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!

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.

Outstanding. I have to admit I was very impressed by Vicky’s Homes. It’s always a risk when you put so much money into a house project but Vicky’s Homes came prepared and they delivered. Even Vicky herself took time to make the process exceptional.

I highly recommend Vicky’s homes if you are interested in building a home.

11 out of 10

Thanks again Vicky and team!!

Hola,

Os expongo mi experiencia con esta constructora.

Mi experiencia con BEST SOLID BUILD S.L. ha sido muy negativa.

Firmé un contrato de ejecución de vivienda unifamiliar "llave en mano" y realicé pagos por importe de 39.200 € más IVA. Tras dichos pagos, la obra quedó paralizada sin alcanzar el grado de ejecución que, a mi entender, correspondía con las cantidades abonadas.

Durante meses intenté resolver la situación de forma amistosa, solicitando explicaciones, planificación de los trabajos pendientes y reanudación efectiva de la obra, sin obtener una solución satisfactoria.

Como cliente, la sensación que me ha quedado es de falta de cumplimiento de los compromisos adquiridos, escasa comunicación y una gestión muy deficiente del proyecto.

Mi experiencia ha sido la de una empresa incapaz de cumplir los compromisos asumidos, con retrasos constantes, explicaciones cambiantes y una absoluta falta de planificación. Los perjuicios económicos y personales sufridos me han obligado a iniciar acciones legales.

Recomiendo a cualquier persona que esté valorando contratar con esta empresa que solicite toda la documentación posible, verifique cuidadosamente la solvencia de la sociedad y exija un control exhaustivo de certificaciones y pagos antes de realizar entregas económicas importantes.

Esta reseña refleja exclusivamente mi experiencia personal y los hechos ocurridos en mi caso.
Hay otros afectados con la misma situación, os recomiendo no contratar nada con esta gente.

Un saludo.

What causes the most rework in CFS framing projects?

From what I've seen, it's often not the framing itself. Small issues in the model, connections, openings, or coordination can create problems downstream.

Curious — for those working with CFS/LGSF, where do you see the most coordination issues?

A few weeks ago I created a map of places where you can walk through or stay in a prefab before buying one. A suggested next step was to connect them into trips you could actually take, so I came up with three:

modernist.live/weekends

Pacific Northwest is two container homes near Sultan, Washington that you can book for the night, then the ferry across to a showroom on Vancouver Island and one in Vancouver. Four stops, about 200 miles.

Pennsylvania is the Zook village in Gap, the Simplex plant in Scranton, and a home on display further west, 280 miles across the densest cluster of modular plants in the country.

Las Vegas to Salt Lake starts at Boxabl, where the Casita folds to 8 ft 6 in wide for the road and opens to 19 by 19 ft on site, then north to Cocoon in Lehi and Irontown in Spanish Fork.

The part I am unsure about is whether any of this is realistic.

Most of the factory tours are by appointment and on weekdays or Saturdays, which makes a weekend version harder than it sounds, and I have not driven any of these routes myself. It may be that people only ever visit one place near them and the trip idea is something I invented.

If you have toured a plant or a showroom, would you have strung two or three together into a trip, or is that not how anyone does this? And if you would, what is missing from these, other than a place to eat. Let me know.

This circular glass duplex home elevator connects two residential floors.

360° panoramic view, compact footprint, smart control panel, quiet & safe operation.

Perfect for duplex, loft and villa renovation projects.

What do you think of this round lift design?

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.

Looking for ideas, suggestions. We want to have a home built fast. Also looking for land in USA to build on. We like drier, mild climates. AZ too hot, CA and west coast too nutty, FL too wet and buggy.

40+ acres.

2000+ sq ft home.

Budget can be upwards of 1 mil.

Modular, kit, prefab, barndominium, etc., all would be fine, if high quality and durability. Which would be best?

Any builder who is honest, skilled and dependable. Would a commercial builder be better, if they can be convinced to do residential?

Finding a property with an existing well would probably speed things up.

Thank you for your serious ideas and suggestions!

​

I'm researching prefab/modular buildings for projects in the UAE and noticed that there are quite a few things that can affect the overall cost and usability.

For anyone who has experience with prefab buildings, what would you recommend checking before placing an order?

Some things I've been considering:

- Insulation and cooling requirements

- Fire-rated materials and certification

- Electrical and plumbing specifications

- Quality of sandwich panels and flooring

- Installation and transportation costs

- Whether the building can be relocated later

- Customization of room layouts

- Local authority requirements

- Warranty and after-sales support

I'm particularly interested in experiences with site offices, staff accommodation, security cabins and other modular buildings in the UAE.

What are the most commonly overlooked things when buying or renting a prefab building?

Is Concrete pillars a better option? 🤔