Prefabricated Housing
L as prefabricated homes are homes built from standardized sections, which are manufactured in advance outside their place of location, and subsequently sent to its definitive location for final assembly. These homes should not be confused with the so-called caravans (in English mobile homes); homes already assembled and usually of very low quality, which are transported in trucks to the place where will be definitely installed. The definition of prefabricated housing also may overlap with the so-called modular houses, which are those whose structure is formed by metal frames of standardized dimensions, which are closed by panels that fit into the holes. All these constructive strategies, requiring no mortars or concretes, can also receive the generic definition of buildings dry. Although it is not as widespread as the of traditional houses market, its market share varies considerably according to countries and regions. The prefabricated houses are popular in some European countries, and particularly in Canada and United States, due to its generally more competitive price.
Current architectural designs, in which predominate the plants open and clean lines, without sophisticated decorations, are very suitable for prefabricated construction. The current architecture experiment with prefabrication to design houses that produce series for cost reduction. There is a wide variety of prefabricated houses, by varying its materials according to dimensions (surface, number of plants), climate (temperature and humidity) and budget for its construction. The materials most used are wood and reinforced concrete, although there are a multitude of combinations and variants of relatively recent appearance. Prefabricated housing should rest on foundations, and connected to the urban networks of sanitation, water and electricity, as well as conventional homes. Traditionally, one of the main problems that had these constructions was the lack of heat insulation, situation that has changed with the evolution of both thermal and acoustic insulating materials.
