Prefabricated Homes: What Are Prefab Homes?

• Prefabricated homes are hoses assembled on a location of your choice and are ever more popular among American homeowners;

• Prefabricated homes and houses date back to the 19th century, during the Gold Rush;

• Numerous platforms across the States can design, ship, and assemble a prefabricated home for you;
• Prefab homes are also known as “smart homes” because of their energy efficiency and remote controls.

Prefabricated homes are comfy houses you can get by ordering them beforehand and shipping and assembling them to your living location.

Prefab homes are the current craze among young and ambitious homeowners. That’s why the global market for prefabricated houses is expected to reach 23.7 billion dollars by 2027. And, the market size of manufacturing prefabricated homes in the USA will be 8.8 billion dollars in 2023.

If you’re still asking yourself what is a prefab home, search for your answers in this article! You’ll learn about the best platforms to buy a prefab home, various tips & tricks, and the benefits of prefab homes!  Let’s put the pieces together!

Introduction to Prefabricated Homes

What is a prefabricated home? People wonder when they see these houses advertised in the newspapers and on the internet. Prefabricated homes are houses you can order beforehand and have them transported to your living location. The prefab homes platforms usually construct the parts of the house before shipping and assembling them onsite. Simply put, prefabricated homes are already-designed homes that are shipped and put together piece by piece at the selected living location.

Manufacturers design prefabricated homes with steel, concrete, and wood in standard sections for easier shipment and assembly. You can order your prefabricate home through some of the platforms offering these services and specify the characteristics and features of your new home.

These homes are cheaper than the standard ones because of the less streamlined production, less labor, and less generated waste. Prefab homes are also highly energy efficient, and you can save a lot of money by dwelling in such houses.

History of Prefab Homes

We can’t answer the question,”What is a prefabricated home?” without addressing the history of these dwelling places. In the 19th century, during the Gold Rush, Californian prospectors needed to build their buildings as quickly as possible and that’s how prefabricated homes came to be!

In the beginning, prefabricated homes were known as kit, ready-cut, and pre-cut houses. The prefabricated houses remained popular until the first half of the twentieth century. Nonetheless, they were rediscovered by the end of the century and have now become one of the best investments for young Americans.

Nowadays, prefab homes have developed into fully-fledged living spaces which are energy efficient and have top-notch security systems. They have evolved into smart homes – remotely-controlled living spaces with energy and time-efficient features.

5 Best Platforms to Buy Prefabricated Homes

You can buy a prefabricated home through numerous platforms that can manufacture, ship, and assemble it. From Dvele, Plan Prefab, and Connect Homes to Method Homes and RoomBus, you can conclude a deal with any reliable and professional manufacturers and get your home ready for living in no time!

1) RoomBus

This Los Angeles-based company is among the most famous prefab home platforms. It offers affordable popular modular cottage homes that are disaster-resistant and have embedded RoomOs software.

RoomBus knows the fact that green smart homes reduce energy consumption. That’s why they offer you three house models with electric locks, humidity, temperature, and air-quality sensors embedded into your house.

2) Method Homes

This prefab home platform is based in Seattle and specializes in designing, shipping, and assembling luxury prefab homes. Method Homes don’t have standardized packages but offer various smart in-home software. You can regulate the temperature, lighting, and humidity settings. Method Homes provides you with the benefits of an energy-efficient prefab home with multiple control options.

3) Connect Homes

If you want to know when to buy a house or what is a high-quality prefabricated home, don’t hesitate to contact these guys. Connect Homes are a platform that can design your prefab home in a smart and sustainable way.

4) Plant Prefab

This is another popular platform that offers healthy, energy-efficient, and sustainable homes. Plant Prefab will provide you with an Energy Star system for controlling energy consumption and various other technologies, such as Lutron lighting systems, Ring video doorbells, Schlage Encode doors, and more.

5) Dvele

The platform is famous for designing homes that can go off-grid for a few days due to solar arrays and batteries. Dvele offers fully-equipped and integrated smart houses with more than 300 sensors for various purposes. Dvele is environmentally-friendly, affordable, and fully automated.

Step-by-Step Guide to Assemble a Prefab Home

You can’t answer your question about what is a prefab house without knowing how to assemble it. That’s why we’ve made a list of the subsequent steps to assemble a prefab home and make it comfy and livable for you and your loved ones:

• Consultation, advice, and planning. Consulting with professionals like architects, designers, and finance managers is crucial in assembling your prefab home.

• Project proposals and preparing the site. Next, you’ll have to acquire a project proposal by the particular platform and prepare the site for assembling the house.

• Acquire permits and approvals. You don’t want your living space to be closed by legal authorities and institutions. That’s why you’ll have to acquire all the permits and approvals and comply with all construction laws.

• Specifications and contract. For effective and efficient assembling, you’ll need to specify the design, materials, and colors. Then, you’ll conclude a pre-contract.

• Putting the modules together. Professional prefab house building, shipping, and assembling companies will construct the house on the designated building site.

• Inspection. This is the last step in the assembling process, and it’s essential for efficient and durable prefabricated dwelling space. So, after finishing the assembling, you should hand over the inspection to the site’s supervisor.

