Are Prefab Homes in NJ as Good as Site-Built Houses?

29
May
2015

 

Those looking into buying a new house in New Jersey will find that there are several options to consider. Two of these are prefab homes (also known as modular homes) and site-built homes. Because there is usually a significant difference in cost, many wonder if there is also a big difference in quality. Surprisingly enough, prefab homes have at least as much quality as site-built ones. Mosttimes, they have even more. How is this possible?

Control of Variables

Because modular homes are built in factories, the builder has complete control over important variables that would come into play in a site-built setting. One of the most important ones is the weather. The factory is a dry, climate-controlled environment with humidity levels that are favorable to construction materials. Outdoors, the weather is what it is – and this means that on-site builders have to worry about warping, installing tarps to keep rain out, sudden temperature changes, and more.

The standardization of the construction process also controls some important human variables. Everyone is using the same builder-approved process, so there aren’t vast differences between the output of two different laborers. There is also no need to find local electricians, plumbers, and others for the internal components of the house. Because of these things, modular homes are often of better quality than their site-built equivalents.

Economies of Scale

When a home is built on site, the company must have a wide variety of building materials delivered to the location in single-house-sized batches. While a house’s worth of material is big enough for some sort of bulk discount, a trainload’s worth of materials will certainly qualify for a much bigger markdown. Factories get trainloads or huge truckloads of materials and then pass on some of the cost savings to customers. This is another big reason for the lower cost of modular homes.

Basic Customization is Easier

When someone orders a site-built home, everything has to be designed from the ground up. If a person wants to add space, it isn’t a simple matter. Instead, everything has to be done on a special basis. This includes the architectural drawings, which will have to be redone in order to account for the physics of the custom structure.

With a modular home, architectural customization is much easier. If someone wants the house to be wider, the answer is simple: Attach another module. Houses that are to be taller get pre-made second-story modules. Adding modules does affect the physics of the structure, but this has already been accounted for in the factory’s original design stage. There’s no need to have new architectural designs done because the module-maker has already ensured that all of the components will work together.

That said, both site-built and modular homes are subject to architectural basics like site feasibility and ground conditions. If the land isn’t suitable for a certain type of house or amount of weight, alas, there is usually no quick fix. Therefore, it’s a good idea to have an engineer out to the site before deciding on a major customization.

Specific Customizations are Expected

Most builders expect customers to want a few things to be changed, but modular home contractors have made this process easy. Important structural elements are placed in ways that don’t interfere with typical interior customization choices, so making modifications doesn’t require as much work.

For all of these reasons and more, modular homes are at least as good as site-built homes and in some cases they are definitely superior. Even better, the economies of scale and lack of hassles allow them to be more affordable than a comparable site-built home. To learn more about how modular homes are made and the standards they are built to, just contact us. We’ll be glad to tell you all about them and get you started on the home of your dreams.

 

Information contained on/within this page or pages is for informational purposes only and is not guaranteed to be accurate. Supreme Modular assumes no responsibility for mistakes or omissions.

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