ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, March 19, 1996 TAG: 9603190060
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
ROCKY MOUNT and Martinsville modular-home builders look forward to competing new factories in the coming months to expand production of the houses they say offer buyers economy, speed and quality.
Two regional manufacturers of modular homes will open enlarged factories soon and expect to hire dozens of workers, moves that respond to a rise in the popularity of their preassembled houses.
Mod-U-Kraf Homes Inc. of Rocky Mount and Nationwide Homes of Martinsville make homes in large units, or modules, that are joined at the site.
The method accounts for just 6 percent or 7 percent of new homes, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
But the two companies said their homes combine economy, speed and quality. A basic 2,000-square-foot home sells for a retail price of about $130,000 at either company, not including the lot. That price, according to Nationwide vice president Noel Ward, is 12 percent to 15 percent less than a comparable site-built home built with the same materials.
Nationwide passes on to customers its savings from the use of assembly-line construction and the bulk purchase of building supplies, Ward said. The company makes 17 houses a week.
Nationwide said its homes are of good quality because 90 percent of the construction occurs in a factory.
By going with a modular home, a buyer who wants a newly built house can sidestep problems associated with a general shortage of construction labor caused by fewer people entering the building trades.
Nationwide sold $30 million worth of buildings last year, its third consecutive record year, Ward said. The 36-year-old private company calls itself the largest modular-home producer in the South, but believes it can grow more.
Nationwide, which sells in 11 Southern and Mid-Atlantic states, plans to boost production 50 percent with a $2 million factory to be completed this summer in Martinsville. The expansion is expected to create as many as 50 jobs, the company said, bringing Nationwide's employment to 435. After the plant is completed, Nationwide will upgrade its existing plant in Martinsville.
Mod-U-Kraf, a 25-year-old public company selling in eight states, reported earnings of $82,576, or 10 cents per share, on sales of $2.56 million during the fourth quarter of last year. That compared with earnings of $107,623, or 13 cents per share, on sales of $2.94 million in the same quarter of 1994.
Mod-U-Kraf plans a $3 million factory in Rocky Mount, to be completed this spring. The company is hiring 60 workers and employs 90 already, said Joe Campbell, vice president.
Both companies also make multifamily complexes and commercial buildings, but do most of their business in homes.
Nationwide demonstrated the speed of modular construction Monday by taking about a day to assemble a model home that will serve as its Roanoke sales office. It constructed it from six pieces at a Peters Creek Road lot.
During the demonstration, trucks lumbered onto the lot carrying sections of Nationwide's latest model, ``The Waverly,'' that weighed 20,000 to 30,000 pounds and came complete with carpet padding, light fixtures and windows already installed.
A crane hoisted each piece into place as workers yanked ropes and heaved crowbars to get the right fit.
``Easy. Whoaa. Now, straighten it out a little bit,'' shouted crew chief Willie Cassiday.
Yes, Nationwide's crews have dropped a module - once, about a decade ago, when a crane cable failed, said Ricky Dove, the company's area general manager. Despite a one-story fall to the ground, the section didn't suffer any structural damage, a confirmation of its strength, Dove said.
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: CINDY PINKSTON/Staff. Workers lower one of six sectionsby CNBof a modular home assembled Monday on Peter's Creek Road for
Nationwide Homes to use as a model and as its Roanoke sales office.
color.