Elsewhere Pods Modular House Details
Before the actual 'over-the-phone' interview with Matt Decarne from Elsewhere Pods, Matt sent me some in-depth answers to our questions.
I thought I'd add those details on this page, just in case you had more questions or wanted more details on Elsewhere Pods.
Elsewhere Pods Modular House Interview (extra)
How long have you been in the modular home manufacturing industry?
The Elsewhere Pods brand launched around 2 years ago, however the product development had been underway for around 3 year prior through our sister company Bureau Booths which specialises in indoor meeting rooms and soundproof booths.
What types of modular tiny homes do you specialise in? (Including materials used)
Our core structure is made of an alloy of titanium magnesium aluminium which makes it super strong and lightweight. We also utilise materials which exceed Australian standards in most areas, including options to upgrade glass to triple glazing.
Our wall panels are made of a high density PVC material wrapped in layers of aluminium and include a sandwich construction and a 45mm internal air gap between panels within which we can also add further insulation.
Our pods are made of 99.9% recyclable materials and include no combustible or toxic materials, meaning they are a highly sustainable choice.
What is the pricing structure? (How much will an Elsewhere Pod cost?)
Our studios start from around $30,000 for our smallest sizes, and our tiny home range starts at around $60,000, but there is no limit to the custom elements we can employ so the designs are only limited by our clients imagination.
We also offer lease-to-own arrangements on designs which don't require building permits, and even have a partnered finance provider who specialises in tiny homes.
What is your process for customising modular pods / homes?
Before we quote our customers we jump on a 45 minute online design meeting with our Customer Success Manager and our Architectural Designer to curate a design that is tailor made to our customers needs.
We live produce floorplans and renders for the customer and send these out with the quote usually within 24 hours.
Do you offer any warranties or guarantees on your modular homes?
For projects which don't require building permits our standard warranty period is 3 years, however for building permits jobs we align our warranty to the statutory period which is 5 years.
However given that our building system utilises less than 1% of the number of materials than traditional builds, there are much fewer parts which can break down.
Additionally, if any part does degrade, we can simply replace that part as opposed to renovating the whole building.
How do you handle transportation and installation of the modular tiny homes?
We prefabricate the modular system in our factory which allows us to flat pack and ship direct to our customers sites where we install the tiny homes within 3-5 days.
This system allows us to customise the design to perfectly suit our customers use case whether it's a backyard studio, tiny home or off-grid eco-tourism accommodation and everything in between.
What is your approach to customer service and support?
We believe that a seamless customer journey is the most critical part of our business. We recognise that the tiny home industry has historically been extremely opaque and difficult to navigate, so we have designed our system from the ground up to solve for these issues.
Every project we undertake gets access to a dedicated Project Manager to guide our customer through the whole process
What sets your modular homes apart from your competitors?
Almost everything about our modular system is a dramatic departure from traditional building and even other tiny home builder norms.
Firstly our pods which feature predominantly high spec glass walls along with the brutalist and striking structure are totally unique. Our design philosophy is all about minimalisim to create a seamless connection with the natural environment.
Our design and manufacturing system allows us to produce a range of substitutable panels and components meaning that there is almost no limit to the number of potential configurations.
The flat-pack system ensures an ultra efficient supply chain, meaning that we can introduce higher quality materials at competitive prices and also install our pods in locations that other companies simply cannot access.
Finally our ability to produce structures that satisfy National Construction Codes and various other requirements, means that we can produce products which can get building permits as a class 1a dwelling.
Or flexible system also allows us to build the pods on trailers or design them to be a transportable structure means that we are one of the most flexible building systems ever created.
Can you step me through the design and construction process?
Initial consultation - We get to know all about our customer, their property and project. Our Customer Success Team can book them in for on-site inspection of a display, or even a virtual tour. We run through all of the options and answer all of their questions.
Design meeting - Once our customer has a feel for our system we get together to design the dream. Our Architectural Designer will draw up rough floorplans and make suggestions on how to get the most out of our products and the property.
Quoting - Once we have the draft design, we provide the customer with an initial quote. We then discuss any required changes, material selections, add ons and substitutions. We can also discuss leasing options at this stage.
Order agreement/deposit payment - We draft up and send the agreement for signing. Payment of a 5% holding deposit locks the pricing in for a maximum of 3 months, alternatively, payment of a 30% deposit means we can place the order into production.
Delivery and installation - Final payment is made upon delivery to site, then we install and handover our customers dream studio or tiny home!
What is the estimated timeline for completing a modular tiny home project?
For a project which doesn't require building permits, we usually quote 12 weeks from order placement to finished installation, with larger or more complex designs requiring up to 14 weeks.
However the installation process itself usually only takes between 2-5 days for most of our standard designs.
That's it! Thanks for reading.
Read the full interview with Elsewhere Pods here. (Includes some gorgeous pod photos!)
See our other tiny home and modular home blog posts here.