Mark J Posted February 10, 2021 Report Share Posted February 10, 2021 I'm wondering if any of the participants here know much about modular home construction, which is also called panelized construction. This is the process of building a house as a series of components or sub assemblies (e.g. walls) in a factore and then transporting the components to the home site for further assembly into a house. There is a lot of confusion with other types of factory home building and I want to be clear I am not talking about manufactured housing (aka mobile homes), nor when I refer to modular construction do I mean the type of elongated boxes that get stacked together to create a "dwelling". I'm talking about homes that look like typical American styles assembled on site from components made in a factory. I want to believe that quality control might be better, construction time might be shorter and overall costs might be lower, but I'm wondering what people here think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted February 10, 2021 Report Share Posted February 10, 2021 I don't know a lot but I have seen them used on TV for several homes and I think you are on point. I am a big building junkie on TV LOL. I think it would be hard to get the accuracy in the field that you can get in an environmentally controlled space with jigs and set ups. Re speed since weather is not an issue I would thank that would help in the time column the only downside I can see would be transportation costs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legenddc Posted February 10, 2021 Report Share Posted February 10, 2021 It was a while ago but they showed it on This Old House. Watching the houses the larger builders make around here, seems like the walls are all delivered framed out they just need to be stood up. Sure goes up quick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjeff70 Posted February 10, 2021 Report Share Posted February 10, 2021 I remember Tom Silva making that comparison many years ago on This Old House. What I recall most is the foundation/basement R values are much higher out of the box for modular construction. It should be easy to determine if one is better than the other in terms of foundation cracks due to settling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjeff70 Posted February 10, 2021 Report Share Posted February 10, 2021 1 hour ago, Mark J said: I want to believe that quality control might be better, I think so because computers run most of that stuff and hopefully there's more supervision. Lots of shortcuts are made in the field and trades with lesser experience are used to cut corners and save money. If you can limit that you should get a better build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted February 10, 2021 Report Share Posted February 10, 2021 The only downside, is that rushing to assembly processes sometimes missing inferior framing members. One part of slower assembly is the ability to cull material that may come to the site looking straight and true. Those panel shops have things nailed together that will sometimes wreak havoc in the field. Do your homework about the builder you choose. They will either have a good or bad track record based on service after the sale due to those kinds of issues. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted February 11, 2021 Report Share Posted February 11, 2021 This is hear say, I spoke with a friend that looked into this in my region and wasn't able to make it work due to bank financing. The bank apparently lumps them in the same category as mobile homes or modular homes and won't finance as much and the interest rates are higher. Again not first hand experience, and could be regionally specific. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted February 11, 2021 Report Share Posted February 11, 2021 2 hours ago, Chestnut said: This is hear say, I spoke with a friend that looked into this in my region and wasn't able to make it work due to bank financing. The bank apparently lumps them in the same category as mobile homes or modular homes and won't finance as much and the interest rates are higher. Again not first hand experience, and could be regionally specific. I heard that early on as well but don't know if it has changed over the years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted February 11, 2021 Report Share Posted February 11, 2021 When I was building new homes, I never even used a prehung door, or prebuilt cabinets. Cabinets, and trim were made on site. Framing lumber was bought the year before. Modular homes may be on par with track built homes, but you can't say they're better than anything else, any kind of way. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted February 11, 2021 Report Share Posted February 11, 2021 57 minutes ago, Tom King said: When I was building new homes, I never even used a prehung door, or prebuilt cabinets. Cabinets, and trim were made on site. Framing lumber was bought the year before. Modular homes may be on par with track built homes, but you can't say they're better than anything else, any kind of way. I would point out that in my opinion you are not even in the same stratosphere of the average homebuilder Tom 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark J Posted February 11, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2021 I was looking at another way to phrase it, but that works! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B1rdhunter Posted February 11, 2021 Report Share Posted February 11, 2021 If modular/panelized homes are built better than stick built in anybody's area they should probably move because their builders are incompetent. Just based on 40 years in the business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted February 11, 2021 Report Share Posted February 11, 2021 I think more efficient making it more cost effective was being questioned, not end quality per se. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted February 12, 2021 Report Share Posted February 12, 2021 20 hours ago, B1rdhunter said: If modular/panelized homes are built better than stick built in anybody's area they should probably move because their builders are incompetent. Just based on 40 years in the business. I've heard of a lot and seen a few atrocious starter homes that are budget built. Holes in exterior walls that are hidden and never filled causing a new house to become a rodent infested mess. Gigantic gaps around windows with poor weather sealing. Walls so far out of plumb picture frames don't touch the wall on the bottom. The rodent one was a high end custom builder too so I guess it's not always limited to the budget builders. I have a few contacts for these companies i could send you if you want a cheap hours just PM me. Don't even get me started on roof designs that cause ice dams and roof leaks. Any south facing roof should not drain to a north east facing valley. It's an ice nightmare don't ask me how i know. I suppose this is the designers fault not the builder. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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