Article published May 2008:

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Article published April 2007:

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Article published January 2007:

Book published in 2005, by the Taunton Press:

Article published January, 2007: Per the graph at right, from Automated Builder, based upon 3.024 million homes built in America in 2006:  47% of the homes were panelized (many by PMHI) and 43% of the homes were job site built or stick built. But, when you include the factory built modulars and mobile homes (HUD-Code) 57% of all the homes built in America in 2006 were some form of "industrialized" or partially factory built. There are reasons for this: Faster construction time Lower costs Better quality

 Article published March 19, 2003: 

          Serving Western Nevada County, CA                  

Couple saves time, money with panels

Using the construction equivalent of paint by numbers saved Ken and Julie Zuckerman about $8,000.The Grass Valley couple decided to use wall panels manufactured in an Elk Grove factory for a 1,000-square-foot house the couple built for Julie's mother. Mike Leslie, the Zuckermans' contractor, gave them a bid using several different types of construction, one of them using prefabricated wall panels with windows and doors already installed. "I was thinking about the quality aspect because the walls are built in a controlled environment," Ken Zuckerman said. But the savings were another reason the Zuckermans opted to use the time-saving construction method. Leslie, owner of Tekton Construction in Auburn, ordered the wall panels through Auburn firm Perma-Dwell, one of 15 domestic Pacific Modern Homes, Inc. dealers, in mid-August. It usually takes four to five weeks, six in the summer, for panels to be delivered to construction sites, said Denise Dugger, co-owner of Perma-Dwell.

Gary and Denise Dugger, owners of Perma-Dwell homes of Auburn, are in the kitchen of their new home built on Loma Rica Drive.

Pacific Modern Home's wall panels, which are up to 12 feet long and 8- to 10-feet-high, arrive on the site with windows and doors already installed. The Zuckermans used 10-foot by 12-foot sections that arrived on an 18-wheel truck in the couple's Wawona Madrona neighborhood near the airport. Panels are numbered so contractors can put the frame together quickly. Because the walls are already constructed and easy to fit together, it often saves half to two-thirds the number of labor hours. Price lists for dozens of plans are listed on the Pacific Modern Home, Inc. Web site at www.pmhi.com.

All the walls of the Zuckermans' 1,000-square-foot, two-bedroom, two-bath home were up within three days. "The neighbors couldn't believe it," Julie Zuckerman said. Their house used 32 panels, some as small as 3 feet in width, Leslie said. Pacific Modern Homes, Inc. describes its method of building as environmentally responsible because far less energy is needed to manufacture lumber than other building materials. "Nine times less energy is used to produce a wood 2-by-4 than a steel stud, and 24 times less energy for a wood-framed floor than a concrete floor," the firm's material states. Another advantage of factory framing is that framing packages allow owners to be in control of the construction of their dream homes, Dugger said. Leslie agreed. "A lot of clients want to come play on the team," Leslie said. "They want the thrill of putting their hand into the home they're going to live in."

The finished Perma-Dwell home on Loma Rica Drive owned by Ken and Julie Zuckerman.