| When efficient modular building techniques are | | | | less-than-desirable contractor, you have the option to |
| combined with today's incredibly low cost of land, the | | | | pull the contract with the knowledge that the house |
| rationale for building a vacation home is more | | | | was built in the modular factory. |
| compelling than ever. Distant, hard-to-reach sites | | | | Less Time: Whether it's your permanent residence or |
| characteristic of vacation spots, such as up in the | | | | a vacation home, building a house can be time |
| mountains, along beaches, or even on a remote | | | | consuming and arduous, and no one can afford to |
| island, can be easily accessed with modular | | | | baby sit a construction site. With modular |
| construction. With 80% of the house created from | | | | construction, the overall project time can be cut by |
| the sill plate up, work crews don't need to spend | | | | two-thirds. |
| much time commuting, significantly reducing costs. | | | | Green Construction: Since the build site is far less |
| Market Timing: The price of land has fallen | | | | disturbed by using modular building systems than it is |
| significantly, especially in several unique vacation | | | | with conventional building, the environment impact of |
| spots, but renovating far from home can be both | | | | your home is significantly reduced. Furthermore, |
| tedious and overwhelming. Instead, by building new, | | | | pristine vacation spots tend to have considerable |
| and doing so quickly, your time and money is saved. | | | | environmental regulations, and as such, typically favor |
| Less Risk: These days, most contractors are small | | | | the use of modular building systems rather than |
| businesses with even smaller balance sheets. The | | | | conventional building. |
| unfortunate reality is that many of these contractors | | | | Always Use an Architect: Years ago, the modular |
| may be gone in the near future. With modular | | | | building industry rarely encouraged the architect to |
| construction, a substantial portion of your home is | | | | participate. Unfortunately, factories would usually take |
| factory-built in about five days, and is then shipped | | | | the design to the 75-yard line, leaving the builder to |
| to the site. Within a few days of its arrival, it is made | | | | take the project to the finish, resulting in ugly, boxy |
| watertight and secured. So, even if your contractor | | | | design solutions. Including the architect from the |
| goes out of business, modular construction gives you | | | | beginning affords the owner the ability to |
| the peace of mind that you won't ever be stuck | | | | competitively bid the project, allowing them to get |
| with a half-finished vacation home. | | | | the best price for the value. |
| Quality Control: With modular construction, you can | | | | Recently, some architects have begun to embrace |
| rest assured that your home will be built with the | | | | modular building systems, and the industry has |
| utmost quality and reliability. By contrast, home | | | | become more design-driven. A vacation home is |
| improvement contractors' quality can vary greatly, so | | | | often one of the most important purchases in one's |
| should you discover that you ended up with a | | | | life, and high-quality design sets the mood. |