Premade house
The theme of the prefab architecture and specifically, the Prefabricated houses, are constantly updating, designing and incorporating new capabilities in the face of technological developments.
The development of new materials, modern techniques and the audacity of more than one designer in construction has led to the development of the modular construction of dwellings in an industrialized format, represented mainly in the modern manufactured homes or modular that some technicians identify as advanced construction technology for perfect homes.
But… Why Buy a Manufactured Home? The most timely answer is in the following image
Prefabricated houses respond to the need for: lower or competitive prices, better finishes and design, construction quality, reduced execution times, high energy-saving buildings, and, above all, reduce the environmental impact
So the modern prefab house it may be the right choice in many cases.
What is a manufactured home
The Manufactured homes are homes built from standardized parts that have been built in a location other than their final site on plot. Definitely "industrialized houses«.
Goals! Modern housing requires skills and quick and effective solutions to satisfy certain customer needs with high performance and satisfactory results in less time, at a more affordable price and on a model of cabin already tested in a rigorous and ideal process.
The modular buildings They offer possibilities if we talk about both rigorous manufacturing and on-site execution if in practice they are carried out consistently.
The real estate market when it comes to selling has a growing affinity towardsprefab ecological housesand energy efficient in theirmodular designsthat actually provide us modular type homes cheap compared to traditional construction.
We must remember that the market not only offers the typical modular wooden house, we already find a long catalog of materials (aluminum - steel, all types of panels, concrete, polycarbonate, pvc, steel … etc) that, thanks to technologies, offer us more and more possibilities in resistance and qualities both in the walls, and in cover and the interiors of the same.
Modular housing concept
As we have commented, a premade house modern is that "Factory built under roof", with modern construction machinery that in many cases work to the millimeter.
Do not confuse the manufactured home with the modular. A Modular house is one whose initial design is made up of individual elements; bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, etc, and that, together, form a habitable home.
Leaving us from the typical standard of gabled housing, such as modular design examples we can identify the composition:
Undoubtedly the "game" can generate a great variety of prefab house plans modular although the reality is that simplicity is the cheaper when buying a prefabricated property.
The chain production of a house Once finished, it is what we can call «the container», the housing module is transported in vehicles to the chosen site where the parts - containers will be assembled (Normally, on a base - base or foundation already made of reinforced concrete) and thus complete construction in a short time.
We must remember that modular house It is not a mobile home, it is simply an off-site built home and this is why it differs primarily from the traditional man-made home.
Usually the manufactured home Modern has multiple assemblages that make up the different rooms to inhabit. This system provides us with different advantages that we must analyze …
Advantages of prefabricated houses
1.- The control conditions
More climate control, quality control, improved work supervision, easier access to tools, and fewer deliveries of materials on time result in lower cost and architectural quality of construction. They are palpable advantages that in on-site works it is difficult to handle.
2.- Environmental impacts
Reductions in cost and less waste of materials, less pollution of water, dust and noise, and less waste of energy in general, although prefabrication has an additional cost and that must be quantified in relation to transport to the Location location.
3.- Times more compressed
Changes can be made in the construction sequence, saving time and improving workflow, which translates into a reduction in cost.
4.- Less conflicts
When a assembly of the housing in factory. There is a reduction in labor disputes before construction workers and more scheduled work.
5.- Improvement of materials
From their quality, both in staging and control, to reduction of storage space and fewer losses or mislays.
6.- Security
Increased worker safety through reducing exposure to inclement weather, extreme temperatures, and ongoing or dangerous operations; Better work conditions.
Disadvantages of manufactured homes
- One of the drawbacks most prominent is the need to adopt a pre-set design. We cannot always acquire the home of our dreams.
- Problems in the location of the property. A series of circumstances is necessary to be able to transport the modules that make up the house Without considering the disbursement taking into account the transport of the same, which can significantly increase the cost of the acquisition of the good.
- Since the legislation does not adequately regulate this type of property, there may be problems in building licenses or in habitability certificates, since in many cases the manufactured homes They are acquired outside of Spanish territory, built in compliance with other regulations and legislation. (Interesting to see the article of the expert report on building and the expert architect to understand a little more)
- Maintenance. Depending on the materials the project has been made of, rigorous maintenance of its different rooms is necessary.
- It is necessary to acquire a location so that the cost of the house should be added to the land - land.
- Taking into account the climatological characteristics of the location, a prefabricated housing typology. It is not the same to build in the Mediterranean than in Finland.
- The space of ecological prefabricated houses. The prefabricated housing dimensionsThey are usually smaller, standardized and predesigned. When it is intended to acquire larger elements, the cost usually shoots up due to the necessary adaptations to the client's demands.
In this sense, both advantages and disadvantages in modular housing we already talked about in the article Container houses where the cost of the container was also investigated and their different characteristics as well as the construction methodology with a video example.
