System-built homes include all homes built in factories: manufactured homes, modular homes, log homes, panelized homes, park models and what some call prefabricated homes. Today we'll talk about the reasons some consider system-built homes superior to stick-built or site-built homes.
Factory-built homes are not new. Between 1908 and 1940, Sears sold more than 100,000 mail-order homes. Consumers ordered them from the catalog, and Sears shipped them the building materials by rail. (A number of these Sears kit houses are located in the Tampa Bay area, in Gulfport, Dunedin and the Historic Kenwood neighborhood of St. Petersburg, among other places. Alvah C. Sears lived in one of his own kit houses in Gulfport.) Today most stick-built homes are not technically stick-built in the sense they were years ago. It is estimated that fewer than 12 percent of today's homes are truly stick-built.
Today almost all stick-built homes use factory-built components: pre-hung windows and doors, roof trusses, floor joists, baseboard trim, sheetrock and kitchen and bath cabinets made in factories. The carpenter of today does not use hand tools, which truly defined the craftsman carpenter in years gone by. Today they use power tools, saws, drills, nail guns, etc., which may increase efficiency, but not craftsmanship. They use contemporary tools to install components made in a factory.
System-built homes are built by hand as well as by machine. The workers who build them are trained to do very specific tasks in the assembly-line process, making them expert at their task.
Now let's analyze the "why" of system-built homes.
* The structural integrity of a system-built home is its main claim to superior quality. All components of a system-built home are assembled with jigs; precision control is ensured. Every home is built exactly as it was designed. In stick-built homes, carpenters often have to be creative to make things fit, since measurements are not exact.
* A home built in a factory is constructed under climate-controlled conditions. This allows builders to avoid weather-related defects: moisture saturation of lumber, drywall and insulation; warping of walls and doors; freezing and cracking of brittle materials. Factory-built means no delays caused by weather.
* Quality materials: badly warped, knotted or splintered pieces would foul up the finely -tuned assembly-line techniques.
* Factory-built homes are shipped over the road to their final destination. They must be built stronger than more conventionally built homes. Major components (walls, floors and ceilings) are often bonded with glue in addition to being nailed.
* A system-built home of today is more tightly constructed, which improves energy efficiency. Packing insulation around electrical fixtures and caulking along exterior sheathing seams helps eliminate intrusion of cold air in winter and hot air in summer.
* Close quality control. The manufacturer must comply with national, state and local building codes. Manufactured homes must meet strict HUD codes. All plans are inspected by a state-approved third-party inspection agency which must certify that the home meets the state construction standards. Once construction begins, system-built homes undergo far more inspections than stick-built homes. At each stage during building, quality control stations monitor workmanship.
* Customized interiors and exteriors based on the buyer's wants and needs. Most site-built homes have basic floor plans and components and offer fewer options to the buyer than a system-built home. Factory design and construction allow the builder to meet almost every request of a buyer. This is true of site-built homes only if they are truly designed and built as a custom home, which becomes very expensive.
* Shorter construction time. Typically a system-built home will be delivered to the site in eight to 10 weeks and is ready to move into in another four to 10 weeks, depending on size and on-site customizing. A customer can buy a home with desired design and options in three to five months. A stick-built home can take six to 12 months and faces delays because of weather, delivery delays, failure of subcontractors to meet deadline, etc.
* One of the most important advantages is cost. System-built homes cost less per square foot than stick-built homes. Costs are known before of construction. The price of a quality system-built home will be considerably less than that of a stick-built home.
Next: Defining the types of system-built homes.
- Send comments or questions to Len Bonifield at elb@gate.net or fax to 863 853-8023, or phone (863) 858-1557. Please include your e-mail and mailing address. Because of the volume of mail and phone calls, he can't respond personally to every query. Bonifield is a manufactured-home resident and a past HOA president and former officer of the FMO District 1 board of directors.
