PREFAB
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Early American homes were rugged and rustic—the ultimate DIY project. Today, modern homesteaders can build a new hous...
Typical Range: $180,000 to $360,000 National Average: $270,000For those who live in storm-prone areas, the safety ...
Some happy homeowners are perplexed by the tiny house craze, while others are ready to trade in their full-size homes for a taste of the tiny life. Regardless of ...
In the early 20th century, a handful of companies, including Sears, Roebuck and Co., sold tens of thousands of mail-order homes. Available in a variety of styles ...
Bored of your surroundings? If you're willing to trade your stationary stick-built home for a permanently impermanent address in the great outdoors, snag the keys...
Bigger isn’t always better. For proof, look no further than these 23 tiny homes, situated all around the country, that serve as evidence that sometimes the most m...
The tiny-house movement has much to teach us about living simply and with minimal environmental impact—and about how to stow stuff when space is extremely tight. ...
The average American spends a third to half of his or her income just putting a roof overhead, so it’s no surprise th...
The picture-perfect 4-bedroom house with the white picket fence is not everyone's ideal. If you’ve got a hankering to cut loose and see the country from the comfo...
Having guests home to visit is often a reason to celebrate. But after a day or two, we might wish for a little more—well—personal space. It turns out that the ans...
If you know someone who's been especially good this year—and you're feeling very generous—you need to check out our roundup of prefab and DIY housing structures t...
Manufactured housing has always been an affordable alternative to site-built homes. Older models especially can be scooped up at a reasonable price, providing pro...
In Elkhart, IN, at the Recreational Vehicle/Manufactured Housing (RV/MH) Hall of Fame, resident historian Al Hesselba...
If you are looking for a good quality, super-insulated and super-strong house, a modular home using structural insul...
When is a trailer park not a trailer park? When it’s being designed and developed by nationally recognized small-spac...
Innovative shipping container homes show just how good sustainable architecture can look.
Eschewing excess space and making the most of every inch, these functional but tiny houses prove that bigger is not always better.
Looking for an inexpensive backyard office or a tiny house in the woods? Check out the growing field of container arc...
Bob meets with Pat Fricchione from Simplex Industries to discuss the process of constructing a modular home and the reasons why prefab is an attractive building m...
Bob teams up with Michael Shiels, the project's general contractor, to discuss the foundation prep work that is underway.
Bob meets with Jim Costello from Superior Walls of America to discuss the difference between a pre-cast and a traditional poured-concrete foundation.
Bob tours the Simplex Industries modular home plant and learns how the different pre-fab parts are made.
Bob tours the Simplex Industries manufacturing facility where workers are precutting the plywood as they construct the interior and exterior walls.
Bob witnesses high-speed drywall finishing taking place in the Simplex modular home building plant.
Bob meets with Thomas "Doc" Dougherty, the stair builder at Simplex Industries, to confer about the custom staircase Doc is building for the modular home.
Bob continues his tour of the Simplex Industries factory and observes the installation of prefinished Bellawood floors in the project home.
As workers join together the different sections of the modular home, Bob walks through the basement and first floor, discussing the marriage wall and how the piec...
Installation of the second floor sections begins as Bob points out the complexity of the pre-fabricated pieces.
Bob reviews the site preparation process with the on-site contractor, Michael Sheils.
The first day of assembling the modular home ends on a high note-- the addition of a roof.
Bob talks with Mark Murphy (Owens-Corning) about a new man-made stone product for the exterior of the modular home.
Bob and contractor Michael Sheils discuss the use of gusset plates to tie in the walls. They then tour through the master bedroom and bathroom.
Bob surveys the modular home project in the Berkshire Hills of Western Massachusetts, paying special attention to the products used on the exterior of the house.
Bob tours a home that was designed to affordable, flexible, and easy to build with a do-it-yourself, low-cost construction system.
Bob meets with Askia Aquil of the St. Petersburg Neighborhood Housing Services to talk about the upcoming project, taking place in a revitalizing area. Next, Bob ...
Bob meets with David Cross of Tampa Armature Works (TAW), a company that converts shipping containers into intermodal steel building units (ISBUs).
Once stripped down, an ISBU's exterior is finished with heavy-gauge steel, then faced in sheet-metal wrap and covered with SuperTherm insulating ceramic coating. ...
Window installation is underway. Bob talks with Stephen Hugh of Clearwater Window to learn more about the installation process, and Dave Olmstead of PGT Industrie...
Bob talks to Derek Mercer and Delwin Carter of Tampa Armature Works about how to treat the steel exterior to make it look more like a conventional house. Bob then...
Bob joins Steve Armstrong, the project architect and engineer, to discuss the project. The challenge of building a home like this is marrying new methods of const...
Bob talks with David Cross from Tampa Armature Works. Cross reviews the versatility of designing houses with shipping containers. Both traditional and contemporar...
General contractor Buba Barrow joins Bob for a tour of the finish work and interior layout, starting on the tiled front porch, moving through the open-plan family...
Bob talks with David Cross (formerly of Tampa Armature Works) about the future of home construction with steel shipping containers.
