Three types of homes are available, based on the three different classes of construction. The first and most recognized is referred to as “Stick Built” home, which is the traditional “2 x 4″ construction,” or brick row home that we all know and love. The term refers to building the homes from sticks or the 2 x 4s that usually make up the walls’ construction.
The second type is the manufactured home, otherwise known as the mobile home. While a bit maligned and joked about, this is a vigorous and growing industry with homes that are surprisingly attractive and spacious. There is a growing third type, however, and these are the modular homes. In a sense, modular homes are a merger of the goals of the stick-built or site-built traditional home and the mobile or manufactured home. The merger results are a traditional home with all the amenities and beauty while being lower cost.
In most cases, they are much more desirable because there is a greater degree of control over design elements, and the results are much closer to what was originally envisioned. Why? Because the home is constructed in a factory directly from the design specs, shipped to the site and assembled.
The Future of custom homes
Custom homes are the future of all home construction and the reason is simple; most builders and developers stung by market downturns are left with acres of tract built homes and no buyers. The modular home eliminates this risk by utilizing “Just-in-time” supplies because the home is not built until the buyer has designed it and the factory has constructed it.
The other element that reinforces this trend is that modular homes cost less, for both the buyer and the builder. Construction times are drastically reduced which leads to most of the cost savings. There is less risk of delays from weather as modular homes are constructed in a factory, so rain and snow have no effect. The assembly of the home on-site takes far less time and the builder can plan more precisely, or even delay building for a few days to avoid potential problems. This is the future of the custom home or more correctly, custom modular homes are the future of home building, which will make every home a custom home.