Custom Manufactured Homes/Fuqua-Silvercrest?

[Kris]

Does anyone out there know of a manufacturer who builds custom manufactured homees? I know of Fuqua, but can they totally be customized? Also, I know of Silvercrest being able to "modify" the home but I was informed by a representative that they can not "customize" the home.

How long does it generally take for a manufactured home to be customized? Is it the same as a site built home? If I wanted to customize going with Fuqua, would it be more economical to go with site built? (The fees are terrible for site built in California!!) Does anyone know what Fuqua charges per square foot for their homes?

We want a home 4 beds/3 baths and around 3000 square feet. We have 3 children, and expecting another.

Thank you all for your time,

Kris

[mac]

There are many options, floor plans which the factory builds infrequently, and changes which can be made. There are two limiting factors: 1) the sections must be transported, and electrical/plumbing plugged in, and 2) moving some walls will raise the need for engineering work to be done (this will cost $2-4K, likely). Not quite sure what you want, but here's what we did:

Started with base house from Karsten - three sections. Made the following changes:
1. Chop off two feet of one section, to clear the existing septic tank.
2. Add covered deck on one end, covering two sections. Replace the existing window with a sliding glass door onto it.
3. Add a 4'x4' double-pane skylight (shady Pacific Northwest). Add French doors to the formal living room entry, to use as a home office.
4. Add Solatube in guest bath, which is windowless.
5. Add inside door to utility, making a muddy-dog "airlock."
6. Add a wall of windows to the family room, to take advantage of the forest view.

Fuqua makes very nice, I believe expensive, stuff, but it's certainly less expensive - and I believe higher quality - than most site-built.
Selecting the DEALER is very important, so the house is set correctly and you get good service. Palm Harbor Discovery (modular) may be a nice option too, if you want two stories. If you go with Silvercrest, I'd get their Superfloor option with thicker floors than standard.

[Kris]

Thanks Mac. The problem is that my husband wants a large master bedroom and he is not that concerned about the rest. I however want the other rooms close to ours because the kids will be in the other rooms (I'm more concerned about that than he is, =) ) I would also like a bathroom located between two of the rooms where the kids will be.

Anyway, he wants something about 3000 square feet because he wants a master bedroom (about 600-700 sq feet) that's too large for me but I hope I can talk him out of it because I don't think a manufactured builder will do that.

Mac, have you viewed the new Silvercrest homes floor plans? The Model M7 and the M19 (3683 sq ft) is beautiful but probably way too big to keep up for me with my children. One of the models Silvercrest makes (I think the M20) has this beautiful dining room with pillars around it. I would love this, and also when you mentioned the muddy dog "airlock" what did you mean by that? Is that a "mud room" so to speak?

Oh, my husband wants a utility room (he says mud room) that could be located where a site built garage could be put because he works on cars on his spare time.

He also wants to add the vinyl wood siding because I have read, on this post among on other sites, that real wood siding has to be maintained. I don't even know if Fuqua will do the vinyl wood siding. I have spoken with Fuqua and they seemed really nice but forgot to ask.

I also found Linwood who states they do custom manufactured homes and on Guerdon's website they state the same.

The largest Fuqua home is about 2600 sq feet which is still big to me for one story.

Sorry for the lenghty post.

Oh, sorry Mac I also forgot to add we are on our own land (over 2 acres so we won't have land costs) and also my husband wants to have ceramic tile throughout the house because our land is basically dirt (otherwise known as horse property). It would be tougher to keep the carpet up. So in order to have ceramic tile we will need thicker flooring and I was told possibly 2X8-2X10 in the floor.

Thanks in advance for your response and any advice.