Hello everyone,
After careful consideration, we have decided to build a house using the "Lego" principle. Unfortunately, we have found very few suppliers online (actually only one) that also offer some level of support. It is important to us to always have a contact person available and to have someone present during the wall casting process. So far, we have only been able to find the company Argisol for this.
Do you know of any companies in the northern German region that offer this building method?
When I look at websites like VariantHaus or similar, it seems they only provide the materials, and the builder is then left completely on their own.
After careful consideration, we have decided to build a house using the "Lego" principle. Unfortunately, we have found very few suppliers online (actually only one) that also offer some level of support. It is important to us to always have a contact person available and to have someone present during the wall casting process. So far, we have only been able to find the company Argisol for this.
Do you know of any companies in the northern German region that offer this building method?
When I look at websites like VariantHaus or similar, it seems they only provide the materials, and the builder is then left completely on their own.
red-ed schrieb:
The neopore layers are just additional insulation and space for wiring and such. They do provide insulation on the exterior (for example, porous bricks require less external insulation system / exterior insulation and finish system (EIFS) than concrete, so you need to mentally “discount” the thickness here), and on the interior you can’t fully recess flush-mounted boxes into them. Planning for empty conduits and core drilling is no walk in the park. There’s a reason why such seemingly DIY-friendly systems don’t gain traction in commercial residential construction—where products that can be installed by unskilled helpers are preferred.
The marketing romance paints the picture of “anyone can build with Lego,” but that’s only part of the story. The real advantage is: the blocks are lightweight before filling, making them less physically demanding to assemble; and the walls come out quite plumb even without using a spirit level or laser level.
However, overall, up to the finished shell stage, they remain too labor-intensive to process for contractors or developers to consider them a real breakthrough.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
11ant schrieb:
On the outside, there is any insulation at all (for example, aerated concrete blocks require less external insulation than concrete, so you have to mentally “discount” the thickness here), and on the inside, you can’t fully recess flush-mount electrical boxes into it. Planning for conduit and core drilling is not a walk in the park. .... Clearly, aerated concrete requires less external insulation. However, it also doesn’t have the mass that concrete has. In the end, it depends on what the builder values more.
The point about flush-mount electrical boxes is not entirely correct. Flush-mount boxes have a depth of 40mm (1.6 inches). There are also deeper ones—I don’t recall the exact thickness, but I believe the maximum is about 60mm (2.4 inches).
Most Neopor blocks have an internal insulation layer of 50mm (2 inches). On top of that, there is typically a 10-20mm (0.4–0.8 inch) base plaster applied to the walls.
I think that should be sufficient for all standard flush-mount electrical boxes.
But yes, beyond that, the concrete work becomes very challenging. This makes it all the more important to plan ahead carefully and include conduit installations in the planning.
Regards,
Eddi
red-ed schrieb:
That makes it all the more important to plan ahead and include empty conduits. Exactly, that is basically my point: one should realize that it’s not quite as straightforward as advertised. I don’t want to discourage anyone from using insulated concrete blocks; as an engineer myself, I truly appreciate the thought and effort the developers of these systems put into them – but the truth remains: this is still not the ultimate solution.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
11ant schrieb:
Exactly, that’s my main point: we need to realize that it’s not quite as easy as advertised. I don’t want to discourage anyone using insulated masonry blocks; it actually warms my engineer’s heart to see how much thought the developers of these systems put into their design – but the truth remains: this is still not a magic solution. I also doubt that THIS is the invention of the millennium. You can install quite a bit within interior insulation. By the way, treating a Poroton block after the windows are installed is no fun either. Stone splinters and dust generation are significant. So careful pre-planning is essential with any construction method.
Even with prefabricated houses and their supposedly easy-to-work-with walls, there are major challenges regarding insulation.
Best regards
Red
I’m not sure if this is still relevant or up to date. But at the time, I also considered building a “Lego house” made of Neopor. I found the concept very convincing, and the only provider offering this (Hellmann) seemed very casual and friendly, saying things like “no problem at all, these coffee ladies build their own houses here, it’s very simple.” I then contacted the provider and asked a few straightforward questions to understand better. For example, why they didn’t install insulation directly under the floor slab, which would seem ideal to avoid thermal bridges and similar issues. The response I got was quite dismissive, implying that we were unsuitable for such a house because we asked too many questions, and so on.
I found that completely off-putting, and at that point, the whole idea was dead for me. I had even ordered a sample kit from Isorast back then to see the building materials in real life.
In the end, we bought an older house. Looking back, I have to say that a solid prefabricated house ready for finishing or something similar would have involved much less work, since there was no need to tear out all the old stuff. But we simply had the requirement that everything should be new in the end. Still, we’re glad we made that decision, especially considering the costs.
I would definitely recommend thoroughly questioning any provider and seeing how long they remain friendly…
I found that completely off-putting, and at that point, the whole idea was dead for me. I had even ordered a sample kit from Isorast back then to see the building materials in real life.
In the end, we bought an older house. Looking back, I have to say that a solid prefabricated house ready for finishing or something similar would have involved much less work, since there was no need to tear out all the old stuff. But we simply had the requirement that everything should be new in the end. Still, we’re glad we made that decision, especially considering the costs.
I would definitely recommend thoroughly questioning any provider and seeing how long they remain friendly…
Elina schrieb:
I’m not sure if this is still relevant or up to date. But back then, I also considered building a Lego-style house using Neopor. I just found the concept very convincing ... Wow, that doesn’t sound good at all.
I have now contacted several providers, including both traditional builders and prefab companies. Only one was really bad—he simply didn’t listen. For him, the only thing that mattered was that I understood the price per square meter. Whatever.
I don’t know Hellmann at all. I assume they are an Isorast distributor. We have another one (Weller).
But we also had contact with other providers:
Bäuerle Bau Team (very friendly)
Magu (diverse)
Styrostone (very informative)
Schalsteine24
Variant-Haus-Group
Best regards
Red-Ed
Similar topics