Prefab homes, prefab houses, prefabricated homes or prefabricated houses, which ever you prefer to call it, are simply homes or houses that are mass produced. Like the cars that we drive, these prefab homes comes in various sizes and models to suit your living needs. Choices are of course limited and since they are mass produced, you do not have the privilege of having your own unique design. Nevertheless, popularity of prefab houses are slowly but surely gaining popularity.

One obvious reason is due to the cost and time of building such houses. Since all sections of a prefab house is fabricated in the factory, the need of construction workers for this traditionally labor intensive industry has been drastically cut. For one, the need for bricklayers has been brought down to the minimum if not done away with totally. For housing estate developers who builds on a large scale, this can mean considerable cost savings. Houses thus can be sold at a lower price and at a faster pace.

Many countries, especially those which are faced with housing shortages have adopted this method of building. Time of construction can be reduced to half and prices are affordable for even low income earners. Even the building of high rise apartments using the prefabricated method is getting popular. Since every unit is identical, prefabrication these homes are also made a lot easier.

Of course there will be some disadvantages of buying such a home. For one, owners will have a tougher time putting in additional electrical or plumbing outlets as all this has been pre-done at the factory. To add more points and outlets will mean a lot of hacking and mending. However, some developers do give the chance for buyers to have additional socket or light points, but this has to be done and planned out before the actual fabrication starts. Suffice to say, it will cost twice as much as a normal installation.

You can of course order your own prefabricated homes according to your own design and fancy. However, that would mean a whole new set of plans and moulds for the manufacturer. By the time everything is finalized, it might well cost more that building it the traditional way.

Materials used to fabricate these houses differs from country to country. Some countries needs heat retaining materials due to harsh winter conditions while some in tropical countries will need something that is heat repelling, yet strong enough to withstand years of torrential downpours. The more common material uses is of course concrete and steel. Prefabricated homes built with these will last for generations, earthquakes and tornadoes notwithstanding.

Due to the ever escalating cost of building materials and workmanship, the demand for prefabricated homes can only go upwards. There will come the day when every home owned by a normal wage earner will be a prefab home. Only the rich will be able to afford custom designed homes. The trend is already there.