A Tour of Factory-Built Houses | This Old House

[@MikeLynchMakes]

Oh man, this is a throwback for me. I grew up on the same street as the first home and have been inside this house selling popcorn as a little cub scout.

[@nn260]

Please bring more videos like this to show the history of how things are progressed to now

[@scotttovey]

They've progressed to the point of being able to have huge CNC machines build a house from the ground up in concrete.

[@BFRIZZLE909]

Cost cutting more gain for those investors. Quality suffers.

[@carlosd5103]

Sears really was the Amazon of its time. Over 100 years ago, people used Sear catalogs to buy everything

[@nancywayne2429]

I bought a Sears kit house in April 2020. "The Vallonia" craftsman house built in 1923. It's the house of my dreams.

[@verygoodboy2688]

Breaking: Massachusetts men still at large after breaking into and admiring two homes

[@thecloneguyz]

Hopefully they don't get hunted down and shot like someone else...

[@ae1ae2]

I'm pretty sure they got caught, otherwise there's no way they would have stopped at two homes.

[@kmibuilding906]

Great to see Norm and Tommy again, two great craftsman. Learned a lot from both of you back when I was knee high to a grasshopper,.

[@loafandjug321]

What they don't tell you is, Sears sold a manual machine called the "Wizard Block Making Machine" where the builder made the foundation blocks onsite.

[@patdud]

I live in a neighborhood in NH where a local building company essentially built multiple neighborhoods of specific home designs/layouts that buyers would pick from a catalog. There are twins/triplets, etc of ours and other homes in the neighborhood from all different periods 20s->70s. the owners brother started a realtor business, one built them the other sold them!

[@ShakespeareCafe]

Absolutely, factory built houses are the future. Listening to incessant hammering and saws for weeks on end and the blast of the La Cucaracha horn as the roach coach pulls in for lunch. You've got 3 or 4 dumpster loads going to land fills. The traffic, the noise, the parking, the dirt on the streets, yes, on-site building is archaic

[@liammcgough9969]

Those house are beautiful! I grew up and owned a Levit built house.Great ideas and efficient way to build.

[@danielkennedy8530]

My Aunt's home in East Ridge, Tennessee is a kit house bought from Sears and constructed in 1926. Still stands and is strong. It's amazing.

[@zack9912000]

These need to be the 45min episodes

[@chrisburns5691]

good one, I like the historical info on the housing practices with the short clips.

[@davebutler4959]

Our home is a modular colonial built in 2006, we love it, the structure is very sturdy. The company we used got away from full custom homes around 2003 but their design has worked well for us. If you know your ideal layout modular is great but less flexible with making changes on the fly as you can with site built homes.

[@augustreil]

They usually have to be better built to travel on tractor trailers.

[@boedillard8807]

Did I miss the name of the place where they got that last catalog home? I looked at a factory builder in VT and surprisingly the cost of the home would have been nearly double of that if I just had a regular contractor build the house. I really thought it would be the other way around.

[@theclockmax]

Imagine you’re at home, then norm and tom randomly walk in and start going through your house

[@avalon449]

Wow, love not to far away and know that area well. Never knew that was a Sears kit house. Going to check it out tomorrow.

[@markcarlson1696]

I drove past the Grafton Inn today. I will also go back to see if I can find this house. Must be near the common.

[@pf5658]

It’s sad that Sears is all but disappeared now but good to see some of these houses still standing.

[@zunedog31]

WE LOVE YOU NORM! 😭😭😭

[@crmcbrideww]

I know they pre-arranged this with the homeowner but I'd have to imagine if Norm and Tommy show up to your turn of the century craftsman house, you just shut up and let them come in.

[@demagab]

So they can see all your saws hanging from the basement ceiling

[@Tavbiy]

They gave the price of the 100+ year old house and I really wish they would have given the price of the updated catalog house too.

[@kenc2257]

Just use google. The guy mentioned at the beginning of the video, "Mike Connor," closed up his shop in VT ["Connor Mill Built Homes"] just last year/2020. So, you won't be buying a home from him, unless it's a one-off.

