Modular Housing

[Cil]

Discovery Homes

A couple weeks ago we looked at a couple of Discovery modular homes in Walton County. I couldn't tell you exactly where they are, I was just kind of along for the ride.
But these did not seem to be crummy little crackerbox homes.
What do y'all think?

proposal for Mossy Head

 

[Uncle Timmy]

Discovery Homes

A couple weeks ago we looked at a couple of Discovery modular homes in Walton County. I couldn't tell you exactly where they are, I was just kind of along for the ride.
But these did not seem to be crummy little crackerbox homes.
What do y'all think?

proposal for Mossy Head

Obviously nicer than a mobile home. Did you see these homes in north or south Walton? I'm curious to know if the homes can meet the 130 mph wind load requirement for south Walton.

As for the article; I'm not sure about his comment about the $8,000 savings though, local labor costs may eat up any saved costs from not having to transport the homes here from North Carolina.

 

[beachmouse]

Palm Harbor (parent company) is one of the biggest players in the mass market modular home biz, so the financial backing is probably there. As for quality, I'd want to see how the homes look/wear after five years of typical family use.

More my taste in modular homes:

http://www.thedwellhomesbyempyrean.com/Preview3/Navigation/Menu/2_menu.html

 

[Smiling JOe]

Obviously nicer than a mobile home. Did you see these homes in north or south Walton? I'm curious to know if the homes can meet the 130 mph wind load requirement for south Walton.

As for the article; I'm not sure about his comment about the $8,000 savings though, local labor costs may eat up any saved costs from not having to transport the homes here from North Carolina.

They are in SoWal, north of 98. There is one, recently seen on EBAY advertising, located on East Pt Washington Rd. There is another brand of one on Cabbage Rose and Georgie (I think), another brand on East Wild Blueberry (two story - pretty good layout & the owner of the modular company built it as a model and for his temporary vacation residence), two on West Wild Blueberry, there are several more built around Old Town of Santa Rosa, with one on Central 6th St, a couple on Indian Woman, and probably a few more scattered here and there.

The only people I hear bragging on them are the manufactorers and the guys selling them. They do sound much less expensive to build and typically reduce much time on the job site, thereby decreasing costs. There is always a place for everything, and this may provide a less expensive alternative for some affordable mass quantity housing in the area of MossyHead.

 

[ShallowsNole]

We looked at modular housing at one point. The big plus is that there is very, very little jobsite "waste" (you know how things/materials tend to disappear?) If put together properly at the home site, they should be as sturdy as a site-built house. I would pay particular attention to the roof and hurricane straps.

If anyone happens to be in DeFuniak Springs, go down Walton Road, past Walton High School. Go approximately another mile, maybe less, until you see Juniper Lake Road intersecting on the right. Look to your left, and you will see a large, beautiful red brick home with vaulted ceiling and several cars in the driveway. That's my brother's house. And guess what...it was modular. ;-)

Had I not had flood zone issues, and if the company that did my bro's house had not pulled back and restricted themselves to Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties, I might be modular too.

 

[Uncle Timmy]

They are in SoWal, north of 98. There is one, recently seen on EBAY advertising, located on East Pt Washington Rd. There is another brand of one on Cabbage Rose and Georgie (I think), another brand on East Wild Blueberry (two story - pretty good layout & the owner of the modular company built it as a model and for his temporary vacation residence), two on West Wild Blueberry, there are several more built around Old Town of Santa Rosa, with one on Central 6th St, a couple on Indian Woman, and probably a few more scattered here and there.

Hmm, interesting- those locations put them outside the Wind Borne Debris region which would not require them to have impact glass etc. It would be a little more complicated to get one permitted south of 98. I was just curious because last time I looked into modular housing (more along the lines of beachmouses' Dwell Homes) most companies would not even ship to FL because they would not be able to meet code requirements.

Does anyone know what the cost per square foot is? (If buying directly from the manufacturer).

 

[Uncle Timmy]

As for quality, I'd want to see how the homes look/wear after five years of typical family use.

I agree; and after a few hurricanes.

 

[Cil]

Yes, ShallowsNole, you don't necessarily think you are looking at a modular when you see these.
Twt, I am sorry, I don't know which ones I saw, I was just sort of riding along. The first one was a two story, Discovery's Buckeye, and the next one was a one story. The second one had a lot of custom stuff, which is the only way I would consider doing it.
The husband has toured Discovery's factory in NC and was pretty impressed with the quality that goes into these homes. They definitely would be up to hurricane building codes; as for family wear-and-tear, when looking at the materials used, it seems about equal. However, I would definitely want to make sure that--duh--the home was properly assembled. ;-)
Beachmouse
I've seen that modular home link before. Interesting.

 

[ShallowsNole]

My apologies for the properly assembled part...I've just heard stories. And I'm convinced that NO home is perfect, be it custom, mansion, or a singlewide trailer. There is always a glitch, somewhere.

I do know of a modular home off of Don Bishop Road where half of it fell off the truck and into the ditch, :shock: and the truck nearly turned over, as it was turning off of 98. It all turned out OK, though I don't know how - and the homeowner has pictures of the near-disaster on the wall of his den.

 

[OnMackBayou]

I've heard that modular homes have something like 25% more wood in them than a site built home. It seems like common sense that assembling sections under controlled conditions would make them sturdier than a home pieced together under the crazy weather conditions we have around here.

Don't many site built homes use prefab trusses? If it's good enough for the roof I would assume it's good enough for the rest of the house. I've heard of some modulars that are built to withstand 170mph winds. Don't remember the name of the manufacturer.

There is a company called Nationwide that had a virtual tour of a 3 story modular on their website a while back. It was very impressive.