Modular Homes

A Modular Home is a type of house which is built in a climate controlled factory, in a series of components, shipped to the customer's homesite, and set by a crane on a foundation (basement or crawl space).

A Modular Home is not a trailer or a manufactured home (even though it is "manufactured" in a factory), and with the recent advances in building technology it is difficult to tell the difference between a site-built and a modular home. 

Modular Homes are 85% completed in the factory, leaving minor electrical, plumbing, and carpentry work to be completed once it is set. Meaning that items such as, hardwood floors, carpeting, tile, walls, ceilings, light fixtures, bathroom sinks, toilets, vanities, kitchen cabinets, staircases, doors, plumbing for bathrooms, & kitchens, wiring for lights, switches, outlets, telephone, cable & ethernet jacks, windows, roof and many other items are already built, and installed in the house before it leaves the factory!

Advantages of Modular Homes

• Will not be exposed to inclement weather during the construction process
• Built with 33% more wood than a site built home
• Built with a higher quality craftsmanship than site-built homes due to quality control checks throughout the factory
• Usually lower in price than a site-built home
• Home can be completed in as little as four months
• Retain their value much longer than a site-built home
• Very Energy Efficient, due to the amount of material used for construction, as well as the quality of construction which each home has

Some Myths about Modular Homes

• A Modular is a home on wheels. A modular is transported on a trailer, but is seperated from the trailer once it is set on the foundation. Once it is attached to the foundation it is just as permanent as a site-built home.
• Modulars are all one-story. Modular Homes can be one, two, and sometimes three or more stories high, in addition, a modular can be constructed as a ranch, bi-level/split-level, colonial, victorian, cape and almost any other home style.
• Modular Homes can only be built in an "box" shape. Modular Homes can be built in almost any shape, can have dormers, egresses, or ingresses, or - if you want - it can be built like a box.
• A Modular Home is not a well built home. Modular Homes are built in a climate controlled environment and wrapped in plastic once it leaves the factory - ensuring that inclement weather will not warp, rot, or otherwise damage the interior or exterior of the home. Plus, modulars are delivered to the home site with no damage while being transported at speeds of up to 75 mph; if a modular was not well built, it would be falling apart by the time it arrives at the homesite. In addition, throughout the manufacturing process, each home is inspected multiple times by in-house quality control teams and third-party inspection agencies. If there is a problem found at any one of those insepctions, it is immediately corrected. Not too many site-built homes can attest to that type of quality control.
• A Modular is more expensive or less expensive than a site built home. Depending on what you put in the modular home, or how much customization is put into the home, a modular may be more expensive or less expensive than a site-built home. It is true that most modular homes are less expensive than a comparable site-built home, but no matter what, even a poorly built modular is built better than a site-built home.
• Modular Homes are Trailer Homes. The only similarity between a trailer home and today's modular homes are the fact that both are built in a climate controlled factory environment.
• Modular Homes need special permits to be built. In most areas of the United States, a modular home can be built anywhere a site-built home can be built without any special permits or variances.
• A modular cannot be built with a full basement. A modular can be built with almost any type of foundation except a slab, this includes a full or half basement (or a combination), crawlspace, raised pilings for coastal areas, or on top of a garage.

If Modulars are such great houses. Why are site-built houses still more popular?

Even though modular homes have been made and sold for decades, it wasn't until the mid-90's that advances in technology allowed modular homes to advance from the boxy, one-story home, into a fully customizable home with finishes and an appearance that rivals any site-built home. Many people still have the wrong impression of Modular Homes in their mind, and are not aware as to how far they have come, plus most new-home purchases in America are are built by the major tract builders (K. Hovnanian, Toll Brothers, D.R. Horton, Centex, etc.) all of whom do not use modular construction for their homes.

Today's Modular Homes can be built in almost any size and configuration, ranging from under 1,000 square feet to tens of thousands of square feet.

Online Resources for Modular Homes

• The Modular Home Group (contains pictures and an FAQ about modular homes)
• Modular Home Blog (contains frequently updated information about modular homes and the modular home building process)
• Haven Custom Homes (custom modular manufacturer located in Central Pennsylvania)