Ready-to-move homes move into Headingley

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This article was published 04/08/2017 (3179 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

From 836 to 1,676 square-feet, Grandeur Housing offers a modular and manufactured home for all family sizes.

Earlier this year, Winkler’s Grandeur Housing opened a satellite sales location at 4415 Portage Ave., taking over the former Marquette Homes site. Along with a sales office, the site contains modular and manufactured display homes in a variety of sizes.

Grandeur’s retail sales manager Jeff Johnston, of La Salle, said the modular homes are custom-built and can be placed on top of a crawlspace or full basement foundation. A single-piece, perimeter-supported house can be as large as 36-feet wide and 66-feet long.

Multi-sectional homes are built in two or more pieces and reassembled on site above a basement, crawlspace, piers, screw/concrete piles or blocks and pads.

The manufactured homes are constructed on a steel  I-beam frame and can be easily moved using the frame, then typically placed on piers, piles or pads. Their maximum size is 22-feet wide by 76-feet long.

Home buyers are able to select all décor and amenities, including roofing, exterior siding, interior paint colour, flooring, doors, windows, cabinets, countertops and more. Johnston and the other sales staff are able to help customers design their home and price out every aspect, including the transportation and foundation costs.

“It’s important to us that they stay within their budget,” Johnston said. “They always know where they’re at in terms of their budget.”

“The majority of our clients are first-time home buyers or retired couples looking to downsize,” he said.

Unlike traditional home construction that is often delayed by bad weather or supplies and tradespeople not arriving on time, Johnston said these variables don’t affect Grandeur Housing’s construction process. All work on every house is completed within the company’s 200,000 square-foot facility in Winkler, with tradespeople and supplies available when needed.

“We can tell you from the first day that construction begins when the home will be finished,” he said. A manufactured home will take between eight and 10 weeks and a modular home will be built in two to three months.

The company was formed by local shareholders in 1976 and employs about 275 people.

Johnston said one of its mandates is to buy locally produced building supplies to support the province’s economy.

“A Grandeur home is a product built in Manitoba, using Manitoba products and built by Manitobans.”

Transportation of a ready-to-move house is regulated by the provincial government and restricted by the house’s size. While the regulations in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta are similar, Ontario’s guidelines are different and most homes shipped to Ontario have to be moved in pieces then reassembled on-site, Johnston said.

“We will make all your travel arrangements and do the site work for you,” said Johnston. Grandeur employees will construct the house’s foundation as well as built a garage, deck and stairs.

He said most of the company’s home buyers are moving homes onto rural properties, but it is possible to situate a modular or manufactured home in an urban location.

The company’s commercial division has worked with a local development company in Saskatchewan to build multi-unit buildings of up to three storeys. Johnston said it’s a bit like putting Lego blocks together with the units built in Winkler then shipped and assembled on site.

Other commercial projects include an RCMP detachment in northern Manitoba, respite care facility in Winkler and a hotel in Killarney, Man.

“You name it, they can build it,” Johnston said.

The Headingley location held its grand opening on July 22. Johnston said the company’s owners believe that this location will help serve customers from western Manitoba and the Interlake Region.

For more information about Grandeur Housing, see www.grandeurhousing.com