12 ms·

It is amazing to me that people used to spend one month full time on their own to build their own house using the instructions provided by Sears. Does anyone kn

It is amazing to me that people used to spend one month full time on their own to build their own house using the instructions provided by Sears. Does anyone know whether any instruction booklets have survived? And whether it is possible for someone today to follow the same instructions and build their own house?

WalterBright 3y ago
These days the day after Sears dumped the kit in your front yard, it will have been thoroughly looted.
- giraffe_lady 3y ago
  Not everyone has that kind of relationship with their neighbors walter.
  - bombcar 3y ago
    Any one with an empty lot is probably in an area that’s not too bad for construction material laying around, statistically speaking.
- taeric 3y ago
  I mean, in those days, the city would spite mound houses that were fully built. Not sure things are fully worse today. :D
AlbertCory 3y ago
The story, not sure it's true, is that settlers out on the prairie would order these things and assemble them themselves, maybe with help from the neighbors. It wasn't your typical suburban guy with a job downtown. Don't ask for a citation on that.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
gnopgnip 3y ago
Here is a catalog from the peak years https://dahp.wa.gov/sites/default/files/ModernHomessears1936.small_.pdf https://dahp.wa.gov/sites/default/files/ModernHomessears1936...
- tkgally 3y ago
  The Internet Archive has many catalogs of house plans from Sears and other suppliers: https://archive.org/details/artisticmodernho00asso/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/artisticmodernho00asso/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/BetterHomesAtLowerCostACollectionOfModernHomesStandardizedAsTo_126 https://archive.org/details/BetterHomesAtLowerCostACollectio... https://archive.org/details/ClevelandPublicationsModernhomes0001/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/ClevelandPublicationsModernhomes... https://archive.org/details/GarlinghouseAmericasBestHomePlansModernHomesDesignedToMeet https://archive.org/details/GarlinghouseAmericasBestHomePlan... https://archive.org/details/honorbiltmodernh00sear https://archive.org/details/honorbiltmodernh00sear https://archive.org/details/ModernHomes-Sears/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/ModernHomes-Sears/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/modernhomes00nati/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/modernhomes00nati/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/ModernHomesSearsRoebuckCo https://archive.org/details/ModernHomesSearsRoebuckCo https://archive.org/details/PlansOfModernHomes320/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/PlansOfModernHomes320/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/Sears1919Pg001 https://archive.org/details/Sears1919Pg001 https://archive.org/details/SearsModernHomes1917Pg00000 https://archive.org/details/SearsModernHomes1917Pg00000
  - phoenixreader 3y ago
    What you showed are the advertisements of the homes, but these are not the instructions that Sears sold. I assume the instructions would include a bill of materials and the step-by-step assembly process.
djangelic 3y ago
I would love to know this as well. Can the current automation and robotics driven systems make this a more efficient and viable option for manufacturing?
- bombcar 3y ago
  You can buy kit homes that are damn near assembled like Lego - every single board pre cut exactly to length. You can also buy log cabins that literally go together like Lincoln logs. Sadly, they both are usually more expensive than standard stick-built.
taeric 3y ago
I lived in one of those homes, probably doable to build. Almost certainly not earthquake safe. Or insulated. Or setup for good airflow. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sears_Modern_Homes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sears_Modern_Homes is a good coverage of a lot of the details. Shame that isn't the root for this, as it has a lot of good details. There was a fun article a few years ago of some folks that built a house in WA. Still very doable, but probably not right in the city that easily.

WalterBright 3y ago

These days the day after Sears dumped the kit in your front yard, it will have been thoroughly looted.

giraffe_lady 3y ago
Not everyone has that kind of relationship with their neighbors walter.
- bombcar 3y ago
  Any one with an empty lot is probably in an area that’s not too bad for construction material laying around, statistically speaking.
taeric 3y ago
I mean, in those days, the city would spite mound houses that were fully built. Not sure things are fully worse today. :D

AlbertCory 3y ago

The story, not sure it's true, is that settlers out on the prairie would order these things and assemble them themselves, maybe with help from the neighbors. It wasn't your typical suburban guy with a job downtown. Don't ask for a citation on that.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

gnopgnip 3y ago

Here is a catalog from the peak years https://dahp.wa.gov/sites/default/files/ModernHomessears1936.small_.pdf https://dahp.wa.gov/sites/default/files/ModernHomessears1936...

tkgally 3y ago
The Internet Archive has many catalogs of house plans from Sears and other suppliers: https://archive.org/details/artisticmodernho00asso/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/artisticmodernho00asso/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/BetterHomesAtLowerCostACollectionOfModernHomesStandardizedAsTo_126 https://archive.org/details/BetterHomesAtLowerCostACollectio... https://archive.org/details/ClevelandPublicationsModernhomes0001/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/ClevelandPublicationsModernhomes... https://archive.org/details/GarlinghouseAmericasBestHomePlansModernHomesDesignedToMeet https://archive.org/details/GarlinghouseAmericasBestHomePlan... https://archive.org/details/honorbiltmodernh00sear https://archive.org/details/honorbiltmodernh00sear https://archive.org/details/ModernHomes-Sears/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/ModernHomes-Sears/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/modernhomes00nati/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/modernhomes00nati/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/ModernHomesSearsRoebuckCo https://archive.org/details/ModernHomesSearsRoebuckCo https://archive.org/details/PlansOfModernHomes320/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/PlansOfModernHomes320/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/Sears1919Pg001 https://archive.org/details/Sears1919Pg001 https://archive.org/details/SearsModernHomes1917Pg00000 https://archive.org/details/SearsModernHomes1917Pg00000
- phoenixreader 3y ago
  What you showed are the advertisements of the homes, but these are not the instructions that Sears sold. I assume the instructions would include a bill of materials and the step-by-step assembly process.

djangelic 3y ago

I would love to know this as well. Can the current automation and robotics driven systems make this a more efficient and viable option for manufacturing?

bombcar 3y ago
You can buy kit homes that are damn near assembled like Lego - every single board pre cut exactly to length. You can also buy log cabins that literally go together like Lincoln logs. Sadly, they both are usually more expensive than standard stick-built.

taeric 3y ago

I lived in one of those homes, probably doable to build. Almost certainly not earthquake safe. Or insulated. Or setup for good airflow. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sears_Modern_Homes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sears_Modern_Homes is a good coverage of a lot of the details. Shame that isn't the root for this, as it has a lot of good details. There was a fun article a few years ago of some folks that built a house in WA. Still very doable, but probably not right in the city that easily.