DIY-Prefab

So why would it make sense for you to consider prefabrication techniques for building your own backyard shed, tiny house or larger project? After all it would not be feasible to spend the kind of money that commercial prefabrication operations spend for their equipment just on your one project. And what about the space that is required to prefabricate things? Doesn’t it take a lot of square footage to set up a prefabrication operation?

One major focus of this blog is to show you that you do not need to spend the big bucks that commercial ventures spend and you do not need all that much floor space to take advantage of at least some prefabrication techniques for your DIY project. Also you can strike a balance between what you prefabricate yourself and what you might buy from companies that do prefabrication. You are already thinking about that when you think about buying prefabricated windows. You could instead decide to fabricate your own windows.

Prefabrication is not for everyone. Of course DIY construction is also not something that everyone is qualified to tackle. I am going to be assuming that if you are reading this blog that you are at least giving serious consideration to building something yourself. If you are I think that some of the techniques that I will address over time will be worth your consideration.

Some of the key reasons that I think it makes sense to consider prefabrication techniques for your DIY project are the following:

1.)    The more detailed level of planning that is required prior to doing prefabrication may very well help you to avoid some construction mistakes. This of course can save you both time and money.

2.)    Adopting prefabrication techniques typically results in dividing a project into discrete parts each of which have specific clear objectives and measurable results. From the point of view of good project planning this is a good thing. From the perspective of maintaining focus and motivation this is also a very good thing.

3.)    Dividing a project up into discrete bite size projects also has an advantage for projects that you cannot spend your full time working on. It makes it somewhat easier to plan how you will spend your time when it is available. It is also easier to make sure in advance that you have the necessary materials on hand when you do have the time.

4.)    One other advantage of dividing a project into carefully planned achievable smaller steps is that the overall scope of the project will not seem so overwhelming. You can feel good about accomplishing each bite size piece of the project.

5.)    You will probably find that you can save money on materials by better planning. I have often been able to save money on lumber for my projects by thinking about how I am going to cut up the pieces that I buy. For example if your project needs some 5’ and some 11’ 2×4 pieces you could buy 6’ and 12’ pieces and end up with a lot of 1’ scrapes. Planning ahead you might notice that you could get a 5’ and an 11’ foot piece out of one 16’ piece with no waste.

6.)    There are some obvious advantages to prefabrication if you are building something that will be installed in a location that is remote to where you live. Prefabrication allows you to take advantage of the small snippets of time that you have available to keep your project moving forward. The final assembly can often be done very quickly. It could also be a fun thing to schedule a final assembly party where you call on friends and relatives to have a sort of barn raising kind of event.