By Jacob Aere / KPBS / Nov 29, 2022
A prefab home may look like most other modern homes, but the process of getting there is quite different.
“Prefab just means it’s built in an off-site factory. People sometimes confuse the terminology – modular is a term we use in the industry, it’s built in sections in a factory (and) delivered to the site for assembly,” said Todd Kesseler. Kesseler is the president of USModular Inc., a company specializing in prefabricated and modular housing.
Kesseler said there’s a stigma about prefab housing, and overcoming that is one of the biggest challenges. “We used to say they were like your grandmothers’ trailers back in the day, in that they focused so much on affordability that the quality really wasn’t there. In today’s manufactured homes, the quality is there and they are still cheaper than site-built structures,” he said.
According to Kessler, prefabricated construction is faster and cheaper than traditional on-site construction by around 10% to 30%. These were selling points for David Lynch. He adds a prefab house on top of a permanent foundation next to his own house in El Cajon. …
There are several types of prefab housing, from one-story prefab houses to modular apartment buildings. Drew Orenstein is the CEO of Impact Housing, which develops modular housing complexes. “So we take the cost savings, we take the time savings, and we translate that into what we hope is a reduction in the rental price,” Orenstein said.
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