Will Automation Always be a Distant Dream for Modular Housing? Gary Fleisher Recently I heard, once again, a speaker supporting total automation of the modular production process while comparing modular housing with automobile production lines. Let me put this to rest for hopefully the last time. Modular housing is not anything like the auto industry. There are two... Read More December 2019 Issue #11245 Page 84
The Last Word: The Last Word on Thanksgiving Joe Kannapell Let’s give thanks to this component industry, for still paying us after all these 50+ years. While so many others have been laid off or retired early, we are still standing tall. Even as the lifeblood of our industry, housing starts, are down 50% since I came on board. Even as four major... Read More December 2019 Issue #11245 Page 125
Meet Modular Construction’s Newest Innovator Gary Fleisher One of the people in the modular housing industry I’ve wanted to interview since I met him a few years back is Vaughan Buckley, the owner of Volumetric Building Companies in Philadelphia. He is the rising star more people in our industry should emulate. His vision for what is and could... Read More November 2019 Issue #11244 Page 88
Lumber Briefs: Lumber & Housing Market Forecast Matt Layman Housing is Over Built; Lumber is the Honey Hole Most of the time, the daily news and world events do not have a significant impact on how we buy and sell lumber. This recent stuff is different. It’s scary. All the trade and economic balls are in the air, and politically the U.S. is... Read More September 2019 Issue #11242 Page 94
Lumber Briefs: Housing’s Dilemma...No More Capacity Matt Layman More housing data is rolling in and it is not looking good...but it is 30 days old. Therefore, I am looking for 2-month trends. Existing Home Sales declined on rising prices, expanding inventory to 4.5 months...about average...not a shortage. New Home Sales increased as did prices,... Read More August 2019 Issue #11241 Page 84
The Hiring Zone: Opportunity Knocks Just a couple of years ago, I went back to the commercial modular/classroom/mobile office plant where I had my first GM job in the ’80s. I was 27 then, am much older now, but one thing hasn’t changed much, technology. The stations had the same kind of equipment, home build when... Read More July 2019 Issue #11240 Page 80
Modular Construction Makes Inroads in Multi-Family Sector Tom Hardiman Permanent modular buildings are considered real property, built to the same building codes and requirements as site-built structures, and can be financed, sold, and depreciated in a similar manner. As such, the markets for permanent modular construction are similar to the markets for site-built... Read More July 2019 Issue #11240 Page 86
Attaching a Deck Ledger to a Home Through Brick or Masonry Veneer—the BVLZ Solution Rachel Holland Brick or masonry veneer has traditionally posed a problem to homeowners and contractors seeking to attach a deck to a home without removing large portions of the veneer or siding. No longer is that the case, thanks to the innovative BVLZ brick veneer ledger connector from Simpson Strong-Tie. In... Read More July 2019 Issue #11240 Page 100
The Last Word: The Second Wave of Automation? Joe Kannapell Are we seeing the onset of a wave of CM automation or is this déjà vu all over again? Are other CMs following the startups chronicled earlier on these pages: Blueprint Robotics (May 2017) or Katerra (Feb 2018)? Big money is driving it, the big wigs are behind it, and high tech machines are... Read More July 2019 Issue #11240 Page 113
Questions Answered: Strong-Wall® Site-Built Portal Frame System Simpson Strong-Tie Staff In this article, we follow up on our April 17 webinar, Meeting Braced-Wall Requirements: A New Portal Frame Solution, by answering some of the interesting questions raised by attendees. During the webinar, we discussed how the Strong-Wall site-built portal frame system (PFS) provides... Read More June 2019 Issue #11239 Page 98