[@zack9912000]

they really start at about 200k

[@rayschoch5882]

In the Twin Cities, $200 to $250 per square foot is a fair estimate for single-family new construction. Most people can't afford them, so prices for 60-year-old tract houses are skyrocketing.

[@checkyoursix5623]

After WW-II, Carl Strandlund developed a process to make factory-built homes that could be shipped on a truck and erected on-site after proper site preparation. They were called "Lustron Homes", and many examples exist today. You can find them on KZbin. Typically they were 2-BR & 1 BA. It would be nice if something on the order of these Lustron Homes were available today in, say 3-BR & 2-BA models, with half a dozen different floor plans and facades.

[@devan2462]

Looking at it our home very closely resembles the first one, around the same time period as well.

[@lesjones5684]

They delivered them on a train 😂😂

[@designstudio8013]

This is the best way to build.Also have premanufactured foundations.

[@2-old-Forthischet]

My condo was "built on site" and everything still is not very plumb. Over the years, I literally opened up walls to fix small nit picking irregularities in the construction.

[@thecloneguyz]

Most homeowners have no idea that almost everything is crooked and it's because you don't have a reference point

[@2-old-Forthischet]

@@thecloneguyz in my case, it was just plain sloppy work.

[@dannyfleck9051]

This takes putting together ikea furniture to a whole new level

[@MJ-wrty]

I own a Sears kit house and I love it. Highest quality

[@bill1957111]

My uncle used to work for Pease Homes in Fairfield Ohio. They made homes like Sears

[@ronh9384]

Very cool house. Does anyone know what season and episode this is?

[@MasteringHow-To]

Second house is Gorgeous

[@edvenuto9614]

The house I live in was built in 1953. My neighborhood was built in 1953. Those houses are built strong. They weather bad storms and tornados. They are small houses but they are nice and quality. I live in ohio. I like old houses. My home really is built good with good workers who knew what they were doing. The materials blue siding Foundation was block the home wood the shingles are good. Nice Windows.

[@Space_Debris]

Who would like to see and hear the vehicle type and schedule on the deliveries to build this house? 5:18 Seasonal material? Late summer when it's drier.

[@bosse641]

What a lovely home. Would love to live in that.

[@sarahmackenzie6311]

I am in hope they will reintroduce the homes at the same price as the original. ❤

[@AlohaKanaka]

I love this episode 🤙🏽

[@larrymoore6640]

I like learning the history of house buildings/designs. I would be afraid to order a house from a catalog. Like Tommy said you better make sure the foundation was correct.

[@augustreil]

I would be nervous also, but it sure looks like they did a good job ?

[@malo_213]

Great Episode..

[@nathanjones5653]

My in-laws live in a Sears Home. It’s the original house built on the family homestead.

[@joelcaldwell4852]

Love my Sears “Dover” house.

[@rupe53]

Caught me off guard for a moment when he said "the cah-nahs are still straight".... oh, he means corners of the house!

[@carlosd5103]

Yes, i think most people need buy the Bostonian to English dictionary to watch the show. 😁

[@brendasas8440]

👍BEAUTIFUL !!

[@johnames6430]

Need the tech companies to get involved in this home building.

[@marcbeebe]

Then: affordable houses for everyone. Now: unaffordable houses for anyone. That's progress?

[@Jdplayz-bq4ys]

I liked when homes in the 90's/2000's still had exposed wood with clear coat. Brought warmth and durability.

[@johng5261]

i hear you but it really looks worse, it darkens a room big time

[@augustreil]

I agree Jdplayz2007, should be a law against it !

[@Jdplayz-bq4ys]

august what would the law be against?

[@augustreil]

@@Jdplayz-bq4ys, painting clear old growth Yellow Pine because it basically doesn't exist anymore. Just an opinion, that's all and kinda joking around. I just like natural wood color with a coat or 5 of Poly, lol.

[@Jdplayz-bq4ys]

@@augustreil yeah our old house from 2007 had maple baseboards and birch floors. Something you don't see anymore.

