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Prefab homes are very popular at Scandinavia and Finland. Eg Honka https://honka.com/gb/en/dream-plan-build/custom-home-path/ https://honka.com/gb/en/dream-plan

Prefab homes are very popular at Scandinavia and Finland. Eg Honka https://honka.com/gb/en/dream-plan-build/custom-home-path/ https://honka.com/gb/en/dream-plan-build/custom-home-path/

betaby 4y ago
That's unattainable quality for USA/Canada. Here are such home here as well, but they are not referred as 'manufactured' normally.
- acchow 4y ago
  Why don't they try to make this quality in California? There's certainly money for it.
  - rndmize 4y ago
    They do. https://www.attainablehome.com/the-best-21-modular-prefab-builders-in-california/ https://www.attainablehome.com/the-best-21-modular-prefab-bu...
  - barry-cotter 4y ago
    Almost certainly illegal. Every jurisdiction has its own idiosyncratic building code to better stifle competition. Having separate licensing and subtly different requirements is a jobs programme for locals.
Ma8ee 4y ago
We mean something quite different when we talk about prefab homes in the Nordic countries that they mean in the US.
juhanakristian 4y ago
I think Älvsby houses in the Nordics are closer to what the article is talking about. Their houses are built from large pieces manufactured at a factory and later assembled at the site. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5fIqBGybi4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5fIqBGybi4
- crooked-v 4y ago
  The article is about homes built as essentially a giant camping trailer. The entire home (sometimes in two pieces, as a "double-wide") is delivered to the property and semi-permanently installed, but can still (theoretically) be moved somewhere else after that.
  - seanmcdirmid 4y ago
    Strange. In the USA, there is a strong distinction between manufactured, multilateral, mobile homes. You can’t use the terms interchangeably. Double and single wides are manufactured homes, but trailer park homes are definitely in the mobile category.
    - erikpukinskis 4y ago
      What’s the difference between a single wide and a trailer park home?
throwaway675309 4y ago
Those Honka houses do look really impressive, but the national average cost per square meter to build a home in the US is approximately €400 which is 4x less expensive than the stated costs on honka's site.
- wrycoder 4y ago
  $36/sq ft? Where can you build for that?
- kolbe 4y ago
  Umm, it's $600 per square foot in Boulder, CO.
- antupis 4y ago
  It can get regulary -25c at winter so insulation needs to be whole different ballpark than average California house.
spoonjim 4y ago
Holy shit! That looks fucking gorgeous. Probably >$250 a square foot which people would rather just pay 2x as much for stickbuilt in CA.
helsinkiandrew 4y ago
It's not just more expensive one off homes that are prebuilt in Finland - Over 50% of Finnish homes are now built offsite (or more accurately constructed from 'parts' built off site). This includes both single family wooden homes and concrete apartment buildings. Precast concrete has been used since the 1950s: https://www.elematic.com/learn/what-is-precast-concrete/ https://www.elematic.com/learn/what-is-precast-concrete/ This is probably a result of: 1) Construction companies are larger and are building on multiple plots with the same concrete apartment building or 10-20 identical or similar wooden buildings 2) The Finnish love affair with family lakeside summer cottages has got people used to ordering a building 'off the shelf'

Prefab homes are very popular at Scandinavia and Finland. Eg Honka https://honka.com/gb/en/dream-plan-build/custom-home-path/ https://honka.com/gb/en/dream-plan-build/custom-home-path/

betaby 4y ago

That's unattainable quality for USA/Canada. Here are such home here as well, but they are not referred as 'manufactured' normally.

acchow 4y ago
Why don't they try to make this quality in California? There's certainly money for it.
- rndmize 4y ago
  They do. https://www.attainablehome.com/the-best-21-modular-prefab-builders-in-california/ https://www.attainablehome.com/the-best-21-modular-prefab-bu...
- barry-cotter 4y ago
  Almost certainly illegal. Every jurisdiction has its own idiosyncratic building code to better stifle competition. Having separate licensing and subtly different requirements is a jobs programme for locals.

Ma8ee 4y ago

We mean something quite different when we talk about prefab homes in the Nordic countries that they mean in the US.

juhanakristian 4y ago

I think Älvsby houses in the Nordics are closer to what the article is talking about. Their houses are built from large pieces manufactured at a factory and later assembled at the site. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5fIqBGybi4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5fIqBGybi4

crooked-v 4y ago
The article is about homes built as essentially a giant camping trailer. The entire home (sometimes in two pieces, as a "double-wide") is delivered to the property and semi-permanently installed, but can still (theoretically) be moved somewhere else after that.
- seanmcdirmid 4y ago
  Strange. In the USA, there is a strong distinction between manufactured, multilateral, mobile homes. You can’t use the terms interchangeably. Double and single wides are manufactured homes, but trailer park homes are definitely in the mobile category.
  - erikpukinskis 4y ago
    What’s the difference between a single wide and a trailer park home?

throwaway675309 4y ago

Those Honka houses do look really impressive, but the national average cost per square meter to build a home in the US is approximately €400 which is 4x less expensive than the stated costs on honka's site.

wrycoder 4y ago
$36/sq ft? Where can you build for that?
kolbe 4y ago
Umm, it's $600 per square foot in Boulder, CO.
antupis 4y ago
It can get regulary -25c at winter so insulation needs to be whole different ballpark than average California house.

spoonjim 4y ago

Holy shit! That looks fucking gorgeous. Probably >$250 a square foot which people would rather just pay 2x as much for stickbuilt in CA.

helsinkiandrew 4y ago

It's not just more expensive one off homes that are prebuilt in Finland - Over 50% of Finnish homes are now built offsite (or more accurately constructed from 'parts' built off site). This includes both single family wooden homes and concrete apartment buildings. Precast concrete has been used since the 1950s: https://www.elematic.com/learn/what-is-precast-concrete/ https://www.elematic.com/learn/what-is-precast-concrete/ This is probably a result of: 1) Construction companies are larger and are building on multiple plots with the same concrete apartment building or 10-20 identical or similar wooden buildings 2) The Finnish love affair with family lakeside summer cottages has got people used to ordering a building 'off the shelf'