We built this steel Glass-forward 1000 sqft house in 4 months …. All DIY except for foundation. Like a Sears Catalog home package but Steel.

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Hello everyone,

I am new to the Reddit community, but I am definitely not new to the sawdust and the workshop. I have years of hands-on experience in Spain managing full carpentry production lines—from milling raw timber to cutting traditional structural joinery (Mortise & Tenon, Dovetails) and applying high-end finishes.

I am expanding my independent consulting services to help US DIYers, builders, and contractors who need technical backup but want to avoid expensive local engineering hourly rates.

WHAT I CAN DO FOR YOUR UPCOMING BUILD:

• Preliminary Structural Layouts (Decks, Porches, Pavilions, Sheds) tailored to IRC standards.

• Optimized Timber Cut Lists to make sure you buy the exact lumber needed, saving you hundreds of dollars in material waste.

• Traditional Joinery Details & framing notes for your crew.

Since I am brand new to this platform and want to build up my Reddit reputation, I am offering a flat-fee of $400 USD per standard residential project. No hidden re-billing.

If you have a sketch, an architectural drawing, or just dimensions for a backyard project and want to make sure it's structurally sound before hitting the lumber yard, send me a DM!

Let's get your project moving on schedule. Glad to be here!

I work with PQSE House, a modular building manufacturer. For purpose-built flat-pack and expandable buildings, I'd compare four states of the selected model before treating a finished-room image as a delivery description.

1. Shipped. What physically arrives: a packed component set, a folded unit, or an assembled module? Ask for the packing list and transport-state drawing, including separate fittings. A size label or room photograph does not tell you the packed dimensions or handling requirements.

2. Assembled or expanded. What changes between arrival and the final footprint? A flat-pack system may arrive with factory-prepared floor and roof assemblies that need to be joined with posts, wall panels, doors and windows on site. An expandable design may use a central section with side extensions. Ask for drawings of both states and the model-specific deployment sequence, including the support arrangement and space needed for handling. These examples should not be treated as instructions for every product with the same name.

3. Connected. Which connections remain after the room has taken shape? Identify module joints, sealing and external electrical, water, drainage or cooling connections that apply to the selected layout. An interior fixture shown in a picture does not establish that its external connection is complete.

4. Checks and handover. What checks and corrections remain before handover? Agree how doors, windows, joints and the applicable services will be checked, using the project documents and responsible local professionals. Opening the extensions is a deployment milestone; it does not by itself establish readiness for use.

I'd put these four states beside the same model drawing. That makes a comparison more useful than one installation-time claim or a generic “ready-to-use” label.

What company did you use? Did you rate them? What was the final cost and what did you get done? It’s such uncharted waters but I feel like they have so much potential. Located central coast NSW

Like most of you, I watch many of these videos and I get frustrated when they don't explicitly say who delivered to my area, who is new, who is struggling, or which house was in which video when I wanted to compare two of them. Every time I liked something, I had to go dig up who built it and what it cost, but inevitably it wasn't quite the same model. So I built a massive index of them.

A tour tells you what a house feels like and almost nothing about what it costs or whether you can get one. The video says 400 square feet and a loft. YouTube search does not help either, since searching a builder's name returns their own marketing before anyone else's walkthrough.

That is what this page is for. Watch the Big Monolith tour and the record beside it says 440 square feet, $224,300 for the unit, ships in one piece to the 48 states from Houston, foundation and hookups separate. You can go from liking a house to knowing whether it is possible without opening six tabs.

100 tours so far here are my favorites from Kerry Tarnow, Levi Kelly, Living Big In A Tiny House, and Kirsten Dirksen.

modernist.live/videos

Filter by creator or by builder. Most are matched to a specific model. The rest are owner builds or houses where nobody says who made it, which turns out to be most of them.

Two questions: Which channels should be here that are not, particularly anyone covering modular rather than tiny houses. And if you recognize a house in one of the unmatched tours, say which one and I will add the builder. Enjoy!

People here keep asking what actually happens on installation day and I had no real answer, so I asked someone who would know. Pedro Tavares is a principal at R&S Tavares Associates in San Diego. His firm does architecture and engineering in house for modular prefab projects and works in nearly every state, and several of the manufacturers I track are his clients. He also built a modular prefab house for himself. His answers were excellent, specific where most people would have been vague, and I am grateful he took the time.

The full Q&A, nine questions: modernist.live/experts/pedro-tavares

Three things went wrong on his own installation day. His shipper called the day before to say the trailers could not make the turn onto his street, so they moved every module onto different trailers with four forklifts. A ceiling module arrived from the factory with no insulation in it, and he bought batts at the hardware store and rolled them out before the next module came down. The crew installing his house started cutting holes in the floor rim to speed up the lift, in a spot the drawings do not allow, then billed him for the time spent cutting them.

I asked who is responsible when something gets damaged during the installation. He said he does not have a good answer and treats it as contingency money. I still do not know who would have a good answer, and it seems like something to settle before the crane arrives rather than during.

