About Systems Built Construction
Portland Building Company has been searching for new innovative ways to overcome the rising cost to build not only a dream home but any type of home. We have been working with pre-fabricated homes to cut the cost of the final product. We work with the factory on the front end of the design to customize the layout to exactly what you want. The construction of the units are built with the same materials we use in traditional stick built homes, meeting the same requirements the state holds builders responsible to. We are able to customize the interior finishes however you desire; granite counter tops, wood floors, wood or gas fireplace, lighting, stone work, the opportunities are the exact same as they are in a traditional stick built home.
Prefab 101: Defining The Many Forms Of Factory-Built Homes
Sheri Koones with Forbes writes the following:
Although prefab construction is still growing slowing in the United States (currently at about 5% of all new homes built), it is gaining traction here and is a major form of construction in other countries around the world. About 20% of the houses in Germany are prefabricated, just a little under 20% in Japan, and 84% of detached homes in Scandinavian countries. Even in developing countries prefab is being used to meet the severe housing shortage.
Prefab housing has failed to take off more quickly in the United States partially because of the stigma associated with the term prefab. Although I have been writing about prefab construction for many years, there is still a good deal of misinformation about this term. Often people think that prefab is synonymous with modular construction and sometimes with double-wides. Although modular construction is indeed a type of prefab, it is only one of many different methods of prefabrication available. Double-wides or trailers although a form of prefabricated construction, are built to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development code, unlike the many other forms of prefab, which are built to city and state codes.
There are however many reasons to hope that prefab will begin growing in the United States. Skilled construction labor is in increasingly short supply, fewer students are learning building trades, and those that do, prefer to work in more comfortable conditions, such as a factory. Time is another advantage in promoting prefab construction: People want their houses to be completed faster. Prefab houses can generally be built much faster than site-built ones. With more and more people researching construction options online, they are opting for more sustainable and energy-efficient options. Computer-generated machinery available for the last several years, in many prefab factories, builds components straighter and with less waste than when cut in the field. Insulation can more efficiently be used in the factory. As an example, in a modular factory, where houses are built from the inside out, insulation can be more easily packed in around outlets and other openings, as well as in ceilings. In addition, building in a controlled environment, there is less chance of exposure to the elements – rain, snow, extreme heat and freezing.