A prefabricated home is a type of house that gets constructed in a closed facility in parts or sections and then shipped to the actual home site to be assembled. It can be a kit, panels, modules, or full house on wheels.
In other words, a prefab home is an industrialized factory-built home, it is first constructed indoors, protected from the environment, and utilizes industrial production techniques to improve speed, quality, and costs then shipped to the home site location in sections or fully assembled.
The prefabricated homes have lots of benefits over the traditional stick-built homes which in some cases makes them highly worth choosing even for remote locations. Furthermore, the prefab industry offers way more options for size, style, and materials than most local contractors could offer.
The types of prefabricated homes are varying by the form in which they are brought to the site, materials they are built from, architecture, different fetchers, costs, and speed of delivery. As such, each type of prefab house will suit other needs and will have its pros and cons.
To better understand what is a prefabricated home it is worth knowing what types of factory-built homes are available globally. Each region might have its unique features as local building codes affect some aspects of the homes, but the general idea of construction, delivery, and assembly will remain somewhat the same.
What Types Of Prefabricated Homes Are There
| Type of Prefab Home | Main Characteristics | Pros | Cons | Average Cost Per Square Foot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kit Prefabricated Home | Prepared in advance for quick and easy construction on-site. Materials are cut and marked according to house plans. | Easy and fast on-site construction, less pollution, many styles available. | Most of the work is performed locally on-site. | $60 to $100 (Estimated) |
| Panelized Prefab Home | Mostly constructed off-site, stored as marked panels, and assembled on-site. | Quick assembly, essential systems like pipes and electricity are pre-installed. | Takes a little longer to assemble on-site compared to modular homes. | $50 to $75 |
| Modular Prefabricated Home | Built entirely off-site, disassembled into sections, and re-assembled on-site. | High quality, quick on-site assembly, sustainable. | Requires paved roads and shipping lanes for delivery. | $80 – $160 |
| Manufactured Prefab Home | Built on a steel frame with wheels, towed to the site, and fixed on foundations. | Fast option, limited on-site work. | Limited in shape and dimensions, requires road access. | $50 to $100 (Estimated) |
| Container Homes | Made from shipping containers, highly modern and aesthetic. | Unique feel, fast to build, easily shipped. | Limited space, may require insulation. | $100 to $200 |
| Prefab Concrete Home | Made from precast concrete off-site. | Durable, can meet local building codes requiring concrete and steel. | Heavy, takes longer to build. | $75 to $125 |
| Mobile Tiny Prefab Homes | Small, moveable living spaces built in a factory. | Highly personalized, smart space utilization. | Small living spaces, may require designated parking. | $200 to $400 |
| Vanlife | Homes built inside vans, includes all essential amenities. | Highly mobile, includes all essential amenities. | Not suitable as a permanent home for everyone. | Varies, depending on van customization |
What Is Kit Prefabricated Home
A kit home is a house that is being prepared in advance for quick and easy construction on site. Most of the work done off-site is cutting and marking each material according to the house plans, thus, making the construction process on-site easier, faster, and less polluting.
There are many different styles of kit homes and many different materials are used which makes many of those kit homes fairly unique and stylish. One type of kit home that seems to be the favorite is the A-frame kit home.
An A-frame kit home offers a very simple yet safe structure with a very simple on-site construction phase. Many of those A-frame homes are built by the owners as a DIY project, or by hiring a local contractor to assemble the kit on-site.
However, there are many other very well engineered kit homes all across the globe, some with flat roofs, while others use more traditional shingles style roofs. Not all kit homes are A-frames, and not all are made from wood, the options are almost unlimited, just dig deep enough and find the one that suits your style.
The main thing about kit homes is even though the fitting, cutting, and marking are made off-site, still, most of the work would be performed locally on-site. So from all types of prefabs, the kit home might be with most resemblance to the stick-built home.
What Is Panelized Prefab Home
The panelized prefabs are a type of home that is mostly constructed off-site, stored as marked panels, and shipped to the site to be assembled into a home at a very high speed.
Many consider the panelized prefabricated home to be a type of modular home, however, though it has its similarities to the modular home it is much easier to deliver, yet will take a little longer to assemble on-site.
Panelized prefabs are a step farther from the kit prefab home, as the materials are precut and constructed into walls, floors, ceilings, and roof panels. Those panels might even include the pipes, electricity, insulation, windows, and other fixed systems of the house.
As all the essential systems are already in place the panelized prefab home can be assembled quickly on-site with no delays.
One other thing worth maintaining is the fact that almost no local work is required, as 90 percent of the house is delivered in panels. The things left to do locally are amenities connection and foundation work, both have to be completed prior to the home delivery on-site.
Lastly, regarding the styles and architecture of the panelized homes, those might be limited as the prefab factory will try and keep things simple. However, their ability to shape the homes differently still exists, and even though the panels are almost identical assembling them differently on site will result in a different and unique home.
What Is A Modular Prefabricated Home
A modular prefabricated home is a house that is built entirely off-site, then before it is shipped to the home site it gets disassembled into several sections and shipped to be re-assembled on-site.
