EnergyStar

Materials and Specifications - Upgrades

Modular Homes are built with the same high quality materials used in any well crafted wood frame home. Modular Homes must conform to the same local building codes as any other home in your town, and Modular Home manufacturers buy their building materials from the same sources as any other home builder or construction company. Because our homes are "custom built" for you, you determine the specifications of your Custom Modular Home. Isn't that what custom built means?

The Builder Development Corp sources its modular homes from several of Pennsylvania's finest and most reliable Modular Home Manufacturers. Each of these quality manufacturers establishes its own base level construction specifications and component suppliers, and each offers a wide range of construction options and upgrades. To even the field, The Builder Development Corp has established the "GOLD" spec, detailed below, as a base line spec for all of our homes. Please note: Some GOLD spec features may not be available in combination with certain options, or on a few specific plans, i.e. front elevation shutters cannot be included on a window that lacks sufficient space on both sides. Your purchase contract, including the house plans and order form for your specific home, will clearly spell out the custom specs for your Custom Modular Home.

Available Options and Upgrades

FACTORY INSTALLED OPTIONS:

Each of the factories we source from offers a wide range of factory installed options and upgrades to the base line specs. Availability of specific brands and options varies from one manufacturer to another, so be sure that your contract specifies clearly what you want.

  • COLORS: Color choices for siding, roof shingles, carpets, and countertops are available within a set of in stock colors, at no additional charge. Additional non standard or premium colors may also be available for many items. There may be up charges for special order colors.

  • NINE FOOT CEILINGS: Because the first floor modules of two story styles ship without a roof system, it is easy and economical to add nine foot ceilings.

  • ROOFS: Steeper pitches roofs provide a more dramatic look and offer greater options for attic storage. Roofs up to 9/12 or even 12/12 are available on most models. Cape Cod styles usually have a standard 12/12 pitch. Hip roofs, decorative and functional dormers are also available.

  • ATTICS: Most models, other than capes, have "truss roof" framing, which is efficient, but limits attic access. Full stand-up storage attics with rafter framing can be added to roofs with a pitch of 7/12 or greater. Storage attics can have either space saving pull down stairs, or traditional fixed stairs, depending n the plan.

  • BASEMENTS: We get asked this a lot. Yes, you can have a basement. You can also have a sub-basement, and a crypt beneath the sub-basement, but all basements and foundations are built on-site, and do not come from the factory.

  • PREMIUM WINDOWS: While all of our homes offer high quality low maintenance, low-e, energy efficient vinyl windows as a standard, all of our manufacturers offer one or more additional lines of premium windows from the best know window manufacturers in America, including Pella®, Andersen®, and Marvin®.

  • ENTRY DOORS: Your front entry makes a real statement about your home, and their are options in every price range. You can even add eight foot tall doors with available nine foot ceilings. Pro basketball players insist on these.

  • OAK STAIRS: A beautiful staircase is a memorable focal point in any home. A variety of styles is available of stairs with oak treads and rails, or all oak, including stringers and risers.

  • FIREPLACES: Choose from various sizes and styles of romantic wood burning fireplaces, or energy efficient gas fireplaces, including see-through and 3-sided styles. Finish it with one of our mantel and surrounds, or design your own.

  • MOLDING CHOICES: White 3¼" colonial base molding, and 2¼" white colonial casing is standard, but other choices include larger profiles, and other materials, including stainable pine and pre finished oak. You can also add chair rail and crown molding for a truly elegant look.

  • FLOOR COVERINGS: Carpet and vinyl floor coverings are standard, but choices abound. Obviously there are color choices, but there are also options to upgrade to more luxurious deeper piles or long wearing Berbers. Low maintenance laminate flooring comes in both faux wood grains and faux stone patterns. Ceramic tile and hardwood floors can sometimes be factory installed in limited areas, but most builders prefer to install these premium floor coverings on site, after the modular home has been set.

  • ADDED ELECTRICAL OPTIONS. It will never cost less to add an electrical outlet or a phone jack than when you first build the house. It can cost hundreds of dollars to have a professional electrician add a single light fixture, or move an electrical outlet. Spend a few minutes with your plan and make sure you have all the outlets, light fixtures, phone and TV jacks that you need. Do you need CAT-5 computer networking? Now's the time. Recessed lights? Dimmers? Switches to control exterior lighting? Pre-wire for sound systems or security? Just ask.

