| After placing your house order to the factory, the site will be prepared. Some trees may be cut down and excavator will rough out the shape of your yard and drive way. |
 The cellar will be dug and the foundation will be poured. The picture to the left shows a site ready for the house to be installed. When the site is ready the house will be delivered. Timing is critical, any delays will increase the cost. |
 The house will be delivered on trailers. This ranch house needed 2 trailers but other styles may need more. Notice that the roof is folded flat and the whole module is wrapped in plastic. On the inside the carpets, cabinets, countertops, bathroom fixtures, and light fixtures are already installed. Anything that can be installed at the factory will reduce the cost of the project.
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 The first step in the installation is to raise the roof. The crane will lift the roof section and the set-up crew will fasten it into place. The wall shown in this picture is called the marriage wall. This is where the two modules come together. There will be some finish carpentry to do to finish the doorways and drywall inside the house on the marriage wall.
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 Then comes the exciting part, lifting the house onto the foundation.
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 Its amazing that something so large can be lifted like this! Then they swing it over to the foundation……
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 ….and set down gently!!!! Notice that there is no siding on the end wall. The end wall siding must be installed on site because there would be a seam down the middle if it was done at the factory. This home owner also asked for a bay window. It couldn’t be installed at the factory because the front module would be too wide to travel on the highway. At this point the window is laying on the living room floor and the siding in the front will be finished in the front once the window is installed. |
 After the front half is down, the back half is lifted………. |
 …………and then set down. |
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Now the slow part starts. It seems so complete after the first day that you might think you can almost move in but there is still some important work to complete. If you look in the basement you will see all the pipes and wires from the main floor of the house hanging down. The plumbing, heating, and electrical sub-contractors will finish off the basement portion of the project. This house is located in a rural area so a septic system and a well are required. A carpenter will finish the siding, install the bay window, finish the woodwork and drywall inside on the marriage wall, and build the back deck and front porch. All the homeowner has to do is put up the shower curtains and move in. Of course you can ask for some changes or to have some parts done locally. This house has custom countertops in the kitchen and some changes to the standard floor plan.
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 Here’s the finished product. These happy new homeowners moved in just 90 days after the project started. |
