Home Building Articles
Streamline Homebuilding with a Panelized Home
March 31, 2009
A panelized home is one in which many aspects of the home are pre-cut and assembled
in a factory setting before being shipped out to the job site. Roof and floor trusses,
as well as wall panels, are the most common parts of a home that are pre-built in
this fashion, though other aspects of a home can be addressed with panelized construction.
There are a lot of reasons to choose a pre-fabricated home over traditional stick
construction, including cheaper labor costs, saving on materials, faster construction
times, guaranteed and reliable workmanship, and overall savings.
A Panelized Home Saves You $$$
One of the main reasons prospective homeowners choose panelized builders over traditional
construction is the savings. Because the major framework of the home is measured,
cut, and assembled in a controlled environment, there is less waste, less risk of
lost labor time backtracking and correcting mistakes, and less risk of losing materials
to weather damage or theft. And because panelized building makes the actual raising
of the home so much simpler and faster, you'll enjoy reduced labor costs there as
well. About the only place you'll pay more than with traditional construction is
in transportation costs of the materials, since you will have to pay for the panels
to be shipped by truck from the factory directly to the job site.
A Panelized Home Goes Up Faster
Another reason homeowners choose to build a panelized home has to do with construction
time. Because the panels are pre-manufactured, the time between them arriving on-site
and when your home is up and weather-proofed is drastically reduced. All panels
are clearly labeled so that it is easy and fast for your contractor's crew to assemble
them together properly. And you won't suffer from the domino effect so common in
traditional stick building where one mistake or snafu can set off a series of other
problems that will have to be addressed with new materials and more man-hours later
on. In short, panelized homebuilding streamlines the process, guaranteeing that
you'll be moving into your home sooner if you choose panelized construction.