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Why hasn't prefab construction taken over?

fastcompany.com

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Re: Why hasn't prefab construction taken over?

#71

Post by alkonaut »

falcolas wrote: post #16

This article seems to be missing some critical information - does this proposed system help with anything but the framing? Because framing a house, even a two story house, only takes an experienced crew a couple of days. And in the neighborhoods springing up around here, they are using pre-fab framed walls (still using wooden studs (which are cheap and plentiful), but they arrive on site as whole walls). Before frami…

If I order a catalog house from a manufacturer that does prefab it would probably either mean completely prefabbed wall panels, i.e. wall panels with a handful of layers (timber framing, OSB, plasterboard, wind/moisture barriers, lathing, external panel with a base paint), plus roof trusses. Or it could mean just the framing (wall panel timber frames and roof trusses). There would be passages for vents etc but you wouldn't see entire prefab "rooms", or even prefab walls with e.g. tiles or fittings like plumbing or electrical, like you see e.g. in large hotels or cruise ships.

Re: Why hasn't prefab construction taken over?

#72

Post by stephencanon »

modeless wrote: post #12
jeffbee wrote: post #4

Prefab is the wrong optimization. It targets a minor improvement in a small part of the overall budget. Most of the time and money of construction in America is tied up in land prices, permitting, and regulation. Prefab solves zero of these issues. There is a building going up in Oakland right now where Factory_OS put out a press release that they had built it in ten days. But they spent 7 years getting approvals, 18…

The advantage to me seems like it should be in quality and consistency, not cost and speed. Building houses is fast enough, and as you say the cost of the land often dominates, but the quality of houses is appallingly bad compared to consumer items mass produced in factories.

The quality issues that you encounter in houses aren't the framing either, though. It's the roof sealing, ventilation, trim, plumbing, ... all things that prefab framing also doesn't address.

Re: Why hasn't prefab construction taken over?

#73

Post by vkou »

stephencanon wrote: post #69
LatteLazy wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Says the man who can afford to spend 3 years in court losing 15k :)

Anyone who takes on building a custom house can easily afford to spend 3 years in court losing 15k.

I'd probably be willing to lose 15k to not spend 3 years in court.

Doubly so if it came after all the stress of custom-building a home. My blood pressure is worth more than that.

Re: Why hasn't prefab construction taken over?

#74

Post by LatteLazy »

The articles intro seems weird to me: if you go out to tender for a job like building a house, why wouldn't the quotes that come back varry that much? I've gotten software vendor quotes with highest figure way more than 2x lowest figure. The same for quotes for a new boiler for my residence. Did no one tell the subject of the article this or is the founding story really just bs for people who've never gotten quotes for things!?

Re: Why hasn't prefab construction taken over?

#75

Post by dejv »

floatingatoll wrote: post #61
dejv wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We are buying house from company that is building them fully assembled: house is assembled indoor and include all electrical, plumbing, HVAC, insulation. Whole system is based on few types of modules that you can connect together and it scale from tiny house to standard house sizes and modules could be even stacked to get multiple floor levels.

From what company?

It is local company from Czech republic called Freedomky. One example: https://www.dwell.com/home/freedomek-no.061-ce8de0e1

Re: Why hasn't prefab construction taken over?

#76

Post by vorpalhex »

dejv wrote: post #48
vannevar wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does prefab go much beyond framing? The NAHB estimates that framing is only 17% of the cost of a house(1), so even cutting that cost in half doesn't save much on the whole project. (1) https://www.nahbclassic.org/generic.aspx?sectionID=734&gener... .

I am currently in the process of buying prefab house and after visiting couple of local factories it seems like most of them is doing just framing and competing on price only. We are going with company that actually assemble full house inside and bring it to site fully equipped: electrical, plumbing etc.

What was the breakdown for prefab direct cost versus transportation cost (if you don't mind me being nosey)?

Re: Why hasn't prefab construction taken over?

#77

Post by stonogo »

An article about prefab residential construction without mentioning Sears houses[1] has failed the literature-review stage of the background work.

Flatly stated, prefab has always been about cost control, and people regard housing as an investment, and nobody is interested in "investing cheap."

1 - http://www.searsarchives.com/homes/1908-1914.htm

Re: Why hasn't prefab construction taken over?

#79

Post by syedkarim »

My current house is a prefab, modular home. It was trailered up from Indiana. A crane put the pieces together in a day (two halves on the first floor and four dormers on the second floor). The cost of the crane was about $5000. The cost of the 1500 square-foot cape cod was about $130,000. The entire project was around $330,000, but the property was raw land in an unincorporated area, which means there are certain line items that really jack up the bottom line.

We didn't save that much by going with a prefab home. We also didn't save much time, because we got stuck waiting for a sub-contractor and inspector during the finishing process. If I'm not saving money or time, well, what's the point?

It's a decent-quality house; as good as anything built on site. But nothing special. One of the main reasons to go down the pre-fab path at this price range is because there are relatively few custom home builders who will bother with homes that don't cost at least $500,000. Their margins are about 20%, but regardless of the size of the house, they are completing only three or four a year. They need higher top line projects, otherwise the don't see much bottom line.

Re: Why hasn't prefab construction taken over?

#80

Post by mcguire »

jeffbee wrote: post #4

Prefab is the wrong optimization. It targets a minor improvement in a small part of the overall budget. Most of the time and money of construction in America is tied up in land prices, permitting, and regulation. Prefab solves zero of these issues. There is a building going up in Oakland right now where Factory_OS put out a press release that they had built it in ten days. But they spent 7 years getting approvals, 18…

The San Francisco Bay area is not all of "America".
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