ᐅ Choosing the type of house construction – wood or masonry? What are your thoughts?
Created on: 1 Jul 2018 10:31
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der_andyHello forum, I’m Andy and I plan to build a small weekend house in 2019. Since I will retire next year, I want to build it entirely by myself because I won’t be under any time pressure and I enjoy working on projects as a hobby.
For simplicity, it will be a small shed roof house. Completely rectangular, about 60–70 m² (650–750 sq ft) of living space, no upper floor, no basement... just a simple small house. Originally, I thought I would just pour a slab foundation, then build the four walls with bricks, put a ring beam on top, then the shed roof... and the shell would be done.
Lately, however, I’ve been wondering if I should rather build it with a timber frame construction. I spent several years in the USA and I’m not opposed to timber framing. My problem now is in the planning phase. I’m trying to compare the costs of both construction methods but haven’t made much progress. Can anyone tell me which building method is cheaper? Where can I find software to estimate construction costs? Best regards, Andy
For simplicity, it will be a small shed roof house. Completely rectangular, about 60–70 m² (650–750 sq ft) of living space, no upper floor, no basement... just a simple small house. Originally, I thought I would just pour a slab foundation, then build the four walls with bricks, put a ring beam on top, then the shed roof... and the shell would be done.
Lately, however, I’ve been wondering if I should rather build it with a timber frame construction. I spent several years in the USA and I’m not opposed to timber framing. My problem now is in the planning phase. I’m trying to compare the costs of both construction methods but haven’t made much progress. Can anyone tell me which building method is cheaper? Where can I find software to estimate construction costs? Best regards, Andy
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Traumfaenger7 Jul 2018 22:52This question cannot be answered as simply. My personal impression is that timber frame construction in the prefabricated house segment is at least as expensive as solid construction, with the emphasis on at least. There is an older study that compares the costs of solid construction and timber frame construction in detail over 40 pages and reaches the same conclusion: timber frame construction is more expensive (try using an internet search engine with the keywords "Institut für Bauforschung, STUDIE ZUM KOSTENVERGLEICH: MASSIVHAUS / HOLZFERTIGHAUS").
However, since solid houses generally require much thicker wall thicknesses to achieve the same insulation values as a timber frame wall, you get more living space with timber construction on the same footprint, which can even result in an additional room for a small house. This should also be taken into account when calculating prices per square meter. ;-)
However, since solid houses generally require much thicker wall thicknesses to achieve the same insulation values as a timber frame wall, you get more living space with timber construction on the same footprint, which can even result in an additional room for a small house. This should also be taken into account when calculating prices per square meter. ;-)
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