Let’s take a look at what modular actually means.” Designed with standardized units or dimensions as for easy assembly and repair or flexible arrangement”, using that definition let’s take a closer look at how modular homes today meet a higher standard.

“Designed with standardized units”, what that means is that every measurement, every piece of construction material, every method used in the modular home construction process is the same, they don’t differ from one point of the process to another. The quality of the first boards nailed together is just as high as the last ones. Every angle every cut throughout the construction process is quality controlled usually in a climate controlled factory.

Construction is never hampered by inclement weather. The quality of lumber is never compromised due to the swelling caused by rain or high outdoor humidity or by its shrinkage due to high temperatures and sunshine. These two factors alone cause more inconsistencies in conventional construction than anything else. With modular construction these types of natural element construction hindrances are virtually eliminated.

Rain, wind, snow, and high temperatures often cause delays to conventional construction methods on-site adding to the overall cost of construction because workers have to be paid and the construction company needs to make money to make those payments. These types of delays are never a concern in the modular construction industry. Not to mention those forces of nature often cause damage to materials on-site increasing material costs. Again this doesn’t occur with modular construction.

Modern modular home construction facilities use precisely engineered jigs and templates in much of the process of home construction. What this does is make sure that one wall mates to another precisely every time, it means that every opening for every door and every window is exactly as it should be. No more wasted time reconstructing areas that don’t fit quite as they should which often happens in conventional construction adding again the overall cost of conventional construction. The cost of waste materials on a conventional construction site is estimated to be about 10% or even higher because of all of the missed cuts improper alignment and reconstruction that happens.

In the modular construction process, plans are laid out well in advance of the first cut. This process is so efficient that every cut down to the last detail is laid out precisely and carried out many times by machine. From start to finish the wasted material average is generally 1% or less for modular construction. That’s a huge increase in material savings over conventional construction.

So what does all of this mean to the consumer? It means a lot of things really. It means that the consumer can have a new home constructed modularly for less most times than a home using conventional construction method. It means the consumer will get a superior finished product with modular construction. It generally means the overall construction process is more manageable from start to finish. It means that the consumer has more control over options, floor plans, construction materials and time frame of the construction process that ever before. In general it means that a family could have a newly constructed modular home for about the price of an existing home with the same square footage for the same amount of money. That’s huge.

If you’re in the market for a new home you owe it to yourself to look into the modular housing industry. If you haven’t done so lately and you still have the concept of the cracker box on wheels you don’t know modular homes. Take the time to investigate what modular homes can be today. I think you’ll be surprised.

Scott Best is a freelance author in connection with New Modular Info.com, who strives for excellence in the topics he chooses to publish about. New Modular Info.com is a web based resource for all manner of information pertaining to Modular homes and modular construction, along with all manner of information regarding the Modular Homes industry.

Copyright © 2011 Scott Best: All rights reserved

The real estate market doesn’t look good for most home buyers or sellers. Recently we’ve seen the stock market rebound but with unemployment at 10%, general earnings down, inflation at an all-time high homeowners are reluctant to spend on home improvement projects. The uncertainty of what tomorrow, next week, next month or even next year will bring has too much fear and anxiety attached to it. Homeowners are reluctant to spend with such uncertainty in the market. Yet there are a few projects that have benefits beyond return of investment.

But one must change the rationale of thinking to see the validity in the concept I am about to propose. If you’re like me you usually rationalize home-improvement projects by using a list of rationalization criteria. That list might contain many criteria in any order depending on your personality but will usually contain most or all of the following.
1. Cost versus need
2. cost versus want
3. cost versus return on investment
4. investment versus savings

It’s not a long list, but generally when we do home-improvement projects these are the basic questions or rationales we use in justifying the projects we undertake. If we see a project that is in need we do our best to meet that need properly with the least amount of money.

If there’s a home-improvement that we want we tend to look at all the things in our life before we progress. We look at our finances more closely we decide can we squeeze one more payment in. We also tend to do a bit of financial forecasting, by looking at what we actually make what we owe, what the future holds for our income and maybe if were really into forecasting we might look at what the next year or two looks like in our personal economic outlook before we make any decision to proceed.

Cost versus return on investment is a little bit more sophisticated than the other two I’ve just mentioned. When we do home improvements under this particular guideline we look at how much we spend and how much what we have spent will be returnable investment in our home at sale time. Now I’m not saying everyone looks at every home-improvement in this manner but we sure need to look at it when it comes to doing major remodeling or major upgrades to our homes.

The last rationale in my list that we might tend to use, investment versus savings might well be better stipulated as the all-encompassing rationale. If we see home-improvement project that we can do that will actually save us money in the long run it’s a bit easier to justify. But even so easy justification because of savings still takes into consideration all of the other rationales. It’s a simple fact we will look at all the others in relation to how much money we actual save doing the project and here I can give you at least one good example of how this would come into play.