Modular prefab homes are considered to be of higher quality than all other prefab homes. This is because the home is constructed to its fullest off-site which makes quality assessment during the construction process higher.
Thanks to this perception modular prefab homes are leading the prefabs market and keeping a good and futuristic image regarding prefabs as a whole. Modular homes these days are very stylistic with wide openings, high-end materials, and in many cases located in exotic locations which help improve public opinion regarding prefabs.
One major advantage of modular homes is the speed at which they are assembled back on-site. This re-assembling can take one day for a small home and up to three for a larger one, however, both are remarkable thanks to the lower impact this process has on the immediate environment of the home site.
Be that as it may, modular homes do have some identical stages to other types of prefabs such as local authorizations, foundation work, amenities connection, and other small jobs. But once on site, it might be one of the fastest prefabs types to be complete and living ready.
Additionally, as modular homes get constructed off-site but to a fully assembled home, both the construction and quality assessment result in a highly sustainable prefab home. Modular prefabricated homes are also highly durable and cost-effective thanks to their production process.
Lastly, modular homes cannot be re-assembled if there is no way of getting cranes and trucks to the home site. Even having such a very good reputation building them outside the boundaries of society is close to impossible, as paved roads and shipping lanes are required. So if building a home in the middle of nowhere is your dream, don’t plan on getting a modular home on your property.
What Is A Manufactured Prefab Home
A manufactured prefabricated home is in fact one of the most famous prefab house type, as in many places across the US whole neighborhoods were built using this type.
Generally, a manufactured prefab home will be built on a steel frame attached to a set of wheels, once the construction off-site is completed the home could then be towed by a truck to the home site and lifted on the foundations.
Once the manufactured home has been set on the foundations it will be fixed into place using anything from hurricane straps to big steel screws, anything that will hold the house to its place.
The manufactured prefab home is also a very fast option for home buyers as the process on-site is very limited. But again, this type of home could be built only at the boundaries of our society’s infrastructure, where there are roads to deliver this home on wheels.
But make no mistake, manufactured prefabs aren’t a mobile home, the wheels are used only once to bring it from the factory to its designated location. Then the lower part which is made out of steel frame and wheels are covered never to be seen again. Practically the house looks just like any other house.
This misconception, comparing a manufactured prefab home to mobile homes puts a wrong image regarding them on people’s minds. For that reason, many believe manufactured homes are of lower quality when the truth is that there are some high-end manufactured homes that many people would never believe them to be such.
The thing is with manufactured homes that there is a limitation to their shape, this is since those homes need to be towed behind a truck. This means that the house must be constructed so it can be driven (at least once) on the road. As a result, these homes will have specific dimensions.
As manufactured homes are limited in dimensions there is an option, if one wishes to have a bigger home than the dimensions offered, to assemble two or more sections together to get the right size. But the general dimensions of each section will stay the same, meaning that architecture is somewhat limited with manufactured homes.
Container Homes Are A Type Of Prefab
Container homes are a hot trendy type of house, however, should it really be considered a prefab house?
Well, The truth is that container homes started as a fast and simple way of having a standing structure ready for work on-site. The main issue here is that most of the work was done on-site.
However, with time passing and rising public interest, some prefab companies have taken the opportunity and created prefabricated homes from shipping containers. The steel frame, standard dimensions, and ease of reshaping and connecting several containers made the process off-site an exciting one.
These manufacturers are using a wide range of shipping containers available globally and making them into highly modern aesthetic homes.
These homes are highly fast to build on the factory and can be shipped easily to the home site to be fixed on the foundation, sometimes concrete and some steel.
The thing is that these homes have a very unique feel to them as they are more advanced than all the previous types in their style.
What Is A Prefab Concrete Home
Concrete homes are built all around the globe in the traditional manner, setting steel beams and rodes and casting wet concrete on top of them to create reinforced concrete. However, some concrete companies have decided to build homes from precast concrete made off-site.
This system is very similar to the panelized prefab homes, yet uses a different method by building the house from steel and concrete.
Some of the work will have to be done on-site, yet, similar to the work done using the panels systems.
One downside to this system is that it is very heavy and should be planned to withstand the forces that will be applied on the structure. Additionally, the aesthetics of the home is different from the other types which will most likely be made out of wood and steel.
Lastly, this home will take a bit longer to be built than the other types of prefab homes as it is a different approach for a home where some of the processes can take a bit longer. But, with all that this could be an interesting opportunity where local building codes demand a house to be built from concrete and steel rather than wood and lighter materials.
Mobile Tiny Prefab Homes
Another very trendy prefab home is the tiny mobile prefab home, this type of home is serving those who wish to have a small moveable living space. They are produced in a factory and built in several levels of quality, but the main common ground for this type is the fact that the living space is small yet arranged smartly.
Mobile tiny homes are using the small space given to include all of what a person or family would need in a house. Sometimes the bedroom area will be situated as a gallery over other parts of the house, while in other cases the bed could be hidden when not used only to be opened at night.
Tiny mobile homes are built from many different materials and have many different aesthetics to them. As a result, they are considered to be highly personalized and unique from each other.
