Prefabricated Construction

@alan279

I have seen a lot of construction like that, and in all cases it was down to cashflow considerations. It is much quicker to pour pre-mix concrete for example, but you have to have the funds to hand as it will be finished much quicker...!

12/24/23 @alan279.  I think that the strong preference for masonry construction in most of Brazil is principally about durability and temperature control in the climates of most of the country.

As you say, labor is inexpensive, and there are plenty of workers everywhere with masonry skills.  Brazil's first heavy industrial development under the Vargas government focused on steel and cement making, sand and clay for bricks are everywhere, and those ubiquitous honeycomb bricks are cheap, relatively easy to transport, and fit to purpose.  So historically those materials have been local and abundant.

Successful manufactured housing requires fast, reliable transportation of the components to be practical and profitable.  The only region in Brazil where that's really feasible is the North thanks to the rivers, but that's the last region where it would be successful, because of sparse population and durability of materials in the face of climate and pests.

Finally, manufactured housing is a risky business:  recall how many times in our lifetime it was The Next Big Thing in North America,  only to fall short.  Native capital in Brazil is extremely risk averse and interested in quick, guaranteed returns.  Foreign capital still sees plenty of less risky areas to invest.

@Peter Itamaraca I think there is a construction loan from a bank on this project. What are the typical terms on construction loans?

@alan279

Very difficult to say without knowledge of the people and project involved, it could be private individuals or a company involved…

But certainly, if I was involved and there was an element of finance, I would want it finished ASAP!

    I’ve been watching the construction of a small apartment building across the street. Two men are mixing concrete on the street and are slowly putting up the building.
The building will have a garage and studio apartment on the ground floor and 80 m2 apartments on each of the three floors above ground. In six months they have built the first floor slab (that required seven men with buckets and a small portable concrete mixer one day) and are now working on the block walls on the ground floor.

Labor is relatively cheap here in Ilhéus. Is prefabricated construction just too expensive? I’m just curious.
   

    -@alan279

Quality workmanship is hard to find nowadays.   Lack of skilled tradespeople and  construction trades were always seen the occupation for the most destitute, therefore looked down upon.  Sao Paulo alone built an entire population of "Nordestinos" who found jobs during the construction boom of the 60's , 70's and beyond, as a source of cheap labor.  Nordestinos being, the migrants from the Country's Northeast ( Bahia, Paraiba, Pernambuco, Piaui, Alagoas, Sergipe, and some Mineiros on the mix ).

So builders of any size, will resort to prefab, as a least effort alternative, to save costs, and to get the building project  off the ground.

Most people, even locals, do not realize, the largest post war dividend was the import of affordable skilled labor.  You can't beat Spaniard, Italian, and Portuguese masonry quality workmanship  that built our buildings in the period from the 1910's towards the 1960's.   That generation is gone.   

Baianos, for most part, are reliable and decent workers, alongside Mineiros, who are top choice to build. But Mineiros worth their salt in the building trades  left for America.  Baianos being manageable and reliable, tend to work at a slower pace, while Mineiros are industrious and work quietly, so says the stereotype.

As a frame of reference, you can sample quality workmanship on older buildings on the São Paulo Antiga  website, and look up "Imoveis Antigos".  It's a Journalist personal blog on Sao Paulo of yore, including buildings, traditions, stories.  The building or street section captures severan neighborhoods you can spot works of the past.  I would redirect anyone towards places like Mooca, Campos Eliseos, Bom Retiro, Bras, Lapa, Se , to get the most out of it.

A good example of my point, is the lack of brick factories ( Olarias ), that once dotted the outskirts of Sao Paulo. Good old buildings had walls erected with solid clay cooked bricks.. Nowadays, the hollow clay brick still presents itself as a decent alternative.   Yet, in many projects, cinder block bricks are replacing it.  It's cheaper to actually buy them,. or buy the machine and making them on the job site.   Most Olarias are gone.