If you have a home that is more than 15 years old and you have never replaced the windows and doors since purchasing the home then it’s a pretty sure bet that you can save money on your energy bills whether the heating or cooling if you upgrade to new Windows and doors. Over time regardless of how efficient the windows and doors originally were their effectiveness degrades. Degradation of window and door efficiency over time increases the amount of energy needed to heat or cool a home. The amount of savings that you might receive by replacing your windows and doors with new replacement windows and doors depends on where you live and how many windows and doors you have.

The more extreme the climate you live in, the more savings you will realize by installing brand-new Windows and doors. The more temperate or moderate climate that you live in, the less your home might benefit from the installation of new replacement windows and doors. That however is not to say that replacing windows and doors will not benefit you the point of it being cost effective to do so.

It would be at this point all the other rationales that I’ve listed would come into play. And the thought process might go something like this. How much do we really need the improvement? Is this improvement something we want to do? If we improve our home by adding brand-new Windows and doors will it increase the overall sale value of our home? If we add new replacement windows and doors to our home how much money will we save on our energy bill, and how long will it take to recoup the money we spend upgrading to new Windows and doors?

The only way that one could conceivably think that these rationales would not come into play would be if you were planning on staying in the home you are currently in forever. But even then the fourth rationale will someday take over because every tangible thing regardless of what it is will degrade over time if not taken care of. Homes are strange and the fact that if they’re taken care of properly they appreciate over time. But the same is true in reverse a home that is not taken care of will depreciate over time. You make the choice.

Scott Best is a freelance author in connection with Brand New Windows.com, who strives for excellence in the topics he chooses to publish about. Brand New Windows.com is a web based resource for all manner of information pertaining to Brand new, and New Replacement Windows and all manners of window replacement information.

Copyright © 2011 Scott Best: All rights reserved

So you think you want to expand your existing home with a well planned out of addition. You’ve looked at all the possibilities, spoken to several contractors and gotten your estimates. But when you look at the figures on the page you instantly go into shock thinking there’s no way you’ll ever be able to afford the addition to your home.

Modular construction to the rescue, have you ever thought about contacting a modular home construction company to see if they can provide you with a modular upgrade to your existing home. What you find may surprise you. Most homes regardless of their original type of construction module or old school conventional construction can be expanded modularly if the right plan is implemented. Most modular construction companies are more than happy to work with existing home owners to make their

Implementing the right plan begins with you and your idea of what you want in a home addition. Once you have in mind how you want to expand your home and where you want the expansion to occur you need to make a few notes to keep the idea fresh. Now with the idea in hand you can contact modular home designer or a modular home construction company.

A qualified modular home designer or modular home construction company can usually help you with preparation of a blueprint for the construction of your new edition. If they are located relatively close to your existing home, they will usually have all the necessary information needed to be able to plan your addition to meet all existing local building codes, which will usually be a plus in the cost department for you.

During your first meet with the company or designer, you will probably discuss your initial idea for the addition. The designer will normally make a CAD design of any sketch you might have or from your verbal or written dimensions and design Ideas. From the CAD or computer aided design program the designer can help you to better visualize what your addition will look like. In the beginning this drawing may only be a very rudimentary mark up of the overall plan.

The next step would be for the designer or modular construction company to accompany you to your home to investigate the area that is to be expanded upon. They will have the expertise to actually validate your plans for expansion. It is very important at this stage to be sure that your overall plan is valid and that no major problems can be seen that might eliminate your home from the possibility of modular expansion.

The onsite inspection will also give the designer the opportunity to see the work area first hand giving insight for later use in the actually design process. The designer may see details that will allow for better design recommendations or that might have been overlooked in your original simple design plans. Those recommendations might be as simple as how and what type of lighting is used to wall construction, layout and window placement.

If the addition will contain plumbing there may be hidden consideration for routing of pipes and drains that may not be overtly evident. Or it may be necessary to put a routing pump into the design to handle waste water issues. Many times home owners have ended up with nightmare problems due to poor overall addition planning from conventional construction contractors using outdated plan development practices.

One thing that a good modular expansion designer will always look for is proper access for needed construction equipment to the area in which the addition will be placed. Another issue that the designer will deal with, one of the most difficult in many expansion projects is the roof line. It is purely an art form to design and construct an addition in a manner that it cannot be detected as an addition. The roofline is usually the giveaway. Good modular designers incorporate special techniques that allow for adjoining roof lines to flow into or be modified and joined in such a manner as to make it all look seamless to the casual viewer.

Adding the addition modularly will ultimately save time and money in the overall construction process. Your addition will be constructed off site then hauled to the location and put into place. This cuts down on overall disruption to your day to day living. Helps to keep the neighbors happy, and minimizes the inevitable damage to surrounding landscaping. So if it’s time for a new home addition, make it a modular upgrade. Contact a modular design or modular construction company for your new addition.

Scott Best is a freelance Author in association with New Modular Info.com. Scott Writes for many websites. With his unique perspective on many issues and topics Scott lends a high level of professionalism to the topics he writes about.

Copyright © 2009 Scott Best