Many tiny mobile home manufacturers offer a large flexibility regarding the interior of the house, what it’s going to look like, and what appliances it will include, almost everything could be redesigned to fit the needs of the customers.
The downsides to these homes are the facts that they are small living spaces, and that they are mobile. For some having to empty a black water tank is a big no-no, while others wouldn’t care about doing so as it allows them to move their home every few months wherever they wish to.
Furthermore, in certain places, mobile homes have to be parked in a designated location, kind of a neighborhood for mobile homes if you will. What in some cases might not be the best option and location for a home, as it could get a little crowded.
Vanlife Is A Type Of Prefab Home
Vanlife, a type of living and traveling style which is a bit like tiny mobile homes only smaller. This type of prefab home is literally a house on wheels with a go anywhere and anytime attitude.
These days there are plenty of companies building homes inside vans for their customers, it includes a kitchen, beds, sofa, bathroom and shower, great insulation, and some other systems that make for a great experience.
Just to be clear, this is not what I would call a house, however, there are a lot of people living out of these vans both as a permanent home and some as a weekend adventure vehicle.
Additionally, there are many types of prefabricated homes that are built utilizing several types of prefab technologies together, and some that use stick-built homes approach combined with some prefab elements. This is a very diverse market and people do try new things from time to time.
However, those are the home types that are really considered to be factory built homes and serve as a home for individuals and families.
Prefabricated Homes Started A Long Time Ago
Prefab homes have been with us for a very long time now, even though it looks like they are all fancy and modern it wasn’t like that at the beginning.
During the industrial revolution in the mid 19th century, the world was going through a crazy transformation as the majority of jobs done by hand were replaced by the factory production line method. This had an enormous impact on many aspects of our lives and changed many industries along the way, one was the construction industry.
At this time around the 1850s, John Alexander Brodie invented what we now call prefab homes, using panels to build apartment blocks in Liverpool. He was the city’s engineer and was looking for a creative way to improve the building process. Unfortunately, this process was not adopted in Britain, yet was implemented in Eastern European countries.
Prefabricated homes have seen their numbers rise during the gold rush in the U.S, and by 1908 pre-cut kit homes could have been ordered by mail to supply accommodations for the growing population of gold seekers.
From that time prefabricated homes were part of the housing market and for some time were very popular. These days prefabs are becoming popular once more as the world is looking for ways to improve the CO2 emissions situation by building sustainable homes and reducing the impact on our environment.
Some places such as Scandinavian countries are already building 84% of homes using prefabricated methods. This trend has started as an innovation act and will take over as a solution to improve our relationship with nature.
Apart from all those reasons, the cost has always been a driving factor in the decision-making process, as prefabs offer high quality and durability for a lower price tag it seems that there is still a lot to expect from factory-built homes in the near and far future.
These Are Few Benefits Of Prefabricated Homes
As mentioned above, prefabricated homes have lots to offer compared with stick-built homes. For that reason, I have put together a post including the pros and cons of prefabricated homes which you are most welcome to have a look at.
However, I do wish to put here a list of some of the benefits prefabs have as in my eyes it is important for the understanding of what is a prefabricated home.
To start with, prefabs are eco-friendly, meaning their construction is less harmful to the environment. There is less waste during the production process thanks to improved planning and execution by computers and humans together. The waste that does come out of the process gets used for other purposes and products, and sometimes even by totally different industries.
Additionally, prefab homes are sustainable, which means that during their life these homes are more likely to withstand the tests of time. They are durable as the materials used for their construction are of higher quality and the assembly is better.
Furthermore, the speed of construction is much faster, prefab homes are built twice as fast as stick built homes are built. And we all know that time is money.
This brings us to the costs section, well prefab homes are just cheaper overall, they cost less than a traditional site built home and result in a higher-quality home at a lower price tag. Additionally, there are many financing options for prefab homes.
One other thing to mention is diversity, prefab homes can be delivered from almost anywhere, meaning materials, aesthetics, architecture, and many more factors could be changed and ordered. This gives lots of options for the customers and can make the home feel much more unique.
Lastly, prefab homes can be built anywhere, not only prefab homes could be built in cities and their suburbs, but if one wishes to build a home in the middle of nowhere with prefab homes it is more likely that he would be able to do so. It all depends on the method of delivery that is available at each location which will determine what type of prefabricated home could be built on that site.
This is just a very short description of the pros of prefab homes while for each of us there will be more points added as the point of view is unique for each of us.
So Prefabricated Home Is…
To sum this all up, prefabricated homes are several types of homes that are produced or built in factories. Just like many other products these days homes are making the shift towards a better, greener, smarter, cleaner, faster, and safer construction process by industrializing the process.
Furthermore, there is a type to suit any need and aesthetics preferences, as building homes in a factory gives plenty of possibilities both during the construction process and in the management of the supply chain which helps diversify what each factory can offer.
Lastly, prefab homes are the future of the housing industry as the world is moving forward with the understanding that standardization of this market is bound to happen, which will accelerate the process and as a result options will grow. It is reasonable to believe that soon the majority of homes would be factory-built homes or in other words prefabricated homes.
Until next time
My Alternative House