Factory Tour

[Dan]

I am considering a new home from Franklin Homes in Russellville, Alabama. I am going to be doing a factory tour in the near future. This will be my first time to do a factory tour and any advise on what to look for would be appreciated.

[rmurray]

Go to more than one plant to see the differences..Northern AL has many plant..Take a tour of the Palm Harbor plant in Boaz, AL..while you are at it..A plant tour is a great idea to make sure they seem to be careful with the product they build...

[Eugene]

Another good plant to visit is Sunshine just across the Mississippi line, they are great.
I would look at materail storage, I would look at how carefully they apply glues and adhesive, see if the slid wall panels across studs before they fasten them down, when this happens they scrap off the glue.
The work flow should be smooth, you should not see workers tripping over each other. Materails should not be tossed onto the home, like floor and roof decking, and shingles.
You should be able to actually see people inspecting the home at each work station.

[David Oxhandler]

Manufactured Home Factory tours are available across the country. Let us hear about as many of them as we can find. If you work at a MH assembly plant or sell hoomes for one or took a tour that you enjoyed... or even hated... tell us about it.

Add any factory tours that you know about, anyplace, to this list by typing the information in the field below and clicking on the post button

[rmurray]

Palm Harbor..Plant City, FL...included movie w/popcorn..professional tour then fully stocked model center..30plus models in stock..

All Palm Harbor plants offer tours..

Homes of Merit..Lake City, FL and Homes of Merit of Bartow, Fl have good tours..

Every quality plant offers tours..many times by appointment arranged by a dealer...There is no better way to get a good idea about the product..

[candie]

When touring the plants, take note of the construction of the home itself, some homes claim to have 2x4's at various places, when in fact they use 2 x 3's. Also note the floor joist, some are on 16 inch centers and some on 24. If you are special ordering your home from your dealer, you can specify the spacing of the floor joist, and the insulation and other upgrade packages, take notes and pay attention. Franklin makes a good home, as does Sunshine, (they have a plant in Red Bay Al. ) Both have good service on their homes as well. I have not had any personal experience with Palm Harbor.

[Mike Urrutia]

Working in the plants for many years, Items to look for while the construction is in process is as followed: Start in the begining of the line, the sub-floor of the home what type of lumber and what size.Same with the floor decking. With the wall sections also. All of your walls are built off line.Make sure plenty of glue is used for the installation of the sheetrock and the that the jig that they are using is square. Wall installation, Are they screwing down the walls? Are those screws actually hitting something besides the floor decking?Next the Plumbing, you will notice some of this back in Floors,Is it strapped and secured. All of the plumbing is tested numerous time before it leaves the plant. The installation of the ceiling is also a big factor. Look at the securement process.What type and size of screws? Notice the securement pattern. Is the ceiling also strapped to the walls of the home? The eletrical is also pretty standard and is tested repeatedly before it leaves the plant. This should conclude the structure part of the home. While on the tour take a good look at the facility, Is it kept clean? How is the inspection process with the employees and Quality Control? Most of the factories are very simliar and are usually set up the same way, but the people inside the factory also make the difference, Does everyone seem to enjoy the work they do? Does everyone seem to have a positive or good attitude? This will also tell you alot.