The modular building system has proved its strength yet again, as designs from All American Homes (Decatur, IN) withstood the recent major hurricanes in Florida and surrounding states with ease.
Doug Relick, owner of DD&K Traditional Homes (Sebastian, FL), survived both  Hurricane Frances and Jeanne. Relick, an All American Homes builder who lives with his family in an All American home in Vero Beach, says his home became the neighborhood “safe home” twice in three weeks.
“Some of my neighbors didn’t feel secure in their stick-built or masonry block homes, so they asked if they could stay with us while we rode out Frances,” Relick says. Seven adults, 11 kids, nine guinea pigs, four dogs and four cats rode out the storm’s 110 mph winds in the Relicks’ home. The home stood tall with no structural damage.
Withstanding 155 mph Winds Across Florida, other All American modular builders had similar stories. “All of our homes came through just fine, including one home where the interior wasn’t yet complete. We lost a few shingles here and there, but that was about it,” says Oren Schneider, owner of Castle Rock Contracting’s New Castle Homes in hard-hit Port Charlotte, FL, where Hurricane Charley made its brutal l andfall with sustained winds between 131 and 155 mph.
Though nearby Punta Gorda also bore the brunt of Hurricane Charley’s force, Kermit Horne says his All American homes suffered no structural damage. Horne owns Hallmark Homes (Dundee, FL) and has homes in the Punta Gorda area. “While some homes in the area were demolished, all we lost was a ridge vent, which is part of the roof’s ventilation system, and a few pieces of siding. Our homes fared very well.”
All American Homes, a subsidiary of the publicly traded Coachmen Industries (NYSE: COA), is one of the nation’s largest builders of systems-built homes. Precision-built off site in a climate-controlled environment that provides greater quality control, construction speed and protection from the elements, the structural frames of systems-built homes are stronger than traditional site-built (sometimes called stick-built) homes.
	Doug Relick’s systems-built home, the only one in an upscale development of traditional wood frame and masonry block homes, served as the neighborhood “safe house” during Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne. After learning how much stronger systems-built homes are compared to most homes, his neighbors felt safer inside his home. Relick’s home was built to 160 mph wind zone standards, so the 3,200 sq.ft. home easily withstood the hurricanes’ sustained high winds.
“Our exterior walls are built with 2"-by-6" wall studs on 16" centers, giving them more rigidity than the 2"-by-4" studs used in most stick-built homes. Our floor joists are 2"-by-10" on 16" centers, also much sturdier than the joists normally found in site-built homes. And even in high winds, the expandable foam bonding the ceiling wallboard to the framing offers tremendous holding power.”
A Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) report on building performance during 1992’s Hurricane Andrew noted that modular homes withstood the ravages of that storm’s Category 4 winds of 131–155 mph far better than site-built housing. FEMA states these homes “provided an inherently rigid system that performed much better than conventional residential framing.”
Engineered Strength Kerr says the homes All American builds for Florida must adhere to that state’s strict wind zone regulations so that they’re strong enough to offer protection during a hurricane. The zones vary throughout the state, with the highest along the coastal regions. “Florida has wind zones that start at 90 mph, but we take extra steps to go ahead and wind-build our homes for at least 130 mph so that we know they’re strong—we even build some of our homes strong enough to withstand 160 mph winds,” explains Kerr. “To meet those wind zone standards, we increase the amount of nails and screws we use to secure our roof sheathing to the rafters. We only use DP50-rated windows that are engineered to withstand hurricane force winds and protect against flying debris. We also increase the number of metal fabricated straps we use to connect floor joists, walls and floors so that the homes are even stronger.”
Several neighbors watched Relick set his home last year, which he had built to the 160 mph wind zone standard, so they saw firsthand the extra strength built in. After safely riding out one hurricane, some of his neighbors asked to stay with the Relicks again when the warning came that Vero Beach was in the path of Jeanne. Despite Jeanne’s 120 mph winds, the home remained undamaged. “One neighbor was a veteran of nine hurricanes. She slept soundly all night in my son’s room upstairs, and says she never felt so secure in a home during a hurricane,” says Relick.
Kerr points out that building in a controlled environment gives All American Homes an advantage in producing strong homes. “Before they even leave our facility, we have every aspect of the homes inspected by an independent third party to ensure they meet Florida’s wind zone standards. Even the metal straps we use are verified by outside engineers as meeting the required standards. We actually overbuild our homes to ensure they’re strong, but building the way we do allows us to keep costs reasonable because we have so much more construction and quality control over the building process.”
That building process helped homes built by A.J. Builders in Brandon, FL, to withstand two hurricanes and not suffer any significant damage, according to owner Jim Helmich. “We had a home that was 99% complete in Myakka City, where the winds were over 135 mph from Hurricane Charley. It didn’t lose so much as a shingle. Frances hit this area hard, too, and still all we lost were a few shingles. There was no structural damage at all.”
Several builders contrasted the strength of All American’s systems-built homes to another type of home construction popular in Florida. “Since it’s a hard material, some people assume masonry block construction is stronger, but that’s not necessarily the case. While there’s reinforced steel every 4 feet, the rest is mortar and those mortar joints may crack in very high winds,” says Lee Jolicoeur of Homes by Jolicoeur (Okeechobee, FL). Jolicoeur had 29 All American homes that survived the fury of both Frances and Jeanne without any structural damage.
Fail-Proof System In Naples, Mark Johnson of Florida Custom Homes says although masonry block homes are strong, since they’re all one piece, hurricane-force winds can damage the entire structure. “Systems-built homes are built in sections, so the impact of high winds is spread out and dissipated.”
All American Homes that Johnson built in Lehigh Acres, where Hurricane Charley ravaged the landscape, “just lost a few shingles. They held up well during the hurricanes and several tornadoes, which caused extensive roof damage on homes throughout the area.”
Referring to Florida’s strict hurricane wind zone regulations, Johnson says, “I’ve always done well by building All American Homes, because they already exceeded the state hurricane design standards.”
All American Homes has production facilities in Decatur, IN; Dyersville, IA; Milliken, CO; Osage City, KS; Rutherfordton, NC; Springfield, TN; and Mod-U-Kraf Homes, a division of All American Homes, is located in Rocky Mount, VA.
Modular Homes Stronger Than Site Built, FEMA Says Proponents of modular homes have long maintained that the building system produces structures that are far stronger than site-built housing. For one thing, the modular sections contain up to 30% more building materials than a comparable site-built home to withstand the stresses of highway travel. In addition, drywall is often both glued and screwed to wall studs and triple headers are used over window openings and around stairwells to withstand the stress of transportation and being lifted by a crane. Recently the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) confirmed that modular homes withstood a hurricane far better than site-built housing. In its report “Building Performance: Hurricane Andrew in Florida,” assessment teams from FEMA concluded that modular homes withstood the 131–155 mph winds of the Category 4 storm in August of 1992 far better than site-built housing. “Overall, relatively minimal structural damage was noted in modular housing developments. The module-to-module combination of units appears to have provided an inherently rigid system that performed much better than conventional residential framing. This was evident in both the transverse and longitudinal directions of the modular buildings,” according to the report. (Get your free copy by calling 800-480-2520 and requesting publication number FIA-22, item 3-0180.)
Reprinted with permission from Building Systems magazine - Nov./Dec. 2004 Issue Building Systems magazine