The housing and construction markets are hitting new records every day. Houses are selling above asking price with multiple bidders, and construction material and labor prices are as high as they have ever been. This reality can be rather daunting, especially if you’re a home buyer leaning towards new construction. Going the house kit route is usually less expensive, and can be more energy-efficient. But even with kits there are huge price discrepancies when it comes to material costs.
With all these considerations, we’ll talk about how our house kit option, the Vesta™ fits into the current housing market and your future house plans.
What is a Vesta™ prefab kit house?
The Vesta™ kit house is an all steel, passive house kit designed to be a highly insulated and efficient living space. The Vesta™ kit house produces some of its own heat via the attached greenhouse – which also provides a sunlit space to grow food year round in. The prefab house kit is all steel, with a heavy gauge frame of 4×4 and/or 4×8 I-beams and rafters. Insulated metal panels (IMPs) provide the exterior finish, the insulation, and the interior finish of the house.
What are the advantages of steel construction?
One advantage is the material cost of steel v. wood. Lumber prices have increased 4x in the past year alone:
While steel prices have increased as well, they have only increased around 50% compared to the whopping 400% increase of lumber. If there was ever a time to build with steel, this is it.
Less waste with a prefab design
Another advantage of the Vesta™ is that it’s a prefabricated house kit. The frame of the Vesta™ is ready for construction when it’s shipped, so there’s no cutting or material waste and the entire frame bolts together easily. Building with lumber creates a good amount of material waste, and with prices as high as they are, wasted lumber is money down the drain.
Speed of steel construction
The speed of steel construction is significantly quicker – up to 4x faster than building a home with lumber. This can equate to a major cost savings on the construction side. Add in the fact that the IMP walls of the Vesta™ make up the interior finish, insulation, and exterior finish of the house (which all goes up in 1 simple step), and the speed of construction gets even quicker.
Save money and grow your own food
In a market where houses are flying off the “shelf” as quickly as they can be placed on the market, it makes sense to think about purchasing land and building a house from scratch. While wood framed houses can be completely customized inside and out, the Vesta™ is a highly efficient shell that can be built quickly and affordably, while still allowing the owner to customize the interior. Combine this with the benefits of an attached greenhouse, and you have yourself the ultimate sustainable home. The Vesta™ is a great way to become a homeowner during these stressful home buying times.
To learn more about the Vesta™, contact us today!
