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Page 4: Prefab 101
Everything you wanted to know about prefab houses but were afraid to ask! We’ve tapped the brain behind popular Web resource FabPreFab to explain the birds and the bees of manufactured housing.
Modern-Shed Pool Side Cabana & Music Studio
Prefabricated houses have a long history in the US. An early version of a prefabricated house was sent from England in the 1600s, but real prefabrication did not take off until the arrival of “house kits.” House kits contained all of the house’s parts, so the owners built the homes themselves or hired people to construct them.
The Aladdin Company started selling the earliest Prefabricated houses from its catalog in 1906. One of the best-known early kit-home sellers was Sears, Roebuck and Co., which sold more than 100,000 homes from 1908 to 1940 .
Located in the quaint town of Port Townsend on Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula the Dwelling Shed Compound was designed by Modern-Shed founder Ryan Grey Smith.
The Prefab Dwelling Shed Compound was built as a recreational family getaway. It also serves as a showcase for Modern-Shed products, designs and concepts.
Connected with raised inter-connected decks the compound is designed around a central courtyard complete with fire pit and benches. A mix of gravels paths, bamboo, concrete stepping-stones, composite wood and cedar decking offer many different textures to the look and feel.
Westcoast Outbuildings working under the oversight of MCM Architects and Stuart Olson Dominion Construction, supplied and installed two custom prefab buildings for the Vancouver Aquarium.
The Need: The Vancouver Aquariums is currently undergoing a $25 million dollar face-lift. As part of that re-design they required a temporary Ticket Building. That buildings would need to be able to process over 1 million customer transactions a year. The prefab building needed to be a custom design with 6 standard ticket windows and two wheelchair accessible ones.
A Kelowna developer needed a storage shed for his lakeside property and the tender was put out. But not just any shed, he needed a shed to match the architecturally designed look and feel of his house.
The Modern-Shed would act as a Storage Shed for a 17,000 Sq/Ft, $15 million dollar house under construction.
“Pre-Fab Houses” is an umbrella term that covers manufactured and modular homes.
Manufactured Homes (previously known as mobile homes) are built on nonremovable steel frames, known as chassis. The chassis are used for transporting the homes and for permanent support. Manufactured homes are built according to Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards (HUD Code) and can be placed on permanent foundations, at which point they can be considered real estate. They typically are considered a low-cost alternative to regular construction because of their assembly line construction.
The following interview is with Heidi Brunet the builder of the first Modern-Shed Dwelling. The Modern-Shed Dwelling, is a pre-fab, home-built by Modern-Shed. Modern-Shed recently launched its “Dwelling” line, which is an extension from its pre-fab “room” specialty. Heidi’s home is a full-sized family style home, and is being built in Dallas, Texas.
Q: How is the building process going thus far with your Modern-Shed Dwelling? There has been tremendous progress in the past couple of weeks – the foundation was poured, floors were installed, walls were built, and most recently the roof was added. Is the process as fast as you thought it would be? Have you come across any hiccups this early on in the process?
A: No. The entire shell of the house went up in 3 days with very basic tools. It was faster than I anticipated. Next week we will frame the internal walls in the house, assemble the carport, rough in electrical wiring throughout the house, install the fireplace and start putting up siding.
Leading the Modern-Dwelling lighting plan is Suzanne Branch, Lighting specialist, Licensed Architect in the State of Texas of LuM Lighting Design, describes in detail the lighting plan of the first Modern-Dwelling by Modern-Shed. This home is in the process of being built in Dallas, Texas and will be completed this year.
Lighting is one of the most important elements of building a new home. New homeowner, Heidi Brunet sought out a lighting specialist to ensure that the lighting is just perfect.
The entire lighting specification of this home will be LED, which really fits into the energy conservation story of the house. Read more ›