Buying land and going prefab: rules? Sucks?

[KBCraig]

By the way... babalugatz, I didn't smite you on the illegal immigrant thread, because I don't smite people except for very special occasions.

But I did give you +1 on this thread, for wading in with useful information.

Our very best friends here in the ArkLaTex live in a modular home. Shortly after they were married and moved in to the new home, they invited us over. Before setting foot in the place, I didn't know it was modular. I didn't look too closely, but I was impressed when they walked us through. It was solid! Only after I took a look outside, and saw that there was a ventilated crawlspace (meaning it was pier & beam, instead of slab), did it dawn on me: this very solid house wasn't your typical (for this area) slab-on-grade construction. When I asked our friend how the house was built (with obvious confusion on my face), he grinned and told me it was modular.

They've been in the house for over 2 years now, and it's still very solid. The floor is so sturdy that you have no hint that it's not coupled directly to the ground. Obviously, the set-up was perfect. Whether a modular home is good or bad depends on how it's built, but also on how it's placed on the site. They're in Shreveport, which is hardly the best location for stable subsoil. The installers sunk piers down to a stable substrate, and did a helluva job leveling the piers.

I'm very impressed based on my friends' modular home. They have a 2,400 square foot home with a two car garage, on a typical 1/3 acre lot, for $150k. The stick-and-brick slab homes going up in their neighborhood are listed at $200-$250k for 1,400-1,800 square feet.

I don't intend to ever build new; if I do, it will be along the lines of "building a hobbit hole". But if I lose my mind (or win the lottery), I will give serious consideration to a modular home atop a finished basement.

[Riddler]

poly-butylene was a monumental clusterfuck...class-action suits due to failure, etc.....Pex tubing (cross-linked polyethylene), however. has been time tested & is what we predominantly use now. Copper use is limited now (thank china) due to 400% + price increases, plus exessive labor costs to install.

Is Pex tubing that grey plastic stuff that requires insanely expensive proprietary tools to install?  The only good things I ever heard about that stuff came from plumbers, and they readily admitted it was because the money to work ratio was very much in their favor.  What about good old fashioned PVC?

grey tubing was the PB no good); pex is opaque/white, or color coded red/blue; most require special tools, however they all sell compression-type fittings (use std. wrenches to tighten), but they're pricey. cpvc (chlorinated for potable water) is easy to install; requires more support (hangers)than copper (so does pex); pvc doesn't like hydraulic shock (water hammer), but virtually anyone can install (glue & primer) pex & pvc both don't stand up to UV rays, but w/ interior plumbing, this isn't much of a concern.

[bill rose]

you are going to love nh it will be everything you dream of
my dad is an agent he will help you look if you want
send me a privete message and i will give more info
prefabs can be just as good as a stick framed house there is the
benefit of time also i worked to put up 3 and i was impressed with
camlot (like king auther's court<it may be spelled wrong>) homes
i think they are out of littletown up north but they deliver anywhere 
i can wait to buy you a 2 dollar beer

[Riddler]

By the way... babalugatz, I didn't smite you on the illegal immigrant thread, because I don't smite people except for very special occasions.

But I did give you +1 on this thread, for wading in with useful information.

Our very best friends here in the ArkLaTex live in a modular home. Shortly after they were married and moved in to the new home, they invited us over. Before setting foot in the place, I didn't know it was modular. I didn't look too closely, but I was impressed when they walked us through. It was solid! Only after I took a look outside, and saw that there was a ventilated crawlspace (meaning it was pier & beam, instead of slab), did it dawn on me: this very solid house wasn't your typical (for this area) slab-on-grade construction. When I asked our friend how the house was built (with obvious confusion on my face), he grinned and told me it was modular.

They've been in the house for over 2 years now, and it's still very solid. The floor is so sturdy that you have no hint that it's not coupled directly to the ground. Obviously, the set-up was perfect. Whether a modular home is good or bad depends on how it's built, but also on how it's placed on the site. They're in Shreveport, which is hardly the best location for stable subsoil. The installers sunk piers down to a stable substrate, and did a helluva job leveling the piers.

I'm very impressed based on my friends' modular home. They have a 2,400 square foot home with a two car garage, on a typical 1/3 acre lot, for $150k. The stick-and-brick slab homes going up in their neighborhood are listed at $200-$250k for 1,400-1,800 square feet.

I don't intend to ever build new; if I do, it will be along the lines of "building a hobbit hole". But if I lose my mind (or win the lottery), I will give serious consideration to a modular home atop a finished basement.

Jeez, are you trying to sully my standing as 'smite-man'?

My point of view ,re: modulars, is taken more form a mechanical perspective; we get to see the ugly before it's covered up. So, cosmetically, they look like any other house, nowadays...the last 3) we worked on were 2-story colonial types..delivered in 4 pcs. Shortcomings I repeatedly see are w/ plbg. & htg. piping. Last 2) we did froze. Jackass installers didn't take into account placement of piping in cold walls, near overhangs, etc. & customers were seething.