Panelization Brings Improved Quality to Building
Emphasis on quality has long been critical for upscale custom home builders, now production builders believe that building the best quality home has never been more important for an increasing number of reasons.
More Competition, More Choices - Today, it is a buyer's market! Home purchasers have a greater choice of products, amenities, features, types of financing and more negotiating power when deciding which home to purchase.
Resale Value - Home buyers are moving much more often, due to changing lifestyles, company relocations, career changes, etc. The typical California home buyer stays in their home less than seven years; thus, the resale value is a greater financial concern to a potential home buyer.
JD Power and Branding - Most major production builders now actively compete to be the "Quality Brand" with the JD Power and Associates Ratings.
Legal Liability - There has been a dramatic increase in "entrepreneurial" plaintiff attorneys, who actively pursue construction defect lawsuits. Using direct mail and other methods to generate lawsuits based on construction quality, has dramatically increased the attention to detail, correcting improper work when discovered to minimize scheduling delays and avoiding callbacks.
HOW PANELIZATION DRAMATICALLY IMPROVES QUALITY
Custom and production home builders can greatly increase the quality of their final product through the use of "The Swedish System" of manufactured panels.
CAD - With quality panelized products, CAD plans are analyzed prior to manufacturing the panel packages. The CAD program can produce a 3-D model of the structure for review, which will allow the identification of design errors/conflicts prior to any site construction activity, rather than on the fly during the course of construction. In addition, both architectural and structural details are indicated down to individual nail placement. Framing, mechanical, electrical and plumbing trade contractors are included in the forward planning cycle so that their chases and installations are intergraded.
Kiln-Dried and Engineered Lumber - The best panel factories use KD lumber for all panels, including as much engineered lumber as possible, such as I Joists for floor panels. Green lumber changes shape as it dries. This causes nail popping, warped walls and other problems that dramatically reduce the quality of the finished home, while KD and engineered lumber practically eliminate these problems. Although both KD and Engineered lumber is a bit more expensive, efficient panel manufacturers buy in quantity and produce much less waste (3-6 percent rather than 18-22 percent on the job site).
Controlled Environment and Precise Manufacturing/CAM - By manufacturing panels in a controlled environment to precise tolerances, the panels delivered to the job site are exactly as specified. The best results are achieved when the panels are produced using CAM (computer-aided manufacture). Maximizing the use of automation will ensure that the panels are manufactured exactly to the CAD designs approved by the project team - to the exact nail positioning, nail penetration and window openings. With this approach, it is possible to manufacture a 30' long wall panel, with sheathing and windows, to within a tolerance of a millimeter or two.
Quality Promised, Quality Delivered - Panels manufactured using "The Swedish System" produces a product that provides:
- Reduced inconsistency of on-site skilled and unskilled labor;
- Precise nailing and structural integrity;
- Panels with exact window and door openings (no shimming required), all installed in a controlled environment and flashed in a consistent manner;
- Panels that are coded and loaded in the installation order per plan layout;
- A decrease in the time framing material is exposed to the elements;
- Less chance of errors by other trade contractors;
- Reduced supervision time spent coordinating subcontractors on site;
- Respected brand products used in the factory production process, with the material manufacturer's warranty passed on to the buyer where possible.
October 2006 Builder Architect Edition Issue
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