Modular vs masonry: What type of construction comes out on top?

Exploring the benefits of both, we’ll find out which comes out on top as the best one for your wants and needs.

If you’re considering building your dream, lifetime home, it’s important to make sure you get it right. You don’t want to spend time, effort and money on something that you think might ­be perfect, just to find out that it isn’t.

Modular housing: The Benefits

Quicker construction

When looking at the benefits of modular housing, this is always the decider. Construction times are never delayed by the weather. On traditional construction sites, weather is a big deal. A bit of rain and the work has to stop. Due to the fact that modular housing is constructed in a factory environment, the building will remain on schedule regardless of the weather.

Sustainable 

With modular housing, passive features such as house orientation, insulation, shading, solar power and grey water systems are easily incorporated into any designs and are installed during the construction process. Whilst these are options for traditional, it takes a little longer and it leaves a lot of waste. Also, since modular properties are constructed in factories, the amount of waste and site disruption is kept at a minimum. Meaning that it’s significantly more sustainable than a site build.

Remote location installations are cheaper

If your dream home is in a remote area, onsite building costs can skyrocket quickly. This is because there’s higher delivery costs, long-term travel and accommodation expenses for the builders working on the project. With modular, you can save nearly 90%  compared to traditional construction. With factory construction, homes are delivered 90% completed so installation is quicker and time onsite is reduced.

Masonry housing: The Benefits

Top-end luxury

If your dream construction is a top-end luxury property, it’s unlikely that modular building is going to be the best option for you. This isn’t because a modular home can’t be stylish and luxury, it’s because large homes would require a lot of extra modules as well as extra features. This means that the modular process isn’t ideal as it will end up becoming expensive due to the amount of time it would take and the components required. This means that masonry may be the best option as it is all one construction instead of various modules.

Best choice for cities

In cities, transporting modular homes can be difficult. This is simply due to the number of obstacles that litter the busy city space. For example, in cities, there are lots of power lines. Making transporting pre-built modular homes difficult, resulting in higher costs. Although modular can work well in a city and has been used plenty of times in the past.

So modular vs masonry? When looking for a housing solution, it’s best to plan ahead to see what best suits your needs. Modular will always come out on top, but traditional will always be available as an alternative depending on the project.