Tour of the Simplex Modular Home Factory

Project: Modular Mountain Retreat, Episode 3, Part 1



All of the work in progress is going on indoors, safe from the elements that can slow traditional home construction. The work underway includes roof assembly, subfloor installation, wall framing, and drywall application for the house's main living areas.

Tasks that are also ongoing include spackling and sanding, installing insulation, applying wall and roof sheathing, plus house wrapping and interior trim work.

Leviton structured wire boxes, which will form the backbone of the home's voice and data system, are also being installed, while, at the Simplex stair shop, the staircase for the project houses is being carefully assembled.
Part 1: Tour of the Simplex Modular Home Factory
Bob tours the Simplex Industries manufacturing facility where the plant workers are precutting all the plywood. The efficiencies enabled by using large industrial saws to make precision cuts save the homeowner time and money.

Dave Boniello from Simplex guides Bob to where construction of the interior and exterior walls is taking place. (Modular homes are built from the inside out. Instead of starting with the exterior framing, roof, and sheathing, construction of a modular home starts with the 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 that 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.
Part 2: High-Speed Drywall Finishing
Part 3: Building a Custom Modular Staircase
Beautifully sited on wooded acreage with breathtaking views of some of the most beautiful countryside in New England, this Arts and Crafts style bungalow certainly doesn't look factory-built. You'd never know it was a modular home unless Bob took you to the Pennsylvania factory where it was built, almost from start to finish.

The house goes down the assembly line from framing, through wiring and plumbing, all the way to the installation of flooring and priming for paint.

The house is trucked to its pre-fabricated foundations on the lot, and start all the finishing touches that will prove that a modular house doesn't have to be a cookie-cutter affair.

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