Method Homes Prefab Green Modular Homes

Today we finished the floor sheathing on Lid Park. Not too impressive to look at but thought I’d post some pics none the less. Notice the floors are now 3′ in the air so that our insulation company can spray in the 3″ of polyurethane foam around the rims of the floor. It will ensure the floors are airtight and add to the insulation R values between floors. Having them up in the air will also be nice for our plumbers on Monday for rough in floor plumbing! There’s also some close up shots of the floor where the roof top deck is going. The joists are smaller and cut at a slope for drainage. This will get sheeted with CDX plywood which is different than the other sub floor. The deck will then get a TPO roofing membrane with a built up cedar deck on top.

We had our first framing inspection today for the Seattle prefab infill project:: Lid Park. Tomorrow morning we start in on floor sheeting. Tomorrow afternoon we will be jacking up the floors for sprayed-in foam to be applied, so once complete we can lower the floors back to the ground for completing the framing. On this home we have been able to use conventional 2×10 doug fir floor joists. Projects past we have used engineered joists.

This green built home is going to be set on an infill lot in Seattle, that is only 20′ wide. The home itself will only be 12′ wide at it’s widest point, but the design incorporates outdoor living spaces such as a roof top deck, which will make the home feel much larger than it actually is. This home is being built on spec by a developer out of Seattle, who is excited to be building prefab. The site is located on the end of a city block, with three neighboring streets surrounding it. Across the street is Lid Park, which will no doubt add a ton of value for whomever shall occupy the home. The house looks south over the busy park, so the design incorporates just enough privacy not only from the public, but also the southern exposure.

Apologies on no blog posts for some time, but we’ve been busy…which is good. We have much exciting news to share but just can’t seem to find the time to do so.

A few quick updates:

-Method is updating our website which should be live before the next Dwell hits the stands! Finally after two years! Look for our add in the back of the annual PreFab issue. Thanks for continuing to support prefab Dwell!

-Method is working on upcoming prefab home projects, and we are fortunate to have a nearly full schedule for the remainder of the year. Check the details of these new projects in updated site….again coming very soon we hope.

-We officially launched Homb in partnership with Skylab Architecture. www.welcomehomb.com This prefab system will revolutionize the way we look at designing and building. Look for a Homb near you very soon.

-Method begins production on our first Seattle infill project next week! With Pb Elemental. www.pbelemental.com We’re excited about this project and all that prefab has to offer this type of urban infill environment. See renderings.

-We have a new office: 3132 Fairview Ave. E Seattle WA 98102 Stop by and say hello, have a glass of wine with Brian. Bring your boat….we have moorage!

-Method in development on new DADU (detached accessory dwelling unit) project for Seattle….can’t share too much yet.

-Look for Method featured in new prefab book by renowned author Sheri Koones, foreword by Robert Redford. Book titled Prefabulous + Sustainable, due out in April but available for presale at Amazon.com

Thanks everyone for their support. We appreciate all of you. Talk soon.

This cabin has been a blast to build. The interior is complete, but the weather has held us up some on the exterior. We have some minor exterior trim, painting, stairs off of back decks and final site clean up remaining. For now, enjoy these interior shots! And a couple exterior too…

Back in August I posted a description and some pics of a project on Obstruction Island in the San Juan’s. We’re still working with the clients and last week were finally able to get out there and perform a deep water survey at high tide. The goal with this project is to crane the sections of the home off of a barge and directly onto the waiting foundation. The barge needs a certain amount of water beneath it to pull this off, and all findings are looking positive. Now that we know how close the crane can get to the shore, we can accurately determine how far we can reach, in order to make sure the home can be sited behind the 50′ shoreline set back. This time out to the island, the principle architect of Balance Associates was able to come along and perform his studies gathering the lay of the land, in order to draw up some preliminary sketches. The engineer and operator of the crane company also joined us, and were professional and focused on our intent and goal of setting a modular home onto this beautiful piece of property. Although at first they might have thought we were crazy, they soon realized what we were doing and the complexity of the project and why they were on board. To crane a home from a barge onto water front property on an inaccessible island, will easily cut a year off the construction time, including the confidence to rely on a realistic budget with many less unknowns than these projects normally experience. Anyhow, here are some pics. We’ll keep you updated on this and many of our other potential San Juan Island projects.

The M2 in Glacier is almost complete. Here are a couple sneak peek photos of the inside. More to come shortly.

Here’s to a great 2010! Cheers.

With snow a couple days after set and below freezing temps every day since, we have been hard at work trying to button up this latest project. No time for blogging! But here are some pics of the M2 on site. The set went off without a hitch, other than the crane being delayed due to freezing hydrolic lines, but we got it done none the less. There was a huge group of supporters there, including the homeowners and some friends. Tom Lenchek, the principle at Balance Associates was also there lending support in lining up the modules on the foundation. It was great! Most of the group had never seen a modular set before, and I think once they witnessed the gracefulness of the craning process they were relieved and could enjoy it. Anyhow this home only took an hour and a half of crane time, and it all went perfect. We will be posting the professional shots soon along with a new time lapse video on YouTube shortly. For now here are some pics post set. And again as I’ve warned before, these have all been taken either with my phone or my ancient Canon PowerShot. Enjoy!

Here are a couple shots I took today in our shop, of the M2 cabin almost ready for delivery and install. Our delivery and crane companies along with our set crew is scheduled for this Weds, Dec 9th and the weather looks to be cold but favorable. These shots are pretty blurry for some reason but you can see the progress. I’ll post pics of the interior a few days after set, once we get it into some natural light! For now, hope you enjoy these pics as I have not posted any of this home in a couple weeks.

Bunch of pictures, little punch list. Enjoy! The owner moves in tomorrow.

The weather has turned clear once again just in time to move around some dirt. The Glacier M2 Cabin is scheduled to be set Dec. 9th, one week from tomorrow. Today the preparation prior to backfill happened, including footing drains, gutter drains and water proofing. Here are some pictures I took today, including some of the bolts that will hold the moment frame in place once the modules are set. The moment frame is a steel upside down U that will give the open great room module some engineered strength, which is due to the fact the end of the room is all glass, which according to engineers doesn’t provide much strength. The moment frame is already framed and part of the structure sitting in the shop, which will then fit over these bolts that are poured as part of the foundation. This is NOT orthopedic surgery, just a little math and paying attention. And The Mountain was out today! So here we go…