Yesterday we showed you two modules that were being delivered in southern Vermont. That delivery clearly shows you how it is so much easier to build and deliver a home that comes from an environmentally controlled plant as compared to being built outside withstanding all of mother nature’s harsh weather.
Technically speaking a modular home is comprised of sections or Modules that a built in a controlled environment and then transported to a job site.
One of the significant advantages is that work at the home site and construction of the home can be done at the same time. Obviously, if you are considering a commercial building with multiple rental units this is a huge advantage as you project will be completed quicker and most assuredly on time.
Yesterday we talked about the fact that typically one cubic foot of snow weighs about twenty pounds. Yesterday’s photograph showed you a gentleman up on his roof shoveling off what we estimated to be two feet of snow. Or, each square foot of snow weighed about forty pounds. Each square foot of snow then had a total weight of an estimated 60,000 pounds of snow on a 46’ Ranch House.
Look at today’s picture. This young man is shoveling what looks like one foot of snow off his roof.
As we all know yesterday and through the night we had a significant snow storm. Here in Champlain Valley area we had the better part of 9” of new snow; that is in addition to what was already on the ground.
Today, 2/12/2019, we are waiting for a significant winter storm to hit. The latest prediction is that about 4:00 this afternoon is will start to snow here in South Burlington and continue with heavy snow all night and eventually end some-time mid-day tomorrow with an accumulation of upwards of 18”.
It seems as though we get asked all the time, “….can you successfully build a home during the winter?” And, the answer is always the same – of course you can! Granted it takes greater thought and preparation but, it is possible to build during the winter and it gets done all the time.
For several weeks we had a lot of bitter cold weather with cold records being broken, that was during January which is typically the coldest month of the year here in Vermont. Typically temperatures run from single digits such as 8 degrees up into the 20’s. This January it was colder and there was a significant amount of snow.
As all that snow sits on your roof it is easy to see which homes are well insulated and which ones are not.
We’d like to mention another type of construction that seems to be in use and that is building homes with Factory-Made Panels. The panels are then trucked to the building site and assembled into the “shell” of the house.
On the surface I suppose that has an appeal although the real benefit escapes me. This is a type of construction where “Some Assembly is Required.” Well, ok, a lot of assembly is required!
Just in case you haven’t noticed, it is really cold outside! This morning as I left the house on my way to our offices here in Shelburne it was slightly above zero. Yikes that’s cold! And, the wind was blowing. For sure, today is one of those days where “…you’ve just got to love winter.”
Can you imagine your new home being built outside on a day like this? Pretend that somehow the carpenters managed to work; how would they navigate working with gloves on? Or even worse, how would they manage without gloves? Either scenario is an accident looking for a place to happen!
We are constantly asked about building homes in the winter and people ask, “….isn’t the winter a more difficult time to build?” It seems as though everyone worries about all these things: