Modernization Of Building Methods Need For Homes Thousands of words have been written recently on the cost of housing during the critical postwar post-war period. Opinions have differed dif-fered with each word, but one view worthy of consideration is the contention that the whole building industry is a hundred years behind time. Instead of changing building methods, such as the makers of automobiles have, charges the opinion, the building industry has been asleep at the switch and goes on crawling over everything it does. Something in the way of mod-: ernizatipn was, gffered in the prefabricated, pre-fabricated, house, but it hasn't caught Qn, as a general thing,: with "the higher cost home builders build-ers of today;. What i needed, I opine the pre-fab advocates, is some method of producing all I kinds of desirable walls, ceilings or larger parts of the house. A month should be ample time to build a nice home, after the foundation foun-dation is set, they maintain. But practices a hundred years old are still being followed in home construction, with a score of manual laborers doing things the hand-made way, and charging, charg-ing, hand-made prices. JVIany unions un-ions of builders are dead-set against any new-fangled mass-production mass-production methods. They feel that a loss of employment will result. However, the building modernization modern-ization proponents insist that new. methods are sure to come, if not in 1947, then in 1957, and one who takes advantage of it and pioneers in this field may easily become another Henry Ford. The cost of a home could be cut at least in half, and probably even further. And few people, the opinion continues, would not build with mass produced parts if they were just as attractively made, yet sold at a lower price than the hand-made parts. In conclusion, the champions of mass production of homes say, that houses today cost about twice as much or more than they are worth, and that the mass production pro-duction of homes would again afford the little man the chance to build an excellent dwelling for a couple of thousand dollars.