TomWhite

As my own contractor I just completed a 4,300 sq ft house that was in large part "factory" built. The timber framer brought the pre-cut timbers and assembled the frame. The SIPs manufacturer brought panels with door and window openings cut and framed and electrical boxes and conduit installed and hung them on the frame. Floor truss joists were made to order off-site. We still had to have traditional carpenters to lay the flooring, install windows and doors, frame the interior walls, hang the dry wall, trim and paint. We did use pre-finished fiber cement siding and trim and a standing seam metal roof rolled on site. Still a lot of traditional work was required: excavation, concrete and masonry work, plumbing and wiring and interior finishing. However traditional hand tools were rarely used. Nearly every nail was driven with a pneumatic nailer, screws with cordless impact drivers and cuts made with power tools of one form or another. At one point a cut had to be made that couldn't be made with a circular saw or a reciprocating saw. I said "I can cut that with my cordless saw." and the crew was a little chagrined to see me cut it with a traditional hand saw. (I don't think any of them had one.) House construction now is a far cry from the completely hand-built houses I watched built as a kid 60 years ago. Houses may not be "factory" built in the near future, but materials, tools and techniques will continue to evolve.