Homes By Vanderbuilt – Modular Homes Are Stronger Than Site-Built, says FEMA

Current Conditions of NC CoastAt Homes by Vanderbuilt, one of the questions we get asked the most from buyers of a custom modular home is “are modular homes strong enough to with stand a hurricane?”
We’ve always said that our building system produces structures that are far stronger than site built housing. For example, each modular section is built to withstand the shock of highway transport, and they can contain up to 30% more building materials than a comparable site-built home. The drywall is usually glued and then screwed to the wall studs and triple-headers are used over window openings and around stairwells, to withstand the stress of being loaded by a crane and carried on the highway.

The folks at Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) concur that modular homes can withstand a hurricane much better than site built housing. In its report “Building Performance: Hurricane Andrew in Florida,” assessment teams from FEMA concluded that modular homes withstood the 131-155 mph winds of the Category 4 storm in August of ’92 far better than site built housing.

“Overall, relatively minimal structural damage was noted in modular housing developments. The module-to-module combination of units appears to have provided an inherently rigid system that performed much better than conventional residential framing. This was evident in both the transverse and longitudinal directions of the modular buildings,” according to the report.

(Get your free copyof the report by calling FEMA at 800-480-2520, publication number FIA-22, item 3-0180)

Homes By Vanderbuilt offers affordable and quickly built modular housing for hurricane victims and custom permanent homes as well to replace their previous structures. Folks in coastal North Carolina are no strangers to hurricanes and the damage they can cause. In 1996 Hurricane Bertha caused over $55 Million in damages and a few weeks later Hurricane Fran caused another $2.4 Billion. Double hurricanes struck again in 1999 with Hurricane Dennis and Hurricane Floyd causing over $4 Billion in damages as well.

For more information on how a custom modular from Homes By Vanderbuilt is a better investment if you live in a coastal state that is in the path of many hurricanes, please visit Homes By Vanderbuilt