Prefab wall panels? Help me out.

So if building something like a 24x24' two story structure. How easy would it be to:

Pour the foundation. Footing and stemwall with bolts. Put sill and top plate on. set the floor joist and sheet the floor. Order wall panels. Stand them and secure in place when they arrive. Brace and nail together. Do second story joists and flooring. Have second story delv'd. and set in place with boom truck. Secure in place. Have truss' delv. and set and secured and wala. Ready for sheeting and a roof. All with in a few days with the exception of the foundation.

Could it be that easy and how about the cost vs the more traditional way with lots more time and labor. obviously this has lots of things missing. I am just talking about getting the structure up (framed).

Thoughts?

I'm not sure if it's the same thing, but I believe many houses in Japan today are build using pre-fab construction. I think they can assemble a house in a matter of weeks. They look very nice.

My dad was a custom house developer back in the late 80's and most of the 90's. Back in about 1994 he sold a lakefront lot to someone who wanted to put up a "deck house". We're talking just shy of $1M in 1994. Those houses may be more than what you are looking for, but give this a look:

https://www.deckhouse.com/

I think most of the houses are custom, but they may have standard builds available as well.

I moved/transferred to Colorado in Jan of 1995 so I never got to see the final house. It was really high end.

I have built 100's of residences this way. We had a warehouse that we prebuilt all the walls in the winter and when the weather broke and the foundations got poured we would stand them up. In regards to cost your going to want to find someone who does prefabricated walls in order to see the savings. Check with your local truss company.

Thanks guys and yes Lugerguards that is what I am thinking. There is a building supply Co. who has their own truss plant and now are doing walls.

That is what got me thinking. If pricing is good I could get four 9'x24' walls delivered and have in place in a few hours.

You need an expert on local building codes to help you out. Codes were pretty much put in place to enrich the contractors and tradesmen at your expense. You'll need plumbing and electrical services. Plumbing needs to sit and be pressure tested for a day or so before continuing. Some places even require insulation to please them (not you).

If you want quick, talk to some of your local Amish or Mennonite carpenters. Some are pretty darn quick. The ones that built my house didn't even break for beer at lunch. They just ate as a group and went back to work. The condo across the road took forever. Two problems, liquid lunch and non-speaka da english.

Watcha going to do about the roof, AC and such?

quote:

you need an expert on local building codes to help you out.

Nope, none of that on this one rburg. Thankfully.

I can do the roof. Probably metal but could be a comp too. Not sure yet.

Electrical and plumbing I can do as well. It will be basic and somewhat minimal. Insulation and woodstove jack and piping I can do also.

We built 25 houses using structural insulated panels about 15 years ago. Slickest thing you ever saw. I had a video camera mounted on a pole filming to make a slow mo presentation. I’m not sure what happened to that when I retired.

Anyway, check it out. https://www.sips.org/about/what-are-sips

Used to work with a builder in NW Ohio who got pre fab homes from Boise Cascade. They came in on a semi truck and had sheeting and windows already installed. Lift them in place with a boom truck and plumb them up and nail in place. Did a few 2 story homes this way.

My 1973 single-level home and every other in the subdivision was built this way with factory prefabricated walls delivered on a flat-bed truck.

Yup, SIPs, I want to build a "tiny house" on a trailer using them in the next few years for our recreation land.