Stick Built Vs. Prefabricated Homes

Stick Building

• Stick building is a term that refers to the traditional method of building a house on site using individual pieces of lumber that are assembled into walls, floors and roofs from the ground up. Stick-built houses anchor to a permanent foundation and are not intended to be moved or disassembled. Advantages of stick building include a generally higher quality of construction than that of prefabricated homes. Disadvantages include long construction times, weather-related delays, more mistakes during construction and potential damage to materials while the building remains unfinished and exposed to the elements.

Manufactured Homes

• Manufactured homes are built entirely off site and are transported to the final site either in one piece or in two or more large sections that are assembled on site. Often called mobile homes, people can move some manufactured homes to a different site when desired; they are not anchored to a permanent foundation. Manufactured homes typically use less expensive, less durable materials than those used in site-built homes, although some modern manufactured homes approach a site-built level of quality.

Modular Homes

• A modular home is a type of prefabricated home assembled on site from a collection of modules fabricated in an off-site facility. Unlike manufactured homes, modular homes are built to conform to local building codes, and they are intended to remain permanently in place once assembled. Once assembled and finished on site, modular homes are often indistinguishable from a site-built home.

Green Prefabricated Homes

• Some builders are taking advantage of the efficiency and convenience of prefabrication to design and build modular homes that incorporate environmentally friendly features. These homes use efficient insulation, passive solar features, energy-efficient plumbing and heating, and environmentally sound construction practices. Such homes are not inexpensive but they can be built quickly, and they often incorporate energy-efficient features not readily available in site-built homes.