ᐅ Prefabricated house – yes or no?

For us, it quickly became clear that we didn’t want a masonry house. However, we also moved away from prefabricated houses. In the end, we chose a timber frame house built by a local carpentry company. This option offers more flexibility and you don’t have to accept all the so-called packages from the prefab supplier. On the other hand, you have to manage all the trades yourself. But that can vary. Carpentry companies are certainly more flexible if any small changes come up. With prefab houses, this is probably more difficult because often all installations are already prepared within the walls.

Since we have a service cavity, the airtightness layer is not penetrated. Also, you can hang quite a lot on gypsum fiber boards. We simply love the material wood. From an insulation point of view, it performs better than masonry with the same wall thickness. The argument about living inside plastic foil doesn’t apply to us either. The stud cavities are filled with blown-in wood fiber insulation. On the outside, there are wood fiber insulation boards. So, no special waste like mineral wool, polystyrene, etc. Above all, sound and heat insulation are better with heavy wood-based insulation materials.

The total construction time won’t be significantly different. But when the house is up in 2-3 days and the windows are installed, the house is sealed, and interior work can begin.

Of course, there are different construction methods for prefab homes, but I wouldn’t always compare prefab houses only with solid masonry houses (there are also solid timber houses). I personally wouldn’t want a house insulated with plastic materials. Also, for me, a service cavity is mandatory. Timber frame houses are often misunderstood when called prefab homes, even though there are often hardly any differences because the basic structure is the same. I would still make a distinction between prefab houses and timber frame (or wood frame) houses. Of course, there are high-quality prefab homes, just as there are poor timber frame houses from local carpenters. But everyone has to decide that for themselves. That’s my opinion.

@Peanuts:
- Soundproofing: There was an interesting thread about this here recently. With the same wall thickness, it is generally better (double-layered drywall)!
- Fastening: Are you aware of how much holding power a small wood screw has in an OSB board?

You seem to be wearing glasses with the motto "The building material I chose is the best in every way.”
Both building materials have pros and cons, and everyone has to weigh these against their personal preferences.
The two main advantages for us were:
- significantly better insulation values with the same wall thickness, which was important because we have quite a narrow plot of land
- very subjective: I simply like wood

Another advantage is certainly that, due to the lightweight construction, load-bearing walls are not necessary, which in my opinion allows for more freedom in design.

In my opinion, some strange comparisons are being made here. In solid construction, quality differences range just as widely as they do in timber frame construction. Calcium silicate brick is probably a high-quality material, but there are also bricks mixed with carcinogenic waste from enamel processing. Or drywall panels made from compressed recycled paper including printer ink.

Conversely, there are timber frame constructions without plastic sheeting or similar materials. This could also be a selling point for buyers: purely biological wall construction, purely mineral exterior plaster.

The discussion doesn’t help much; you will find good and bad examples on both sides. I have only noticed that nowadays buildings are often labeled as solid construction (with the association of building a castle to last 1,000 years), but upon closer inspection, they fall far short of this expectation in terms of quality.

A brief addition: on real estate portals for existing buildings, you can now find timber frame houses that are more expensive than “used” solid constructions in the same location. The ideas mentioned above about price discounts and such probably date back to the 1960s to 1980s.

I have to chime in here since we also live in a "prefabricated house" or timber-frame house:

Peanuts74 schrieb:
Possible issues with securing heavy objects.

As mentioned here, that does not have to be the case: According to the manufacturer, our gypsum fiber boards can hold at least 30 kg (66 lbs) of continuous load per screw, and our kitchen cabinets are mounted with screws on these boards, among other things. Compared to some solid constructions, there are often advantages: I just take the cordless drill, screw it in, done. Depending on the construction type, others first need to own "heavy equipment" (e.g., a hammer drill for a concrete wall), look for appropriate plugs and screws to attach heavier items.

Peanuts74 schrieb:
- Every hole pierces the vapor barrier

Also mentioned already: installation level is an absolute must for me. In some cases, you can even make changes afterward, for example, adding an extra light outlet vertically above a power outlet.

BastianB schrieb:
- Soundproofing: There was an interesting thread here recently. With the same wall thickness, it is generally better (double-layered drywall)!

We also had the wall between the bedroom and a child’s room double-layered. Fortunately, we have the baby monitor; otherwise, we would hardly hear the little one crying with the doors closed.

BastianB schrieb:
- Significantly better insulation values with the same wall thickness, as we have a rather narrow plot

Same for us. With a thickness of 31 cm (12 inches), we almost reached the KfW 55 standard but narrowly missed it due to the basement.

World-e schrieb:
This way you’re more flexible and don’t have to take all the so-called packages from the prefab house supplier.

Almost every prefab house supplier not only offers catalog homes but can also manufacture custom-designed houses. Our house was also designed by an architect. There are few differences, except that most work with wall grids that simplify manufacturing. For example, shifting walls in our house was possible in increments of 70 cm (28 inches); anything else costs a bit extra. But since we already have a wooden beam ceiling with this grid, anything else would have looked odd anyway.

BastianB schrieb:
Another advantage would certainly be that due to the lightweight construction, no load-bearing walls are necessary, so one is freer in design in my opinion.

That’s not correct. We do have some load-bearing walls. This hardly differs from solid construction; the overall structure is lighter, but it still needs to be supported and braced. In one place, a steel beam was even installed to allow for room width and openness.

Uwe82 schrieb:

That’s not correct; we do have some load-bearing walls. That hardly differs from solid construction—the overall structure is lighter, but it still needs to be supported and braced in the same way. In one spot, a steel beam was even installed to allow for the room’s width and openness.

This likely varies with every provider and depends on the wall construction. During planning, we were told that all interior walls are always the same thickness, are non-load-bearing, and therefore freely movable with the same dimensions.

But ultimately, this just shows exactly what Traumfaenger already said: you can’t simply generalize it to “wood” or “masonry”… within each building method, there are many differences.

Edit: We also have a steel beam in the open dining/living area. But that doesn’t affect the interior wall itself.

Sometimes buildings are described as “solid construction” (with the association of building a fortress meant to last 1,000 years), but upon closer inspection, they fall far short of that quality expectation.

I just found a relevant post about high-quality solid construction... The popular external thermal insulation composite system (ETICS, often called a “system” with good reason) often used there. In comparison: timber frame construction with high energy efficiency and a purely mineral exterior render, applied thickly, does not have such problems. With that, you don’t need to repaint or re-plaster every 2–3 years.