Perils of Prefab

The Wall Street Journal takes a chainsaw to modern prefab, sounding shocked, shocked, that there are sometimes problems due to site conditions, client changes or cost overruns. There are also teething problems with new designs and clearly a few issues between builders and designers; Charlie Lazor's fabulous flatpack house appears to have been too much for prefabber Empyrean to handle. Patrick Gilrane of Empyrian told the Journal: "There were a number of special items that were designed specifically for that house, If you utilize a standard kit of parts, we're pretty good at that." The article appears to look for cost over-runs that have nothing to do with the prefabs (septic tank cost over-runs?) and blames the architects anyways. ::Wall Street Journal

Much more positive is the LA Times, interviewing Allison Arieff, who literally wrote the book on the subject, although even she points out that "A lot was over-promised and under-delivered, so now we are going through this period of realism where the consumer wants to see what's available and possible." ::LA Times