Avalon Building Systems Blog

At Avalon Building Systems we take pride in our  magnificently built modular homes. Frankly, it's the state-of-the-art in home building. There have been some articles on modular homes but let Avalon fill you in on this increasing trend in home living.

For centuries, yes literally centuries, human beings have built their shelters and homes the old-fashioned way, one board at a time, one nail a time. In the past two decades, the modular industry has taken giant leaps forward in both focus and capability to the point where virtually every modular plant is able to produce modules for custom homes. But still many traditional production builders are still stuck with their old-world ways of individually framing the same structure by hand. These old time builders place the frame over and over again on different lots. So the modular industry has left their former one-design-fits-all approach and created the means to take any design and build it in pieces in a factory, to be assembled into a custom home in the field.

For years, the modular home industry had a problem.  Its Achilles heel was the inability to customize product offerings. However, due to increasing efforts and vast improvement in the industry, modular homes, including us here at Avalon, are producing fully customized dream homes.  In an age where we're all using the internet as a means of choosing a product, paying for it on the web, and receiving it in a few days, it's fitting that the modular industry can finally provide the speed and quality we all expect. And with this growing advancement, Avalon is here to fit all your custom built needs.

How are modular homes constructed?

Most people know how homes are built; slowly and costly. And people know about modular homes, but how are they built? What are the tools needed?  Well modular components are typically constructed within a large indoor facility on assembly lines much like Henry Ford originally began with his automobile company. Facilities such as these use an assembly line track to move the module components from one workstation to the next. This is a quick and cost effective way to get many module components together. However it’s not just modules by themselves there are independent building inspectors on site to supervise the construction and ensure that all building codes are taken care of during assembly.

The modules that will combine to form the house are assembled in a different factory. The construction of these modules can take one to three months to be completed but only take as little as 10 days actually to construct when they are first started. Afterwards, the modules are transported to the building site where a crane is brought in to assemble the modules together. The placement of the modules generally takes several hours or days to do so. A great thing about modular homes, once assembled, are that they are essentially indistinguishable from typical site-built homes. While mobile manufactured buildings often decrease in value over time, our  modular built homes have the same longevity as its site-built counterpart, increasing in value over time.

Here’s a short process in which the modular home goes through:

• First you have the bulk material
• The walls are attached to the floor
• The ceiling dry walled in spray booth
• Roof set in place
• Roof shingled and siding in stalled
• Then it’s ready for delivery

The development of a household budget is a must activity both before you build a home as well as during your ownership of that home. By preparing a budget you can better focus on mortgage payment goals and how the new house will affect your total expenses. Maintaining a budget during the time you own the home can help to prevent potential financial disasters as well as point you in a money saving direction so you have more funds available for those things that you need or want.

You will need a little time to develop your budget but it should not take longer than a few hours if you gather the necessary information first. Get everyone who will be involved in spending involved in developing the budget.

Some of the items and information you will need to develop your budget are:

• All current monthly loan payments.
• All other monthly expenses (such as child care, dues, etc.).
• Records of variable expenses (for example, utilities, food and car repair) from the last 12 months. This will give you an estimate of your monthly expenditures.
• Records of annual or semi-annual expenses (such as insurance and taxes).
• An estimate of what your new mortgage payment will be.
• Records of other non-fixed expenses (for example, medical expenditures) for the last year. This will give you an estimate of average expenses of this type.
• Records or an estimate of personal expenses (entertainment, travel, etc.)
• Having a current copy of your credit report can be very helpful. Not only will it reveal any inaccuracies in your credit history, it will also give you a clear picture your monthly obligations. You can get a free copy of your Credit Report.

Be realistic in your budget assessment. Make provisions for possible increases in some items (for example, school tuitions, insurance and taxes). Then, look for ways to get (and maintain) control over your budget.

Most People Spend 10% More Than They Make! You probably know how much money you made last month, but do you know how much money you spent? Or do you know how much money you have left to spend this month? If you don't you're not alone, most people have no idea. The fact is most of us spend 10% more per month than we make.

Avalon Building Systems is a full service garage builder.  We offer different models to choose from and each can be built as either a stand alone or integrated into your home via a breezeway or an open walkway.  Most importantly our garages can be customized to meet your needs and requirements.  

Our designs are for a standard 24’x 24” but can be built to any size you desire.  We can also design and build your garage to accommodate larger vehicles, boats or even a car lift. As with our modular homes, our garages are built with our same total solution approach.  From engineering and plan design to permitting, excavation, concrete work we do it all for you.  That coupled with our panelized construction techniques ensures you have a high quality product in less time than traditional stick building.

“On-Site” Modular Home Costs

The costs of a modular home are considered off site construction costs since up-to 90% of the home is completed at the factory.  These other costs you will/may incur are the on site costs which include but may not be limited to the following:

• Building Lot
• Financing and Closing Costs
• Legal Fees
• Building Permits
• Utility Connections
• Water and Sewer/Septic
• Site Preparation
• Excavation
• Foundation
• Crane
• Porches, Decks and Garages (if not included with your modular home package)
• Exterior Completion—siding, gutters, etc
• Plumbing Tie–Ins
• HVAC
• Electrical
• Interior Completion
• Temporary Housing

Look carefully at the two photos below and identify which one is stick built, and which one is a custom modular home.  Don't cheat.  The answer is provided below.   






The home on the left is an Avalon custom modular home.  The home on the right, is also an Avalon custom modular home.  We pulled this stunt simply to make a point.  You can't distinguish custom modular homes from stick-built homes from casual observation.  Now if you were to carefully inspect the attic and crawl space, there you could observe the structural superiority of the custom modular homes.  And we'd be glad to personally demonstrate the differences. 

One of our most professionally rewarding acts is to build dream vacation homes for our clients.  Land across the Northeast is being offered at value pricing we haven't seen in decades.  With more land available in more places and all at valued cost, people are taking full advantage of the situation and building their vacation homes.  

With vacation home plans as small as 800 square feet, we can quickly deliver an affordable vacation getaway.  Let's discuss how to turn your dream into reality. View our "Vacation Style" floor plans and give us a call today!  

Here is our second most frequently asked question:  "Can you build our customized dream home"?  The most frequently asked question...."Why Modular"? The latter is easily answered and then the conversation quickly turns to the former.  

It is a common perception that modular home buyers are restricted to choosing from a menu with few options.  Nothing can be farther from the truth.  In fact our staff includes professional designers with many years of experience in both residential and commercial design.  If you have an architectural plan in any stage of development, we can execute it.  

Your dream home's look and feel framed by the unmatched strength and quality of modular design.  Who says you can't have your cake and eat it too?

Roofing material and roof guarantees are critical to quality home construction, however, they are often overlooked by the consumer.  Many building contractors cut their costs by using cheap roofing products that offer little in terms of guarantee and longevity of product.  We are proud to  offer roofs constructed with 30-year guaranteed architectural self-sealing fiberglass shingles.

It is very important to discuss the subject of roofing options with your builder.  We welcome detailed discussions about our choice of building material specifications because across the board they meet or exceed stick-builder's quality standards.       

One of the fastest growing markets for modular home construction is small to mid-size companies.  Business owners are turning to modular construction for all the same reasons that families do.  But for business owners who all understand that “time is money”, the rapid delivery of finished modular construction translates directly to a more efficient path to revenue generation.  The lengthy construction process (and typical delays) of traditional stick-built construction directly translates  to “opportunity lost” for the business owner.

Avalon Building Systems offers Commercial General Office Buildings  are perfectly suited for company headquarters, production facilities, and/or both.