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Why prefabs are better than kitsets for farm homes


There are many benefits to building a new farm home on your property. It provides quality accommodation that will help you attract and retain good workers, acts as a stable, long term investment, reduces ongoing maintenance efforts and assures all the regulatory requirements are met when housing tenants.

For farm owners, whose time and energy is already stretched to the limit, building a new house on the farm can seem an overwhelming prospect. It’s no wonder then that we’re seeing more affordable and faster build options, such as prefab homes or kitset houses, becoming increasingly popular options for farm accommodation.

To ensure the smoothest possible build process when adding an extra dwelling on your farm, that saves you time, money and stress, consider choosing a prefab home. Below we outline why the prefab building process is better than kitset when it comes to your new farm home.

Benefits of prefab farm homes

Quicker Build Process

Taking into account the time-consuming operations of a farm, it can be hard to see how building a new house could fit into the equation. Fortunately, with a factory-controlled environment, once your plans have entered the production line, your new home can be built from start to finish in as little as 10 weeks. Add an additional 4 weeks for transportation and on-site work and your home is completely built and ready for workers to occupy!

This differs from kitsets for farm homes where your kitset provider will build the shell of your home complete with foundations, walls, roof, windows and cladding and then hand it over to you to fitout the interiors and add the final touches. Or, you will be supplied the kit frame and assemble it yourself. The length of time from start to finish will depend on the type of package your kitset provider offers, and then your skills and availability to finish the job.

Regardless of the package you choose, assembly and installation of varying levels is required on your side. This will take up your time either to build yourself or to coordinate the project if you’re calling in the aid of others. This can add more time to your build process sourcing and coordinating tradespeople and as the build is taking place on-site, weather considerations have to be accounted for in the timeframe also.

Transportable Farm Homes

A prefab home is entirely factory built by your prefab company of choice and then simply transported and installed on your site. This controlled environment means deadlines and budgets are tightly adhered to as potential weather, supply or management complications are effectively managed, resulting in a quicker turnaround. The prefab home company constructs your new house and it’s delivered to site almost complete, offering more peace of mind and less stress!

Less disruptive of farm life

Having your farm accommodation built in a factory instead of on-site hugely benefits daily farm life. A completed home dropped off, ready for living, enables you to gain new accommodation with minimal disruptions to the property and day to day farm operations. Having additional tradespeople increases on-site risk and hazards and can get in the way of essential farm activities. You may have to dedicate more time to on-site logistics to get around these disruptions.

And forget long months of loud building site noise! Constant building clamour can be unsettling for livestock and frustrating for family, staff and neighbours living and working nearby. 

A prefab build will not only eliminate extensive noise pollution but reduce on-site waste too, resulting in minimal disruptions to the environment and all those involved in life on the farm.

Farm accommodation nz

Health and safety considerations

Since less of the prefab build process takes place on-site than for kitsets, project management and health and safety concerns are significantly reduced. With farm owners being required to ensure their farm is compliant with health and safety laws, reducing tradie traffic and time spent on site will reduce the risk of any health and safety incidents occurring on your farm. This means one less responsibility for a busy farmer to worry about.

Save money

Time is money. By reducing your hands-on involvement in the build process you’ll save yourself valuable time where your skills and time can be better utilised elsewhere.

It’s also worth noting if you do opt for a kitset, any tradies and contractors you outsource to assemble it on your behalf will often include travel costs in their overall fee. If your farm is far from central hubs, these travel costs of getting tradespeople, and materials, to and from your remote site will accumulate quickly over the months spent putting together your new farm accommodation. 

Avoid unnecessary costs unexpectedly creeping into your budget by choosing a prefab with a one-off, pre-set budget that includes transportation, saving you money in the long run.

No experience required

Varying levels of involvement are required with a kitset home depending on the package you choose. This requires you to either have a certain level of building expertise and skills in the industry. Note that the project will still need to be signed off by a qualified professional. Alternatively, you can outsource tradespeople to do it for you if you either don’t have the right skills or your time and efforts are simply better utilised elsewhere.

For some, the building and assembly involved in a kitset may be an exciting project to get stuck into. But unless you’ve got the time, skills, and energy to partake in that, a prefab is going to ensure you get the quality farm accommodation you need, quickly and with as little effort as physically possible.

Prefab Farm Accommodation NZ

Prefab houses for farm accommodation

Adding new farm accommodation to your property will increase the value of your farm and help you attract, care for and retain quality staff. Choosing a prefabricated house as your build option will make the process the smoothest possible experience. 

Eliminate any disruptions to daily farm operations, reduce noise, prevent environmental disturbances and save yourself time, money and stress in the long run by getting your farm accommodation factory-built and delivered to your preferred site. Regardless of how remote your farm is, it’s more than likely the experts at Genius Homes can get your accommodation sorted with no trouble at all. 

Staff quarters twin

At Genius Homes we have a range of prefab homes specially designed for farm accommodation. For accommodation that houses several staff, check out options like the Staff Quarters Twin Cabin (pictured above) for a perfect balance of social and private space with separate sleeping and living quarters, and shared kitchen and BBQ area, crafting the very best for your workers (floor plan pictured below).

Farm house plans

Need a full-sized house? Consider the robust 4 bedroom Manager’s Home (pictured below) designed to comfortably suit a farm manager and their family. With ample living space, privately positioned bedrooms, and a back door entrance designed for hard-working muddy boots, this home is ideal for staff in charge of a farm, forestry operation or almost any commercial operation where having a manager on-site is key.

Farm Managers HomeAt Genius Homes we’ve designed accommodation that is durable, practical and fit for the farm. Check out our full range of prefab farm accommodation options to find one that best suits the needs of your farm and staff. For more information on farm accommodation, download your free copy of the Farm Accommodation Brochure.