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

Because of the sheer volume of claims submitted, insurance companies it seems are trying to lump many different types of claims into a general category too best dispense with as many claims as possible in the shortest amount of time. This kind of claim handling doesn’t necessarily treat the policyholder as fairly as one expects to be, or as they should be treated. If your insurance company has resorted to this kind of claim handling, you may find yourself with a lot less cash to deal with needed repairs to your home even factoring in reasonable depreciation and deductibles.

The best thing to do is not lose your head, don’t take for face value the first settlement the insurance company offers you. It may be in your best interest to negotiate with the insurance company to have a readjustment of your property made by an independent adjuster rather than the insurance company appointed adjuster. If they do not agree to have your damage readjusted by an independent adjuster you still have the option to have the damage re-inspected by an independent adjuster and submit that adjustment to the insurance company for review. You may end up having to pay for the independent adjuster, but you will most probably be money ahead to do so if your initial settlement is considerably off the mark of any legitimate repair estimates you might have.

Insurance companies have gotten into the habit of sending out low adjustment valued claims in hopes that they’ll weed out those that are only going to take the money and run rather than actually repaired their properties. It’s one of the easiest ways for them to get ahead of the game not having to pay out as much in claims.

If it appears that that’s what your insurance company has done to you, don’t give up. Get as much supporting information as you can about the damage to your home. Get as many independent estimates for repair as you can and submit them to your insurance company. It shouldn’t be too difficult to get those estimates because many companies in this depressed economy are willing to go the extra mile in order to obtain business.

Don’t forget to get your insurance policy out and read the fine print, some companies employ a time limit for supporting information after the initial claim has been filed. If so you need to meet the criteria of the timeline set by the company.

It’s a fact that insurance companies don’t like to pay claims. They will do everything they can to not pay the full amount of claims filed. So it’s your job to prove to them that they are responsible to pay via the terms of your insurance contract. Don’t expect them to read the fine print for you, and don’t expect them to do anything to help you meet their timeline. So keep after them: daily if you need to. Make sure to make copies of all your documentation and every communication that you send or receive from your insurance company.

You can even go as far as recording telephone conversations. But before you do check your local and state regulations in regards to recorded phone conversations, many jurisdictions will require that you inform the person on the other end of the line that they are being recorded. And as ruthless as that might sound it’s not necessarily a bad thing. Remember that if you do inform the insurance company representative that they are being recorded, do it in a nonthreatening manner.

The bottom line is if you feel you haven’t been treated fairly by your insurance company, especially if you have a replacement cost guarantee, then you need to do everything in your power to ensure that the insurance company treats your claim fairly and gives you the money necessary to complete the repairs to your home. Remember to be courteous, prove your case with documentation and keep very good records. If you do these few simple things, you stand a better chance of getting a proper insurance settlement for the damages you incurred.

Are you preparing to do battle with your insurance company over an unfair claim adjustment? You are not alone, thousands of other Americans are preparing for the same battle to be fought. Just remember to keep your wits about you, stay calm and use these few strategies to obtain a fair and just insurance settlement for your storm damaged home.

Scott Best is a freelance author in connection with New Roof Site.com, who strives for excellence in the topics he chooses to publish about. New Roof Site.com is a web based resource for all manner of information pertaining to Roofing, Roof repair and all manners of guttering. 

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