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There is a lot of overhead when it comes to building out a factory supply chain for scalable parts, because factories are large sunk capex costs, particularly f

There is a lot of overhead when it comes to building out a factory supply chain for scalable parts, because factories are large sunk capex costs, particularly for large items. And manufactured housing often does not make sense because if you manufacture whole rooms, unless you get special vehicles and delivery permits you are limited to the dimensions of a container, and there's a nonzero chance you show up to the site and you have to do some fiddling anyways to get it to actually fit. Plus people are not actually looking for identical room sizes. Probably the closest we'll ever get is to standardization of parts like the 2x4 or some of the insulation panels that exist nowadays, since you can flatpack those into a truck and make adjustments on the fly.

throw0101c 2y ago
> And manufactured housing often does not make sense because if you manufacture whole rooms, unless you get special vehicles and delivery permits you are limited to the dimensions of a container […] See perhaps this student housing project in Norway: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4N4mVITd5U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4N4mVITd5U Entire bathroom shipped as one unit. The rest is panelized. > Probably the closest we'll ever get is to standardization of parts like the 2x4 or some of the insulation panels that exist nowadays, since you can flatpack those into a truck and make adjustments on the fly. NS Builders have a couple of videos on panelized buildings: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeHkVeJO6PE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeHkVeJO6PE * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX3QZVG-18E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX3QZVG-18E Matt Ferrell of Undecided made his home that way: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-RTlbv84T8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-RTlbv84T8 One can also do (US) traditional stick building with pre-cut lumber: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2FdAdxjSpw&list=PLDYh81z-RhxjSuCfjHdlIMWpqhyt5jNPX&index=5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2FdAdxjSpw&list=PLDYh81z-Rh...
- ahazred8ta 2y ago
  There are prefab firms that make a 2 or 3 story structural column with the fusebox, water heater, vertical plumbing and wiring conduits, drains, sink toilet and shower hookups, and spools of wiring to be pulled through walls. Almost no electrical and plumbing work needs to be done onsite.
danans 2y ago
Did you reply to the wrong comment? I wasn't discussing manufactured homes at all, but rather the benefits of simple building geometries.
- bobthepanda 2y ago
  Ah, perhaps I filled in a context that wasn't there since the parent article was about Levittown's particular home manufacturing methods. Simpler is better. Though where I am now every place is a flat-ish roof deck which is simple but comes with its own problems.
galdosdi 2y ago
> Plus people are not actually looking for identical room sizes. Times are changing. Gen Z will happily take it. What they're looking for is just any housing they can afford at all. If cheap effeciency can make a small detached bungalow with a real yard and a parking space affordable, they'll be happy to put up with minor taste quibbles like that. The alternative is roommate packed apartments, mom's basement, or homes far from any jobs to pay for the homes with.
- bobthepanda 2y ago
  Eh yes and no. The fad of container homes was a quick flash in the pan as it turned out they were actually a terrible size to actually live in; not quite large enough to put furniture in and still have walking space. Because factories for rooms are actually specialized for the actual room, it's not cheap once you consider the startup cost of a factory. All the components of a room are increasingly panelized and mass manufactured anyways, making building large portions of buildings similar to building out of Legos or IKEA flatpack, which is good enough for labor reduction.
  - fragmede 2y ago
    If you stay constrained to the container's dimensions for the room's walls, it's rather confining, but you don't have to. For $8k, this one looks pretty good. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3256806996880923.html https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3256806996880923.html
    - bobthepanda 2y ago
      that's flatpacked, not shipped as a room as-is, which is what i'm arguing for
- JohnClark1337 2y ago
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throw0101c 2y ago

> And manufactured housing often does not make sense because if you manufacture whole rooms, unless you get special vehicles and delivery permits you are limited to the dimensions of a container […] See perhaps this student housing project in Norway: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4N4mVITd5U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4N4mVITd5U Entire bathroom shipped as one unit. The rest is panelized. > Probably the closest we'll ever get is to standardization of parts like the 2x4 or some of the insulation panels that exist nowadays, since you can flatpack those into a truck and make adjustments on the fly. NS Builders have a couple of videos on panelized buildings: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeHkVeJO6PE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeHkVeJO6PE * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX3QZVG-18E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX3QZVG-18E Matt Ferrell of Undecided made his home that way: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-RTlbv84T8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-RTlbv84T8 One can also do (US) traditional stick building with pre-cut lumber: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2FdAdxjSpw&list=PLDYh81z-RhxjSuCfjHdlIMWpqhyt5jNPX&index=5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2FdAdxjSpw&list=PLDYh81z-Rh...

ahazred8ta 2y ago
There are prefab firms that make a 2 or 3 story structural column with the fusebox, water heater, vertical plumbing and wiring conduits, drains, sink toilet and shower hookups, and spools of wiring to be pulled through walls. Almost no electrical and plumbing work needs to be done onsite.

danans 2y ago

Did you reply to the wrong comment? I wasn't discussing manufactured homes at all, but rather the benefits of simple building geometries.

bobthepanda 2y ago
Ah, perhaps I filled in a context that wasn't there since the parent article was about Levittown's particular home manufacturing methods. Simpler is better. Though where I am now every place is a flat-ish roof deck which is simple but comes with its own problems.

galdosdi 2y ago

> Plus people are not actually looking for identical room sizes. Times are changing. Gen Z will happily take it. What they're looking for is just any housing they can afford at all. If cheap effeciency can make a small detached bungalow with a real yard and a parking space affordable, they'll be happy to put up with minor taste quibbles like that. The alternative is roommate packed apartments, mom's basement, or homes far from any jobs to pay for the homes with.

bobthepanda 2y ago
Eh yes and no. The fad of container homes was a quick flash in the pan as it turned out they were actually a terrible size to actually live in; not quite large enough to put furniture in and still have walking space. Because factories for rooms are actually specialized for the actual room, it's not cheap once you consider the startup cost of a factory. All the components of a room are increasingly panelized and mass manufactured anyways, making building large portions of buildings similar to building out of Legos or IKEA flatpack, which is good enough for labor reduction.
- fragmede 2y ago
  If you stay constrained to the container's dimensions for the room's walls, it's rather confining, but you don't have to. For $8k, this one looks pretty good. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3256806996880923.html https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3256806996880923.html
  - bobthepanda 2y ago
    that's flatpacked, not shipped as a room as-is, which is what i'm arguing for
JohnClark1337 2y ago
[dead]