Modular house builders going bust

[Guest28]

  On 06/04/2024 at 13:57, Iceverge said:

 

 

Maybe. Maybe not. 

 

 

https://www.visitnorway.com/listings/stålekleivloftet-one-of-the-oldest-wooden-buildings-in-the-world/207516/

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Norwegians paint their timber buildings, they don't leave them to silver aka rot.

 

Also builders use timber that easily rots here. In my area I see lots of timber clad houses completely rotten and they're only 15-20 years old.

 

Houses with block walls are still going strong after 150 years, just need a lick of paint.

[IanR]

  On 06/04/2024 at 09:39, saveasteading said:

I supppose there are different definitions of modular.

 

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The linked article is referring to the "crisis in the volumetric house-building sector", so I took the OP to refer to the common meaning of modular build, ie. Pre-built "modular" boxes, assembled on site.

 

  On 06/04/2024 at 09:39, saveasteading said:

Not really. They can be made in small grotty old factories and made / shipped without taking much space. 

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And you can build panellised kits in much smaller, grottier factories, or handle and store (waiting for delivery) more panellised house kits in the same space.

Edited April 6, 2024 by IanR

[Mr Punter]

  On 06/04/2024 at 16:20, MBT6 said:

 

Norwegians paint their timber buildings, they don't leave them to silver aka rot.

 

Also builders use timber that easily rots here. In my area I see lots of timber clad houses completely rotten and they're only 15-20 years old.

 

Houses with block walls are still going strong after 150 years, just need a lick of paint.

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If you clad a house in unpainted treated softwood it will last about 10-15 years.  Clad it in untreated imported Western Red Cedar and it will be good for 50+.

[saveasteading]

  On 06/04/2024 at 10:30, MikeSharp01 said:

The ones I have seen in UK and Germany have robots assembly

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I've been in one where the 'robot' simply inks the studs and osb at cutting points and with part numbers, fhen people cut the parts then nail them together in a shed about 400m2. (£30k per annum rent?)

3 houses a day were going out of the door as wall panels and posijoists.

[saveasteading]

  On 06/04/2024 at 16:36, Mr Punter said:

If you clad a house in unpainted treated softwood it will last about 10-15 years. 

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In my experience of using treated wood and staining it, it's still good after 25 years and counting. That's proper vacuum tantalising, not the surface spray I have seen recently.

[Kelvin]

Most decent cladding fitted correctly will last decades even unpainted/stained. 

[saveasteading]

  On 06/04/2024 at 16:36, Mr Punter said:

it will last about 10-15 years. 

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@Mr Punter can you tell us of this bad experience?

[DreamingTheBuild]

Guys timber will last for centuries if there is airflow, we have thousands of wooden buildings from the 1600's that are still standing!

 

I have a family member who worked at Portakabin in York for many years, Portakabin did a big study on modular housing some years ago but elected to stay out of it, which looks like a good decision. I think there has always been a degree of boom and bust in the industry as there is the constant issue of volume in order to keep the lights on, so you are quite exposed to what others are doing. But if you take Portakabin, a lot of their business is schools, hospitals and retail, the difference is not all their competitors are in a position to deal with the client demands, especially with hospitals, it's a much harder market to break into compared to housing.

 

I imagine a lot of the modular housebiolders are price takers rather than price makers, so with heating and wages going up it must be difficult.

Edited April 8, 2024 by DreamingTheBuild