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Don’t Forget! You Saw it in the
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January 2025 #17306 Page #10
Home Building Technology, Part I: Wall Panel Beginnings
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s we start 2025, we have surpassed the 125th year of offsite wall technology, so it seems fitting to return to the beginning and describe its early progression. Surprisingly, this includes the Ready-Frame® technology that is currently being marketed by Builders FirstSource, as well as the offsite panelization that is commonplace today around the country.
By Joe Kannapell
In the early 1900s, when all cutting on site was done with hand saws, the savings realized by precutting materials and providing panelization were far greater than they are today. A 1918 Pacific Homes Catalog described the advantage this way, accompanied by an illustration of a man operating a pull saw: “If a rafter that requires from 5 to 10 minutes of carpenter labor to prepare ready for nailing can be measured, sawed, notched and beveled by machine in 12 seconds, then surely there must be a saving of labor.” Back then, the only equipment capable of notching and beveling were large woodworking machines. Once such machines were set up, they could produce large volumes of identical pieces very efficiently. Consequently, this same catalog included dozens of uncomplicated model home designs that could yield this kind of work. Moreover, Pacific Homes was just one of the many homebuilding companies that arose at the turn of the century to take on such work, and they grew rapidly with the advent of motorized transport. Panelization – Pre-built building sections began to be offered around 1900 by Earnest F. Hodgson’s company, which had been building small cottages in New England. When Hodgson was overwhelmed by the demand for automobile stables (garages), he turned his attention to mass producing them. He realized that they could be prebuilt in six-foot sections in his small factory. Over the next several years, Hodgson expanded into home production, following a similar six-foot modular approach, offering house widths of 12 ft., 18 ft., and 24 ft., and add-on porches, dormers, door and window panels, and other customization.
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