ᐅ Difference in Soundproofing Between a Solid (Masonry) House and a Prefabricated (Modular) House?
Created on: 18 Aug 2017 16:05
O
OliverK
Hello dear forum,
We are a family of four planning to build a single-family house in Ingolstadt by the end of 2017 or beginning of 2018. We are still at the very beginning and are currently looking for the best building partner for us (if anyone has a recommendation in this region, we would be very happy to hear it!). The first major decision is whether to choose a general contractor or an architect, and whether to build a prefabricated house using timber construction or a solid masonry house built with bricks.
We have done a lot of research and have realized that the most important difference for us between a solid masonry house with bricks and a prefabricated timber house is sound insulation. This is supposed to be better in a masonry house and is an important point for us since we have two small children.
The question is how big this difference really is. Bien-Zenker (our current favorite for prefabricated timber houses) also offers a hybrid wall called “EFFIZIENZHAUS 40 KLIMA-MASSIVWAND,” which combines timber and brick elements. Does this mean there is practically no difference compared to a traditional solid masonry house? Or is this just marketing hype?
Regarding indoor climate, our current understanding is that there is not much difference between brick construction and timber construction since modern new builds are airtight anyway, and it mainly depends on a good ventilation system. Therefore, sound insulation seems to be the last major difference, especially since both types of construction are supposed to be similar in price.
Could you please shed some light on this for us?
Thank you and best regards,
Oliver
We are a family of four planning to build a single-family house in Ingolstadt by the end of 2017 or beginning of 2018. We are still at the very beginning and are currently looking for the best building partner for us (if anyone has a recommendation in this region, we would be very happy to hear it!). The first major decision is whether to choose a general contractor or an architect, and whether to build a prefabricated house using timber construction or a solid masonry house built with bricks.
We have done a lot of research and have realized that the most important difference for us between a solid masonry house with bricks and a prefabricated timber house is sound insulation. This is supposed to be better in a masonry house and is an important point for us since we have two small children.
The question is how big this difference really is. Bien-Zenker (our current favorite for prefabricated timber houses) also offers a hybrid wall called “EFFIZIENZHAUS 40 KLIMA-MASSIVWAND,” which combines timber and brick elements. Does this mean there is practically no difference compared to a traditional solid masonry house? Or is this just marketing hype?
Regarding indoor climate, our current understanding is that there is not much difference between brick construction and timber construction since modern new builds are airtight anyway, and it mainly depends on a good ventilation system. Therefore, sound insulation seems to be the last major difference, especially since both types of construction are supposed to be similar in price.
Could you please shed some light on this for us?
Thank you and best regards,
Oliver
R
R.Hotzenplotz20 Aug 2017 14:31You are certainly right with your point about furniture, etc. @Traumfaenger. We can’t say for sure. But after spending one and a half Sundays now wandering around the model home park—which was actually intended more for ideas about interior design, architecture, and so on—we don’t see any reason to build a prefabricated house instead of a solid (or masonry) house. I always thought that these houses are cheaper, and that those who want to save money would build such a house rather than a solid one. At the same price, I just don’t quite understand it...
Regarding soundproofing: Do you mean that solid masonry houses and prefabricated houses don’t differ much in this respect? I’ll have to ask the solid house builder about the relevant values for our project this Thursday.
Regarding soundproofing: Do you mean that solid masonry houses and prefabricated houses don’t differ much in this respect? I’ll have to ask the solid house builder about the relevant values for our project this Thursday.
So, a sand-lime brick will definitely be better than a prefabricated house or expanded clay aggregate (like Poroton). I’m not sure about Poroton, though.
I just don’t know anyone who has lived in both and can give an opinion on noise insulation.
But it’s not only the masonry that matters; the windows and roller shutter boxes are also important. I would pay attention to those when building a house.
I just don’t know anyone who has lived in both and can give an opinion on noise insulation.
But it’s not only the masonry that matters; the windows and roller shutter boxes are also important. I would pay attention to those when building a house.
R.Hotzenplotz schrieb:
I always thought that such houses are cheaper, and that anyone wanting to save money would build one instead of a solid house. Your prejudice is older than I am. The idea that prefab houses enable even budget-conscious buyers to become homeowners has been around for quite a long time.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
R
R.Hotzenplotz20 Aug 2017 14:53tomtom79 schrieb:
So, a sand-lime brick will definitely perform better than a prefabricated house or expanded clay aggregate blocks. I’m not sure about Poroton.
I don’t personally know anyone who has lived in both and can comment on their experience with noise insulation.
However, it’s not just the masonry that matters; the windows and the roller shutter housings are important too. I would pay close attention to these details during the construction.Are there specific recommendations you would make regarding this?
First of all, thanks to everyone who took the time to respond here. Great tips!
You are probably right. I always try to avoid presenting anything as definitively true because I learn new things every day, and some things turn out to be wrong later on.
My current impression of solid construction (massive house) versus prefabricated house is, overall for both: very dependent on the materials used and the quality of the builder. Assuming high-quality materials and good builders in both cases, the following points apply:
This means that a prefabricated house built with drywall systems like Bien-Zenker and a solid house built "brick by brick" hardly differ in quality and living comfort (including sound insulation) in the end, provided you hire a good builder with skilled craftsmen and a competent site manager, use good materials, and ideally also have a reliable expert overseeing the project who can identify any defects that inevitably arise.
Can this be summarized roughly like this?
If anyone has recommendations for builders or accompanying experts in Ingolstadt, I would really appreciate it.
11ant schrieb:
So what now? One can only "recognize" facts, but "supposed to be better" sounds more like hearsay.
You are probably right. I always try to avoid presenting anything as definitively true because I learn new things every day, and some things turn out to be wrong later on.
My current impression of solid construction (massive house) versus prefabricated house is, overall for both: very dependent on the materials used and the quality of the builder. Assuming high-quality materials and good builders in both cases, the following points apply:
- Costs: Fairly similar.
- Indoor climate: Also comparable since both are airtight. Here, a ventilation system has more influence.
- Construction time: Slight advantage for prefabricated houses but not by much. The biggest advantage for prefabricated houses is probably the independence from weather, especially if most of the construction takes place during winter.
- Stability/Quality: Comparable.
- Sound insulation: Based on the previous answers here and googling "sound insulation in prefabricated houses" (good tip!), it seems there is not much difference anymore.
This means that a prefabricated house built with drywall systems like Bien-Zenker and a solid house built "brick by brick" hardly differ in quality and living comfort (including sound insulation) in the end, provided you hire a good builder with skilled craftsmen and a competent site manager, use good materials, and ideally also have a reliable expert overseeing the project who can identify any defects that inevitably arise.
Can this be summarized roughly like this?
If anyone has recommendations for builders or accompanying experts in Ingolstadt, I would really appreciate it.
R
R.Hotzenplotz21 Aug 2017 12:25Hi Oliver,
have you decided on a prefabricated house now? Or are you still open to both construction methods?
have you decided on a prefabricated house now? Or are you still open to both construction methods?
Similar topics