new homes: What if Ben Franklin Invented Modular Construction?
- 03/16/23 05:21 AM
Ben Franklin was the oldest of the founding fathers. Most people don’t realize that he was more than twice the age of Thomas Jefferson when they signed the Declaration of Independence (33 vs. 70)! Ben had already had a rather full life. He was a tinkerer, an inventor, an observer, a writer, and a philosopher. Along with many other things, he invented swim fins (1717), the Franklin Stove (1741), the lightning rod (1750), and bifocals (1784). All of these things we use today are still in mass production. Where would modular construction be if Ben had invented it in the 1700s!?
WE … (4 comments)
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new homes: Modular Myth Busters
- 08/16/21 05:45 AM
Modular homes have become the target of some pretty tall tales over the years. Much of this has been derived from a general lack of understanding, or a general misunderstanding, about what they are and how they are built. In its infancy, 40-50 years ago, modular construction had humble beginnings. However, with building technology today and the engineered products available when constructing today’s homes, modular homes are superior in almost every way. Traditional site-built homes are still using construction methods that have existed since the 18th century and before. Let’s bust the top seven modular myths.
MYTH #1: A MODULAR HOME IS A … (2 comments)
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new homes: Gazing into the Home Buyer's Crystal Ball
- 06/14/21 03:00 AM
Prices, timeframes, and material selections, etc. So many things are clouding the crystal ball of today’s home buyer. What do you do? Do you wait and watch home prices go up along with today’s record-low interest rates? What if they never come back down? Do you jump in now and build a home? Never before have home buyers been so confused by the new home market. But you’re not alone. Realtors, builders, appraisers, lenders, etc., are in the same boat. This market is tricky for everyone involved in it. Let’s interpret some of the signs that are appearing in the home … (5 comments)
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new homes: Low Home Inventories Turn Many to Home Construction
- 03/15/21 04:15 AM
Existing home inventories are at an all-time low. There are very few good houses on the market for sale. If a good home finds its way to the market, then there is a bidding war for it driving the price upward for the eventual winner. And this story is repeated everywhere across the country. This is driving many people to look at new construction. But even new home construction can’t keep up with demand. Homebuilders and developers are burning their candles at both ends just to try and keep up.
Now let’s add in record-breaking lumber prices, and the ever-increasing prices, and … (2 comments)
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new homes: Modular Brain: Rewiring the Brain for a Better Way to Build
- 09/28/20 04:27 AM
When a home buyer first discovers modular construction as an option to build their new home, they get excited. They begin to Google more about the construction method and learn more about it and its advantages. However, as an industry, many contractors don’t know anything about it. It’s different. They have been building for 10, 20, or even 30 years or more and doing it the exact same way. In fact, the construction industry overall lags every other industry in productivity growth. In a report by McKinsey & Company, the construction industry has only seen a 1% increase in productivity in … (2 comments)
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new homes: Express Modular Announces Rebrand to Impresa Modular
- 04/02/20 07:11 AM
The new brand reinforces the company’s investment in innovation and serves as an opportunity to remain unique in the marketplace.
Rebranding to Impresa Modular
Express Modular, established in 2008, started as a disruptive, technology-driven, custom modular home builder. We are changing our name to better reflect our identity-driven by rapid expansion. The company is changing its name to Impresa Modular to better reflect the company’s long-term vision of providing a range of high-quality, on-demand, reliable services to home buyers, builders and developers, as well as opportunities for franchising.
Modern modular construction is emerging as the preferred solution for custom home buyers. In this age of automation, modular … (1 comments)
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new homes: Ask the Experts: Adopt a Modular Building System for Your Business
- 01/11/20 06:10 AM
Join us for an interactive and informative round-table discussion about modular construction. You will hear and ask questions directly from builders, a manufacturer and a lender in the modular housing industry and gain a comprehensive understanding about adapting this construction method to your business.
Ken Semler, CAPS - President and CEO of Express Modular Franchising, LLC and Express Modular - The only nationwide offsite modular home builder in the country that supports new builders that want to use today's offsite modular construction to start their home building business.
