The Wonders of Pre Manufactured Homes

Prefab homes, as they are popularly referred to in the industry, are dwellings manufactured in specific off-site locations and shipped onsite for assembly atop prepared foundations. Such buildings are usually manufactured in standard sections, with some prefab designs featuring customized architectural details. These custom modular homes allow those searching for a new home a great alternative to traditional stick-built homes.

Pre manufactured homes offer an accelerated construction schedule. While a stick-built home is typically built in nine to twelve months, a modular home can be built in as little as ninety days due to the efficient assembly process. The speed of construction is one of the benefits of a modular home as they allow a family to move into a new home very quickly. Manufactured homes have a long history of helping homeowners in need, starting with returning World War II soldiers who needed housing. The manufactured home has come a long way since those early days but they still offer a quickly built home large enough for a family.

The predecessors of modular homes are the home kits offered by Sears over 100 years ago. Those home kits came with everything one needed to build a home. The designs were set and one had to choose from a catalog of designs; those houses did not come with custom options. Today’s modular homes offer much greater variety. A potential homeowner can select a standard home design, customize a standard design to suit their needs, or they can create a custom plan and have that manufactured at the facility. This offers far greater choices such as handicap accessible housing or even modular cabins. By giving a new homeowner greater options to customize their home, modular homes builders make it possible to create vastly different homes while still keeping their assembly line efficiency intact. This gives a homeowner a beautiful home at an affordable price.

The level of quality in modular homes has also come a long way since the days of the Sears Home Kits. Instead of assembly by a layperson with minimal building knowledge, today’s modular homes are built by skilled workers and overseen by certified building inspectors. Because the components of the homes are built indoors they are also not exposed to the elements. One of today’s modular homes is better built than modular homes of the past and in many cases they are better built than many stick built homes today.

Considering all the great benefits a modular home offers consumers, one would think they would be the most popular home type. However, in the United States only 3 to 5% of homes are modular, but they are gaining in popularity. Modular homes made a jump in popularity in the early 1990’s when the first customizable options became more readily available. As more consumers become aware of how many options there are in today’s modular homes, the number of pre manufactured homes is likely to increase.