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Tour of the Simplex Modular Home Factory

In this segment, Bob continues his tour of the Simplex Industries manufacturing facility. The plant workers are precutting all the plywood for the project house, as well as other homes currently in production. The efficiencies created by using large industrial saws to make precision cuts save the homeowner time and money and insures a well-fit house. Dave Boniello from Simplex guides Bob through the cutting area of the plant. Unlike most site-built homes, all of the scraps of wood are sent back to the manufacturers for recycling. Continuing the tour, Boniello and Bob overlook the construction of the interior and exterior walls, which are built in sheets of varying heights (up to 10 feet) and up to 64 feet long. Modular homes are built from the inside out, meaning that instead of starting with the exterior framing, roof and sheathing, the modular home starts with interior walls and drywall. The wallboard is glued and screwed to the stud walls, which have additional steel plates to maintain rigidity during transport. Bob points out the inspection process for a modular home is different than for a site built home as local inspectors would be hard pressed to visit the Simplex plant in Pennsylvania. Simplex hires independent inspectors that are certified in multiple states and they correspond with local building inspectors to insure that all building codes are met or exceeded. More information