Peoria Area Real Estate Topics

What’s the difference between a stick built, SIP, modular and manufactured homes?

Stick built homes are your traditional home, build piece by piece…stick (2×4) by stick from the foundation up to the chimney tip. The other three of these homes begin in the factory.

Manufactured homes are basically a trailer/mobile home. It has a steel undercarriage that stay attached to the home for the life of the home. Modular homes can have a skirt or traditional crawl space foundation. Manufactured homes are under Federal housing building guidelines. Manufactured homes are made to be more “economical” and unlike the other forms, manufactured homes generally loose value over time.

Modular homes are sections of homes that are pre-built in the factory, trucked in and removed from a truck and joined together by contractors at your building site. They are built like a stick build home but made in the factory in transportable MODULES. Modular homes follow your state and local building codes. One of the benefits to modular is that they are built in the factory so they are less likely to suffer damage from rain during the building process. Once at the site, homes are assembled quickly, usually in a day or two. Modular homes are usually built stronger to withstand wind and vibrations during moving.

SIPs are Structurally Integrated Panels. These are engineered panels that usually come with an exterior walls that is ready to side and an interior walls that is ready to drywall. Panels are pre-engineered with conduit, and wiring chases pre-installed, ready to wire. Walls are pre-built in sections in the factory and nailed, glued and/or bolted together at the location. SIP homes follow state and local building codes. SIPs go together quickly and the home can be enclosed in as little as a week. Though not as fast as a modular home, the speedy assembly can lesson the amount of time the interior of your home is exposed to the weather. Manufactures of these products claim better insulation value due to their engineering and design.

Thanks
Tim Johnson, REALTOR
Homeward Group, RE/MAX Unlimited
www.TimJohnsonRealtor.com

Tags: Building types, Modular, SIPs, Stick Built

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 at 10:00 am and is filed under Buyer's Guide. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.