I'm intrigued by these homes. They are in some stage of a new factory in Waco next to the Amazon warehouse. From what I've read, they are on the high end of this new method of home building, but also offer high end finish outs, the latest solar technology and a Tesla Power grid. $3500 up front for a feasibility study that I believe you can apply to the home cost. Anyone know anybody affiliated with the new Waco facility?
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S2A Modular
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Last: 3 yr ago by BaylorGuy314
My wife and I are really interested in this. I'm tracking property/land in Waco right now and plan to do something in a couple of years.
Have been really interested in high end modular. And, with Texas power reliability, definitely interested in the powerwall.
Interesting. Based on what I saw in the gallery these do not appear to have central air and heat, instead those modular things that hang on the wall with a compressor outside. This is not a lux feature. It also suggests these people have not built many houses in the south.
I'm a homebuilder here in Waco and have always been interested in emerging tech in home construction so I've been watching this company as they come to Waco. My guess is that they will be highly focused on acreage homesites out in the country as a higher quality alternative to your typical manufactured home options (like a Clayton homes, etc). Their marketing materials don't imply that but I don't see most of their stuff working inside a lot of city limits without a good bit of modification that would eliminate any benefits from using them over current construction methods.
Modular construction can be cheaper but it's generally been more successful where the cost of construction is outrageous (see areas like the PNW where land cost, regulations, and labor cost have driven new homes to $400-500/sf - and up - for a basic home). Cost of construction has really escalated in Texas the last few years (both material and labor) but there are real headaches to prefab that hurt it's proclaimed efficiency and I'm not sure you can cut enough in material and labor costs to make prefab much cheaper than traditional in a city like Waco at the moment. I'm sure that time will come eventually.
Corsicana- you are referring to a mini-split HVAC system. Those systems are actually pretty dang good. I wouldn't be surprised to see them an increasing amount going forward and, as long as the energy needs of the house have been properly calculated and addressed, I wouldn't be hesitant in having them in my house. Their big strength is cost, ease of install, and flexibility but at the expense of being able to heat/cool large areas of SF - especially large areas divided into many rooms. Thus, they work exceptionally well in smaller square footage applications. To do them in a large house would require quite a few units which then lends itself to a multi-unit or zoned central HVAC being better in both cost and efficiency.
Modular construction can be cheaper but it's generally been more successful where the cost of construction is outrageous (see areas like the PNW where land cost, regulations, and labor cost have driven new homes to $400-500/sf - and up - for a basic home). Cost of construction has really escalated in Texas the last few years (both material and labor) but there are real headaches to prefab that hurt it's proclaimed efficiency and I'm not sure you can cut enough in material and labor costs to make prefab much cheaper than traditional in a city like Waco at the moment. I'm sure that time will come eventually.
Corsicana- you are referring to a mini-split HVAC system. Those systems are actually pretty dang good. I wouldn't be surprised to see them an increasing amount going forward and, as long as the energy needs of the house have been properly calculated and addressed, I wouldn't be hesitant in having them in my house. Their big strength is cost, ease of install, and flexibility but at the expense of being able to heat/cool large areas of SF - especially large areas divided into many rooms. Thus, they work exceptionally well in smaller square footage applications. To do them in a large house would require quite a few units which then lends itself to a multi-unit or zoned central HVAC being better in both cost and efficiency.
Regardless of their efficiency, they look ugly in any room in which they are installed, therefore not luxe. As an added benefit you get an ugly box on the outside for every one on the inside. Ok for a shop or a pool house, but not the main house. They are one step up from a window unit.
We have two in our large 3 car garage so I can use my lap grinder and tile saw in the summer and winter. One of ours is linked in the attic to the one on the outside wall, and the pump died after about 3 years, and now we have spots on the ceiling where it leaked. Would have been really ticked if it wasn't the garage. We replaced the garage doors with insulated ones, and it has made a big difference in how hot the garage gets even without the split units on.CorsicanaBear said:
Regardless of their efficiency, they look ugly in any room in which they are installed, therefore not luxe. As an added benefit you get an ugly box on the outside for every one on the inside. Ok for a shop or a pool house, but not the main house. They are one step up from a window unit.
I agree that they aren't as aesthetically pleasing as central heat and air, but my main concern would be the pumpa if I had several linked together.
If you find out anything regarding cost of construction please pass it along. I'm looking for a solution to the environmental sensitivity issues that a mold contamination of our last home (under the garden bathtub from a leak, in the walls and throughout the mast bath caused by defective shower pan installation, and inadequate ventilation of the attic ). Any level of asp-pen which is typical in construction around Houston causes issues
Kurt@kwclaw.com.
Kurt@kwclaw.com.
Yeah who needs that in WacoCorsicanaBear said:
Based on what I saw in the gallery these do not appear to have central air and heat
Where do I see the gallery?CorsicanaBear said:
Interesting. Based on what I saw in the gallery these do not appear to have central air and heat, instead those modular things that hang on the wall with a compressor outside. This is not a lux feature. It also suggests these people have not built many houses in the south.
Nvr mind. found it
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BaylorGuy314 said:
I'm a homebuilder here in Waco and have always been interested in emerging tech in home construction so I've been watching this company as they come to Waco. My guess is that they will be highly focused on acreage homesites out in the country as a higher quality alternative to your typical manufactured home options (like a Clayton homes, etc). Their marketing materials don't imply that but I don't see most of their stuff working inside a lot of city limits without a good bit of modification that would eliminate any benefits from using them over current construction methods.
Legit asking as someone without enough knowledge about Waco code.
What kinds of things would need to be changed to meet code inside city limits? Is your opinion based on general modular construction or specific knowledge of this company?
As someone who is looking at property in Waco and modular construction, I'm interested in your opinion.
General modular construction.Edmond Bear said:BaylorGuy314 said:
I'm a homebuilder here in Waco and have always been interested in emerging tech in home construction so I've been watching this company as they come to Waco. My guess is that they will be highly focused on acreage homesites out in the country as a higher quality alternative to your typical manufactured home options (like a Clayton homes, etc). Their marketing materials don't imply that but I don't see most of their stuff working inside a lot of city limits without a good bit of modification that would eliminate any benefits from using them over current construction methods.
Legit asking as someone without enough knowledge about Waco code.
What kinds of things would need to be changed to meet code inside city limits? Is your opinion based on general modular construction or specific knowledge of this company?
As someone who is looking at property in Waco and modular construction, I'm interested in your opinion.
Quite a few years ago, several production-style builders (like DR Horton) tried to get into prebuilt framing packages to control costs and expedite build times. It just didn't work. The inspectors in Hewitt/Woodway/Waco all have different interpretations of code and require different items at different inspection steps. Builders were constantly having to go back and edit the prebuilt sections to make inspectors happy and, in the end, it actually slowed things down and cost more.
Outside of the city limits, the inspection requirements are far more loose. But S2A is probably correct on their bet that there is a market - especially on acreage sites outside of city limits- for a modular home that's a better quality than manufactured but not a normal custom build. Custom homes are expensive (esp right now) and manufactured isn't going to even be in the discussion for some folks.