Review of The Modular Home [ILLUSTRATED] (Hardcover)

If you are considering the purchase of a modular home, I highly recommend this book. Every page is bursting with great information, and the amount of detail is tremendous. The author doesn't gloss over important topics. The only complaint I have is that after reading the book, you get the impression, that modular homes are the greatest thing since the Hoover Dam. Modular homes are like cars. Some are great, and some are awful. I think the author's main goal is to promote the entire industry, rather than share unbiased information on the topic. You have to be very careful with an investment of this magnitude. I've heard a lot of bad things about Modulars in my area. Is that the dealer or manufacturers fault? It could be both. The author warns you about this, but it's very difficult to separate fact from fiction in this business. There is no Consumer Reports for Modular homes. If there is such a publication, I'd love to know about it. I think you can tell a lot about a dealer by who he uses as a manufacturer. If you could determine the good and bad manufacturers, I think you would be half way there. Of course, the same could be said of stick builders, I guess. But most stick builders are not using open faced floor joists and glued drywall. Is that a better way of building or a huge savings in material and labor costs? My feeling is that it's merely a cost savings, and not really a revolutionary way to build. But most, if not all, modular manufacturers use these building techniques. Unless you see visit a home that's been in place for more than 10 years, how can you really know if these techniques are a problem? And since dealers will tell you that the manufacturing continues to improve each year, if you do see problems in some of these older homes, you might be led to believe that your home won't have the same issues because the technology is so much better. The author does not go into such details. Nor can he, because he would be raising questions about the very business he is in.



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