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Wednesday, January 14, 2004
Osmeña: Prefabricated houses
By Antonio V. Osmeña
Estatements
BUILT INSIDE FACTORY. The fabricated house is a subject that is engaging the very serious attention of everyone in the building construction business and should be a matter of concern to real estate men and home buyers.
The prefabricated house is a building cut and constructed for the most part in a factory, then shipped to the plot upon which it is to be erected and there put together on the foundation.
There are many variations on the method and scheme of pre-fabrication, and a brief explanation may be helpful. Let us assume the owner of a lot intends to erect a frame building. Ordinarily he would have plans and specifications prepared, and submit them to a building contractor who would give an estimate of the cost of supplying the material. To a large extent, the material is delivered to the location of the house in standard sizes and lengths.
The carpenters then cut the lumber and put the house together. This process, of course, means that each building operation is a separate unit. It is about the most expensive way to construct a building.
Considerable expense is saved by developers who erect a number of buildings at a time, all following about the same general plan. Even the builder erecting one building will have certain parts of the work handled “at the mill.” These would be such items as window frames and sash, doors and door frames.
The theory of prefabrication is that a great deal of the work ordinarily done on the job can be done in a factory in wholesale quantities and sold to the home owner at a great saving.
The homeowner selects the type of house he wants. Most of the prefabrication organizations in America have a number of designs. The owner, having selected a certain design, receives all the lumber needed for the erection of that house “ready cut,” so that to a large extent, all the carpenters have to do is fit the various pieces together and erect the house rapidly.
The market for a manufacture of prefabricated housing could finally be the solution to the need for real low-cost houses. However, there is the unreadiness of the general public to accept the “ready to wear” idea of a home since homes are about the only things that have not yet been standardized. People still seem to desire individuality.
As soon as the public realizes the great savings that may be had, there will be many houses of the prefabricated type. Today the island of Mindanao has tremendous renewable gemelina lumber which could be a good source of material for the prefabricated houses.
Silviculture, which is the cultivation of forests to produce renewable timber resources, should be extended tax incentives by the government to meet the shelter needs of the Filipino people.
The obstacles to prefabricated houses are being slowly disposed of, but some of them may well be pointed out. Lightweight materials must be devised, or else transportation difficulties and expenses will eat up too much of the saving.
Lots are of various shapes and sizes, and the contour of the ground is often not level. The house designs must be varied to take into consideration the different types desirable in various parts of the country.
(January 14, 2004 issue)
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