Suit: Modular home doesn't fit in subdivision

SANDPOINT -- Ben and Julie Silverman's brand new Cocolalla home has a two-car garage, wood floors and a spacious living room with 9-foot ceilings.But it came with something they were not expecting."We've got built-in neighbors that hate us," said Ben Silverman, who is locked in a legal showdown with fellow Cocolalla Estates homeowners. Read More

State Appeals Court Order To Pay Contractor

State officials are appealing a judge's order to pay $1.2 million that they have withheld from a construction contractor who gave a consulting contract to former Gov. John G. Rowland in 2004 and then resisted a legislative investigation into it. Superior Court Judge Joseph M. Shortall ruled last month that officials weren't justified in withholding the money from C.R. Klewin Northeast LLC on the basis of its resistance to a legislative committee's probe of the $5,000-a-month consulting job it gave Rowland after his 2004 resignation. Read More

Contractor gets another good deal

It looks as though Derry, N.H., contractor John Burke is finally going to start to pay for his part in a scheme to defraud the federal government out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in home-repair contracts. But he's still getting a good deal.

Burke, who first pleaded guilty to bribery charges in March 2005, has managed to delay his sentencing until the end of this month. Burke paid about $100,000 in bribes over five year to former Veterans Administration loan specialist Robert Mayer of Salem, N.H., in exchange for home-renovation contracts worth $3.1 million.

Mayer, a former Salem Planning Board member, faked invoices to make it appear several contractors had been awarded the jobs repairing homes the VA was renovating or selling. In fact, those contracts went only to those who paid him bribes. Read More

Contractor distributes fuel additive

South Lake Tahoe electrical contractor Frank Champlin has brought the environmental term "Think globally, act locally" to his hometown. Champlin, who's been in business for seven years, hopes to expand his energy to distributing Ethos, a fuel additive designed to increase gas mileage and reduce emissions and maintenance. He now buys it on the Internet for his four vehicles. After hearing about the substance through a fellow contractor four months ago, he used it in his three work vehicles and household car. In some cases, Champlin has received four miles per gallon more than his prior mileage - with three tanks stretched to four for his company van. The mileage has been so good, he's extended his business coverage to Reno. And once he crunched the calculator upon getting a smog test, the businessman figured he's eliminated four tons of carbon emissions from the air in Lake Tahoe. Read More

Turning a house into a home

One of the Pruden Center for Industry and Technology's objectives is to give students hands-on experience, and for some, that means building a brick ranch house.The Building and Trades Program encompasses electricity, plumbing, carpentry and masonry. As with many programs at the center, this one incorporates real-world experience. Since 2004, students have been building a three-bedroom, brick home in Windsor, one that school officials hope to have finished and sold this month.Building/Trades Instructor John Thompson, has overseen the building of nearly 15 homes in his 20-year career with the Pruden Center. Students do not build a home every year, but do undertake some sort of construction project, such as the picnic shelter near Windsor High School.It is primarily the second-year class that works on the houses, and those students spend about two hours every day on the project, Thompson said. Read more

Cornerstone lands construction loan for Solaris

The Cornerstone Group's town home division has secured a $2.87 million construction loan for Solaris at MetroWest, a community being developed near downtown Orlando.

Birmingham, Ala.-based AmSouth Bank provided the project financing, which will help cover part of the acquisition and construction of Solaris at MetroWest.

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These prefab homes come with a view

The latest idea in compact living is a little box on top of a high-rise in the city or suburbs. Modular structures that might be placed atop flat existing buildings are already being produced in Europe.

Architect Werner Aisslinger designed an instant penthouse in a transportable 400-square-foot Loftcube (www.loftcube.net). The unit is light enough to be transported by helicopter and costs about $70,000. Including bathroom and kitchen, the price can be $173,000 to $230,000. With walls of glass, this could also be the perfect answer for a mountaintop retreat or an island hideaway.

The unit shown here is the sleek Hanse Colani Rotor House designed for young professionals who need minimal space. It began as part of an avant-garde project begun originally by design guru Luigi Colani and Hanse Haus (www.hanse-haus.de) to deal intensively with the topic of house shapes of the future. Read More

New Modular Homes Going Up In Pascagoula

It's been a busy work week for Hurricane Home employees as they strive to complete the first two modular homes built in Pascagoula.

