Method Homes Prefab Green Modular Homes

Since we first started Method Homes, we have had a good amount of interest in the San Juan Islands, for our modern prefab homes. Our process of modern modular building is ideal for the islands, being built with fixed costs and predictable completion dates on the main land, and then shipped out to the site while still utilizing local island trades for a good amount of the site work. We are excited to finally have begun construction on a home for Orcas Island. The design began from the basic Method Cabin floor plan, but became customized in order to deal with the steep rocky sloped lot.

The home will be positioned on concrete and steel columns, with four water tanks for the owners water catchment system tucked beneath. Also tucked below the main floors will be a mechanical room that will house the mechanical equipment to run the entire house, along with solar preheat and the radiant heating system. The home will be LEED certified, which level has not been determined as of yet. The home will also incorporate all the other basic green components that Method always includes.

Attached to this blog post are a couple elevation pictures of the home courtesy Balance Associates Architects and some of the first pics of the construction in our shop. We’ll try and keep you updated!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28SWiBVl4pA

Comparison pics.

After a couple months in our shop, I have to say the newest Method Cabin looks WAY better sitting on its lakeside site. The set went off without a hitch, taking the full estimated 8 hours. The foundation and framing were near perfect, and the home looks like it’s been there forever…according to numerous spectators, neighbors and family. The Method team is spending a few days on site helping the homeowner/general contractor (who has done an incredible job running his own project) finish some details on the home before we demobilize out of there. For now here are some pictures to check out. The owner liked the color of the original Method Cabin so much, they chose it for there home as well….so don’t get confused!

Being as I am still away from any type of high-speed internet, I only have time to let a few pictures download….enjoy for now. Keep in mind this is what the home looks like just 8 hours after arriving to the site.

Been building…..sorry about no blog posts!

Spencer Lake is done and set for delivery this week….set day on Friday. Here are some pics of the site and the home sitting in our custom prefab shop.

More updates to come but for now a quick one:

-Orcas Island project starts Aug.9th

-Lid Park still waiting for City of Seattle permits…yikes! Not the ideal way for the process to go but for those of you who are waiting on this one, it will be set and complete very soon.

The City of Seattle apologizes!

After a few weeks of construction, we are done framing and will be moving into sub trades this week. Here are some pictures of the progress. Spencer Lake is a Method Cabin model 1, perched on a medium bank waterfront lot on Spencer Lake near Olympia WA. The home features a custom master bedroom module which is offset and turned to face slightly away from the main portion of the home, while still capturing the dramatic views. The home will have a site built daylight basement with bunk room and media room. The set date for this home is scheduled sometime around the end of July. We’ll keep you posted.

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!