ᐅ Building a Single-Family Home – Solid Construction or Prefabricated House?
Created on: 30 Apr 2017 21:27
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Elly S.Hello everyone!
My partner and I are currently gathering some information and ideas for our own home. As is often the case, we have already spoken to a few homeowners and asked for their opinions regarding price, size, etc., and every view is different, so we hope for some helpful advice here in the forum as well.
Our first question is: prefabricated house or solid/conventional brick-and-mortar house?
And if solid house: is it possible to build a house about 110 m² (1,184 sq ft) in size, without a basement, without any extras like bay windows, dormers, etc. (just a simple rectangular shape), without cutting bricks, and with some help from friends or relatives for around €200,000?
What is cheaper, a single-story or a multi-story house with a smaller foundation slab?
And if it is a prefabricated house, then: how long can it actually last if we find a good construction company and maintain it well? Is it repairable once the expected lifespan and manufacturer’s warranty have expired (we mean major issues such as a crack in the wall)? Is it still true these days that a prefabricated house loses value and can no longer be sold at a reasonable price later, compared to a solid house?
Best regards,
Elly
My partner and I are currently gathering some information and ideas for our own home. As is often the case, we have already spoken to a few homeowners and asked for their opinions regarding price, size, etc., and every view is different, so we hope for some helpful advice here in the forum as well.
Our first question is: prefabricated house or solid/conventional brick-and-mortar house?
And if solid house: is it possible to build a house about 110 m² (1,184 sq ft) in size, without a basement, without any extras like bay windows, dormers, etc. (just a simple rectangular shape), without cutting bricks, and with some help from friends or relatives for around €200,000?
What is cheaper, a single-story or a multi-story house with a smaller foundation slab?
And if it is a prefabricated house, then: how long can it actually last if we find a good construction company and maintain it well? Is it repairable once the expected lifespan and manufacturer’s warranty have expired (we mean major issues such as a crack in the wall)? Is it still true these days that a prefabricated house loses value and can no longer be sold at a reasonable price later, compared to a solid house?
Best regards,
Elly
That is a lot of questions. First, I hear you need to build economically. We do, too. 110, that is our house as well.
So I think I can share some insights. Resale value, value retention. Solid construction is better. It might just be a feeling, but feelings are reality. And with solid construction, the connection is solid as well. With prefabricated houses, the connection in the mind is like a cardboard box. Therefore, value retention scores 1 : 0 for solid.
Construction method. Building solid means building with masonry. The most affordable building block is aerated concrete. It achieves sufficiently good insulation values to be plastered directly, thus meeting the energy saving regulations even without additional polystyrene insulation. Of course, brick veneer is better, but more expensive. So, if solid and economical, then 36.5cm (14.4 inches) Ytong monolithic.
Wall construction in the prefab house segment mostly means softwood timber framing with insulation in between. Inside, there is a service cavity, outside a thermal insulation composite system (ETICS) or a ventilated timber facade insulated with insulation material. This works, but please, no burst water pipes. Price-wise, both options are similar; some prefab house providers can be quite expensive. Scanhaus Marlow or Danwood are not. They are affordable to reasonably priced.
Our house comes turnkey in Schleswig-Holstein for 163,000 euros gross. For that, we get a bungalow 13.5 by 10 meters (44 by 33 feet) on a slab foundation. Four rooms, one bathroom, an extra WC, underfloor heating with gas and solar thermal. Good branded products as standard, but no flashy extras. The windows are white, the doors too, the roof will be burgundy. All functional, not luxury. A prefab house wouldn’t be cheaper, and a one-and-a-half-story house wouldn’t be either, if the plot allows... bungalow. In an aging society, this will be the most sought-after house type in the future, I’m sure. Karsten
So I think I can share some insights. Resale value, value retention. Solid construction is better. It might just be a feeling, but feelings are reality. And with solid construction, the connection is solid as well. With prefabricated houses, the connection in the mind is like a cardboard box. Therefore, value retention scores 1 : 0 for solid.
Construction method. Building solid means building with masonry. The most affordable building block is aerated concrete. It achieves sufficiently good insulation values to be plastered directly, thus meeting the energy saving regulations even without additional polystyrene insulation. Of course, brick veneer is better, but more expensive. So, if solid and economical, then 36.5cm (14.4 inches) Ytong monolithic.
Wall construction in the prefab house segment mostly means softwood timber framing with insulation in between. Inside, there is a service cavity, outside a thermal insulation composite system (ETICS) or a ventilated timber facade insulated with insulation material. This works, but please, no burst water pipes. Price-wise, both options are similar; some prefab house providers can be quite expensive. Scanhaus Marlow or Danwood are not. They are affordable to reasonably priced.
Our house comes turnkey in Schleswig-Holstein for 163,000 euros gross. For that, we get a bungalow 13.5 by 10 meters (44 by 33 feet) on a slab foundation. Four rooms, one bathroom, an extra WC, underfloor heating with gas and solar thermal. Good branded products as standard, but no flashy extras. The windows are white, the doors too, the roof will be burgundy. All functional, not luxury. A prefab house wouldn’t be cheaper, and a one-and-a-half-story house wouldn’t be either, if the plot allows... bungalow. In an aging society, this will be the most sought-after house type in the future, I’m sure. Karsten
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Marvinius30 Apr 2017 22:42But that is probably only the house price. Additional costs include earthworks, utility connections, possibly floor coverings and painting, a new kitchen, and the landscaping. This likely adds about 30% to the "turnkey" fixed price, and a tight budget can quickly be exceeded. Current experience from our ongoing construction: the 30% is not enough.
Elly S. schrieb:
Is it possible to build a house of about 110 m² (roughly 1,184 sq ft), without a basement, without extra features like bay windows, dormers, etc. (just a simple rectangle), without cutting bricks, and with some help from friends or family for around €200,000?
What is cheaper: a single-story house or a multi-story one with a smaller foundation?What do you mean by "cutting bricks"?
Today, solid construction is usually done with porous bricks (“Poroton”), aerated concrete blocks (“Ytong”), sand-lime bricks, and so on. These bricks come in different sizes, and cutting is generally not necessary—unless the designer ignores the brick dimensions everywhere.
Whether to choose solid masonry or timber frame prefabricated construction, there are many opinions—unfortunately mostly subjective—and prejudices. The ones held by your banker are important for you because they may finance a prefabricated house under less favorable conditions.
Prefabricated houses are not fast food; they are not inherently cheaper low-quality products. The idea that “only brick and mortar” is reliable and everything else is inferior is just one perspective. There are many differing opinions and sometimes strong advocates for one method and opponents of another. As a layperson, this can be very confusing, because using the wrong building material is often portrayed as a disaster that will ruin everything.
The details continue, especially when planning heating and ventilation systems.
Whether you build your house all on one floor, two floors of equal size, or one and a half stories is not just a matter of personal taste.
Technically speaking, the currently popular “town villa” style—with two stories, a square floor plan, and a shallow pitched roof—is considered the most economical in terms of living area relative to exterior wall surface.
But you are usually not free to decide this: most building plots come with a building permit / planning permission that sets restrictions. For example, the height of the knee wall (also called “dwarf wall”)—that is, the vertical part of the exterior wall on the upper floor before the sloped roof begins.
If you already own a plot, these rules define what you are allowed to build. Without a formal building permit / planning permission, you are generally expected to match the appearance of surrounding houses—which might give more freedom, but not necessarily.
Conversely, restricting yourself to a certain house style limits the choice of plots on which you are allowed to build that way.
It’s best to first clarify your own preferences. Or would it be completely indifferent to you whether the house is single-story, two-story, or one and a half stories?
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