[@ericwotton2046]

Every prefab house I've hooked up as the electrician on site has always had sub-par workmanship.

[@ahkeen]

Does it cost less or more? Wonder if you need special contractors to put it together.

[@MrPhotodoc]

Quite the workshop in the basement. Bet they crank out some money making stuff down there.

[@GettingGoshen]

What is the name of Mike Connor's Company?

[@bstancel12]

Mike Connor Mill-Built Homes. Sadly, he closed it down in 2020.

[@samsonli9490]

Insulation not included?

[@augustreil]

Nope, unless a farmer lives next to you and has a building full of dried corn cobs !

[@geoffreyrose1620]

2 beautiful houses , don't get that workmanship in Australia.

[@jasonking2943]

My grandmother had a Sears home. Three of the same ones in a row and hers was one. It's still standing today. Tommy are you ok? You sound as rough as a night in jail!

[@KT17610]

lol

[@rayschoch5882]

Too bad the kit factories and designers seem to be focusing exclusively on upscale structures, which are out of reach of the vast majority of Americans. That's (I think) the flaw in recent years with TOH in general. Their "projects" are too often million or multi-million-dollar buildings that are more trophy than home.

[@augustreil]

Agree 100% Would like to see a 1200-1600 ft Ranch home that is built and insulated well, not the 2200-3800 like they're always showing.

[@johnames6430]

2:19 show you how much money they've printed, what a disaster the US dollar has been with these corrupt people.

[@pauljo9441]

Intresting we bought a sears kit house the pieces were marked it was a four square house most the material was clear lumber. Iam a builder recognized quality

[@PaulHenreid]

Nice

[@lesjones5684]

I know some are

[@hotdogs5265]

I live in a Aladin ready cut home. $995 in 1933. Worth over 500k now. Well alteast what I pay overpriced taxes on anyway.

[@hotdogs5265]

@@Kevin-mp5of got that right. Its insane. Houses now in my area in MA are $600k+ minimum for a 1500 square ft house. Its disgusting really but with low rates people just pay it and are house poor.

[@TheGuyThatEveryoneIgnores]

A major reason houses cost so much these days is because land value has sky rocketed in most places. I wish they would tell you the value of the lot so that you can get a better sense of the real value of the building that is sitting on it.

[@803mastiff9]

@@Kevin-mp5of so are current lumber prices.

[@ZeoCyberG]

@@TheGuyThatEveryoneIgnores There's multiple reasons why costs are higher these days. Just inflation, the value of the dollar has dropped a lot over the years. $1000 from 1933 has the buying power of $20,121.69 today! Every time the government spends more than it has and prints money the value of the dollar just drops that much more... We also don't have as much resources as we once did, no longer can you harvest a forest of century old trees and thus getting good quality lumber cost more to get in significant quantities. Then there's the fact the population has more than tripled since 1933 but housing growth hasn't kept up for decades. So there's a supply shortage with ever growing demand that creates more competition that generates higher costs. Most of the population moved to high density cities that require a lot of infrastructure to function, adding a lot of costs for services, etc. all while forcing more and more of the population into apartment living and renting instead of owning, which also increases long term costs. Let's also not forget regulations, there's far more bureaucracy involved in housing now with more complicated and more demanding building codes that can tack on up to tens of thousands of line item costs before you can even build anything. Compounded with the trend towards big massive houses becoming the norm, prior to the 1950's the average home was below 1000 Sq Ft but now the average is well over 2200 Sq Ft. Plus consumerism as we have homes designed to require lots of stuff. So cost of housing has gone up for numerous reasons... The recent pandemic, the major forest fires, and the housing building boom has just created a perfect storm of events that now raises costs even more as resources get stretched thin and we can be facing another housing bubble crash if it doesn't ease off...

[@bg147]

That is pretty cool.

[@robertplatt1693]

I miss Norm!

[@MrJabez89]

John Marston bought a house from a catalogue and it was perfect

[@DoctorSkillz]

I’ll take an open floor plan McMansion.

