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Manufactured Homes are Redefining The Housing Market NOW!
Houses partly built in a factory are known for their low costs and fast construction . You just need some land to build on. The manufacturer simply delivers the home in pieces and finishes the construction on-site . But like many construction developments, prefab homes have come a long way in recent years, making them enticing even to wealthy home buyers. Prefabrication techniques reduce wastes , making it a more eco-friendly building method, and factory precision keeps modern clean edges and angles in line.
Now, with an emphasis on materials conservation and reuse , and developers looking to squeeze costs any way they can , modular construction is getting a closer look.
Often the word prefab conjures images of poorly built, inexpensive structures like trailers . But proponents of prefab, many of whom shudder at the moniker , say that modular design, done well, is anything but cheaply built. A modularly constructed building uses the same materials as a traditional one . But because it is assembled in a factory, workers are not battling the elements and can construct it more soundly and with less waste, in less time.
“The quality of what you can assemble is infinitely higher on a factory floor,” said the hotelier André Balazs, who considered building a luxury modular hotel atop the High Line in Manhattan.
Nearly all modern buildings rely on some element of prefabrication, with facades constructed off-site and windows and doors standardized. Even “bathroom pods,” bathrooms built and assembled off-site, are becoming increasingly common. But the idea of assembling most of the building in a factory and setting it fully assembled on a foundation simply has not taken off.
“Is the technology there to do it? Yes. Is the desire? Yes,” said Christopher Sharples, a principal at SHoP Architects. “In the near future, I think people are going to become more educated about what the potential of this approach could be.”
The market share of residential modular construction is poised to increase over the next five years, according to the industry trade group Modular Building Institute . A developer can expect to shave up to 20 percent off their construction costs with modular building largely because labor costs are lower .
Developers also benefit from time savings . Speed aside, developers have the ability to create a production schedule that minimizes downtime. In traditional construction, a contractor is overseeing work by various subcontractors who work for independent entities and on their own time frames . Weather causes delays and so can any variety of unforeseen factors like waits for zoning approvals. But in a factory, all the various tradesmen from the carpenters to the electricians to the plumbers work for the factory, and all the pieces come together simultaneously.
The challenge of making a prefabricated building architecturally innovative is part of what drives architects in this new and emerging medium of design . But the speed, value and quality of development and construction are what will drive this emerging market as more and more developers take advantage of modular construction.
Related articles
- Buying A Home Direct From The Owner (jackbarryrealtors.com)
- Modular Home Building Costs and Benefits (homebuildingsmart.com)
- Prefabricated homes go upscale (sfgate.com)
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