Method Homes Prefab Green Modular Homes

The foundation has been completed and forms stripped. We’ll be spraying the emulsion shortly and prepping the walls with drain mat to protect the house from water intrusion. After that and all drain lines around the footings have been installed we will begin back filling. Check back for updates on site work. It should be buttoning up a week or so prior to the home arriving.

Just as framing on the Lake Whatcom project kicks into full tilt boogie in the Method facility, the foundation walls are scheduled to be poured today. Here are some pics of the formed walls. Remember to click on small pics to enlarge, and double click for an even larger image.

Here are some photos of the steel rebar that the foundation crew will form the walls around. The two back walls double as foundation and retaining walls, hence the height. Once poured, these two walls will finish out at 9′ with the front two walls facing the view being flush with grade. This foundation is identical to a site built home style foundation. Because we are already framing in the factory at this point, there is no reason to rush through the foundation. These guys are good!

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.