Modular homes showcased at Home & Garden Show

By CYNTHIA SCHUSTER EAKIN

Spring is just around the corner. It’s time to turn your home and yard design visions into reality.

The annual Great Big Home and Garden Show held recently at the I-X Center showcased the latest in home design with its JDM Structures modular idea home and Weaver Barns backyard living features.

“Today’s buyers are looking for a more ‘homey’ feeling home, with warm colors, rich textures and beautiful finishes that are durable and easy to maintain,” Patrick Miller of JDM Structures noted. “There is a shift away from the drab and gray ‘HGTV’ home-flipper look and the boring nouveau-riche McMansions. While painted cabinets and trim are still hugely popular, we are seeing an appreciation of wood stain growing, as well.”

JDM Structures’ Hudson modular home features an open floor plan that maximizes the 1,285 square feet of living space. The kitchen features a generous dining island that provides extra storage and counter space, as well as a dining spot for two. The master bedroom has a bathroom suite with a large walk-in closet, double vanity and a soaking tub. The main floor includes a second bedroom, full bathroom and first-floor laundry. The attached garage adds convenience and security, while a timberframe porch and a pergola create outdoor living spaces.

Modular homes like the Hudson showcase cuttingedge solutions for the housing market, offering new levels of innovation, efficiency and affordability. Constructed in a climate-controlled factory, modular homes are engineered to meet the same building codes as conventionally-built custom homes. With the option to finetune the floor plan and layout, home buyers can create the perfect living space for their current and future needs.

“Today’s homebuyers are looking for flexibility. They want a home designed for them, but they don’t want the complexity of starting from scratch and having to make all of the decisions. We’re seeing historic demand for our modular homes in light of this, as well as the shorter build timeline that the modular home affords,” Miller said. “Essentially, the site preparation and foundation can be completed while the home is being built in the factory, which saves time and gets you into your home more quickly. Our cur- rent lead times for modular homes are seven to 10 months, versus about double that length of time for custom homes.”

“Modular homes are also more energy efficient compared to stick-built homes, as the construction methods allow for better control over air infiltration in the outer envelope. Modulars have to be engineered to be strong enough to travel to the job site without flexing and bending, so they are built more sturdily than comparable stickbuilt homes,” he added.

Visit www.jdmcustombuilders.com for more information about the company’s modular and custom homes, or call 877.536.2276.

Specializing in Amish-built sheds, pavilions, garages and cabins, Weaver Barns’ Backyard Oasis at the home and garden show highlighted its Willow Creek garage model and Timber Ridge poolhouse.

“One of our most popular garage models, the Willow Creek serves well as a workshop, all the way to a full home. The latest display built at our facility features our new textured metal option with a vinyl board and batten siding. Our Willow Creek is set to make a statement on any property,” Matt Miller of Weaver Barns said.

“If you want a pavilion, but also need storage, then look no further than our new Timber Ridge poolhouse. The enclosed area can be used for a kitchen, changing room, workout room or for storage, while the outside offers the perfect spot for entertaining. Our versatile poolhouse is built around flexibility and is able to be adapted to any backyard,” he noted.

“As the pandemic shifted more focus into our customers’ homes and backyards, so did our structure offerings.

We are tailor-made to help transform your backyard into an inviting, value-adding space,” Miller said. “We are seeing that popularity continue to increase, so naturally our buildings continue to evolve to meet the needs of our customers. Any of our structures are sure to be a hit with friends and family.” Weaver Barns, located in Sugarcreek, OH, can be reached at 330.852.2103, or by visiting www.weaverbarns.com.

Make a selection at Sheoga’s showroom and then head to Ernie and Sons Hardwood Floor Specialists, also in Middlefield, where their team will set you up with measuring and installation. The family-owned Ernie and Sons also offers repair, dustless sanding, staining, refinishing, crack and gouge filling, and pet stain removal.

Jerri Hutcheson who owns Ernie and Sons with her brother Ken Pierce, says, “All we do is real, solid, 3/4inch wood flooring. At Sheoga, customers can choose red or white oak, hickory, maple, walnut, cherry or beach, plus the width (of the planks), and the grade (which can produce a uniform look or one with color variations and knots).” Jerri adds that prefinished choices are available but most of her customers choose unfinished, “so they can choose the color they want.” Wood floors, she explains, are popular in any type of home and in any room, including kitchens, where she says the company installs plenty of hardwood.

Mother Nature offers another flooring option that Mark Wien, owner and director of sales at Marshall Carpet One and Rug Gallery in Mayfield Heights says is, “Literally the wool off the sheep’s back.” Mark adds, “We are the only dealer in Cleveland that I know of that offers a truly 100-percent chemical-free carpet. This wool carpet, Mark explains, contains no insecticides, no synthetic dyes (there are natural dyed and un-dyed choices), 100-percent natural jute backing, 100-perfect natural wool cushion, and no synthetic or harmful VOCs. “People drive 60 or 70 miles to see us because we offer this,” Mark adds.

While this wool carpet has a following, the most popular floor choice among Mark’s customers, is luxury vinyl tile (LVT). Mark says, “It’s the hottest flooring segment and the fasting growing. We don’t see that slowing down.” The grey shades that were most popular in recent years are now giving way to warmer earth tones like shades of brown and beige. “Wider plank white oak is the look people are gravitating toward,” he says but he cautions, “There is a lot of junk out there. We have the strictest standards for what products we allow in our showroom, in terms of overall quality and thickness of the material itself and thickness of the wear layer.”

Laminate flooring, which hit the market decades ago as Pergo, took a back seat to LVT but is now having a moment. “It’s waterproof and has some of the same characteristics of LVT,” Mark offers as he explains that it looks realistically like wood and is more likely to be made in the U.S., whereas a lot of LVT is made outside the country. “Once it’s down, it’s hard to tell the difference (between laminate and LVT),” Mark admits.

To help customers choose, Mark says, “We get to know the customer and what their expectations are.”

The team at Marshall Carpet One finds out if a customer is using the home as a rental, or is upgrading it to sell, or if they have children or pets and what’s important to them, such as a quiet, soft floor, or easy cleanup or all of the above.

Mark points out that there are some very soft carpets that also offer supreme stain resistance. “There’s a fiber called SmartStrand,” he says. “It has a high content of organic material to offset the amount of petroleum in it.”

Marshall Carpet One also offers plenty of choices in hardwood and tile. As for area rugs, Mark offers everything from thick, chunky looped wool in earth tones, to bright and colorful patterned selections, plus custom creations. For area rugs in stock, Mark encourages shoppers to take advantage of the store’s 48-hour test run. “Take it home and bring it back if you don’t like it,” he says

Soon, the Marshall Carpet One will be renamed Marshall Flooring, which, Mark says is more reflective of all the great choices available in the store.