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.
Yesterday we had a home delivered up in the mountains of southern Vermont right in the midst of Ski Country.
As you can easily see from today’s photograph it is a winter situation with an abundance of snow. Actually, there was a HUGE amount of snow and it took some large machinery to clear what the town road plows had deposited at the side of the road. Then of course the snow was pushed back to make the road even wider allowing the trucks to maneuver and deliver the modules to their job-site.
The weather forecast for tonight is COLD temps in the single digits, this frigid air is evidently going to be throughout most of Vermont and New England. Oh well……., it is February and it is supposed to be cold.
Sitting by the fire reading a book, sipping of an adult beverage, or nursing a cup of hot chocolate – doesn’t that all sound fantastic! It is what’s called snuggly warm and comfortable, or one of winter’s great joys!
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.
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.
In the past week or so the temperatures outside have fluctuated all over the place. And, most of the houses out there have snow up on the roof that will melt and/or evaporate until it is all gone.
Yesterday we introduced you to the concept of Ice Dams. Just to make things very clear, an ice dam is a phenomenon that you would not like at your house! So, what causes Ice Dams to form?
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.
If you have been listening to the radio or TV, reading the paper, watching online, or listening to virtually everyone they are all saying the same thing……, it is really cold outside! Then everyone goes off on a crazy streak talking about a Polar Vortex and how we are in the midst of dangerous cold.