel exterior studs in the wall cavities and rusted the sheetrock screw heads. The rust telegraphed through the paint, and thousands of little black dots appeared on the walls. I don't know how, or if, it was 'fixable'--maybe shellac.
Keith

 

You might also want to check out the the Flatpak House (www.flatpakhouse.com), or the Glidehouse (www.glidehouse), or those on www.prefab.com - which has a few other choices.

They aren't to everyone's tastes, but they're definitely interesting.

 

Nice, it kind of reminds me of the Quik House.
http://www.architectureandhygiene.com/quikHouse/quikHouse_main.html

$99,000 House
http://www.architectureandhygiene.com/99KHouse/99k_main.html

Collector's House
http://www.shelburnemuseum.org/buildings_and_grounds/detail.php?id=5

 

Those are seem to be made purely of steel or even shipping containers. Better than the suburban diarrhea that's out there for sure.

Rocio Romero's LV and LVL homes are engineerred prefabricated structures using primarily wood materials for framing.

 

A mistake in my link above, the site is www.fabprefab.com