Method Homes Prefab Green Modular Homes

It has been quite some time since we’ve updated the blog but we at Method are going to try to keep it more up to date while we work on new projects. Method Homes should have some exciting announcements in the coming months and we can’t wait to share them.

We are currently working on several projects for 2009 with several more on the horizon. We plan to use the blog to document the status of these projects and illustrate the architectural design process.

Method has several Method Cabins in the works. One is going on a lake front lot on Lake Wenatchee in Chelan county in eastern Washington, one is going to Mendocino County in Northern California and a third will be down by Mount Rainier. Additionally, Method has been working with a community land trust on an affordable green prefab home with models to be built in Whatcom County.

We are planning a trip to British Columbia to promote the Method Cabin. We have a ton of interest from the Whistler area and are excited to market Method in that area.

Method Homes has been working with Balance Associates Architects on a new line of “one box” cabin models by  that we will be bringing to market shortly. These are going to plug and play units that can go on or off the grid. We will update the blog with some  preview floor plans next week.

The Method Cabin is now available on the East Coast and in the Midwest and we plan to make a formal announcement in the beginning of December. More to come shortly.

Here is floorplan of the new model 4 cabin that is 2 bedrooms and 2 baths and 1450 square comprised of 3 modules:method-homes-model-42

After all of the work and then more work I’m pleased to announce the cabin is fully complete, furnished and quite livable. Click here for a complete photo gallery. Once again, a huge thank you goes out to our entire team whom we could not have done it without. This is my first entry on the new blog and I intend to start posting more again since we have quite a few things in the works and I need to follow up on some building materials and practices employed in production of the cabin.

One item that became clear during the site finishing of the cabin is how faster and smoother construction went in the controlled setting of our production facility. One thing we will be doing in the future is siding the homes in the factory since it is much easier to side the homes on the ground than up a story on site.

Here are some pictures of the finished home. I have been spending weekends up there and some features of the home that I have noticed firsthand are the functional floor plan, how energy efficient the home is and how the interior and exterior blend together with the natural environment.

Well, we made it through the push for our open house weekend. The cabin is almost 100% complete, less than three months from the start of construction. I spent the weekend up there and it was great to stay in the Method Cabin and see our vision realized.

Thank you to everyone who attended and made the weekend a success. I am available to give private tours if anyone else would like to see the home. Also it is going to be a vacation rental soon so if anyone would like to demo the Method Cabin contact me at brian at methodhomes dot net to reserve your dates.

It was truly a team effort to get it ready in time and a big thanks goes out to everyone involved in making that happen. Based on what it looked like Thursday morning it is amazing we were ready in time as can be seen by the first photos.

Now that we’re complete I’m going to try to update the blog more regularly.  Hopefully the next photos will be the final finished photos.

A special thanks go out to Digs furniture store of Bellingham which can be found  at http://digsshowroom.com for helping us with the furniture by Gus* and all the home decor. Too bad for us we want to keep half the stuff.

Wow I can’t believe neither Mark or I have posted anything since the set. We’ve been up in the wilds of Glacier Washington without cell phone service or an internet connection working away on the Method Cabin. We did get a phone last Friday so are slowly rejoining civilization.

I’ve posted a couple of pictures to update progress. We are on pace to be 90% complete before the open house next Sunday the 22nd between 11-4pm.

This is 11 weeks from the start of construction.

It is interesting because it’s been a different experience finishing everything on-site, which confirms the fact that everything is quicker and easier in the controlled environment of our facility. In the future we will be siding all our homes in the factory and using internal straps.

There are several items I’d like to clarify about Method Homes

• Our homes can sit on a normal sized foundation. Our current model is built up because we are in a flood plain.
• Our homes can also sit above daylight basements and garages or first stories.
• Our homes are fully modifiable and can be sided in any material including galvalume, EcoClad, cement board, in addition to different cedar options such as ship lap, board and baton, tongue and groove, all of which can be applied as a rain screen.

What just took place today is a dream becoming a reality. The set took 8 hours. We’ve been looking at the Method Cabin for over a year now on paper, and the modules in the factory for two months. To see it in the woods on our lot is very surreal. We have many people to thank and lots to write about, but for now, Brian and I both need some sleep! Until then, enjoy the pics. Thanks!

A complete account of the Method Cabin 1 day install can be viewed at our photo page.

The site work is nearing completion. Slabs were poured on Friday and framing completed on Saturday. Here are some pics. A couple of the stacking of our cold roof panels, a couple of the slab work and a couple of the Mt. Baker view about 100 paces away.

Attached are some updated photos. The set is fast approaching and I see long work days next week but am excited to see this become reality after all of the work our team has put into it.

Method Homes was featured on Inhabitat’s prefab Friday.

Photos

These are the stacked roof components that be craned on after the five modules are set. We are calling this the "cold roof" since the insulation is in the ceiling of the modules. The "cold roof" serves to provide the home with overhanging eaves that protect the home and distinguish it architecturally, and also provides structural strength to allow the home to go in areas with hight snow loads such as Montana, the Methow Valley, and Whistler.

