Introduction
You may dream of having a custom-made home designed to suit your taste without investing the time and energy required to manage engineers, architects, and construction workers needed to build the house. Modular houses are the best alternatives to traditional block and brick homes since they are cost-effective and save time. They are a type of prefab homes. Although modular houses have existed since the 1960s, they only recently gained increasing popularity among prospective homeowners. About 20 million people live in modular houses in the UK.; we will discuss the reasons in this article. Read till the end.
What Are Modular Houses?
Many people use the word ‘modular houses’ today, and you might have seen it on TV or social media. However, you may have some misconceptions about what the term entails, as do many others. Modular houses are a subtype of prefab homes, but people use the two terms interchangeably. They differ from on-site houses with traditional methods like bricks, blocks, and timber or mortar framing.
Most people mistake mobile homes for modular homes. However, the two have critical durability, design, and fabrication differences, which you should understand as they offer different benefits. For a modular house, 80% is built in an off-site factory and then moved to the building site for assembly and completion on a solid foundation. Manufacturers design modular homes to meet or surpass the local building codes of their assembly location.
Conversely, a mobile home is built in a manufacturing plant and transported to its final destination but never fixed to a solid foundation. The manufacturer may fit it on a steel-wheeled trailer for efficient transportation between locations. They must meet the code that the Department of Housing and Urban Development specifies.
Research showed that about 22 million people live in modular houses in the UnitedKingdom, and over 90% express satisfaction with their modular designs. One of the primary reasons people resort to modular homes is due to low housing inventory. The housing market is pretty undersaturated, and timely construction and affordability are limiting factors aspiring homeowners consider. All these led to an increased interest in modular homes, one of the best available options.
Benefits of Owning a Modular House
You get several benefits from owning a modular house. They include:
- Design flexibility
- Enhanced quality control
- Energy-efficient
- Lower cost
- Construction speed
- Easy installation inspection
Design Flexibility
Modular housing construction allows you to design every part of your house. Manufacturers can customize the structure to suit your taste, and soundly enough, the design possibilities you get with modular homes are limitless. If you are building a modular house, you can create multiple bathrooms and one or two large kitchens and even include compact office space. Depending on your choice, you can choose different types of siding materials, countertops, window/door styles, and bath fixtures. It is best to discuss with your home manufacturer and builder to decide which plan and home design suits you best.
Enhanced Quality Control
The design of modular homes follows factory settings, which ensures that there are standards and quality controls that you may not find in other types of construction. You may assume that the short construction times affect the quality of the house, which is false. The in-factory manufacturing process ensures that there are fewer chances for errors in the construction and assembly of modular homes.
The manufacturers have precision tools that regular site builders do not have, ensuring the structure is accurately designed and assembled. Furthermore, traditional houses can deteriorate with time due to exposure to external forces. The same is false for modular homes maintained and monitored in factory settings.
Energy-efficient
One of the main benefits of modular homes is that they are eco-friendly and reduce environmental impact. They produce about 90% less waste than traditional houses due to their energy-efficient construction and transportation ease and lesser operational implications. Since manufacturing companies create different modular homes yearly, they can buy their building materials in large quantities, reducing waste resources.
The construction of modular houses occurs in an indoor controlled environment, which eliminates the need for transporting materials to and fro the construction sites. Modular houses are more efficient than traditional ones, as they are airtight, reducing heating and cooling costs in the home.
Lower Cost
Modular houses have become popular over the years due to the increasing difficulty for new homeowners to break into the market. Fortunately, modular houses are more affordable than traditional homes. Modular houses are about 50% cheaper than traditional homes. Various factors contribute to their affordable prices, including lower interest rates, reduced construction time, fewer construction stakeholders, and bulk purchase of materials by the manufacturer. The construction of an average modular house costs between £350 and £800 per square meter, while traditional homes begin at £1400 per square meter. However, the price of your modular house will increase with how complex your layout and design are. Special services like electrical work and plumbing will also increase the base price of the home.
Construction Speed
Compared with traditional houses, modular houses have lesser construction times. In some cases, their completion can take about one month. Furthermore, your manufacturer may complete your modular home in just a few weeks if you have made solid plans with them and have all your paperwork in order. The primary reason for the high speed of construction is that modular house manufacture occurs in indoor factories, and the on-site assembly takes a short time. This feature frees them from weather conditions that may limit the speed of construction.
Easy Installation Inspection
Modular houses have a streamlined inspection process asides the excellent quality control. During the building process, modular homes undergo several inspection phases, and one of the most important of these is the final installation inspection. By installation time, your modular house would have passed foundation approval, factory inspection, permit approval, and utility assessment. However, traditional houses lack this advantage. Modular homes offer protection against the risk of building errors that traditional houses are susceptible to, making many of them inhabitable.
Conclusion
Modular houses offer more significant benefits than those built with bricks, blocks, mortar, and timber frames. People opt for modular houses because of their sturdiness, easy production, easy installation, and design flexibility. Remember that they are also cheaper and cost-effective, so you spend less time, energy, and money on your house construction. Contact us immediately if you want to build a reliable modular house!