On last thought on how better clay bricks are overall ( solid or hollow )...  Clay bricks are better insulators, given its refractary properties.  A room or house erected with clay bricks will ne cooler under the summer heat, and warmer under the cold of the winter.  That, and the fact, that cinder block ( concrete mix ) bricks perfform horribly with humidity and water seepage.

Concrete has been the choice for anything two stories and up for quite a while. Prefab rebar reinforced beams lined up and filled with hollow clay bricks, and then the concrete pour from the mixer works for most simple jobs.  For more structurally elaborated jobs, prefabs are the way to go to save on expensive pours. 

And lately, thanks to the influence of American companies, dry wall has been all the rage, mostly for quick to fix subdivisons, particulaly suitable in building office floors .  Add that to the grow of building materials by domestic manufacturers ( the choices are endless, there are materials and fitments never seen in America ).

Still, given the choice, between a prefab buit, and a built from the ground up structure , I will go with the later. Good bones make for decent repurposing and retrofitting jobs. The newer stuff barely can make through the first generation.

@Peter Itamaraca I’m thinking that time is money,  especially in Brazil 

@alan279

Back in the bad old days of rampant inflation, a family would often buy what they could afford at that time (eg a bunch of bricks), then lay them and wait until they could afford more before continuing.

Hence you would encounter lots of part built homes, and that habit still exists today in some poorer areas…

@Peter Itamaraca The intermittent construction continues in my neighborhood in Ilhéus. When people have money, they lay bricks. when they don’t have money, they don’t lay bricks.

12/24/23    @alan279
Back in the bad old days of rampant inflation, a family would often buy what they could afford at that time (eg a bunch of bricks), then lay them and wait until they could afford more before continuing.

    -@Peter Itamaraca

I've known many a family that built their house one room at a time.  It sometimes made for unusual floorplans, especially if the lot was large.

@sprealestatebroker The photos of old buildings in Sao Paulo are very interesting. Thanks.

There are some nice old buildings in Ilhéus. Some have been nicely restored. Some have been remuddled. Some are slowly deteriorating. Theres one old mansion that I walk past frequently that has almost no paint, broken and sagging wooden shutters and doors. The structure is standing straight,  however. Someone still lives there and sells fruit on the front steps occasionally. Theres a new 8 story uninteresting apartment building next door. Quite the contrast.

    @sprealestatebroker The photos of old buildings in Sao Paulo are very interesting. Thanks.
There are some nice old buildings in Ilhéus. Some have been nicely restored. Some have been remuddled. Some are slowly deteriorating. Theres one old mansion that I walk past frequently that has almost no paint, broken and sagging wooden shutters and doors. The structure is standing straight,  however. Someone still lives there and sells fruit on the front steps occasionally. Theres a new 8 story uninteresting apartment building next door. Quite the contrast.
   

    -@alan279

Without seeing the buildings firsthand, my educated guess would be..... The tourist trade is supplanting the old money (agriculture, cacau cocoa bean harvesting ) as the town's main source of income.  Itabuna, Ilheus, and others  nearby towns used to be big on the Cacau many decades ago, until a plague ravaged the plantations. 

The tourist trade is all about making the town touristy and  construction  infills that bear monstruosities, same as gracing  the coast further south towards Rio.

Ilheus has historical significance, as the landing point for the first Portuguese explorers.  In fact, the  Brazilian Regional Governent was based on Bahia, before going to Rio, and now Brasilia. 

A good portrait in the Cacau culture, you can find in the books of Jorge Amado, who, besides portraying Salvador,BA, went out to narrate fictional tales on these very same small towns.  Look up translations or originals on the following titles....

-Terras do sem-fim

-São Jorge dos Ilhéus

-Gabriela, Cravo e Canela ( this one awarded a nice TV series, worth seeing, watch the ones with Sonia Braga, Armando Bogus )

-Tocaia Grande.