Anyone Have Experience with Modular Homes?
 

Yesterday we went to view a modular home in Long Beach since we will soon tear down our Hurricane Sandy damaged home and will rebuild. It was quite lovely but we really want to modify the one above so the second floor is a mirror of the first and we can have a rental apartment on top. The bottom floor is quite spacious - and is fitted with flood flow through flaps that are FEMA compliant. One one side there is a huge garage area that can fit three cars and on the other, an enormous space that I immediately envisioned as my future studio! Of course, with flooding concerns, nothing on the ground level would be covered under a flood insurance policy, so in the event that the unthinkable happens again, I figured we could run all the machines upstairs and hoist other supplies (fabrics and laces) to the ceiling of the studio using a manual Garage Gator lift system.

So ... wondering if any of you have lived in modular homes for a while, how you like them and were there any issues down the road. And what do you think of my garage studio idea?

I lived in a modular home in NE NJ in the 70's. It was the best built home I ever lived it. Since everything was factory built they seemed to use better quality materials than site built. We didn't have any issues with the home at all. It was tight, draft free with good windows.
If you have enough notice to move your machines to the second floor it should be okay. But what if the water is high enough that items lifted by your Garage Gator aren't high enough?
If you are going to put an apartment on the second floor make sure they use lots of insulation between to make it a sound barrier. Good luck - sorry it has taken this long to finally start to work on getting your own home back.

Never lived in a modular but, have lived in a mobile home for 47 years. We added three rooms to it the last one. We have redone it several times. I don't like basements so this is perfect for me. Absolutely no chance of floods here. We live on one of the highest hills in Missouri. No water around us.
Good luck, it looks very nice.

Modular homes are just like all other homes in that all are not the same. Some have cheap door handles and faucets that wear out in just a couple of years, but others are top of the line. That is true of everything in the home. Generally, you get to pick many things in a modular just like in a stick built home. Just be sure to make your choices wisely. You know how your family uses a home and you know what you priorities are.

PS. I lived in trailers and modular until I was a married lady so I've seen many of them.

If it was a choice I'd go smaller to get the best quality upgrades instead of going big with the average materials. DH and I were very surprised at the log cabin modular homes. Very nice, great quality and perfect for a lake or wooded area. His preference. Mine is a townhouse downtown right in the middle of a tourist area so the kids will have plenty to do when they visit instead of being stuck in the middle of no where. We'll both have to compromise a lot!

My Aunt has a Modular home.. its nice , but much depends on the builder and the contactor that "installs" the home.

I live in a modular home and have for the past 19 years. I love it, it's plenty big enough and they did a great job of building and siting it. It was made by a company out of Georgia and I'm thoroughly pleased. It can stand winds up to 140 mph with no problem, although it doesn't like microbursts and cedar trees, in that combination....that happened about three years ago but up to that time, and since that time, I've had no problems. You'll enjoy it!

My husband is a General contractor (40 years), and because of time constraints, we purchased a modular home in Colorado. We loved it. It had a garage/basement, main floor, and a loft and master bed/bath on the upper floor. It was well constructed and had a nice floor plan for us at the time. We didn't live in it for long (we move a LOT) but the person we sold it to has been in it for 15 years - no issues.

We purchased a modular about four years ago after living in a two story house with a full basement. This is a joy to keep up, easy cleaning and all on one floor. We do have three bedrooms and 2 baths so we have all we need. One bedroom is my sewing room.

We looked at numerous mods and companies before we bought which was in 1998. We were able to customize to our hearts content. We moved walls, opened walls, had a friend build us custom cabinets for the kitchen and not use the ones the company had, changed windows and skylights, made new closets, put TV & phone wiring in a closet so I could have a computer space and be able to close it from site. We had a good contractor and crew. Get the best you can afford and make it your own! Just do not forget to add dryer or microwave vents, we had to ask for ours as they were not part of the original plan and get lots of outlets we have 2 sets of 4 where our TV/ Stereo is placed.