Kit Homes...good or bad idea

[Dano97471]

Anyone have experience building a house with factory-constructed panels/kit homes? We are tossing around the idea as opposed to just adding onto our existing home. Any input would be much appreciated.

 

[Mousefield]

The first house we built was in 1980. A Linwood cedar prefab. Nice house but in hindsight paid a fair amount for it. One down side was they send 2 X 4 wall panels when we had ordered 2 X 6 inch. Sales guy tried to talk us into putting Styrofoam on the outside of the 2 X 4 to give the insulation value of the 2 X 6 wall. Made them send us the right 2 X 6 walls. Our neighbors built a kit house a couple of years ago. By the time they added the foundation, cabinets, plumbing, electrical etc, they feel they came out on the short side of the money. I think kits or prefabs can work for people but you should do ALL your homework, get in writing what's included and what is not, material and labour.
The house we live in now we had a local contractor build for us. Well built and we are very happy with it. See pic below.
Good luck with your decision.

 

[crazyal]

I looked into it but I ran into problems borrowing from the bank. The companies I talked with wanted money upfront while the bank would only dish out construction loan money once the materials showed up on the job. I did find a company on the west coast that dealt with cedar built houses that looked real nice. I think to make the kits pay you need to be able to do all the work yourself, even then if you pay full retail for everything the kit doesn't include it may not pay.

 

[David Devuono]

I recall back in the 70's listening to the carpenter I was working with curse the Viceroy we were putting together. He custom designed and built homes but was talked into doing this one, never again. Anyway I would seriously look at one of the new Foam core panel prefabs. We were building homes with double 2x4 walls back in the late 70's. When I do my retirement home in a few years I am planning on double wall, probably 2x6 outer foam sprayed and then a 2x4 inner wall fibre glass insulated. I plan to spend my retirement income on tractors, not heat

 

[Dano97471]

Thanks guys for your input. The Company we contacted for the panels quoted us $40,000 delivered, for our design (2000 sqf). Basically what they provide is the framing in 6' numbered panels, trusses and exterior sheathing. I would need to provide everything else plus labor.

It seams to me that I could get all the framing, trusses and sheathing done for a lot less money by hiring a local framer. Could I be wrong...is $40,000 a good price?

 

[tulenutn2o]

Thanks guys for your input. The Company we contacted for the panels quoted us $40,000 delivered, for our design (2000 sqf). Basically what they provide is the framing in 6' numbered panels, trusses and exterior sheathing. I would need to provide everything else plus labor.

It seams to me that I could get all the framing, trusses and sheathing done for a lot less money by hiring a local framer. Could I be wrong...is $40,000 a good price?

When I built my 2100sq. ft ranch in 97, had & $40k in building material, 15k-windows, 17k foundation, etc. Doesn't sound way off. Are these foam sandwich style or just std, framed panels?

 

[Dano97471]

tulenutn2o...These are just outer sheathed framed panels with all the windows and doors framed in.

What we like about this company is that they will construct the panels to our design and floor plan.

We are also looking at a "Build on your land" builder. They will build a 2100 sf complete home, foundation included for $94,000. We provide the permits, site work, septic, water & power to the site and cleanup.

We would like to build a new home on the property (10 acres), but not sure if that's practical. We may just end up adding about 1000 sf to our small existing home that was built in 1917. We are at the stage of trying to figure out what is the best way to go.

 

[Mousefield]

tulenutn2o...These are just outer sheathed framed panels with all the windows and doors framed in.

What we like about this company is that they will construct the panels to our design and floor plan.

We are also looking at a "Build on your land" builder. They will build a 2100 sf complete home, foundation included for $94,000. We provide the permits, site work, septic, water & power to the site and cleanup.

We would like to build a new home on the property (10 acres), but not sure if that's practical. We may just end up adding about 1000 sf to our small existing home that was built in 1917. We are at the stage of trying to figure out what is the best way to go.

Up our way it costs about $100.00 and up per sq ft to build a standard house. This is complete with foundation, flooring, lighting fixtures, and cabinets. That's about $210,000. to build 2100 sq ft. Mind you we live in an expensive part of the world with high labor costs, most licensed trades people get in the area of $30.00 per hour , plus or minus. So $94,000. for a completely finished house of 2100 sq ft sounds like a real bargain if it was in our area.

 

[SandburRanch]

I'd check insurance rates before making a final decision. In some areas, kit homes in the eyes of insurance companies, are similar to mobile homes and you may not like the annual premium.

 

[Dano97471]

I'd check insurance rates before making a final decision. In some areas, kit homes in the eyes of insurance companies, are similar to mobile homes and you may not like the annual premium.

Never gave that much consideration...One more thing to add to my budget worksheet.

 

[Redneck in training]

We bought Morton building barn and turned it into a house. Total cost was about $85/sqft. The building with all three pane Pella windows, all perimeter doors etc cost about $35/sqft. After completing it inside and most of the basic landscaping outside, including 800 ft driveway and small pond we ended up paying about $90/sqft. We put in estimated 60 to 80K of our own work on top of it. Needles to say we have all wood or tile floors, granite counter tops, top of the line appliances, three marble bathrooms etc. We heat the house with geothermal heating for about $100 at the coldest month. The House is about 3800 sqft including 1400 sqft of heated garage.
The biggest issue was financing due to lack of comparable houses in area around. We could finance about half only. We ended up spending all our cash on hand for the land and construction. Later on I talked to a guy who also lives in Morton and got financing from a bank simply by not mentioning word barn but calling it a stick house built by Morton.
Our house was built in 2005.
Morton Buildings - Pole Barns, Horse Barns, Steel Buildings, Metal Buildings, Storage Buildings, Farm Buildings

 

[crazyal]

I ended up going with a custom built timber frame (post and beam) house. For $45k I got the timber frame built and erected and all the foam panels (OSB on the outside and sheetrock on the inside). The company that made the foam panels cut wire chases into the panels as well as a wood nailer for baseboards for each floor.

I installed the panels. I bought an adapter for a circular saw, less than $200, that looks like a chainsaw for cutting the panels and a hot knife for removing the foam. Where the doors and windows go a hole is cut then you remove foam so a 2x6 can get set in between the OSB and Sheetrock for a nailer. The panels are held on with either those long landscaping nails or screws (nails are easy).