  • APPLIANCES: We can get you reasonable prices on a select group of GE appliances, including some stainless steel models, but frankly, you can probably buy appliances as cheaply as we can. The appliances we sell most of are dishwashers and over the range microwave ovens. When these items are factory installed, their prices are fairly competitive compared to the installed prices from most local suppliers. Remember, however, when you choose appliances for your new home, make sure they'll fit. You must either tell us your space requirements (and other electrical or plumbing needs) before the modular order is placed, or you must purchase appliances that will fit in the space that you get. Refrigerators have the widest variety of sizes. height, width, and depth.
  • CABINETRY: We offer a huge range of cabinets options in oak, maple, hickory, and cherry. Low maintenance Thermofoil finishes are also available. A beautiful kitchen is important, and we're ready to spend a the time it takes to plan the kitchen you dream about. The only limits are your imagination (and your budget). The same broad range of furniture quality cabinetry is available for baths, and other applications, including library systems, entertainment centers, desks, and other built ins.

  • BATH FIXTURES: A variety of styles are available for luxurious tubs and spas, vanity tops, and spacious showers. If we can't get what you want from the factory, we can deliver your home with the rough plumbing for your multi jet steam shower or other fantasy bath features.

  • GARAGES and PORCHES : Yes, we can include a modular garage, either as part of the modular structure, or panelized to attach to the modular home. Decks are generally built on site, but we can include panelized roofs for covered porches and porticos. Because garages and porches are fairly simple construction with minimal electric or plumbing, they frequently may be more economical to build on site.

SITE INSTALLED OPTIONS:

The sky is pretty much the limit when it comes to site installed options. (That and the budget.) The most economical options will almost always be those available for factory installation. You'll never save money deleting the basic factory cabinets so that you can site install some that you got on clearance at a local home center (even if you got them for free) because of the higher labor costs associated with on-site installation (plus the countertop, sinks, and faucets). On the other hand, if your budget permits there is no reason why you can't have whatever your heart desires in a high end home. Some of the options home buyers add on site are these "must have" specialties that aren't available from the factory, others are items that can't be practically installed at the factory. Popular on site options include:

  • Hardwood Floors and Ceramic Tile can't be installed where a floor crosses a mate wall, since you'd never get the two sides to line up properly. Some factories don't even offer hardwood and ceramic floor option for this reason. Buying hardwood and tile locally gives you a world of choices.

  • Stone, Stucco, or Brick Veneer, installed at the factory would never survive the delivery, but you can delete the standard vinyl siding on one or more walls and take the module wrapped only in house wrap.

  • Other Specialty Siding, including cedar clapboards or shakes, barn board, or other material may also be available from local sources. Again, delete the vinyl and tale only the housewrap.

  • Specialty Roofing Material, like cedar shakes, true slate, or even metal roofs can be supplied and installed on site by local roofing contractors. Want a English cottage look? Good luck finding a thatcher on this side of the pond (there's one in Virginia), but if you can, delete the architectural fiberglass shingles and have the house delivered with just roofing felt paper. With a heavy roof like slate, find out if you need special roof framing, such as 12" on center rafters instead of 16".

  • Granite Countertops can sometimes be supplied and installed at the factory, but many local fabricators and installers offer a wider selection of stone and other deluxe countertop materials. You may even be able to select you own slabs.

  • Lighting Fixtures and Ceiling Fans are offered by the factories one or two styles, but the factory can never match the selection available at your local big box home center, let alone the many specialty lighting showrooms you can visit in person or on-line. Choose your own interior exterior decorative light fixtures and ceiling fans. (Make sure the appropriate electrical boxes and switches are specified on your modular plans.)

  • CUSTOM MOLDING AND TRIM WORK, especially complex work with inset wainscotting and multi-level crowns, and coffered ceilings, is best done on site by skilled finish carpenters. Elegant looks can be achieved with economical MDF moldings, or exotic hardwoods from specialty lumber suppliers.

  • ELEVATORS, SOLAR PANELS, REVOLVING DOORS and other items we haven't thought of are probably available as long as local building codes permit. Make sure your plans include and special framing, plumbing, or wiring you need for your specialty items.