I was in a conversation with a neighbor recently about building homes. He had built his own house years ago and he was quizzing me on custom built modular homes. At first he thought I built mobile homes but I quickly clarified that these are real homes, just built in sections and transported to the site.

As soon as I said that, his eyes lit up. I could see that something clicked for him so I asked him what it was. He told me about his own experience building his home. Apparently, it was a summer unlike any other summer on record with more rain than anyone would ever want. They struggled to keep the wood dry so it wouldn’t warp while it lay in piles waiting to be turned into studs and joists. The equipment that hauled everything in wreaked havoc on the property and he sunk much more money into landscaping than he intended. But the part that bothered him the most was the insulation.

Insulation is rated an “R” value based on its ability to insulate. And when it gets wet, it loses R value (and can also hold moisture which may contribute to mildew problems). Well, the insulation got soaked. Or, as my neighbor put it “S-O-A-K-E-D”. Some of it was salvageable. Some of it had to be replaced. It wasn’t a positive situation.

So what clicked for my neighbor? When I told him that we built modular homes in a factory setting and transported them to the site and erected them in just a couple of days, he saw what he didn’t enjoy: straight wood, minimal landscape impact, and dry insulation.

Tags: bad weather, homes, modular, wood