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r/prefabs r/prefabPorn r/modulars
Eleven states have no modular prefab approval program. Nine builders say they deliver to all eleven.
▲ 12 r/prefabs+1 crossposts

Eleven states have no modular prefab approval program. Nine builders say they deliver to all eleven.

In 39 states the factory-built part of a modular house gets approved by the state, usually through a third party engineering firm working on the state’s behalf, and inspected inside the factory before it ships. It arrives approved. Your local building department only handles the foundation and the site work.

Eleven states have no program: Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Hawaii, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Vermont, West Virginia, Wyoming. There the modules go to whatever the local jurisdiction decides to do with them.

The architect I interviewed about this said approval in the easy 39 is “rather painless,” with the caveat that the local jurisdiction has to know the state program exists, and that many smaller jurisdictions aren’t familiar with modular projects and can be resistant. That is the easy version.

Then I checked the 71 builders in the directory I run against that list. Thirty four advertise delivery to at least one of the eleven. Nine advertise all eleven. Unfold House lists ten delivery states total and nine of them are on the no program list: https://modernist.live/companies/unfold-house

Hmm.

Nobody is lying. A truck goes where you pay it to go. But delivering a box to Wyoming and getting that box approved in Wyoming are not the same work, and only the delivery part appears on anybody’s website.

Interview, including what he says a manufacturer’s engineering package should contain and three things that went wrong installing his own house: https://modernist.live/experts/pedro-tavares

Has anyone here permitted a factory-built house in one of those eleven? How long did the local review take, and had the building department seen one before? Any thoughts? Please reply in the comments below.

u/infinitiouss — 5 days ago
▲ 14 r/prefabPorn+1 crossposts

100 prefab modular video tours in a single place, most with the builder and price available

Like most of you, I watch many of these videos and I get frustrated when they don't explicitly say who delivered to my area, who is new, who is struggling, or which house was in which video when I wanted to compare two of them. Every time I liked something, I had to go dig up who built it and what it cost, but inevitably it wasn't quite the same model. So I built a massive index of them.

A tour tells you what a house feels like and almost nothing about what it costs or whether you can get one. The video says 400 square feet and a loft. YouTube search does not help either, since searching a builder's name returns their own marketing before anyone else's walkthrough.

That is what this page is for. Watch the Big Monolith tour and the record beside it says 440 square feet, $224,300 for the unit, ships in one piece to the 48 states from Houston, foundation and hookups separate. You can go from liking a house to knowing whether it is possible without opening six tabs.

100 tours so far here are my favorites from Kerry Tarnow, Levi Kelly, Living Big In A Tiny House, and Kirsten Dirksen.

modernist.live/videos

Filter by creator or by builder. Most are matched to a specific model. The rest are owner builds or houses where nobody says who made it, which turns out to be most of them.

Two questions: Which channels should be here that are not, particularly anyone covering modular rather than tiny houses. And if you recognize a house in one of the unmatched tours, say which one and I will add the builder. Enjoy!

reddit.com
u/infinitiouss — 13 days ago
▲ 5 r/prefabs

New Q&A with an architect who does modular prefab in nearly every state: approvals, engineering packages, and what went wrong on his own - a great Q&A

People here keep asking what actually happens on installation day and I had no real answer, so I asked someone who would know. Pedro Tavares is a principal at R&S Tavares Associates in San Diego. His firm does architecture and engineering in house for modular prefab projects and works in nearly every state, and several of the manufacturers I track are his clients. He also built a modular prefab house for himself. His answers were excellent, specific where most people would have been vague, and I am grateful he took the time.

The full Q&A, nine questions: modernist.live/experts/pedro-tavares

Three things went wrong on his own installation day. His shipper called the day before to say the trailers could not make the turn onto his street, so they moved every module onto different trailers with four forklifts. A ceiling module arrived from the factory with no insulation in it, and he bought batts at the hardware store and rolled them out before the next module came down. The crew installing his house started cutting holes in the floor rim to speed up the lift, in a spot the drawings do not allow, then billed him for the time spent cutting them.

