With roots tracing back to some of the first homes in America, panelized construction has a firm foothold in home construction.
Though panel building’s origins are old, panel built homes are anything but dated.
During the past 70 years, we’ve seen many trends, technologies, and techniques come and go in the home building industry. We’ve also watched how panelized construction has evolved in more recent history, too, and become a polished manufacturing process with an unmatched level of precision.
While there’s no one way to build a home, panelized construction gives homeowners the absolute flexibility to realize the home of their dreams down to the smallest detail while keeping costs in check.
What is Panelized Home Construction?
Before we dive into the specifics of what makes the panel building process so great for new build homes, let’s cover the basics quickly.
Panelized construction is a hybrid of modular and stick building. Walls and roof trusses are assembled in the same factory conditions as a modular home, but are shipped to the job site in segments.
All Barden homes are built with panels and trusses made by North American Truss (NAT), our manufacturing division.
In our factory, the NAT team assembles all of the walls and roof trusses necessary to build a home (the components of our Fast Track Framing System), but not the siding and windows to avoid damage during shipping. NAT uses high-quality lumber and higher-precision assembly methods than even the best stick builder. Barden homes are assembled and enclosed quickly, minimizing exposure to the elements and theft.
Every Barden home is completely unique and customized to the homeowner’s specifications.
We supply all of the materials to build the home and offer design services in-house to offer a single contact point process like a modular builder. Unlike modular building, we allow our customers the freedom to purchase and select their own materials if our selections aren’t to their tastes, and design their homes with no limitations
By allowing this flexibility we can offer all of the benefits of other construction methods with none of the drawbacks.
5 Reasons to Consider Panelized Home Construction for Your New Build
A home construction method that’s optimized for both the future homeowner and the builder, panelized construction stands in a category all its own for custom homes.
- Customization opportunities
- Ability to build wherever you want
- A more efficient build
- Single point of contact
- Regional considerations
1. Customization Opportunities
When we say customization, we mean more than choosing from a few options that are standardized and pre-set. Every single aspect of the new home is customized to the homeowner -- from the countertop material to the lumber used to build.
This enables the homeowner complete design freedom -- no limits to size, shape, material, or otherwise.
2. Ability To Build Wherever You Want
When choosing panelized home construction, you are not hindered by traditional building method limitations.
Panel built homes can be constructed in tighter spaces than other methods, which means it can be considered ideal for track or subdivision building where space is limited due to neighbors or other hindrances.
Additionally, they can be an ideal choice for rural or scattered lot building. Our experienced Independent Dealer team knows how to handle the unique logistics and potential obstacles you may face while building on your own lot or in a rural setting.
3. A More Efficient Build
Because panel built homes are precisely engineered and manufactured by the same team of experts in the same building, human error that can occur in the field is minimized.
For example, window and door openings are sized and layed out with engineering software and then assembled and cut with state-of-the-art technology to ensure square precision. This eliminates any gaps that would be left by hand nailing and cutting in the field, and thus a more energy-efficient home with no drafts.
What’s more, with all of the components of a home arriving on-site pre-engineered, building crews get right to work upon delivery. Less time spent building a home means lower construction costs.
Did You Know: With our Fast Track Framing System, a Barden home is made weather-tight within 10 days?
4. Single Point of Contact
The panelized construction process is incredibly streamlined. There’s an enormous selection of building supplies (such as doors, windows, roofing, siding, and kitchen cabinets) that homeowners need to consider. Working through all these decisions takes time and can mean dealing with multiple suppliers and retailers. Through panelized construction, the process is simplified as your home dealer has already curated most of the resources needed to choose the components of your house.
When it comes to choosing subcontractors for your project, your panelized construction partner can assist with that as well -- eliminating the need to call several companies, price compare, and coordinate with different teams.
Alternatively, if a homeowner has a subcontractor in mind that they would like to work with, they can be integrated into the team seamlessly.
5. Regional Considerations
During the engineering process of panel building, factors such as average local snowfall are taken into account.
This helps determine load-bearing capacity, as well as materials and processes needed to ensure the home is optimized for the region where it resides.
Homes that aren't properly engineered can have drywall cracking with temperature/humidity fluctuation and snow loading. All of those factors, and more, are taken into account during engineering.
Ready to Get the Ball Rolling on Your Dream Home?
No matter where you are in your new home planning process, reach out to our team.
Our experts are happy to answer any of your questions regarding panel building with no pushy sales pitch or pressure. We'll even set up a friendly call on an evening or weekend to discuss.
