THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 9, 1995 TAG: 9504060166
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Real Estate
SOURCE: Chris Kidder
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
One advantage of a modular house is how fast it can be built. The typical Nationwide house is 90 percent complete after eight days on the assembly line. Once on site, most modular houses can be completed in two months or less: Two or three weeks is not uncommon.
This doesn't mean you can call your builder tomorrow and move into a new modular home by mid-May. Factory production can run two months or more behind orders.
Quick construction time does mean you probably won't need a construction loan. That means less paperwork and more savings for you.
It also means you'll be able to plan your move with more certainty. A factory schedule is almost - but not quite - carved in stone.
Factory building is faster than stick building because it's more efficient, not because it's more mechanized.
I went to Nationwide's Martinsville, Va., plant expecting to see high-tech construction, automated processes, unfamiliar techniques and tools. In that respect, I was disappointed. Houses at Nationwide are built using the same techniques and tools on-site builders use.
Not counting Nationwide's engineering department, which was state-of-the-art all the way, polyurethane foam sealant used to cement ceiling dry wall to roof rafters was as high tech as things got.
And forget automation. When modular units needed to move along the assembly line, a foreman yelled for help. Workers put their shoulders to the unit wall and pushed until the foreman called out to stop.
Building houses in factories is efficient because crews are trained to do a specific job. There are no subcontractors, no scheduling conflicts.
Materials, bought in bulk for hundreds of houses at a time, are on hand before work begins. Small assemblies, like soffits for kitchen cabinets, are pre-built. If something breaks or doesn't work right, there's no waiting for replacements.
But Nationwide Homes was pushing to make up for lost time when I visited the factory in March. A winter storm had stopped the line for three days when trucks were unable to haul away finished units.
Four custom-designed modular units for Lois Shedlock's three-story, seven-bedroom vacation home were started Feb. 24.
Each unit started down the assembly line with a ``traveler,'' a giant clipboard containing every detail of the house from dimensions and building code requirements to wall finishes and window styles.
By the time they reached the end of the line less than seven working days later, the travelers were well-worn. Workers referred to them for work instructions; quality control inspectors had to sign off on them at dozens of checkpoints.
With half the houses on Nationwide's assembly line custom built (the other half are built with one of the company's 50 standard floor plans), detailed instructions are necessary.
``There are more than 30 pages of options,'' explains regional marketing manager Don Ballenger.
Shedlock's four units included a custom cathedral ceiling and a large hole in the great room wall for a cantilevered fireplace to be installed on site. Her floor plan was reversed, with living areas on the third floor for better views and bedrooms on the second floor.
She chose factory cabinets and counter tops but wanted her own light fixtures, ceiling fans and most floor coverings installed on site. Exterior vinyl siding wasn't factory installed because on-site contractor Joe Rhodes wanted to do the work on site to match the ground floor.
While Shedlock's house rolled along the assembly line, Rhodes prepared the oceanfront site in Nags Head by placing the ground floor on a concrete slab. The upper two levels, supported by pilings, were built by Nationwide.
Driving the pilings and placing girders took three days. Two days were spent preparing and pouring concrete. Another day was spent framing in exterior walls on the ground floor. Rhodes' crew built the fireplace inset that would be cantilevered in the great room.
On March 6, the first unit came off the line. It was wrapped in plastic, sealed tight, and put on a truck. All four units left Martinsville the next morning.
The six-hour truck ride to the Outer Banks, said Ballenger, was like putting the house through a hurricane and an earthquake all at once.
When the trucks pulled into Nags Head, gale force winds were rocking the beach. Rain fell before temperatures plummeted to freezing. It looked like bad weather would cause another delay.
(Next week, the fourth in an eight-week series, we'll see how well these 16.8-ton units survived the road.) MEMO: Chris Kidder covers Outer Banks real estate for The Carolina Coast. Send
comments and questions to her at P.O. Box 10, Nags Head, N.C. 27959.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo by CHRIS KIDDER
Contractor Joe Rhodes climbs a ladder to inspect a a wall section
while James Hyler, quality control manager for Nationwide looks on.
by CNB