I asked who is responsible when something gets damaged during the installation. He said he does not have a good answer and treats it as contingency money. I still do not know who would have a good answer, and it seems like something to settle before the crane arrives rather than during.

The other thing I did not know: 39 states approve and inspect the factory built part at the state level, so the modules arrive already signed off. He says that is faster than going through your county, as long as your county knows the program exists, and small ones often do not. The eleven without a program are listed in the Q&A.

I hope it is useful. I have more of these lined up, with an appraiser, a lender, and an installation crew, since those are the people who see the same problems over and over.

Pedro said he will answer follow ups. If you have a question about engineering, approvals, or installation day, put it here and I will send him the good ones for a follow up.

u/infinitiouss — 14 days ago
▲ 1 r/modulars

Found three unique companies that sell dome and A frame kits. Curious if these perform well as STRs (airbnbs)?

People ask me about domes and A frame kits often enough that I finally sat down and did the digging. Here is what these four companies publish.

One thing to understand first. None of these companies sells you a house. They sell a structure, sometimes only the frame and the outside skin. The foundation, plumbing, wiring, insulation, and all the labor to put it together are yours. That is why the prices look low.

DEN, New York. Bigger shell kits with prices on the website. 1,650 sq ft for $256,800. 2,015 sq ft for $255,350. 2,241 sq ft for $281,992. They train a local contractor to assemble it. These designs look great.

modernist.live/companies/den

Pacific Domes, Ashland, Oregon. Six sizes, from 16 ft across at 195 sq ft up to 44 ft at 1,520 sq ft. Steel frame with a fabric cover. Ships in crates, no crane needed, three or four people can raise one. They do not publish prices, you have to ask.

modernist.live/companies/pacific-domes

Avrame, Estonia. Twelve A frame kits and they do publish prices. 5,300 euro for the smallest, 184 sq ft. 21,300 euro for a 707 sq ft version. That is the kit sitting in Europe, so add shipping to the US on top.

modernist.live/companies/avrame

If you built one, what did it come to finished against the kit price? Nobody publishes that.

u/infinitiouss — 15 days ago
▲ 15 r/prefabs+1 crossposts

I mapped 48 places where you can walk through a prefab before you buy one. What would make this more useful?

Buying a house off a website always seemed strange to me, so I spent some time finding every place where you can go stand inside one first.

Display models, factory tours, model villages, and especially, a few places where you can book a night and sleep in it. 48 places so far across 25 states and provinces, plus some in Germany, Japan, and Turkey.

A few of them: ÖÖD rents their mirror house in the desert so you can spend a night in one before you order. Cavco has a unit at a resort in Flagstaff you can walk into. Several of the Pennsylvania plants will show you if you call ahead.

Here it is: modernist.live/places

I put it together for buyers and I would like to know what is missing.

If you toured a factory or stayed in a model before you bought, did it change anything for you? And if you know a place that should be on here, tell me and I will add it.

reddit.com
u/infinitiouss — 22 days ago
▲ 24 r/modulars

I built a free visual directory of 75 modular and prefab manufacturers: delivery map, real costs, and independent video tours

When I started researching modular, the hardest part wasn't finding beautiful homes. It was everything after: who builds this, do they deliver to my state, what does delivery cost, what's a realistic price range, and is there a real walkthrough somewhere instead of a promo reel? YouTube is great for tours, but it can't tell you what ships to your location.

I built the site I wished existed, and I've been maintaining and growing it ever since:

modernist.live

What's in it:

  • 75 manufacturers profiled side by side: price range, square footage, build type, certifications, and lead times, including international builders that deliver to North America. Europe providers too, due to requests received.
  • A delivery map: drop a pin and see which builders deliver to your area. This saves a lot of heartbreak over homes that turn out not to ship to your state.
  • Independent walkthrough videos, linked to the original creators (Kerry Tarnow, Levi Kelly, Living Big In A Tiny House, Kirsten Dirksen), so you can tour a home before ever contacting a builder.
  • Visual browsing by type: cabins, compact homes, backyard ADUs, family-sized homes, and architectural designs. That last part is my newest upgrade.

