Today’s Modular and Pre-fab vs. Site Built
I know that modular homes have had a bad rap for decades. I know that modular homes aren’t the same as a “manufactured home” in all cases.
But here is my question – aren’t modular homes better than ever now? and how do you feel about a modular vs. a site built home?
I was just in a meeting last night where we gathered local contractors together to discuss the housing needs of our small, rural Oregon town. I brought up the point that we may want to start looking at alternative methods of home building to offset the high overhead and material costs. I opened a can of worms! haha!
At any rate, I thought I’d pose the question here. What are your thoughts on modular vs. site built?
I feel like modular and prefab will be more and more the way to go because of these reasons: material costs, conservation and better use of resources (building green), and labor.
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks,
Kirby
Replies
I guess I don't get it. There is still plenty of labor involved in constructing a wall on a factory floor.
It's inside so work can go on 24/7 if needed. Framing is semi-automated in jigs so trained carpenters aren't needed, there are no waiting times for subs to show as there are no subs. Workers can work on more than one house at once, materials can be bought in bulk for savings, work can be supervised 24/7, systems can be tested in the factory.
I expect large numbers of houses will be manufactured in factories in the near future.
Theoretically it could be cheaper. It's hard to overcome a 3 person crew framing and closing in a small house in 3 days though.
I see trucks going down the road with pre-built wall sections all the time. I have no idea what the upcharge is for that. I would guess that the final buyer, the consumer, never sees any of the savings.
Modulars can be just as good and may have decent cost savings. I saw a video a few years back about a subdivision of about 300 houses I think. The developer built a modular factory near the entrance and built all the homes and garages there. Once the development was built out they took the factory down and moved it to another site. Everybody won.
I am nauseated at the thought of a generic 300-house subdivision. However that seems like a good business plan.
A similar "factory" built a large, at least 300 home subdivision a few miles from where I live. No, they weren't generic. About 16 different floor plans of different sizes. Different elevations, including brick, brick and siding or siding only. 48 or more different homes. Also restricitions on the proximity to other homes of the same model and elevation. I viewed them. Much better quality control than similarly priced site built.
Like site built a lot depends upon the company building the modular. I’ve seen some good modular, but also seen terrible. In my state the factory built homes seem to get away with some code issues. I’ve remodeled modular homes and seen stuff that does not meet code, stuff that would be called out by any inspector if it were site built.
I don’t hate modular, but two main drawbacks for me are modular can be very complicated to remodel or alter. Also, I’m a bit of a purist, the appeal of a team of people working hand in hand on a piece of land to provide someone with a home is a lot more appealing to me than having a home built in a factory by people that rely on automation and not intuition/knowledge.
I think it’s a craft killer. I’ve toured facilities before, a trained gorilla can put those things together. The only important people building prefab are the ones working behind a desk, I definitely would not call them craftsmen.
In a future short on skilled workers this will be our future. I see the benefits with cost control etc for prefab, but I do believe over time once big companies have dominated the market cost will match or exceed the small private guys, but by then they’ll all be gone. I split my time between the US and the UK, I have companies in both countries. As a small private company my US business has much greater earning potential and the sky is the limit. I feel like there is no ceiling in the US. My UK company on the other hand is no fun. Private builders only make up a very small (extremely small) percentage of homes being built. The big companies have dominated the market and control everything. The cost of homes in the UK is crazy and the dream of home ownership is dead (unless you live in the country in middle of no where). When big business takes over government starts to intervene a lot more and as a result safety standard costs etc go through the roof. The residential job sites in the UK look like commercial sites in the US. Steel scaffolding around entire home, hi-vi clothing, onsite office and other BS. Employers are required to provide climate controlled areas for employees break, etc. It’s way over done and very costly. With all of that quality isn’t any better, it’s actually worse.
We need to be careful about homes being built in the manufacturing industry vs the construction industry. I know it sounds a bit ridiculous, but if we lean to much on the manufacturing side Amazon will be in the home business.
Sorry for the rant. Just feel like we need to make sure craftsmen do not become obsolete and big companies do not own everything.
Really appreciate your insights! I'm finding that it can vary by state here in the US. I live in Oregon and contractors are telling me it just isn't worth building a home or two because the administrative overhead, insurances, etc make the profit margin slim to none. However, just a couple hours to the east of me, Idaho is going crazy building everything - contractors are abounding in work to be done. Its amazing how much a business friendly state can influence the economy like that.
Again, thank for your insight.
BTW, I think your worst fears are coming true:
https://www.amazon.com/slp/modular-home/xwywhda2csg368k
Damn, I called it! With my Prime membership I can have a home delivered to me in one day!
I expect it is a craft killer but I doubt there is anything to be done about it. Everything was made by hand at some point but as soon as mass production came along people started going for the low price and convenience offered by that. Down here in south Florida I'd guess 90% or better of homes are built by national builders using low bid subs. There is very little to no supervision so the quality on the low end and middle is terrible. We do mostly maintenance and repair work these days and the stuff we see every day would make your hair stand on end. I call it criminal construction because the poor customers have no idea what to look for.
Because we're ina hurricane zone almost all the houses here are block construction with poured concrete tie beams, not a style conducive to modular construction. I see testing being done now on extruded concrete homes built by a giant 'printer." It can't come too soon.