ᐅ Aerated Concrete / Brick / Monolithic Construction – Who Has Experience?

Thank you!

Do you mean if I know someone like that personally? No, there is no one in our circle of friends from that background. Everyone is in the humanities, teaching, healthcare, business, or human resources, etc. So far, none of them with a “practical“ trade have built a house either. All the homeowners have bought their homes.

Without being a professional myself, I’d like to point out a few common cost traps in construction service descriptions. First, fees, permits, and so on usually cost around 1000 (about 1100 US dollars). That’s on you. If the foundation slab is included, it typically comes with 30cm (12 inches) of soil excavation, but there are hardly any ideal plots like that; for us, it usually adds around 7,000 (about 7,700 US dollars) on top. Temporary construction electricity and water are your responsibility, roughly between 500 and 1000 (about 550 to 1100 US dollars). Many companies won’t build without a geotechnical survey, another 1000 (about 1100 US dollars) if you don’t already have one. A geo-engineer does that. Prices for tiles and similar finishes start at around 25 per sqm (2.30 per sq ft), otherwise it gets tight. Are the windows triple-glazed? The wastewater connection is extra, for us it’s about 3,000 (about 3,300 US dollars) gross. “Turnkey” usually means no painting or wallpapering included, which also covers plastering, plus floor coverings. Bathroom fixtures are usually decent standard quality, but not high-end. Roof tiles are concrete, but you can skip those if you want; clay tiles aren’t really necessary. Are the gutters and downspouts made of titanium zinc or PVC? The latter isn’t good—brittle in severe frost and prone to cracking. Interior plaster at least Q2 level? Q1 is like a barn, Q4 is perfectly smooth. A house for four typically needs about 60 power outlets. What exactly is included as standard? 20 light switches? Is there an outdoor water tap? An exterior cable? An outdoor socket? Satellite installation? At least two telephone outlets? At least two TV sockets? Are the planning costs included, or do you pay separately for each architect hour? Are the roof undersides, if made of softwood, planed and primed? Or even finished? Is there a doorbell? Is underfloor heating standard?

You can always assume the house meets structural and energy requirements; otherwise, it wouldn’t get a building permit / planning permission. But all the many small extras, which don’t yet make it a luxury home, increase the price or are already included in the standard package. Often it turns out that the offer costing 10,000 more isn’t actually more expensive after all.

Karsten

Thank you for your detailed response!

Construction specifications have their own special language, which can be easily understood with some practice: When a standard or class is mentioned, it simply means that a certain standard or even a binding regulation is being followed—nothing more. The phrase "or equivalent" is the most flexible, usually implying that the substitute branded product is in the same price range—but this does not necessarily mean it performs equally well in tests. To put it simply, the average homeowner won’t be tiling their guest bathroom with premium tiles like Gail or Buchtal, nor lighting it with Staff fixtures. There’s no need to overdo it.

In my opinion, the best way to judge whether a contractor uses the construction specifications as a record of the agreed standard or as a tool to hide cost-cutting tactics in the fine print is by visiting reference builds (looking at completed projects, not just thank-you letters!). Whether the porous bricks say Wienerberger or Dimpflmoser is of little importance to the homeowner, as long as they meet the same thermal transmittance, compressive strength, and sound insulation class.

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I’d like to join this thread with my question:

We are also building with TuC according to the 2016 Energy Saving Ordinance standard.

Originally, only a 24cm (9.5 inches) aerated concrete block was to be used here.

However, since we need to achieve sound insulation class 3, we are now using a 30cm (12 inches) aerated concrete block.

1. What do you think about the insulation value? Many say that the 36cm (14 inches) block is already a must?

2. Do you think that by using the 30cm (12 inches) block instead of the originally planned 24cm (9.5 inches), we will have significantly better thermal insulation than the 2016 Energy Saving Ordinance standard?

3. The KfW 70 house standard has to be met anyway since the 2016 Energy Saving Ordinance, right? It’s basically standard now?

Thanks in advance

We also built with TuC in 2016, so here are some questions and comments:

1. In my opinion, with 24 cm (10 inches) blocks, you will never meet the 2016 Energy Saving Ordinance. If you do, I would be interested to know how.

2. The insulation value of the 30 cm (12 inches) blocks is, in my opinion, completely acceptable. First year with domestic hot water preparation and a cold winter, gas costs were about €45 per month (129 m2 (1,389 sq ft), 4 people).

3. KfW70 no longer exists; it has now been replaced by the 2016 Energy Saving Ordinance.

It would be interesting to know why you need to achieve sound insulation class 3. Is the house located on a main road or in an urban area? In that case, it is absolutely necessary to avoid decentralized ventilation. This is where most noise comes through. For us, living in the countryside, it is not that critical, but on a main road it wouldn’t be very good.