Dave Cooper - Principle of Connecticut Valley Homes and video innovator supporting the offsite … (1 comments)
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new homes: Does Winter Stop Home Construction?
- 11/26/19 11:07 AM
The short answer is NO… but… America is divided into many climate zones and weather and temperature are very different by region of the country. In the southern states, homes are built all year. In the northern zones, you have a mix. In the upper northwest, influenced by warm coastal temperatures, construction can easily take place year round. Builders in the rest of the northern states have typically felt like construction outdoors came to a halt during the harshest winter months and you focused on indoor construction until spring. With today’s building technologies and products, you don’t have to let the … (0 comments)
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new homes: Don't Be a Lemming!
- 06/17/19 03:27 AM
Lemmings are small rodents that have been known to follow each other as they charge to their deaths off the edge of cliffs. This is actually an unsubstantiated myth about Lemmings, but they’ve become a metaphor for people who go along unquestioningly with a group with potentially dangerous consequences. Buying a home has become much the same way over the years. There are lots of homes built using the traditional method of construction; that means building outside, using the cheapest products available, rushing to get the job done, and using unskilled labor in skilled positions because of the current labor shortage. … (2 comments)
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new homes: What's the Difference Between a Modular and Manufactured Home?
- 03/18/19 05:40 AM
Today, there is still much confusion. In fact, we fight it every day. The terms “modular home” and “manufactured home” are used interchangeably by many people today. Home buyers, as well as industry professionals such as Realtors, Home Inspectors, and even building code officials, don’t know the difference. As an industry, we haven’t done ourselves any favors. They both start with “m” so they are easily confused. While they are both factory built cousins, there are key differences that make them two completely different types of housing. Let’s compare the two.
WHAT IS A MANUFACTURED HOME? Manufactured homes are constructed with a permanent chassis designed … (0 comments)
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new homes: Fact or Fake: The Truth About Today's Modular Home Construction
- 03/11/19 03:38 AM
The home construction industry is changing. The way we have built homes in the past won’t continue to be the way we build homes in the future. With the shrinking construction labor force, the constant improvements in construction technology, and the constant march towards zero energy homes that are healthy to live in – something has to give. For most, everything you purchase is built in a factory today… except for one thing, your home. Modular is a method of construction, not a type of home. Over the years modular construction has become the superior way to build a new home. … (1 comments)
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new homes: Modular Homes: The 800 Pound Gorilla in the Room
- 01/28/19 03:16 AM
Yes, saying that modular homes are the 800 pound gorilla in the room is mixing metaphors. But, I think it is appropriate. The term 800 pound gorilla refers to something so powerful that it would crush would-be competitors. It is mixed with the term “Elephant in the Room” which refers to a controversial issue that is obviously present but avoided as a subject for discussion because it is uncomfortable… it changes the status quo. Modular construction is just that. It is a building technique that is so powerful that it can change the way homes are built across the country. It … (2 comments)
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new homes: How We Get Home Modules to Difficult Home Sites
- 01/21/19 03:59 AM
Many times we are asked how we got the large sections of a modular home to a home site. Did we use a helicopter? A helicopter isn’t the standard way to deliver modules of a home to a home site. The Sikorsky advertisement from the ’70s shows an S-64E lifting a home. Today’s modular homes are typically too heavy. In some cases, a single module could exceed the capacity of even today’s largest helicopters. But, we have other ways to get your homes modular pieces to some of the most difficult home sites. Here are some unique tools we use to deliver a home to virtually any location.
THE MODULAR ADVANTAGE As … (0 comments)
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new homes: The Express Estimate: Budgetary Numbers for Your Favorite Home Plan
- 03/05/18 03:42 AM
Express Modular and Architectural Designs teamed up in 2017 to create one of the most unique opportunities in custom modular home construction. For the first time, someone could browse over 6,000 plans from leading architects and designers and know if they could be “modularized” because of our exclusive Certified Modular Friendly Rating System created by Express Modular. But knowing if a plan is modular friendly just isn’t enough. The very next question is, “How much will it cost to build?”. The Express Estimate was created to answer that next question quickly.