10 Amazing Tips To Setup A Prefabricated Home

From the things to avoid during renovation to the signs to buy a new home – the setup tips for a prefabricated home have it all!

Tips Related to the Preparations

Preparation works refers to all the activities you need to do before starting to assemble your prefabricated house. They include:

• Find the Right Location

Before buying a prefab home, find the location that suits your house’s design, materials, and durability well! Then, get all the legal documents and be careful about the various acts and regulations regarding the house’s size, materials, and transport conditions. Watch out for slopes, streams, and driveways!

• Planning and Design

Plan well ahead and design the house to match your family’s current and future needs. Be consistent and strive to use most of the home space for various living purposes. Furthermore, you can design your prefabricated home to be aligned with the terrain, nearby trees, ponds, or driveways.

• Prefab Home Financing

Financing your prefabricated dwelling place is also crucial for setting up the house. Across the loan market, numerous prefab home loans can help you finance the planning, design, construction, and shipment. Before you start the setup process, be sure that your prefab home loan or overall budget encompasses all the necessary steps and actions. The finances are one of the main house checklist details.

• Trenching, Digging, Clearing, and Leveling

If you want a properly assembled prefabricated home, you’ll have to clear the trees, logs, and holes, and excavate a foundation hole. The best way is to rent the right technology and equipment. However, the most cost, time, and energy-efficient ways are hiring a professional company or letting the prefab homes platform do it.

• Sewage and Water Systems

A helpful tip you might use for planning and implementing a sewer and water system is to install a private septic system or get access to public sewage systems. Calculate the costs and the energy efficiency for the two options and decide on the most suitable one.

Tips Related to Implementation

These implementation tips are related to the specific process of assembling your house and getting it ready for living. The following are our best tips on implementing the project and setting up your prefab home:

• Choose the Materials

Before you start building your prefab home, choose the most suitable materials based on their quality, durability, and their resistance to environmental conditions. You wouldn’t want a wholly wooden prefabricated home near coasts or tropical areas. Moreover, you’ll have to choose the most cost-effective and durable materials.

• Install the Modules Correctly

Don’t start installing the modules before you get a clear picture of how the house should look and where each component fits. The prefab home building company must have access to the house site, and you must prepare the staging area for storing the house sections. It can take 2 – 3 days to assemble the parts and complete the prefab house.

• Choose the Right Installation Time

You’ll also need to determine the right time for setting the house up. Choose the best daytime and ideal weather conditions to assemble your prefab home because you don’t want the materials or sections damaged.

• Inspect

Inspections are essential for setting up your prefab home. The onsite inspection will tell you whether the foundation is aligned or the modules are properly assembled. Furthermore, professional inspectors will tell you how to attach additional components and elements and conduct a safety survey.

• Evaluate

Evaluation is the last step in ensuring you got the exact service for the price. Make sure the house is in compliance with all the materials, design features, and implementation procedures. If not, call the company for additional alignments and corrective actions.

Benefits of Prefabricated Houses

We’ve separated the most alluring and wallet-friendly benefits for you. From energy efficiency to time consumption – there are hundreds of different benefits! Here are some of the most important ones:

• More affordable than regular houses
• High-quality components and materials
• Reduced construction times
• Flexibility
• Cost-effectiveness
• Eco-friendly homes
• Less waste
• Safety
• Quality control

Key Challenges While Setting Up Prefab Homes

There can be multiple challenges while setting up prefab homes. If you compare modular vs prefabricated homes, you’ll see many issues related to the site, foundations, land, and transport. You must address those issues as quickly as you can to make the assembling of your prefabricated home possible.

Moreover, you may find yourself in situations when the quality of the house is at stake. Various platforms can provide you with different quality services, and that can be costly. That’s why finding a professional and affordable prefab home-building platform is more than necessary.

Final Words

Prefab homes are becoming ever-more popular among first-time and long-time homeowners. They’re more affordable than regular housing options and provide owners with an optimized living environment.

Numerous companies design, build, ship, and assemble these prefabricated homes. However, before the installation, you must address all issues related to the site, the foundations, logistics, and financing. Prefab homes can be fun and affordable but also complex projects for design and implementation.

FAQs About Prefab Homes

1) What is a prefabricated house made of?

Manufacturers usually make the components for prefabricated houses from wood, steel, and concrete. They use these materials because they’re easy to manage and can easily fit in the standard sections for transporting and assembling the prefab house.

2) Are prefab homes cheaper than mobile homes?

The cost of modular vs prefabricated homes depends on the size of the home. On average, a new mobile home costs around 111,000 dollars, while a prefab home costs $80 to $160 per square foot. So, it depends on what is prefab house’s square footage.

3) How long do prefab houses last?

There aren’t any specified expiry dates for a prefab house because of the various materials, weather, and environmental conditions. However, some prefab building platforms state that their homes can last up to six decades.

4) How are prefabricated structures made?

It’s the same question as “What are prefab homes?” and the answer is quite short. Manufacturers make prefabricated structures off-site. They plan, measure and design the various components, transport them to your location and piece it together.

5) How to identify whether a house is prefabricated or not?

It’s easy and simple! You’ll have to find the identification tag manufacturers call the “Factory Built Unit Certification.” All prefab homes have this identification tag. Moreover, you can inspect the foundations and look for blueprints.