I’ve been trying to understand the state state of the prefab industry and whether it is a viable option for me. I’ve located some isolated web sites, but nothing that really walks someone through the whole idea and process. I am interested in building a decent sized house (3200sf) and before going the whole custom route, I want to figure out if there is a viable prefab option since I like the speed and control that the process affords — at least in principle. I want to do something in the greek revival / shaker farmhouse idiom. My question is simply the following: Is there any part of the prefab industry that does quality design and uses good materials or is the industry generally down-scale and aimed at low end projects? Thanks for any leads to web sites or manufacturers.
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This may be too little help, but I had a friend build a house with a process that was something of a compromise between fully stick built and factory built. He designed the custom home himself, then had a company pre-build all the walls in a factory and truck them to the site. They were all erected in a day or two, fully sheathed. I don't remember if they were already insulated and drywalled. But he popped the roof on (trusses) in a hurry and shingled right away, so the house was all under cover in just a few days. The quality was excellent because it was all precisely measured and square, and built with good, dry lumber.
I remember him saying it did not save him any money, but it sped up the work considerably.
I've been looking into this extensively. The short answer is that what you are referring to as prefab runs the gamut from high to low end.First, some terminology."manufactured" - this is similar to what used to be called "mobile" homes, but is rather broader. Standards have been brought way up here. These homes are built in 1-2 pieces, are delivered on a truck and voila! Instant home. Believe it or not, many of these are manufactured with a 120 psf snow load in mind."prefab" - almost nothing on these can be customized, but they can be very high quality and architecturally innovative. Almost none of them meet my local codes which requires a 120 psf snow load."modular" - these can be any size and there are some beautiful timber-frame version and so on. These homes come in big sections and can be customized to a certain extent, but generally only by adding modules. So, for example, some companies will have a base unit (say 24x24) and you can add either 8x24 extensions or 24x24 Ls). Others have hexagons or whatever that can be fitted together. Some of these are amazing. There was one company I was considering, but then realized that as a modular home, they cannot re-engineer for my snow loads (most are engineered for around 50-60 psf which is fine for 90% of the continental US)."panelized" (and other names). These are fully custom homes and can be anything from budget to super high-end, based off a pre-exisitng plan or one that your architect draws up. They are usually similar in price to site-built homes of similar construction. You get some advantages (lots of the work gets done out of the weather) and some disadvantages (not as much flexibility to change the floor plan as you go along). You can get all sorts of buildings - stick built, SIPs, etc - and all levels of completion. Some will build huge panels and show up with a crane and literally have the place closed in with two days. Other build 4x8 panels and it will take a crew of four about a couple of weeks to close in a house like yours. When Sarah Susanka (of "Not So Big House" fame) built her recent house, she used panels (see FHB #164)Tom