ᐅ Visualizing Houses: Prefabricated Home Provider Categories

Hi

I’m planning to start a house project in a few months. I’m new here (and also new to house building).
A few key details:

• Plot of land is being considered
• Budget for the house: approximately 500,000-600,000 including basement
• 1.5 floors, knee wall about 1 meter (3 ft), roof pitch 35-45 degrees
• Approximate footprint 8.5 x 11.5 meters (28 x 38 feet)
• Living area 130-150 square meters (1,400-1,615 square feet)
• Location: Bavaria

We currently prefer wood frame construction over traditional masonry.

Before we go to an architect and buy the plot, I have three questions:
1. Do you have any tips on how I can better visualize the empty plot with a prototype house? Are there online services or designers who can create some images showing the plot with a house, carport, driveway, hedge, etc.? Or is there software that can do this? It doesn’t have to be perfect or to scale, just to get a better idea.
2. I visited some prefab house suppliers in Poing. But I’m having trouble distinguishing between the providers. Is there a good post or article here that explains this? I would like to better understand the differences between suppliers (for example, industrial vs. artisan construction, wood structure, price, style, level of completion/turnkey, etc.).
3. Which house suppliers would you recommend in my region? We’re not fixed on wood construction yet. ;-)

As software, I can recommend AllPlan, which offers a 14-day free trial. You can create everything to scale, and basically, there are almost no limits if you put in the necessary effort. With the help of YouTube videos, it’s not that difficult to understand most of it, so even a beginner should be able to create a simple model over a weekend.

Regarding comparing house builders, you might want to check out the site Fertighausexperte. It provides some information and experiences for all well-known house builders. Otherwise, there is of course a lot of general information and experiences available online (forums, YouTube videos, etc.). It can also be worthwhile to ask builders in new housing developments near your plot about which company they used and how satisfied they are. This way, you can even see the “work” of the house builders directly on site.

eurotrashll19 schrieb:

• 1.5 stories, knee wall about 1 meter (3 feet), roof pitch 35-45 degrees
• approximately 8.5 x 11.5 meters (28 x 38 feet) footprint
• living area 130-150 sqm (1400-1600 sq ft)

I’m coming up closer to just under 120 sqm (1300 sq ft). Where do these "key figures" come from: self-planning with paper wall thicknesses?

eurotrashll19 schrieb:

2. I once visited a few prefab house suppliers in Poing. But I can’t tell the providers apart. Is there a good post or article here about that? I’d like to better differentiate these suppliers (including criteria like industrial vs. handcrafted, timber-frame construction, price, style, finish/shell condition, turnkey, etc.)

How did you manage not to be able to distinguish them, even though you saw them in person all at the same exhibition?

eurotrashll19 schrieb:

We currently prefer "timber frame" over masonry. [...]
3. Which house suppliers can you recommend in my region? We’re also not fixed on timber yet. ;-)

Not being fixed on one option is actually good. But if you already find the market confusing with timber panel builders alone and you understand Bavarian dialect fluently, then a visit to my colleague Andreas Zink in Münchsdorf (between Dingolfing and Passau) might be even better for you. He seems like the right person for your situation.

eurotrashll19 schrieb:

1. Do you have any tips on how I could better visualize the empty plot with a prototype house? Are there providers online or designers etc. who can create a few images of the plot with house, carport, driveway, hedge, etc.? Or is there software that can do this? It doesn’t have to be perfect or to scale at all. Just so it’s easier to imagine.

Not perfect, but it definitely needs to be to scale. Otherwise, you might visualize something incorrectly, and then it won’t fit. However, I wouldn’t use any software (freeware, shareware, runtime or online). Instead, I’d print the plot plan or zoning plan to scale and then move around a paper house model with a ruler and scissors—that’s the easiest way to really understand it.

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11ant schrieb:

I’m coming up with just under 120 sqm (1292 sq ft). Where do these “key figures” come from: self-planning with paper wall thicknesses?

-> A “house planner” (or rather one of the many prefab house salespeople in Poing) showed me that on suitable floor plans.

11ant schrieb:

How did you manage not to be able to tell them apart, even though you saw them both live in the same exhibition?

-> Irony?

11ant schrieb:

Not deciding is actually good, but if you already find the timber frame panel market confusing and you understand Bavarian dialect fluently, then you’d be better off going to my colleague Andreas Zink in Münchsdorf (between Dingolfing and Passau). He seems just right for you.

-> Irony? Or serious?

11ant schrieb:

Not perfect, but it has to be to scale. Otherwise, you can imagine something, but wrongly, and then it doesn’t fit. I wouldn’t use any software (whether freeware, shareware, runtime, or online), but rather print the plot from the cadastral map or the development plan to scale and then use a protractor and scissors to move around a house dummy. That’s the best way to understand it.

-> I could definitely imagine quite a lot from a photo (showing the entire plot from the street) with the house, terrace, hedges, driveway, and carport marked, enough to decide that the plot fits. Do you really have to “correct” me on that?

eurotrashll19 schrieb:

-> I can actually imagine quite well from a photo (showing the entire plot from the street) with the house, terrace, hedges, driveway, and carport drawn in, to decide that the plot fits. Does someone really have to "correct" me on this?

No one is trying to "correct" you. The best way to truly grasp the effect is with an undistorted bird’s-eye view and physically handling cutouts made to scale.

eurotrashll19 schrieb:

-> Irony?

No, that is genuinely quite an accomplishment, I’m impressed. I cannot understand visiting an entire exhibition of such houses in life-size, being able to compare without time pressure, and not consciously recognizing the differences or sorting the exhibits. Especially since each show home usually has sales representatives who additionally highlight these differences. It may be somewhat biased, but they certainly don’t ignore them.

eurotrashll19 schrieb:

-> Irony? or serious?

Completely serious, and both: 1. If a) you find it difficult to distinguish or get an overview of the different models at this “prefabricated house” exhibition and b) you like this type of construction so much that you feel nothing is missing in this section of the overall range, then the potential benefit of also including the masonry models does not convincingly outweigh the increased confusion. 2. a) Under these conditions, that colleague will not guide you any worse than I would (and I have no specialization in construction types but am open to the full broad spectrum). On the contrary, he is a better fit as a “value-added sales representative” for you. And 2. b) I still recommend him only for clients who can easily understand fluent Bavarian dialect because, although he explains things in an easily understandable way for laypeople, phonetically he is quite difficult for non-Bavarian German speakers. When he tries to speak without a dialect, it often backfires — you can try it, there are videos demonstrating this.

I also recommend other colleagues of this kind to those interested in “prefabricated houses,” such as colleagues Beuler (“prefab house expert”) or Freyermuth (“prefab house Guido”). And especially in and for Bavaria, colleague Zink.

I myself am construction-type neutral, based in northern Rhineland-Palatinate, working nationwide (also remotely) but currently with a very full waiting list and already “longing for a vacation before deep autumn.” Also, my feeling is that the profile of the mentioned colleagues would suit you better.

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https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/