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I'm not sure. I mean, in practice it seems it is as you say, but I wonder if that's necessary. What would pre-fab look like if it targeted a high-quality finish

I'm not sure. I mean, in practice it seems it is as you say, but I wonder if that's necessary. What would pre-fab look like if it targeted a high-quality finish? First, you'd think high-quality hand-made houses ought to be more expensive than high-quality prefab houses, made in a well-optimised factory process. Cost, quality etc. should just be more consistent. Second, the amount of general headscratching should be much lower. If I can design the pieces together and the on-site job is just to put them together well, that cuts out a lot of general "how do I connect these pieces" work, not to mention all the painstaking work of laying bricks etc. Finally, as also mentioned by sibling, the variance of cost should just be drastically lower. Clearly it doesn't work like that, but I wonder what the root cause is.

michaelt 4y ago
> What would pre-fab look like if it targeted a high-quality finish? Let me introduce you to Huf Haus [1] premium quality prefabricated houses. They go for modern designs, but I don't see why you couldn't target a traditional look with the same quality level. [1] https://www.huf-haus.com/en-uk/home-ideas/ https://www.huf-haus.com/en-uk/home-ideas/
- jaclaz 4y ago
  ... if cost is not an issue. Huf Haus is world reknown for their quality, but they are not cheap.
bluGill 4y ago
What you are calling "hand-made houses" are entirely factory made. They bring the factory in on a truck, and pack it up, but it is still a factory, and the process are not much different from what you would do in any factory. And most of the parts are made off-sight, most of the parts are things like 2x4 that are made offsight in a factory. There isn't much room for doing more in a factory. Most pre-fab houses are cheaper only because they carefully limit your floor plans and options, and thus can just pay off a few jigs, but there isn't much savings possible there. They also often cut quality to save money.
- rich_sasha 4y ago
  Is that the US process? UK, I believe, is still a lot of good old fashioned carpenters and bricklayers on site. Mainland Europe is, I believe, further still into that corner. In Poland, use of timber is a bit novel, it used to be all concrete and bricks really not that long ago, and is still the majority. I'm far from an expert though.
  - skyyler 4y ago
    I think the person you're replying to considers the worksite a factory simply because there are workers constructing a thing there.
JohnHaugeland 4y ago
> What would pre-fab look like if it targeted a high-quality finish? It's all around you. I don't even have to ask where you are. This has been the dominant construction technology for decades. You know, those 6-8 story apartment buildings with weird metal surfaces decorating the outsides, which are in wanna-be jazzy colors? Those are panelized. That's someone playing The Sims on a real building, picking weird textures out of a catalogue and being bored with regular options. . > Clearly it doesn't work like that It does. You just don't notice it.
- rich_sasha 4y ago
  I see ordinary family houses built around me. There's maybe a timber frame (or not). Then there's a bunch of guys laying bricks one by one, sticking some insulation on, putting pipes and cables through it all. Surely some of it is prefabricated, but it doesn't look like a bunch of Ikea-esque bits being just attached together.

michaelt 4y ago

> What would pre-fab look like if it targeted a high-quality finish? Let me introduce you to Huf Haus [1] premium quality prefabricated houses. They go for modern designs, but I don't see why you couldn't target a traditional look with the same quality level. [1] https://www.huf-haus.com/en-uk/home-ideas/ https://www.huf-haus.com/en-uk/home-ideas/

jaclaz 4y ago
... if cost is not an issue. Huf Haus is world reknown for their quality, but they are not cheap.

bluGill 4y ago

What you are calling "hand-made houses" are entirely factory made. They bring the factory in on a truck, and pack it up, but it is still a factory, and the process are not much different from what you would do in any factory. And most of the parts are made off-sight, most of the parts are things like 2x4 that are made offsight in a factory. There isn't much room for doing more in a factory. Most pre-fab houses are cheaper only because they carefully limit your floor plans and options, and thus can just pay off a few jigs, but there isn't much savings possible there. They also often cut quality to save money.

rich_sasha 4y ago
Is that the US process? UK, I believe, is still a lot of good old fashioned carpenters and bricklayers on site. Mainland Europe is, I believe, further still into that corner. In Poland, use of timber is a bit novel, it used to be all concrete and bricks really not that long ago, and is still the majority. I'm far from an expert though.
- skyyler 4y ago
  I think the person you're replying to considers the worksite a factory simply because there are workers constructing a thing there.

JohnHaugeland 4y ago

> What would pre-fab look like if it targeted a high-quality finish? It's all around you. I don't even have to ask where you are. This has been the dominant construction technology for decades. You know, those 6-8 story apartment buildings with weird metal surfaces decorating the outsides, which are in wanna-be jazzy colors? Those are panelized. That's someone playing The Sims on a real building, picking weird textures out of a catalogue and being bored with regular options. . > Clearly it doesn't work like that It does. You just don't notice it.

rich_sasha 4y ago
I see ordinary family houses built around me. There's maybe a timber frame (or not). Then there's a bunch of guys laying bricks one by one, sticking some insulation on, putting pipes and cables through it all. Surely some of it is prefabricated, but it doesn't look like a bunch of Ikea-esque bits being just attached together.