Within the prefabrication industry, Kit homes have had a long history of success within the twentieth century. Kit homes are houses whose components are manufactured using a panelized or pre-cut prefabrication system, are numbered, packaged and shipped to the building site for erection. Among the different strategies in purchasing a manufactured house, buying a house as a kit has a great potential for self-help assembly. Since about one third of the cost of construction is labor costs, the author has investigated the option of self-help building using Kit homes, to eliminate the labor cost and thus further reduce the construction cost. / In order to study the Kit home potential and costs when bought from, and assembled by the manufacturer, four manufacturers of prefabricated homes who offer Kit homes were visited. In order to study the Kit home potential and costs when assembled by the buyer, the building process of a self-helper was researched and documented. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

The housing shortage in the United States at the close of World War II led President Truman and his National Housing Expediter, Wilson W. Wyatt, Sr., to enact the Veteran's Emergency Housing Act. Enacted in the spring of 1946, one goal of the V.E.H.A. was to encourage the production of prefabricated and factory-built housing units.The Lustron Homes Corporation, founded by Carl Strandlund, was a subsidiary of Chicago Vitreous Enamel Products Company which received over $37 million from the Federal Government between 19461950, in order to manufacture standardized all-steel houses.This creative project explores the wartime and postwar housing situation across the country, and specifically, in Louisville, Kentucky. An interview with Wilson W. Wyatt, Sr. is included.The production, assembly, and sales practices of the Lustron Homes Corporation are explored through research, and through an interview with the regional salesman who represented Kentucky. Documentation and photographs of Louisville's Lustrons are included. / Department of Architecture

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No description available.

No description available.

In the early twentieth century Sears, Roebuck and Company entered into the pre-cut housing market and offered complete houses to the public through their catalogues. This thesis discusses the history of Sears, Roebuck and Company's Modern Homes Division and preservation problems of this form of early twentieth century housing.Methedology included identification of Sears, Roebuck and Company's Modern Homes in St. Joseph County, Indiana through public response to a newspaper article and through the study of St. Joseph County mortgage records. Identified houses were matched to available catalogue illustrations from the Sears, Roebuck and Company Archives. The location and age of Sears houses in St. Joseph County is discussed.Using Sears houses in St. Joseph County as models, a study of the common preservation problems and solutions for early twentieth century houses has been made. The results of the preservation study and history of Sears houses in St. Joseph County will be available for use by the St. Joseph County Historic Preservation Commission to help homeowners understand the history of their Sears houses and how to preserve them. / Department of Architecture

edited by Albert G. H. Dietz [and] Laurence S. Cutler. / Papers selected from 2 M.I.T. special summer sessions: Aug. 18-29, 1969 and June 16-20, 1970. / Bibliography: p. [253]-[255]

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O presente estudo tem como objetivo realizar uma avaliação dos sistemas construtivos de casas de madeira baseadas no sistema Light Wood Frame, aplicados na região de Curitiba, Paraná. Foram realizadas entrevistas com empresas que utilizam o sistema construtivo Light Wood Frame. Foi utilizado um questionário com perguntas diretas e questões abertas relativas à produção, recursos materiais e tempo de produção. A conclusão foi de que o uso de madeira em tecnologia de construção de habitação é uma solução adequada e que o sistema Light Wood Frame é uma alternativa construtiva eco-eficiente, porque otimiza processos construtivos, utiliza-se de materiais recicláveis e/ou renováveis, e diminui desperdícios na obra, fornecendo soluções para problemas relacionados com a eficiência energética, sustentabilidade e habitação limpa no Brasil. Para um bom desempenho na aplicação de madeira para construção de moradias tornar-se uma realidade, a produção brasileira no sistema precisa ser submetida à normalização e regulamentos, para aumentar a produtividade dos sistemas existentes e incentivar a construção em madeira no Brasil. / The present study aims to conduct an assessment of building systems of wooden houses based in Light Wood Frame system, applied in Curitiba, Paraná. Interviews were conducted with companies that use system constructive Light Wood Frame in Brazil, more specifically in the region of Curitiba, Paraná. It was used a questionnaire with direct questions and open questions concerning production, material resources and production time. The conclusion was that the use of wood in housing construction technology is an appropriate solution and the system Light Wood Frame is a constructive alternative eco-efficient, because provides solutions to problems related to energy efficiency, sustainability and clean housing in Brazil. To a good performance in use of wood for houses to become a reality, the Brazilian production system needs to be submitted for standardization and regulations to increase the productivity of existing systems.

This thesis is focused on the issue of financing the revitalization of prefabricated houses through loan products.

This is a study of how industries develop in regions that are industrially weak, exemplified by Norrbotten, the northernmost province of Sweden. Developing industries are represented by three companies manufacturing prefabricated wooden houses, situated in the municipalities Övertorneå, Kalix (Morjärv) and Älvsbyn in the interior of Norrbotten.For the period ending in 1918, the economy of Norrbotten is analysed in terms of staple theory. Thereafter, an analysis in dependency theoretic terms is judged to be more relevant. The communities in which the house factories are located are described similarly.Övertorneåand Mor j ärv are in the periphery of a peripheral region. There has never been any locally generated economic life of any importance. The house factory in the community first mentioned was established there in 1970 by AMS (The Swedish Labour Market Board). The other one was started by a local entrepreneur in the 1930's. It has changed hands several times, being incorporated into ever larger conglomerates. The third company studied was started by a local carpenter who still controls it. The factory is located in Älvsbyn, near Piteå, which has to be considered the center of the periphery.The integration of these three companies with other local firms, and their economic importance was studied in terms of their buying behavior. The method of investigation was a study of the internal records of the firms.All three of the companies showed that a decrease in the local and regional shares of their total purchases took place between the sample years studied. A comparison of the companies showed the Älvsby factory, the one locally initiated and controlled, to have by far more solid local and regional foundations than the other two. This could partly be explained by firm-related theories but the most important factor seemed to be the industrial tradition in the communities. Industrial tradition is a factor mostly determined by the position of a community in a dependency hierarchy, in part however, it is controllable by local decision-makers and individual entrepreneurs.Even for the company with the best local foundations, there was a drop in local and regional shares of purchases. The reason for this is the size of the company in relation to other local industries. The company has reached the limits of the capacity of the local community to support it. Such limits exist everywhere but their exact level depends on the status of the community and region they are in, the line of industry, the nature of ownership, etc.A series of implications for regional politics can be derived from the present study. Economic measures designed to improve weak industrial areas should be undertaken with utmost care in order not to damage existing local economy. Much greater efforts should be made to study the conditions of existing economic life and its potential for change, i.e. to study the historical development. / digitalisering@umu