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Tour of the Simplex Modular Home Factory

In this segment, Bob continues his tour of the Simplex Industries manufacturing facility. The plant workers are precutting all the plywood for the project house, as well as other homes currently in production. The efficiencies created by using large industrial saws to make precision cuts save the homeowner time and money and insures a well-fit house. Dave Boniello from Simplex guides Bob through the cutting area of the plant. Unlike most site-built homes, all of the scraps of wood are sent back to the manufacturers for recycling. Continuing the tour, Boniello and Bob overlook the construction of the interior and exterior walls, which are built in sheets of varying heights (up to 10 feet) and up to 64 feet long. Modular homes are built from the inside out, meaning that instead of starting with the exterior framing, roof and sheathing, the modular home starts with interior walls and drywall. The wallboard is glued and screwed to the stud walls, which have additional steel plates to maintain rigidity during transport. Bob points out the inspection process for a modular home is different than for a site built home as local inspectors would be hard pressed to visit the Simplex plant in Pennsylvania. Simplex hires independent inspectors that are certified in multiple states and they correspond with local building inspectors to insure that all building codes are met or exceeded.
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Tour of the Simplex Modular Home Factory

  computer-generated transcript - may not be 100% accurate

" We're touring the plant here. The vice president. This looks like pretty traditional work that they're doing here ripping down sheets of plywood but boy we're out of the leather on straight on what we're doing here. -- If these guys a work list for their day's work. They're basically taking all different size -- And I'm buggies and shipping it over into other departments. Then again and spread it out of the weather that's what happened with a little waste. Always have a strict recycling program to work with our lumber suppliers. Lumbering qualities a lot of stuff is putting buggies and shipped back through them when they're delivering us into the country tonight. Coming Sunday. There's so much lumber how do you keep track I mean how many houses are being built at one time. Well in the entire building Bob we're working on anywhere from eight to ten houses today should be expected for the -- generally cutting lumber for -- you."

" Let's talk about the framing tables there are two platforms here that are how long. Well we're building walls anywhere from its thirty to 64 feet generally for any of the houses we build them. -- it's and this this table here is usually the -- It is always a two by six wall for our products and then the mating wall of the -- which. -- three or two by four wall is generally built on that other large table over there OK so is a box always the same height -- Now we're building eight foot ceilings -- the ceilings. We've even gone as high as built some things within -- well our particular house has a high ceiling some connection to fasten. Custom box and it's not ten -- but it is. It's very unique studding right so just like on a regular job they lay everything out they put all the all the studs on sixteen inch centers. Typically about we're building our products for different marketplaces and we do -- and 44 on center products. We are flexible -- in the marketplace we're building. Now Dave what's the purpose of all the metal that's stapled that. Again it's something unique for our industry about what we're doing here -- For putting metal plates on the headers and tying it to the Jack and full stud and again on the sill thank you for the Jack and full side. But the beauty of this is gonna help prevent any stressing and pulling. In the transportation and the setting in the units that could add to drywall cracking great. So this is unusual we're actually putting the drywall onto. The surface of the stud -- at this at this stage. Again it's something unique for our industry what we do is. We actually build a house from the inside out and stick built industry to build a house you frame it and you -- from the outside and now we're gonna place the drywall on again. The table. Wall's been squared up and we'll place the drywall. On top of the studs and screw it down it's it's actually moving -- don't wasn't an -- that you're using. It's a field. Well it's pretty impressive the speed at which there are working around here of course the drywall from. The air guns just put them -- Now you're just reaching a point over here where you've got a window opening. My guests things he. This -- right over and then headed out. Wallpaper routers. This. Is pretty impressive you're just basically put in leaf. Big -- and -- that you can. Crane the thing away. What happens next. Were we picking up with a voice and we bring it up restored over that wall storage area and tomorrow we'll be Oregon. Brought up again and hoisted over onto the assembly line and dropped down on capitol walls company. All right and Dave we're basically looking at the assembly process here where you putting the pre manufactured walls. Together the creative box what's the first step well the first step like anything else is starting with the floor system and we're building basically a rectangle. Sometimes it's an odd cutouts in it for basically for a rectangular floor. And we'll frame it out of either two by eights -- two by tens depending on. -- like this term marriage wall as his. Since we're putting together separate boxes wherever the boxes are joined together you call it America marriage wall or mating wall. Now what about the roof the roof friend. We're building our roof system's on a table and we're basically putting the drywall faced down and framing on top of that. Me ask you questions about its special services I mean if you're doing. -- made out of the manufactured house in Massachusetts. How do they sign off on wiring and plumbing in the light went to great question and in the building inspector isn't able to come here in the factory and check the box itself. So we use an Independent third party system it's unique in our industry. It's done and it's accepted in all states and the third party is basically reviewing our plans. And then taking the plans out onto the production line and making sure that. The -- the boxes are built in accordance with the plans which they review and they have."

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