AgLA06 said:

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The quality, structural strength, and lack of deterioration (rot) at a similar cost of wood is the selling point.

Go look at framing jobs today and you'll understand why everyone involved would appreciate the accuracy and quality of this instead.

If you're a young buyer purchasing one of these you plan to live in long term and possibly renovated as trends change, I can see the hesitation. Older buyer building or buying their forever home, it would totally be worth the investment.

The one thing I don't think they can currently do is build these up on pilings for beach houses which is where they would really be a value. probably too much weight to support up in the air. If they could figure that out, they could really thrive in coastal towns all around the the US.

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You could solve those issues with steel framing as well.

I still think this is a fad that doesn't really solve any pressing issues.

I am happy to be wrong though.

ConfidentAg said:

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AgLA06 said:

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The quality, structural strength, and lack of deterioration (rot) at a similar cost of wood is the selling point.

Go look at framing jobs today and you'll understand why everyone involved would appreciate the accuracy and quality of this instead.

If you're a young buyer purchasing one of these you plan to live in long term and possibly renovated as trends change, I can see the hesitation. Older buyer building or buying their forever home, it would totally be worth the investment.

The one thing I don't think they can currently do is build these up on pilings for beach houses which is where they would really be a value. probably too much weight to support up in the air. If they could figure that out, they could really thrive in coastal towns all around the the US.

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You could solve those issues with steel framing as well.

I still think this is a fad that doesn't really solve any pressing issues.

I am happy to be wrong though.

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played golf with a guy from a large concrete company. said these things don't make sense economically. they are getting big subsidies from the government and still are priced fairly high.

Yes, and I still think that moisture/water management is a big issue.

It solves drywall and siding as well. I'm not a fan of the bumpy walls but I hate dealing with other people's drywall work. Too many shortcuts make it take longer than if they just did the job the right way the first time.

flomoAG said:

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ConfidentAg said:

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I don't see how this will ever be cheaper than a traditionally built wood framed house…

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3. Concrete is cheaper than lumber at current prices if Im not mistaken. Now, I have no idea what kind of concrete mix they are using, so that has to be accounted for obviously.


Bonus to buyers: Options. This one community has 48 different home options on only 4 different floor plans. You arent doing that with traditional wood frame homes.

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You are mistaken. Concrete has increased almost 30% per cy (~$135ish to $170ish) in the last 12 months, while lumber is down to pre covid prices. (source: I work for a company who buys 50kcy of concrete a year, and this lumber chart LBS)
You are right in that we have no idea their mix, but it ain't cheaper than commonly used 4000psi SOG concrete.


And, your last comment.. Do you have any experience looking at tract homes in the burbs? My wood home builder had 5 floor plans, each with 3 elevations, and all can be flipped. That is 30 options. Then you had walk out, garden level, and full underground basement, so theoretically 90 options. This was back in 2012.

It was Standard Pacific at the time, now Lennar. Lennar is in my neighborhood too, and they had about the same # of options.

ConfidentAg said:

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AgLA06 said:

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The quality, structural strength, and lack of deterioration (rot) at a similar cost of wood is the selling point.

Go look at framing jobs today and you'll understand why everyone involved would appreciate the accuracy and quality of this instead.

If you're a young buyer purchasing one of these you plan to live in long term and possibly renovated as trends change, I can see the hesitation. Older buyer building or buying their forever home, it would totally be worth the investment.

The one thing I don't think they can currently do is build these up on pilings for beach houses which is where they would really be a value. probably too much weight to support up in the air. If they could figure that out, they could really thrive in coastal towns all around the the US.

---

You could solve those issues with steel framing as well.

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I was gonna say this as well. I am doing my basement now, and I'm using steel studs. Cleaner, lighter, easier, stronger, no termites or water concerns, there are already holes in them for wiring and water lines, etc..

The pros go on and on.
I don't know about cost though.. I'm sure over the long run, wood studs vs steel studs fluctuates.

RE: building on pilings for coastal towns - coastal population is such a small fraction of the US, so I highly doubt they are in a rush to figure it out.

62strat said:

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ConfidentAg said:

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AgLA06 said:

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The quality, structural strength, and lack of deterioration (rot) at a similar cost of wood is the selling point.

Go look at framing jobs today and you'll understand why everyone involved would appreciate the accuracy and quality of this instead.

If you're a young buyer purchasing one of these you plan to live in long term and possibly renovated as trends change, I can see the hesitation. Older buyer building or buying their forever home, it would totally be worth the investment.

The one thing I don't think they can currently do is build these up on pilings for beach houses which is where they would really be a value. probably too much weight to support up in the air. If they could figure that out, they could really thrive in coastal towns all around the the US.

---

You could solve those issues with steel framing as well.

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I was gonna say this as well. I am doing my basement now, and I'm using steel studs. Cleaner, lighter, easier, stronger, no termites or water concerns, there are already holes in them for wiring and water lines, etc..

The pros go on and on.
I don't know about cost though.. I'm sure over the long run, wood studs vs steel studs fluctuates.

RE: building on pilings for coastal towns - coastal population is such a small fraction of the US, so I highly doubt they are in a rush to figure it out.

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About to build-out a small cabin out of a connex and right now steel studs are cheaper than wood.

Not to mention risk of fire is less of an issue and each room
Other than the openings would be sealed off.

When you account for defects and such, I'm sure it almost always is. Steel studs don't warp, shrink, split etc.

And I didn't even mention some other big pros like sustainability, fire 'proof', storage space (steel studs take up much less room than wood because they are 'hollow' and stack inside each other). A human can carry probably 20 studs, 2x4x8, if not more.

It's amazing to me honestly why there isn't much more steel stud usage in residential. I'm in commercial construction and we don't touch wood. It's all steel.

Low hanging fruit is always the first to get knocked out in GMI. I would guess framing is also the largest consumer of labor on the job site (im an engineer not in construction, so my experience in building comes from watching while living in two different neighborhoods as they have been built). And as I point out, by doing it this way, it allows them to have many homes being concurrently built. In this particular case, they had 7 at once. And they were working on getting more systems to the site. So theoretically you could bring down 10 of these systems and throw up a hundred home community in a matter of a couple months instead of a couple years. They are trending to 2-3 weeks per home. That is unreal. The roof trusses are prefabbed off site, so they just truck them in and drop and secure in place. This home building process is a significant improvement in the speed of a build, and a significant reduction in workforce needs.

Cool. Thanks for the info on concrete prices.

And yes, I do have experience in the burbs. Ive purchased two different homes, one from David Weekly and one from Saratoga. In your case you are correct, some builders do offer that many options, mine didnt.