Wondering what the benefits of building a modular home are? This post covers perhaps the most significant primary benefit a fast turnaround time. Because let’s face it, who wants to wait several months or even a year or more for their new home? With modular homes you can have your home in at least six months and some cases a little as 16 weeks! Read on to find out why modular homebuilding is so swift and what you can do to keep your build timeframe under control.
Why is modular home construction so quick to complete?
Ok, I’m not going to fluff it, you are probably not ignorant as to the concept of modular building, and this question may be self-evident to you. But the basic idea of “factory-built” allows us to streamline your home and make some considerable build time savings.
Let’s look at the fundamental principles that make this rapid reduction in build time possible.
Factory Construction
As we mentioned, factory building is the basic premise of building a modular home. Here at Westbuilt, we make at least 80% of your new dream home in our factory – the reason for this is that the factory is an area we can control a lot of things like materials, labour, wastage, tools and last but not least – QUALITY!
Controlled Environment
Not only does constructing each home modules in a factory provide us with 24/7 supervision over our quality, but it also allows us a modicum of control over the weather! While inclement weather will have some effect on your building timeframe, we can reduce that effect from 100% of the timetable in a conventionally built home, to 20% for offsite construction – a massive reduction!
Preparation
All right, well now we have a controlled construction process happening in the safety of our factory. The last ingredient we need is perfect preparation! The key to a successful modular build is preparation. This means getting the plans, specifications and price exactly right and agreed to before we even start ordering any materials needed to complete your home.
To ensure the efficiency of the factory, we need to ensure that we decrease the chance of any last-minute changes derailing our smooth process. While this means that you can’t make any changes once your home is on the production line, it does mean that we can offer you a guaranteed fixed price.
What is a typical timeframe for building a modular home?
Let’s look at the actual timeframe and process of building modular homes in Australia. These times mentioned are based on a common type of home – if your home is small, it can quite possibly be built faster, while a more substantial custom-built home can take significantly longer.Typically though, from start to finish a modular home will take around 20 weeks to complete!
STEP 1: PREPARATION & PRELIMINARY WORK
What happens? During the first stage, we get soil testing done, finalise your design and confirm your specs and colours. At the end of this, we can present a guaranteed fixed price and contract.
How long? Usually, this stage takes between 4 -6 weeks for an average 3-bedroom home.
STEP 2: COUNCIL APPROVAL
What happens? Next, we get your council approval underway. This stage can cause some hassles and delays, but generally, for a standard modular residential home on a vacant block, we can have your home approved quickly!
How long? 4-5 weeks for a standard build. Add 4-8 weeks if you’re doing a second dwelling.
STEP 3: FACTORY CONSTRUCTION
What happens? Now that we have removed the main variables from the build process, we can get cracking on building your home. From laying the first beams to loading your home on the truck, this process flies along!
How long? Factory construction is relatively rapid, generally around the 7 to 10 weeks!
STEP 4: ONSITE CONSTRUCTION
What happens? Ahhhh, finally the end is in sight! We get your piers installed, the trucks will then turn up, and your home will be weatherproof during the first 1-2 days! Once we’ve done our work, and the painters have touched up the final trims, we have completed our detailing and quality inspections – your home is ready for handover!
How long? With lots happening onsite, construction can be a real buzz! Depending on your bank valuer and council approval, this final step takes 3 -5 weeks.
3 tips to shorten the timeframe of your build
Now we’ve covered off most the significant points involved in building a modular home and the significant variables, one thing we haven’t discussed is the last variable in homebuilding – you! Believe it or not, the main driver in rapid build time is you! Let’s look at some essential tips that can help you keep your building time short for any modular home builder if you’re in a hurry to move into your home!
1. BE RESPONSIVE & DECISIVE
Speaking very respectfully, we’ve found that the biggest hold up in the preparation time is often waiting on the client to get back to us with decisions on colours or a type of bath spout! Whether the choice is small or large, taking a week to make a decision could add a week to your total build time. Of course, you will have the back up of our design and colour selection team at your disposal to bounce ideas off.
(P.S. If finding that ‘one of a kind’ spout is critical, then we don’t mind waiting!)
2. GET YOUR FINANCE SORTED EARLY
Quite often, we will see clients spend all the time on designing and dreaming about their spectacular home, but not put any effort into sorting out their finance! We recommend you start talking to your bank and get your construction loan application underway as soon as you make that initial investment. We kid you not, we’ve seen banks add MONTHS to the build timeframe!
We’ve got a helpful post on bank finance here.
3. GET YOUR BUILDER TO ORGANISE THE ONSITE CONNECTIONS
This last tip is one many modular builders overlook. Mostly you will be required to find your plumber and electrician to get your onsite connections sorted. To help you save time, we’re happy to help you get this sorted out! If possible, we will use our contractors. While this may be a little more expensive than a local contractor, we can ensure your onsite works run without a hiccup!
Interested in building a modular home?
If you think that building a new modular home might be the best option for you, and you'd like a more streamlined construction process, talk to the team at Westbuilt Homes.
We have been designing and building stunning modular homes since 1993. The construction process of a modular home is very different to that of a conventional home, giving you greater control over the construction time, the quality and the timeframe.
To learn more about modular construction, Click here to book a no obligation consultation with one of our modular experts. We’d be happy to answer any questions you may have.
