Built Homes

One of the fastest growing segments of new home construction is homes constructed in factories and delivered to the site. Although still less than half of all new home construction, this pre fabricated type of housing is increasing each year. The reason is the savings in time and money over the traditional stick-built construction. Two popular type of pre fabricated housing are panelized and modular built homes.

Pre fabricated homes can be built entirely in the factory, prepared in kit form for assembly onsite or have just certain components built and shipped to the site for integration into newly built homes. Panelized homes are in the last category. Components are assembled in a factory then shipped to the building site. Panelization is the most widely-used form of pre fabrication or “systems-building” today. The most often pre fabricated components are floor and roof trusses.

Structural insulated panels (SIPs) are another popular pre-made component. A rare but increasingly popular type of new built homes is the geodesic dome which is made from hundreds of triangular panels. The simplest way to build one of these is to use panelization – having the triangular panels made in a factory and assembled onsite. While panelization sounds like a small improvement over traditional construction, a recent study showed that by using trusses and panels in the construction of a 2,600 square foot home, 26% less lumber was used, 76% less waste was generated and the home was constructed in just 37% of the man hours of traditionally built homes.

A step further from the traditionally built homes is the modular home. More than 90% of the modular home is built in the factory and transported to the building site. The modules can include one room or several. The rooms are shipped complete with windows, stairs, flooring, even painted walls and lighting. Once the modules are assembled at the building site, little needs to be done beyond hooking up the utilities to the interior electricity and plumbing. The costs in weather delays, damage and site vandalism can be startling in some areas. One in ten new built homes in the Northeast is modular.