Customer Reviews

Prefabulous: The House of Your Dreams Delivered Fresh from the Factory

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sheri Koones latest book Prefabulous follows on the heels of her three previous shelter books, all considered home runs by those who are in the residential housing industry. Prefabricated homes of today offer features and benefits that place them on equal footing with stick or site built homes. Koones in her thorough and leave no stone unturned style, explores the options in rich from-the-trenches writing detail, coupled with relative photography.

Prefabulous should be required reading for architecture students as it highlights an important coming trend in North American residential housing. Prefabricated homes are being embraced by builders, developers and designers coast-to-coast as starter, custom, primary and secondary residences. Before you sign a site-built new construction contract, read this book and you will discover an option that can dramatically decrease delays, expenses, stress, time and waste in building your dream home.

Chapters cover: Modular, Panelized, Structural Insulated Panels, Timber Frame, Log Construction, Concrete and Steel. Additional features include a forward, an introduction, and a resource appendix. A must-have guide for prospective new-construction homeowners, manufacturers in the factory-built construction industry and those looking for a "green" alternative to site-built housing.

I always assumed that prefabricated and modular construction were ugly and cheap, but Sheri Koones's Prefabulous has changed my mind entirely. Prefabricated and modular home construction methods have grown up and gone elegant and Koones has produced a detailed book with lavish photographs that will make many homeowners eager to explore these options. It is truly difficult to believe that the homes pictured were not built conventionally.

Prefabulous is more than just a pretty face. Koones is a leading home construction expert who has written several books on residential building and modular design and Prefabulous is in keeping with the detail and insightfulness of her previous work.

Reading Prefabulous is well worth your while if you are building a new home or adding to an existing one, because prefabricated, modular and similar construction methods are typically more cost-effective than conventional techniques. But don't take my word for it-- consumer real estate expert Robert Bruss has rated Prefabulous as 12 stars on a 10 star scale.

This is a beautiful, well-researched and wonderfully presented book by home construction expert Sheri Koones. We have been considering either the purchase or construction of a second home, and based on what I have seen in this book, I am convinced pre-fab is the way to go. The author explained the concept of modular housing in her previous book, Modular Mansions, but this latest work presents the amazing variety of pre-fabricated construction options available to the homeowner/homebuilder. The gorgeous photos will stun you!

As a reader who hopes one day to build a home, PREFABULOUS by Sheri Koones opens the door to ingenious, fresh ideas. After pouring over this book, you'll question why anyone would NOT build a home constructed of pre-fab materials, especially after learning that this sort of smart building isn't just faster and often cheaper, but far more environmentally responsible than conventional methods. I recommend this book to anyone intereted in contemeporary architecture and design.

This is one of those rare occaisons when the vast minoroty of reviewers get it right! For some reason I missed the two folks who gave it 2 or less stars and may not have taken much notice antway but buyer beware. I regret the purhase which was to a large extent based on Sarah Susanka's foreword. I have most of her books so having read this book I, like anther reviewer, fail to understand where she is coming from. It's a nice fluffy coffee table book it's only contribution to my investigating prefab applications being a clear description of the various forms but not much else.

If you think the only way to construct a truly elegant home is by building it the old fashioned way, you are in for a pleasant surprise. In Prefabulous, Koones shows readers that prefabricated houses have come a long way, and are in fact, a much better way to build. Complete with detailed resources regarding architects, manufacturers and builders on each of the homes profiled, Prefabulous is an excellent guidebook. Filled with magnificent photographs, detailed sidebars, and helpful information throughout, Prefabulous will help homeowners understand the many choices available for systems built homes.

Lots of good pictures, but VERY LITTLE indepth and/or technical info about processes and products. Not for someone interested in really learning much about factory fabrication, except "look what we can do".

In the author's 3/22/07 post in her blog above, she states, "In today's world I believe we are all concerned about preserving our resources and saving energy - prefab construction is an excellent option towards both of those ends." Her book, however, presents huge prefab houses as examples of this perspective. Of the 25 houses in the book, 12 are in the 5000 - 12,000+ sq. ft. range. No matter what construction method is used, excessive materials and space waste natural resources and energy.

Given that the author's previous book was Modular Mansions, it's not surprising that she recommends such wasteful houses. It is highly unfortunate, however, that Sarah Susanka, author of The Not So Big House, chose to write the forward for this book. She said, "Prefab is definitely an idea whose time has come, and this is the book that tells us how to make it happen". Did she even look at the book before writing that recommendation? It is a total contradiction from her own books and apparent philosophy towards building houses that minimize resource use.

Not as in depth as I would have liked. More of a coffee table book.

I had no idea factory built homes existed at anything close to this level of detail, craftsmanship, beauty, variety, durability and more.

This is an excellent book which incorporates all the major types of factory built homes outside of manufactured homes and mobile homes. I now have an entirely new perspective on the current and future state of housing in our country, especially here in Miami, Florida.

As a result of this tremendous "discovery," I am putting together a team of dedicated professionals to assess the viability of the construction applications (residential, commercial and otherwise) featured in this book for the South Florida market.

Every one of my colleagues, friends, family and others have been absolutely amazed at the contents of this book.

You will not be disappointed with this outstanding piece of work even if you employ its use for educational or edification purposes only, or just as a conversation piece for your coffee table.