[@drakeforte568]

Is levi's jeans a sponsor?

[@803mastiff9]

Hmmmm.... The current value of $753 in 1921 is $11,003.98. Something is wrong with this picture.

[@manillafresh57]

Yep

[@Mr.Pop0]

Well they don't call it the roaring 20s for nothing guys if you read the ad, it says the final cost is 1573.00 (23k today) A goog says the average salary was about 3k a year (44k today) Mind you this doesn't include the cost of land to build the house on. It makes sense though, a prebuilt house in a box that gets slapped together in a weekend would prob cost about half your yearly salary IN 19 FREAGIN 20!

[@SawmillerSmith]

I worked I a factory that built motel rooms. Seems like pre-built homes and motels must be more expensive then site built.

[@Mike__B]

Well like most things in that industry labor is what really increases the cost of the project, often costing much more than just the cost of materials. They you're paying for the labor of building it in a factory, which sure may cost less than site built, but then they need to deconstruct it and ship it to the site, then needs to be built on site, now if it's a very simple design then it probably would not be as costly, but something like that last home? No way that thing just snapped together easily. And things like plumbing, electrical you can't just lego that stuff together.

[@SawmillerSmith]

@@Mike__B I've worked on site built homes and most of the workers were people who couldn't get a real job. They were criminals and people who came across the boarder illegally. No one used there real social security numbers. They worked extremely hard and cheap. Can't so that with factory works which increase the overhead.

[@oldcountryman2795]

Factoring inflation, $1000 one hundred years ago would be around $13,000 today. You couldn’t get the windows for 13k today.

[@TwoToedSloth]

Tommy has a W in jt

[@alonzojohnson7955]

Tommy rules

[@MrEazyE357]

He sounds bad in this episode though.

[@carlosd5103]

I think they are talking about kit homes. The parts are all built and shipped to site to be assembled and do the finish work. I think the future is more with modular homes. Sections of the house are assembled at factory and put on a truck to the site. They use a crane to put it together and most of the work left is the finish work.

[@richardmartinez3342]

1910...wow

[@oliverballam7]

IKEA should try this

[@gslavik]

I think they already are in EU.

[@803mastiff9]

The started selling tiny homes in USA

[@evanallen5377]

Here I was expecting a lustron house

[@bg147]

There is a Lustron in my town. The owner said it was free to anyone willing to move it. He also owned the house next door and wanted a bigger yard. There weren't any takers, so, his plan was to knock it down. However, he kept it, but clad it in vinyl siding. It is great he saved it but why would anyone wrap it in vinyl. Sentimentality is a thing of the last, it seems.

[@augustreil]

@@bg147, Low maintenance is my guess ?

[@evanallen5377]

@@bg147 there's a vinyl siding-ed house in oak park MI near me that looks suspiciously lustron

[@robertwhiteley-yv1sy]

I bet you that old house will outlast the new one.

[@Ted_E_Bear]

Miss Molly loves Catalog homes ! Steve lives in one. If you knock on the front door, the back door rattles !

[@Ted_E_Bear]

@@Kevin-mp5of not dead, but incognito !

[@bg147]

I wasn't aware his house is a Sears house.

[@jane29228]

IT WOULD BE NICE IF PEOPLE COULD BUY THEM... STILL TAKES FOREVER.

[@jane29228]

​PUT YOUR MASK OVER YOUR EARS WHEN READING IT.

[@adamguymon7096]

I believe that even know that there is a different way of building homes I still believe that when someone goes into the trade they should still learn how to build a home strictly from scratch? We have good and new technology's but if someone learns how to do something straight from scratch they will appreciate it and feel like they have knowledge of how to do something even if they don't need to plus it will give them the ability to build something from scratch if they ever need to?

[@scotttovey]

Being able to appreciate the machinery is not the real reason they should know how to build from scratch As much as machines do make tasks a whole lot easier; wood is still wood and the tradesman needs to know how to work with the wood from the scratch point of view in order to get the machine to create the highest quality product it can make. It doesn't matter whether you are running a router by hand or CNC; it's still going to give poor results when cutting against the grain.