Is it perfect? No, but I'm trying to build an enduring, helpful resource and I'm looking for feedback to improve it. Directories like this have existed before, but they tend to fall out of date quickly, so keeping it current is the whole job.

Happy to answer questions about any builder on the list. If you know a manufacturer that should be on it, or spot a link or delivery detail that's out of date, tell me and I'll fix it. Corrections from people actually researching buildings are what keep it useful for the buyers.

reddit.com
u/infinitiouss — 2 months ago
▲ 38 r/prefabs

I built a free directory of 75 prefab and modular home manufacturers, with a delivery map and real walkthrough videos

When I started researching prefab, the hardest part wasn't finding beautiful homes. It was everything after specific to my site: who builds this, do they deliver to my state, how much to deliver, what's a realistic price range, and is there a real walkthrough somewhere instead of a promo reel? You Tube is great, but is not location specific.

So I built the site I wished existed, and I've been maintaining and growing it ever since:

modernist.live

What's in it:

  • 75 manufacturers profiled, with price range, square footage, build type, certifications, and lead times. That includes international builders that deliver to North America.
  • A delivery map: drop a pin and see which builders deliver to your area. This saves a lot of heartbreak over homes that turn out not to ship to your state.
  • Real walkthrough videos, linked to the original creators (Kerry Tarnow, Levi Kelly, Living Big In A Tiny House, Kirsten Dirksen), so you can tour a home before ever contacting a builder.
  • Visual browsing by what draws you in: cabins, compact homes, backyard ADUs, family-sized homes, and architectural designs - my newest upgrade.

Is it perfect? No, but I'm trying to create an enduring helpful resource. I'm looking for feedback to improve it. I think it is one of a kind. Similar ones have existed in the past, yet tend to fall out of date quickly.

Happy to answer questions about any builder on the list. And if you know a manufacturer that should be on it, or spot a link or delivery detail that's out of date, tell me and I'll fix it. Corrections from people actually researching builds are what keep it useful.

reddit.com
u/infinitiouss — 2 months ago
▲ 12 r/modulars

I built a free directory of 33 prefab & modular home manufacturers, with a delivery map and 98 YouTube reviews

Been deep in the prefab rabbit hole for a while and kept running into the same problem: no single place to compare manufacturers side-by-side, see who actually delivers to your state, and find honest video reviews that aren't just manufacturer promo content.

So I built one: modernist.live

What's in it:

  • 33 manufacturers profiled: price range, sq footage, delivery type, certifications, lead time
  • Delivery map — drop a pin and see which builders ship to your area
  • 98 field reviews pulled from Kerry Tarnow, Levi Kelly Tours, Living Big In A Tiny House, and Kirsten Dirksen — so you can watch the actual walkthroughs before you contact anyone

Happy to answer questions about any of the manufacturers listed. I've watched a lot of videos at this point.

reddit.com
u/infinitiouss — 2 months ago
▲ 40 r/prefabPorn+1 crossposts

I built a free directory of 33 prefab & modular home manufacturers, with a delivery map and 98 YouTube reviews

Been deep in the prefab rabbit hole for a while and kept running into the same problem: no single place to compare manufacturers side-by-side, see who actually delivers to your state, and find honest video reviews that aren't just manufacturer promo content.

So I built one: modernist.live

What's in it:

  • 33 manufacturers profiled: price range, sq footage, delivery type, certifications, lead time
  • Delivery map — drop a pin and see which builders ship to your area
  • 98 field reviews pulled from Kerry Tarnow, Levi Kelly Tours, Living Big In A Tiny House, and Kirsten Dirksen — so you can watch the actual walkthroughs before you contact anyone

Happy to answer questions about any of the manufacturers listed. I've watched a lot of videos at this point.

reddit.com
u/infinitiouss — 3 months ago