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Prefabricated Homes

You may have seen commercials on television today about manufactured or modular homes.  They are all the rage today because they are usually cheaper than traditional homes, they can be built much quicker, and they must comply to state and federal codes, so you know they are well built.  But, did you know that these types of homes, often referred to as prefabricated homes, have been around for quite some time?
                                      
The term “prefabricated home” refers to a home that is built off the land on which it will be set.  Homes are usually in a factory (most of the time in at least two separate pieces) and once built, the home is then shipped to the home site and assembled.

It is believed that the idea for prefabricated houses started as far back as the beginning of the 20th century.  Between the years of 1908 and 1940, more than 100,000 prefabricated homes were sold by Sears, Roebuck, and Company.  Sears had a mail order home program called Modern Homes.  They had 447 different styles of home to choose from including multistory homes and vacation cottages.  The housing kits were shipped by railroad boxcars.  While it may seem impossible, these home kits contained sturdy materials and well designed.  Most people simply enlisted family and friends to help them build the home themselves.  Like the barn raisings of yesteryear, sometimes even neighbors helped people build their prefabricated homes.

True prefabricated homes began popping up shortly after World War II.  After the damage World War II brought to England, the government’s solution to the lack of housing problem was prefabricated homes.  In fact, many people referred to Bristol as a “prefab city” because of all the prefabricated homes that still exist there today.  Factories turned out bungalows in the late 1940’s for those that had lost their home during the war.  The homes were designed to last only 10 years, until housing that was more permanent could be built.  However, today, almost 700 examples of the prefabricated homes still exist in Bristol.  Some of the residents have been living in these “temporary” houses for over 50 years.

However, England’s Department of Culture, Media, and Sport has decided to replace the old prefabricated homes (some contained asbestos and the original plasterboard) with new ones.  More than 150 of the original homes have been bulldozed and replaced with new prefabricated homes that are still efficient, yet much more modern.

In America today, many may think of manufactured or modular homes as the prefabricated homes of today.  They are built in a factory, and then transported to the home site.  However, these homes must be strict guidelines set down by either the federal or the state government to make sure they meet certain standards of quality.

With prices starting in the $30,000-$40,000 range, prefabricated homes may be the answer to today’s current housing problems.  With so many displaced after Hurricane Katrina, perhaps the government should consider prefabricated homes to at least temporarily house people, as the Bristol prefab homes did after World War II.