The offsite mindset can help you craft a leaner homebuilding operation, even if you can’t get panels or modules
by Charlie Wardell
- Todd Usher loved being a modular builder, but gave it up because of high shipping costs
- Because of the lessons he learned from his modular experience, he now brings a manufacturing mindset to conventional stick building
- A commitment to planning and engineering have made him a strong competitor in his market. He believes other builders can do the same
Offsite construction is an approach to building in which building assemblies are prefabricated in a factory then shipped to the jobsite for installation. Those assemblies vary in size and purpose.
Nearly all builders use roof trusses, while some use floor trusses. Some install wall, or even floor, panels. A few build with prefinished modules.
But what about builders who want the efficiencies of offsite, but don’t have access to a panel or module factory?
The answer is, while the offsite approach ends with on-site installation, it starts with planning and engineering — skills any builder can use to improve operations and profits.
One builder who learned this first-hand is Todd Usher, president of Addison Homes in Greenville, S.C. Usher was a modular homebuilder in the early 2000s, but began stick framing when rising gas prices made shipping costs prohibitive.
He hopes to switch back to modules or panels at some point. In the meantime, however, the approach to building that he learned in the modular world has made him a better site builder.
In fact, Usher believes that offsite is as much a mindset as a technique. And he is convinced that builders who embrace this mindset will make a smoother transition to building with modules or panels when the time is right for them.
“Offsite construction is really about standardized processes and consistent results,” he says. “I don’t understand why a builder would leave it up to the framer, the plumber and everyone else to figure out how to build a home.”
Actually, Addison Homes did try leaving things up to its framers when the company first switched to stick building, but that experiment was short-lived. Usher, who came to homebuilding from the chemical industry and had an engineering mindset to begin with, deemed it far too wasteful.
So he decided to become as deliberate about plans, takeoffs and trade instructions as the modular factories he had worked with.
Today, any plan Addison receives from an architect is re-drawn by an in-house designer. The changes are about structural details, not aesthetics.
“We want our plans to show trades the exact work we need them to do and the way we need them to do it,” says Usher. That includes specifying plumbing and mechanical runs and making sure the structural design has all the needed chases.
It also includes takeoffs and cut lists. Each plan is sent to a structural engineer to ensure quality control and material optimization. And the instructions given to framing crews include what sizes and lengths of lumber to use where. “We give them a schedule and inspect the work to make sure they followed it,” says Usher.
It’s the manufacturing mindset brought to the jobsite.
The payoff? Usher says that Addison gets lower framing bids because the framers know they won’t have to do material takeoffs. “I don’t need a framer who is a master craftsman,” he says. “I just need someone who can follow directions.”
To reinforce the need to follow directions, the company back-charges framers for lumber that’s wasted because it was not cut or installed according to instructions. Framers stop making mistakes pretty fast.
Addison also enjoys better quality work, fewer re-dos and a minimum of $1500 savings per house even after paying $1000 to the structural engineer, according to Usher. In fact, he says that even though his company builds high-performance, Zero Energy Ready homes, they’re cost-competitive with code-minimum builders, thanks to their detailed planning.
Addison builds about 20 homes in an average year. Usher believes that the efficiencies provided by the engineering approach will make it easier to increase that number. “I see planning and engineering as keys to our ability to grow.”
At the same time, he understands that factory thinking and methodology is best suited to a factory, and he wants to eventually work with a panel or module supplier. “If someone opens a quality plant in our area, I will jump on it,” he says.
