From: skip@rosalyn.stat.uga.edu (Skip Gundlach)
Subject: Re: Manufactured Housing (not a mobile home)
Organization: UGA Statistics Department
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1992 18:56:53 GMT

In article <1992Dec30.164738.24680@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov> ktong@shannon.jpl.nasa.gov (Kevin Tong) writes:
>
>Does anyone out there know anything about manufactured housing or
>has any experience with a house built using manufactured housing.  
>I'm not referring to a mobile home, I'm referring to a house that 
>is built in a factory and then shipped to the site and assembled
>together.  The finished product should look no different than a
>stick built house.
>
>I'm doing research on this to see if this is a good (and cheaper)
>alternative to custom building a home on a lot.
>
>Information that I would like to get is
>
>	* Companies and/or factory that manufactures this type
>	of house in the Southern Calif. area.
>	* Industry Assn. and or books that I can call or look
>	up to find companies that do this
>	* Experiences that people have had in having a home
>	built this way.
>	* References that I should consult (articles, books, etc)
>
>	And any information that I need before I should even consider
>using this method of building a custom house.
>
Sorry I can't help you with Cal info, but manufactured housing has
several advantages and a couple of disadvantages.

Advantages include less material cost  and labor cost.  That is
because of the volume purchases of material all delivered to one site,
and because you are paying factory labor, not "semi-skilled
construction" labor.  Another is that the homes can be built in jigs
which help ensure accuracy of fit and measure.  Another is that the
sections (for other than single-section usage, such as mobile field
offices and the like) are built from the outside in rather than the
reverse, as in stick-built, because there is no need to hurry up and
get it enclosed for weather protection, and the whole structure can be
pre-wired and plumbed, with intersections planned for where the
sections meet.  In general, the sections can be made entirely (i.e.
sheetrock, carpet, etc., installed) but transportation difficulties
usually mean some compromises in that regard.  Which leads to ...

Disadvantages include the cost of transportation, and the associated
difficulties.  The cost, naturally, goes up as the distance from the
factory increases, and exponetially so if there are challenges such as
height or width problems along the route requiring detours from a
straight line path.  Next, if all is not just exactly level, the
structures will usually deform somewhat along the way.  Depending upon
how much deformation there is, the sections might not line up
properly, or might require cosmetic surgery to make look OK on the
outside, if the siding has been factory applied.  If not, that is a
local labor situation, just as you would have in a site-built.  
The same applies to the interior.  Usually, manufacturerers, if they
are going to apply drywall, will leave a fairly wide seam at the
joints, and usually won't finish it regardless, since the seam will
likely move during transport.  That means local finishing cost, again.
Further, if the carpet is installed, the seaming is easy, but without
a pusher-type stretcher, it won't be tight.  That, combined with the
mess of drywall finishing will usually mean that it is better to get
the structure delivered without the interior touches done.  More local
labor and costs...  Ditto for anything other than monolithic
board-type exterior, which will require only seam molding to finish.
Of course, if you are doing a truly custom home, you will probably
want some other exterior.  Anything which has any danger of
separation during transport (i.e. rock, brick, slate, tile, etc.) will
not work in the house sections.

Finally, if you are doing a CUSTOM design, the factory will work with
you, but the workers will not have had the advantage of building
dozens of them and therefore have a learning curve - which might
result in lower quality.  Additionally, on the quality issue, while
the factory will welcome your viewing of the process and progress of
your home, if you are not nearby, you cannot exert any daily "hands
on" in the quality and execution, as you could with a site built
product.

As a whole, you will probably want to visit several homes that the
factory has produced in their actual installations, both while going
up and after being lived in for a while, to see if you are happy with
the results.  You will also need to do a comparison of costs for teh
design you want.  Unless there is a clear cost savings to you, or you
either don't care to or can't be involved in a site-built home, you
might prefer to do the site built route.

On the other hand, unless you have a general contractor that you have
total confidence in, the nuisance value of being involved in a site
built home might give a heavy cost advantage to the factory built
home.  Either way, there will bve local labor and skills involved, so
factory or site built, you will have some nuisance factor...

For myself, I would be happy with a factory home.  I have built some
with panelized construction, which speeds the "drying in" process and
has the materials and labor advantages mentioned above, but only the
exterior and walls is pre-built.  The rest is a stick-built process.

In either case, you will have site preparation to deal with...

For information in your area, look in the yellow pages under
manufactured housing.  Also, talk to the local homebuilders'
association for both leads and experience with a particular
manufacturer...

Hope this is some help...


>Thanks.
>---------------------------------------------------------------------
>Kevin Tong, (818) 354-0657      Jet Propulsion Laboratory, MS 238-420
>ktong@shannon.jpl.nasa.gov       Pasadena, California  91109
>---------------------------------------------------------------------
>-- 
>---------------------------------------------------------------------
>Kevin Tong, (818) 354-0657      Jet Propulsion Laboratory, MS 238-420
>ktong@shannon.jpl.nasa.gov       Pasadena, California  91109
>---------------------------------------------------------------------


-- 
Skip Gundlach .nosig (Sorry, that's the best I could do on short
notice, and I'm not even an electrician...) 


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