Many people confuse modular homes and manufactured homes, simply because both begin on the assembly line. However, you may be surprised to find out that the assembly line is where the similarities between the two both begin and end.
While the manufactured home is built start-to-finish in the factory, the modular home is only begun in the factory, and then finished at the home site. To illustrate the difference, let’s look at a modular home from design to move-in day – the best way to understand what makes modular homes both different from manufactured homes, and superior.
The modular home construction process begins with selecting a modular home manufacturer. Choosing the manufacturer who is best for the project is perhaps the most important aspect of building a modular home. One should always ask for references, and check that the manufacturer is a member of the Better Business Bureau. For a very good listing of modular home manufacturers, see Modular Today’s modular home directory of manufacturers.
Once a modular home manufacturer has been selected, then the homeowner is ready to choose the design for his or her modular home. This is where manufactured homes and modular homes are most different; whereas design options for manufactured homes are limited, modular homes’ designs are limited only by the homeowner’s taste and creativity. The modular home manufacturer will offer many designs which can be customized as little or as much as the homeowner desires. From a different siding option to reconfigured rooms and doors, the modular home can be made special to the homeowner’s wishes.
After a floor plan has been decided, work on the modular home can begin at the factory. The home is built in sections; the primary home sections generally consist of one to three rooms and, from the outside anyway, look like wood-sided boxes with rooms inside them. These rooms, however, have been insulated, have had basic wiring installed (the wiring and electricity will be completed at the home site), and in many cases, have even had the interior walls and flooring completed.
At the same time that the sections of the modular home are being completed at the factory, the home site is being prepped for delivery day. The fact that site prep and modular home construction can be completed simultaneously is one of the biggest advantages a modular home has over a traditionally-built home; because work on the house and work on the site are being done at the same time, the home can be completed in a much smaller timeframe than a traditionally-built home. This is also where the modular home has the advantage over the manufactured home, as well – modular homes can be designed for any foundation the homeowner desires, be it slab, crawlspace, or even basement.
When the work in the factory is finished, the modular home is prepared for shipment. The preparation that the sections of the home receive before leaving the factory is one of the secret weapons of the modular home – because the modular home must be able to withstand any weather conditions that may arise during shipment, the modular home is much better equipped to withstand severe weather once it is assembled at the home site.
On delivery day, one should be on the lookout for several trucks carrying what appear to be huge boxes with windows, and a crane. Once this caravan has arrived, the so has the fun. The sections of the modular home are lifted by crane from the trucks, then placed on the foundation and the sections are fastened together. If there is a second – or even a third! - story, these sections are likewise lifted on to the already set sections, and fastened on as well. This process, strange as it may seem, actually has more in common with the traditionally-built home than it does with the manufactured home. A traditionally-built home is constructed from the ground up, on the home site, just as the modular home is, the difference being that the home was pre-finished in sections. A manufactured home is simply brought to the home site and secured.
When the sections of the modular home have been assembled, the siding is added to the house, the inside wiring is finished, the plumbing is installed and finished, and any other customization that the homeowner has requested that must be done on site is completed. The timeline for moving into a modular home after delivery and setup will often depend on any extras that the homeowner plans for the home after setup, including finishing a basement or custom trim, paint, or other work. However, in most cases, the modular home is ready to move into within three months of placing the initial order.