DIY Network

The Papadopoulos Family From "Assembly Required" episode DASR-102

Louis and Alexsandra Papadopoulos took the leap. They left city life, bought a vineyard on 50 acres and decided to build their own home. After much investigation, they signed on for modular.

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The Papadopoulos Family

Louis and Alexsandra are new to modular home building, and so is their builder Tim McGrath. A few months ago, with the help of Nationwide Homes, Tim and the Papadopoulos family took an existing floor plan and made it their own (figure A). A true evolution of modular homes is being created here that is allowed by computer-aided design systems (figure B). This allows the builder and/or homeowners to communicate with the modular factory specific design ideas that they want, and need.

Modular building is simply a construction technique. The home is made of the same materials as stick-built homes. It’s a technique that is done in a controlled environment (figure C). Constructing in such an environment means that everything is measured with a laser and cut to perfection. None of the materials have been weathered or rained on, as is likely in stick-building, thus no potential warping of the wood.

Figure A

Figure B

Figure C

The final design of the Papadopoulos’ home is a 4000 square foot house with an expansive porch, stone face two-car garage, a sunroom and a gourmet kitchen designed especially for Alexsandra. The modules that make up the Papadopoulos home were built inside the factory in only 10 days

Just days before the modules left the factory for the vineyard, Louis and Alexsandra visited the Nationwide Homes factory to take a peek at the final stages of construction (figure D). They still can’t get a clear picture of what the house will look like, but they like what they see (figure E).

Figure D

Figure E

As the modules are constructed in the factory, builder Tim McGrath works to ensure the Papadopoulos' site is ready for the big delivery. A modular home can have a poured concrete, prefab pre-cast or block foundation (figure F). Tim chooses a prefab foundation because the walls are pre-cast at a factory based on the exact measurements of the modules, leaving little room for error (figure G).

The Papadopoulos neighbors got up in the morning, went to work...and, returned at night to a house on the property (figure H).

Figure F

Figure G

Figure H

Figure I

Quick Facts

• Whereas a poured concrete foundation could take ten days to cure, Tim and his crew set the prefab foundation in only one day.

• Modules can be as large as 16 feet wide and 64 feet long when transported to the build site by truck (figure I).

• The speed of modular construction helps the builder and homeowner save money on the construction loan by reducing interest payments.

RESOURCES :

Nationwide Custom Homes
Website: www.nationwide-homes.com

Manufactured Housing Institute
Website: www.manufacturedhousing.org

Building Systems Council
National Association of Home Builders
Website: www.nahb.com

GUESTS :

Tim McGrath
McGrath Custom Homes, LLC
Authorized Builder for Nationwide Custom Homes
Phone: 703-787-0307
Website: www.mcgrathcustomhomes.com