Frank LaCrosse and Jib Turner are building small, modular homes in Little Current, Ontario, Canada—inexpensive to heat, maintain and afford. The 600-1,000 square foot homes have safe spray foam between the lightweight steel studs, in advance of the drywall, and the outside is an exterior insulation and finishing system, called EIFS. MHProNew has learned from wikipedia.org EIFS is an exterior cladding system that contains glass fiber reinforcing mesh and a water resistive coating in addition to insulation board, most suitable for Canadian cold. According to thechronicleherald.ca, they ae counting on an aging population that does not need a larger house. Turner says, “Banks insist that you own a chicken before they’ll consider loaning you an egg. Finding the capital we need for expansion has been one of the biggest hurdles we face. Part of this reluctance is because we make homes of a size that haven’t been built in this country in meaningful numbers since the early 1950s. We’re also building in an entirely different way than most other builders, using modular methods.” ##

(Photo credit: Steve Maxwell/thechronicleherald.com–Not many small modular homes have attached garages.)