[@ncprealty3844]

Please shut the front door.

[@leozmaxwelljilliumz3360]

Tons of kit homes in my town but there is no way I trust a coffered ceiling to be prebuilt. No way it's as snug as something done by hand.

[@rupe53]

leoz ... and that's why they invented bold crown moldings. You put that precut coffered wood in place and afterward you fill the gaps around the edges / walls with molding.

[@ZeoCyberG]

Machines can actually do it better than by hand, it's why virtually everything is manufactured in a factory these days. By hand just allows for craftsmanship and adapting to flawed materials. While machines are best for repeatable tasks with materials that get consistent results.

[@bg147]

I will stick to my 100 year old craftsman bungalow. That house in the clip was overly detailed for me. It was a nice house and everyone has different tastes, though. We live in a modular world.

[@ryanroberts1104]

There is a *BIG* difference between a "factory built home" and a "pre cut" home. This video is *NOT* about "factory built" homes! Factory built means a trailer or modular, and they are *always* crap. Terrible, ugly, cheap construction. They will tell you their homes are better because they are built in "controlled conditions" but that isn't true considering the incredibly low quality materials and employees they use. They won't last very long and they will never hold any value. Pre-cut is no different than a site built house, it just cost more, for really no added benefit to the homeowner. They will tell you it's a better built home, but if nobody told you, you probably wouldn't know the difference. Nothing they build today will be anything like a sears home.

[@ZeoCyberG]

This is false, pre cut is factory because it's done in a factory and it cuts down the time it takes to build the house, as well as keep the materials in more ideal conditions where they won't have to constantly handle the outside weather, where site built houses can be exposed for months to even years. While there's no such thing as always one quality. Everything in the market can be built from lousy to ultra luxury high end. There are also companies still making house kits... Reasons for problems deal more with how the building codes have changed, how we now have massive bureaucracy that can make things take longer and tack on up to thousand line item fees that can add up to thousands or even tens of thousands before you can even lay the foundation, homes tend to be bigger and more complicated with a growing demand for high energy efficiency, there's more restrictions, income hasn't kept up with rising costs, housing growth not keeping up with population growth, etc.

[@ryanroberts1104]

@@ZeoCyberG These "pre cut" houses may spend less time being built but they are still out there in the weather. I'm sure they get rained on like anything else when they are being built - maybe not as much as a conventional house, but really some wet framing is just fine. They are probably more efficient with less material waste but how much of that is really passed onto the buyer?

[@ZeoCyberG]

@@ryanroberts1104 A lot because labor can be over 50% of the costs. While no, they aren't still out there in the weather because the house gets finished faster and the materials don't even leave the factory until they are going to be used in the build. Factory production also allows for mass production, which can reduce per unit costs to a fraction of what it cost to do them one at a time...

[@ryanroberts1104]

@@ZeoCyberG This is still not a very common construction method, mostly depends on if their is a local builder factory or not. People will confuse this with modular houses, and those are very different - they should have made that more clear.

[@ZeoCyberG]

@@ryanroberts1104 Perhaps, but they can only cover so much in a single short video clip. Understand, modular houses expands this to Pre-Fabs, manufactured houses, whether or not the structure has to meet local code, different types of foundations, idea of scalable sizes, etc. While the focus here was kit homes... Too much information all at once can also confuse people and this is still a TV show and not a webinar...

[@johnpacella9519]

Very weird vid. The Connor home construction business went out of business in 2020.

[@armyvet8279]

Too bad you can't buy a house now for $1000!

[@zanesutherland406]

A used mobile home or an old abandoned home in a crappy area.

[@bologna3048]

Lol even this technique is obsolete now

[@BobBob-we3wr]

Im just imagining this house being built in china by some 12 year old\sweat shop worker and then sent here.

[@julianreverse]

Bullshit. You can build roof panels in a factory 🤦‍♂️

[@evansaul6658]

1st