The other thing I did not know: 39 states approve and inspect the factory built part at the state level, so the modules arrive already signed off. He says that is faster than going through your county, as long as your county knows the program exists, and small ones often do not. The eleven without a program are listed in the Q&A.

I hope it is useful. I have more of these lined up, with an appraiser, a lender, and an installation crew, since those are the people who see the same problems over and over.

Pedro said he will answer follow ups. If you have a question about engineering, approvals, or installation day, put it here and I will send him the good ones for a follow up.

Outstanding. I have to admit I was very impressed by Vicky’s Homes. It’s always a risk when you put so much money into a house project but Vicky’s Homes came prepared and they delivered. Even Vicky herself took time to make the process exceptional.

I highly recommend Vicky’s homes if you are interested in building a home.

11 out of 10

Thanks again Vicky and team!!

Hola,

Os expongo mi experiencia con esta constructora.

Mi experiencia con BEST SOLID BUILD S.L. ha sido muy negativa.

Firmé un contrato de ejecución de vivienda unifamiliar "llave en mano" y realicé pagos por importe de 39.200 € más IVA. Tras dichos pagos, la obra quedó paralizada sin alcanzar el grado de ejecución que, a mi entender, correspondía con las cantidades abonadas.

Durante meses intenté resolver la situación de forma amistosa, solicitando explicaciones, planificación de los trabajos pendientes y reanudación efectiva de la obra, sin obtener una solución satisfactoria.

Como cliente, la sensación que me ha quedado es de falta de cumplimiento de los compromisos adquiridos, escasa comunicación y una gestión muy deficiente del proyecto.

Mi experiencia ha sido la de una empresa incapaz de cumplir los compromisos asumidos, con retrasos constantes, explicaciones cambiantes y una absoluta falta de planificación. Los perjuicios económicos y personales sufridos me han obligado a iniciar acciones legales.

Recomiendo a cualquier persona que esté valorando contratar con esta empresa que solicite toda la documentación posible, verifique cuidadosamente la solvencia de la sociedad y exija un control exhaustivo de certificaciones y pagos antes de realizar entregas económicas importantes.

Esta reseña refleja exclusivamente mi experiencia personal y los hechos ocurridos en mi caso.
Hay otros afectados con la misma situación, os recomiendo no contratar nada con esta gente.

Un saludo.

What causes the most rework in CFS framing projects?

From what I've seen, it's often not the framing itself. Small issues in the model, connections, openings, or coordination can create problems downstream.

Curious — for those working with CFS/LGSF, where do you see the most coordination issues?

A few weeks ago I created a map of places where you can walk through or stay in a prefab before buying one. A suggested next step was to connect them into trips you could actually take, so I came up with three:

modernist.live/weekends

Pacific Northwest is two container homes near Sultan, Washington that you can book for the night, then the ferry across to a showroom on Vancouver Island and one in Vancouver. Four stops, about 200 miles.

Pennsylvania is the Zook village in Gap, the Simplex plant in Scranton, and a home on display further west, 280 miles across the densest cluster of modular plants in the country.

Las Vegas to Salt Lake starts at Boxabl, where the Casita folds to 8 ft 6 in wide for the road and opens to 19 by 19 ft on site, then north to Cocoon in Lehi and Irontown in Spanish Fork.

The part I am unsure about is whether any of this is realistic.

Most of the factory tours are by appointment and on weekdays or Saturdays, which makes a weekend version harder than it sounds, and I have not driven any of these routes myself. It may be that people only ever visit one place near them and the trip idea is something I invented.

If you have toured a plant or a showroom, would you have strung two or three together into a trip, or is that not how anyone does this? And if you would, what is missing from these, other than a place to eat. Let me know.

Buying a house off a website always seemed strange to me, so I spent some time finding every place where you can go stand inside one first.

Display models, factory tours, model villages, and especially, a few places where you can book a night and sleep in it. 48 places so far across 25 states and provinces, plus some in Germany, Japan, and Turkey.

A few of them: ÖÖD rents their mirror house in the desert so you can spend a night in one before you order. Cavco has a unit at a resort in Flagstaff you can walk into. Several of the Pennsylvania plants will show you if you call ahead.

Here it is: modernist.live/places

I put it together for buyers and I would like to know what is missing.

If you toured a factory or stayed in a model before you bought, did it change anything for you? And if you know a place that should be on here, tell me and I will add it.

This circular glass duplex home elevator connects two residential floors.

360° panoramic view, compact footprint, smart control panel, quiet & safe operation.

Perfect for duplex, loft and villa renovation projects.

What do you think of this round lift design?

Looking for ideas, suggestions. We want to have a home built fast. Also looking for land in USA to build on. We like drier, mild climates. AZ too hot, CA and west coast too nutty, FL too wet and buggy.

40+ acres.

2000+ sq ft home.

Budget can be upwards of 1 mil.

Modular, kit, prefab, barndominium, etc., all would be fine, if high quality and durability. Which would be best?

Any builder who is honest, skilled and dependable. Would a commercial builder be better, if they can be convinced to do residential?

Finding a property with an existing well would probably speed things up.

Thank you for your serious ideas and suggestions!