Another picture of the roof components. Mark has action shots of them being stacked which he'll hopefully post soon. The actual stacking of the roof should make for an entry of its own.

This is Bedroom 3 in the back "bunkhouse" module and I'm quite please with how the tongue and groove paneling came out.

Here is the bathroom where you can see the beginnings of the Toto dual flush toilet, Marmoleum and tile from the good folks at Statements Tile who are committed to sustainability

The beginnings of the radiant system.

Here is a shot of the kitchen and visible is the vapor barrier that goes on top of the insulation before the tongue and groove ceiling.

These are the tongue and groove boards that I have personally been pre-finishing. It has been a pet project of mine and has taken some time but its been fun putting some music on, zoning out and pre-finishing and I'm proud how they've come out.

It has been a while since either of us has posted an update so here goes. Pictures will follow on Monday. Drywall and paint are complete. The tile and Marmoleum have gone on. The radiant heating system is being put together and next week we will install the tongue and groove ceiling, trim, and do finish electrical. Additionally, the roof components will be finished and stacked.

We also had KOMO 4 Seattle news to the production facility last week. The segment has aired several times and I think it was a good piece.

We are sending the home out the door on May 21 and setting it on the 22nd. This will be less than 7 weeks from the start. Mark and I are looking at each other in disbelief but as long a everything(cabinets) show up when it is supposed to the module will leave the factory 90% complete with cabinets, counter tops, and plumbing and electrical fixtures installed.

I am very pleased with the response we’ve had thus far, we have had good press coverage, expect some magazine profiles and have a number of parties interested in homes. It has been a group effort and all our master craftsmen, consultants and Scott and Tom  at Balance Associates have gone the extra mile to help us get to this point.

On a side note I have been thinking about all of the great vacation home spots where the Method Cabin should go. The list is long and I am reminded of all the beautiful locales out here.

I think Whistler would be a fantastic, close locale and some others include Bachelor, Hood, Montana, Idaho towns such as Sandpoint and Ketchum, and of course the Methow Valley and Leavenworth areas of Washington. The San Juan Islands also make good sense because the time and cost of construction out there. Basically anywhere a vacation home can go in the Northwest and beyond. I am thinking about doing a promotional tour of these areas this summer. The beauty of the Method Cabin is the siding and exterior appearance can be modified for each of these locations in order to be in harmony with different natural surroundings.

I will post in greater detail about our no VOC Yolo Colorhouse paint, radiant system, reclaimed trim and Marmoleum shortly.

The foundation is sitting in the woods, awaiting a home. I can’t wait to see it. The warehouse has sheet rock hung and by the end of the week a level 5 smooth wall. The home is scheduled to leave May 21st. See you soon!

Brian chiming in here. This is probably a good time to go over the concrete slag that made up 50% of our concrete. We will be earning LEED points from slag and based on all the benefits of using it with no drawbacks I think it should be used in all projects. From the slag cement association slagcement.org

“Slag cement is a byproduct of an iron blast furnace, part of an integrated steel mill. When molten slag is separated from iron in a blast furnace, it can be rapidly quenched with water (”granulated”), dried and ground to a fine powder. At this point it becomes slag cement (or ground granulated blast furnace slag)

Slag cement is one of the most sustainable construction materials available because it:

• Recovers anindustrial byproduct through beneficial use when incorporated into concrete or other construction applications.
• Avoids disposal of blast furnace slag, when beneficially utilized.
• Reduces portland cement in concrete, resulting in:
  • Decreased embodied energy
  • Decreased embodied greenhouse gas
  • Decreased use of virgin materials
• Reduces the urban heat island effect by increasing the reflectivity of concrete.
• Increases structure life by improving the durability of concrete to various types of degradation such as corrosion of reinforcing steel, external and internal chemical attack, and cracking due to thermal stress.”

Yesterday the foam crew from Burnham Insulation was up to the facility applying 2 inches of spray polyurethane foam. This is going to give the home a tight building envelope allowing no air penetrations and thus increasing energy efficiency.

Coupled with the blown in cellulose that was applied today the home is going to achieve a R value of 25.

I am amazed that we are only 3 weeks into the building process and will be hanging sheet rock tomorrow. We have completed rough electrical, rough plumbing, insulation and all framing and the foundation was just poured this past Monday. On top of that everything is bone dry inside the home and we’re on schedule. Actually witnessing construction take place has made me even more a believer in factory built homes than I was already and that is saying a lot. We are on schedule to build the home in 7 weeks which is incredible to me since I am now finishing a site built home that was started in August.

In business news I’ve been working hard forming strategic partnerships with product suppliers and am happy that we are working with Yolo Colorhouse for paint, KlipTech EcoTop for counters, TimberPro Coatings for low VOC exterior stains and several other companies that I’ll list later.

We also sent out our first press release and hopefully there will be some new people reading this after we receive some coverage. Launching a startup is equally exhilarating and exhausting but I love and believe in what we’re doing so it is gratifying as well.