Manufactured homes price
We have carried out a small market study to see the manufactured home prices that are for sale (We have not added the wooden houses that can be placed in a garden) We have only considered the prefabricated concrete, metal or wood homes that contain coherent and minimum conditions to live: (Prices indicated without VAT)
| Prefabricated housing models | Surface | Rooms - Bathrooms | Main material | Total price of prefabricated house | Average m2 built |
| House 1 | 90 m2 Built | 3 Bedrooms - 2 Bathrooms | Concrete | 124000 Euros | 1377 Euros / m2c |
| House 2 | 220 m2 Built | 5 Bedrooms - 3 Bathrooms | Concrete | 248000 Euros | 1127 Euros / m2c |
| House 3 | 87 m2 Built | 2 Bedrooms - 2 Bathrooms | Wood | 37,500 Euros | 431 Euros / m2c |
| House 4 | 269 m2 Built | 3 Bedrooms - 3 Bathrooms | Wood | 94300 Euros | 350 Euros / m2c |
| House 5 | 36 m2 Built | 1 Bedrooms - 1 Bathrooms | Metallic | 27,500 Euros | 764 Euros / m2c |
| House 6 | 100 m2 Built | 3 Bedrooms - 1 Bathrooms | Metallic | 87500 Euros | 875 Euros / m2c |
| House 7 | 300 m2 Built | 5 Bedrooms - 3 Bathrooms | Metallic - Concrete | 320 500 Euros | 1070 Euros / m2c |
| House 7 | 102 m2 Built | 2 Bedrooms - 1 Bathrooms | Concrete | 170000 Euros | 1650 Euros / m2c |
| House 8 | 82 m2 Built | 2 Bedrooms - 2 Bathrooms | Concrete | 140000 Euros | 1700 Euros / m2c |
| House 9 | 203 m2 Built | 4 Bedrooms - 3 Bathrooms | Concrete | 332000 Euros | 1600 Euros / m2c |
Things you should know about the price:
- There is an important disparity between the offer that is marketed between the different companies, even if we are talking about houses with the same construction material.
- The larger a home is, the lower the price per square meter built.
- The prices indicated are always indicated "from". So we must be especially careful in the budgets that we acquire. Ask for very detailed estimates and if possible, turnkey.
- The materials in which the house is built for being prefabricated are usually; made of wood, with metal or concrete containers. Homes built with wood are the cheapest and the most expensive are those made of concrete.
- Often times the price that is being offered is not included; transport, housing assembly, geotechnical study, project or few indications of the interior finishes, to give a few examples.
- Transportation is around € 2000 to € 3000 (a house measures 90 square meters) and the assembly of the house, although it depends on the meters, is between 70 - 100 Euros per square meter built.
In our case we asked a colleague who is dedicated to the construction of prefabricated houses that they told us approximate price per square meter of a finished house all included; with normal standards they are around € 1400 and € 1500 square meter built.
Always ask for detailed budgets that indicate real cases of prefabricated houses already built
From here, then, to ask several companies and always ask for a detailed budget for the construction of the prefabricated house so that you can compare. By the way! Also ask for references of real houses already built.
Efficient home and manufactured home design
It should be noted that types of prefab houses that we can find in the market have had an exhaustive study in their energy and bioclimatic behavior. An advantage that enables significant energy savings. Based on the "container" standard, we can identify its behavior in the following image:
A lot of efficiency and more, but… are they really comfortable? Well, as an example, I add the following video that I think explains very well the essence of housing in a prefabricated house, in addition to being a real case:
In this sense, bioclimatism in design is recommended to see:
- Design of house facades (Bioclimatic design strategies)
- Architecture and form (How it affects the wind and the sun)
- Introduction to sunlight (Case study plus online tools)
Very Sustainable Prefab Project
In this case we have to go to Australia to the Archiblox company determined to sculpt modular ecological houses that generate more energy than they consume, awarded with different prizes.
In Spain, there is hardly amanufactured housing industryEcological, moreover, people tend to have a very vague general idea of this "modern architecture", associating it rather with temporary and low-quality constructions. With this panorama, it has a lot of merit that a Spanish company NOEM focused on a business of sustainable prefab houses with zero carbon footprint, get the European Entrepreneurship Award.
The example of modern prefab house
Forms, new technology and different compositions of the plans in modular houses They are conformed a modular aesthetic of great value and in some cases, even risky in its design. The modern prefab home is here and this is an example of hard-hitting innovation. The invisible house …
This marvel of housing is built by DMAA. We must remember that architectural modulation also enters all types of construction; from buildings, industrial warehouses or coworking offices to give a few more examples.
How to Build a Manufactured Home
In this section, what we want is to carry manuals or PDF guides on how to build a prefab house step by step and have a perspective and intuit the works, plans, measurements and needs, tools, materials, concrete, wood … etc.
The documentation represents the steps that we are going to need in the construction of the housing modules as well as generic reports of the needs and objectives of the modular architecture.
It must be taken into account that, the more parts of the cabin are executed in the factory, in a module house, we will have a higher quality in the design both in the exterior - interior and in the air conditioning installations, doors, walls, finishes and qualities of materials, in the joints that form the envelope … etc.
The following video represents a building completed practically in the factory. An example of housing construction in 4 days:
Now it's time for a completed one on the ground, taking into account that the level of precast can vary, from pieces of walls to complete parameters and in the same way on the ground or roof. An example of housing construction in 7 days:
The manuals and guides that we recommend are:
- The concept has history of modular homes. Modular construction of houses and architecture HERE
- The current state of modular and lightweight housing seen from an environmental consideration HERE
- Thesis - Prefabricated construction systems applicable to the construction of buildings HERE
- Modular constructions. A fast, versatile and reliable answer HERE
- Prefabricated Construction Design Guide HERE (In excellent English and extensive manual)
- Everything we need to know about wood in architecture and home construction HERE
- Prefabrication and modulation in architecture from its economy HERE. (Very good financial report - English)
A problem that exists in terms of existing information and resources on the network is that prefabricated construction undoubtedly derives from wood.
In this sense, from the article Architecture with wood, more than 50 practical manuals and reports that expand the complete information in this regard have already been exposed, although, as a complement, we provide some documents that seem to us of interest.
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