"This house on Market Street is the first. Today, they are placing one in the Chipley Area on Kings Avenue. That will be second home placed. It will be on piers," Marketing Manager Tim Lee says.

The modular units are built inside a warehouse. Once completed, Lee says the homes are "move-in-ready" in less than a month.

"When we get up to full speed, we can build a home in five to ten days."

With the housing shortage, Lee says people should consider this alternative method of building.

"What we are trying to do is build a home better, cheaper and faster than a conventional stick built home."

Because of those reasons, the Treadway Family decided to invest their money into a modular unit for their mother Barbara. Read More

Builders give burglar cover

Builders working in New Malden may have provided the perfect cover for a burglar broke into four houses in New Malden in one morning.

The burglar, described as a young black man in his early 20s, wearing dark clothes and a dark cap, got away with valuables including a laptop, pearl necklace and cash.

Adrian Holder, councillor for Coombe Vale ward, said: "These streets are in the wealthier part of the area, so I'm shocked. However, there is a lot of building work going on at the moment around Coombe Lane so obviously burglars are taking advantage of the distraction."

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Federal Court Case Opens the Door for Exclusion of Industrialized Buildings

The City of Gainesville prohibits Industrialized Buildings in all the residential zoning districts of the City except for the high density urban districts or agricultural land not zoned for residential development. The current zoning categorizes Industrialized Buildings in the same use case as manufactured housing or mobile homes. And the City has adopted a new ordinance that segregates Industrialized Buildings as a separate use, and prohibits them in all of the Single Family Residential zoning districts. Building Systems Network has petitioned the United States Federal Court for relief of these illegal zoning restrictions in the case of two homes we are building, When the Georgia Superior the court denied the Suit on a narrow legal interpretation. We had appeal the court ruling, but we lost the appeal approval heard by the Hall County Superior Court on October 5th 2006. If this Superior Court ruling is not overturned by the Federal courts, the Industrialized Building industry will suffer major setbacks in Georgia and maybe other states as well. If another case happens to arise maybe it's your home this time or your builder in any city in the US. Once Government council searches all US legal Data files this case will come up. If it's lost what's your cost on lost business? The Commissioner of the DCA has written a letter to the City Council informing them they are violating state regulations and we have filed 5 Petitions with the Gainesville City Council requesting the restrictions on Industrialized Buildings be removed. The State won't enforce this law and has no grounds to stop this City. This is our fight and must it must be won by this industry it's a great fight and can be won with your help. Don't just delete this alert think about the future of our industry? We need your help! Please consider taking the following actions to fight arbitrary and capricious restrictions of Industrialized Buildings or Modular Homes. Call us at 770-888-2761 and request a copy of our Federal law suit against the City. The suit completely describes the problem, our rights, and remedies. E-mail us at bsnbuilder@bsnmail.com and request a copy of our Federal Suit. E-mail the Gainesville City Manager and Gainesville City Council at bshuler@gainesville.org and citycouncil@gainesville.org and express you opinion about the restrictive zoning on Industrialized Buildings. We have set up a legal defense fund please contact us and help financially we can't win this battle alone. Our legal council is George Butler @ 132 Hawkins Street Dahlonega, Georgia 30533 or call him at 706-864-3206. Contribute directly!!

Miss. Weighs Tax Break for Modular Homes to Speed Rebuilding

A group of Mississippi lawmakers last week quizzed some makers of modular homes about the quality and construction of their products.

But after hours of discussion, legislators left the Capitol without making recommendations on the policy proposal at hand the governor's plan to reduce the sales tax rate on modular homes to speed up the coast's recovery from Hurricane Katrina.

The question-and-answer session came during a meeting of a special House of Representatives committee that's studying Katrina recovery.

Modular houses are made in factories then shipped to home sites and erected on slabs. Because modulars are made to meet local building codes, they're often allowed to be put in places where mobile homes are excluded from permanent placement.