• What most likely comes to mind when you envision a new home being built is something called “stick framing.” This building system takes its name from the fact that workers assemble the skeleton of the home (wall studs, floor, ceiling joists, and roof trusses or rafters) stick-by-stick, usually on the job site, using lumber cut to varied sizes. This includes the familiar “2 by 4,” which has dimensions of roughly two inches by four inches.
• In a small but growing number of homes, wall panels are stick-built with wood but assembled in a manufacturing plant and then trucked to the building site and assembled there. Proponents of this system referred to as “panelization” point out that entire wall systems can be constructed in a factory setting, away from weather and rain. Whether walls are stick-built on the site or constructed in a factory, the overall wood-framed structure of the home is similar.
• Once the structure of the home has been framed, the so-called mechanicals—including pipes, wires, and ducts—are routed through walls and floors. Insulation is then packed between the framing members of the exterior walls. Following an inspection, inside walls are typically covered with drywall. The exterior of the home is covered with weather-resistant cladding such as stucco, siding, or brick veneer.
• Despite its near ubiquity, stick framing can have some drawbacks. If framing lumber is too moist, it can shrink and warp as it dries, and that can cause drywall cracks. And the multitude of spaces between framing members can be difficult to insulate and air seal correctly using standard fiberglass batts. There are solutions to these issues, such as using properly dry lumber and one or more insulating systems that are installed with care, to ensure a quality home.
• Although this site-built stick frame method of constructing new homes using wood and lumber clearly dominates, there are other ways to build the structure of a home. These methods can also provide additional energy efficiency or better resistance to storms.

• A modular home uses conventional stick framing and must satisfy the same building codes as a site-built home and holds its value about as well. Modules are built in a factory and finished on the inside. They’re trucked to the site and set in place with a crane. The local builder knits them together and adds finishing touches, like decks.
• Although you’ve probably seen a modular home (usually two halves of a simple box) rolling down the highway, they’re not the whole story. Modulars come in all quality levels and price points, and some manufacturers combine custom-built modules in different ways to create complex designs that include cathedral ceilings and other popular architectural features.
• In principle, the factory environment offers better control over everything from the framing to the insulation. The quality offered by some modular builders can equal site-built homes and some firms have designed “green” homes. Ask lots of questions, get references, and scrutinize the product specs as carefully as you would with any home. Expect higher quality to carry a higher price tag.

• The term “mobile home” technically refers to manufactured homes built before the HUD code governing standards for factory-built homes was instituted in 1976. Along with modular homes, manufactured homes fall into the category of prefabricated homes. Those terms are often used interchangeably, but manufactured homes are preconstructed completely in the factory on a permanent, fixed steel chassis; while modular homes come pre-built in sections at the factory, placed on a flatbed trailer, and then, using a crane, are lowered onto an engineered foundation and finished on the location.
• Manufactured homes can be located on private property as well as in manufactured home parks. Many home parks have a large percentage of their sales from retired and semi-retired individuals and couples. What makes these communities attractive to a wide range of buyers is that many amenities are offered as you would find in any subdivision with an HOA, such as swimming pools and community centers. Check out the video below from the TV show "How It's Made" to learn more about industrialized housing.