WHAT IS AN EXPRESS ESTIMATE?First, an Express Estimate is just that, … (0 comments)
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new homes: Modular = Genius
- 02/05/18 03:37 AM
Modular is actually a design approach. An intelligent method that makes building almost anything better. It is a process that divides a system into smaller parts called modules. These modules can then be individually created and later, assembled together. The modular process is used in many products we use every day; cars, computers, elevators, furniture, etc. Modular design works to combine the advantages of standardization with those of customization. It is the smarter way that industries have discovered to produce custom products using standardized modules or assemblies. Modern modular construction makes use of the modular approach when it comes to building new custom … (2 comments)
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new homes: The (R)Evolution of Modular Homes
- 12/04/17 03:58 AM
We still fight it every day. The preconceived notion of what a home built using modular construction is or isn’t. The internet and Google have become the best friends of modular construction. Home buyers are now, more than ever before, able to research building methods, materials, technologies, and home performance/energy efficiency without leaving their living room. What smart home buyers are doing is discovering modular homes and then digging a little deeper. They are learning that a modular home IS NOT a mobile home. When they do their research they are finding that modular construction (or off-site construction) is the way that home … (1 comments)
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new homes: Modular Homes: The Key to Recovery After the Storm
- 09/05/17 06:25 AM
In the last 25 years, there are four devastating storms that come to mind for most: Hurricane Andrew in Florida, Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana, Superstorm Sandy in New Jersey/New York, and now… Hurricane Harvey in Texas. Each of these storms has tested the people that were affected and tested the nation in supporting them. Hurricane Andrew, in 1992, set in motion a series of events that brought homes built using modular construction to the forefront. FEMA created and published a key study that determined modular homes weathered that storm better than their site built counterparts. This finding propelled modular homes into a key … (1 comments)
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new homes: Did You Know Your Home's Roof Isn't Waterproof?
- 08/21/17 04:23 AM
I think there is a fundamental misconception by homeowners that a home’s roof is waterproof. After all, we always think of sitting inside our homes on a cold, dark, rainy night and being warm and dry. However, we stay that way because a typical home’s roof is water-resistant, not waterproof. This may sound like a minor difference in wording but there is a world of difference between the ways you build a roof to be waterproof versus water-resistant.
HOW DOES MY HOME’S ROOF WORK?With a typical residential home roof, and even most light commercial office buildings that take on a residential look, they … (0 comments)
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new homes: What's Your Style? Meeting it with Modular!
- 03/20/17 04:45 AM
Many potential new customers that think about a new home stumble across modular homes in the research phase of their project. They learn about its superior quality, indoor construction and great value! Still others focus on its high energy efficiency and low-maintenance options. With an extensive collection of residential home plans as well as multi-family apartments, duplexes, and townhomes, modular home floor plans provide something for everyone.
With the advanced capabilities of most modular home factories and the flexibility of modern modular design, you have the ability to create your own custom design if you can’t find a standard one that’s perfect for … (1 comments)
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new homes: How Can You Get a Modular Home to My Site?
- 02/14/17 06:24 AM
First, What Makes a Modular Home Modular?
A modular home is basically a stick built home that is built offsite and then transported to the site in modules. When designing a modular home the architect, engineer, or designer takes a standard home design and then based on that design, determines the best way to modularize or break it up into pieces that can be transported. These pieces, or modules, are then individually built in a factory. Because of state highway limitations and the need to gain access to building sites, typical module sizes can vary by region.
In the northeast and mid-Atlantic where modular home construction is popular, highways … (2 comments)
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Ben Franklin was the oldest of the founding fathers. Most people don’t realize that he was more than twice the age of Thomas Jefferson when they signed the Declaration of Independence (33 vs. 70)! Ben had already had a rather full life. He was a tinkerer, an inventor, an observer, a writer, and a philosopher. Along with many other things, he invented swim fins (1717), the Franklin Stove (1741), the lightning rod (1750), and bifocals (1784). All of these things we use today are still in mass production. Where would modular construction be if Ben had invented it in the 1700s!?
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