ᐅ Completion: Shell house: masonry construction or prefab home?

ceritus80 schrieb:

- Sustainability due to renewable raw materials (not an argument for me)

It mainly depends on where the wood comes from and what else is used in the construction. Most suppliers use mineral wool insulation between the studs, while cheaper providers often add polystyrene foam on top. If you only look at the price, you’ll end up with those.

ceritus80 schrieb:

- Indoor climate is supposed to be better

For what reasons?

ceritus80 schrieb:

- In summer, wooden houses don’t heat up or store heat as intensely as solid constructions

This largely depends on the intermediate ceilings. Wooden ceilings store little heat, while concrete slabs provide good thermal buffering. Personally, I consider a high thermal storage capacity an advantage because the temperature doesn’t rise as quickly with the same heat input. We can keep our house at 24°C (75°F) during the height of summer with shading and no air conditioning.

ceritus80 schrieb:

- KfW 40 standard easier and more cost-effective to achieve

The question is whether you need that for a shell house. If yes, 42.5cm (17 inches) Ytong blocks can easily meet that. Other masonry units of similar thickness can also achieve KfW 40 standards.

ceritus80 schrieb:

- Thinner walls and it’s easier to hang things (not an argument for me; that’s what anchors/dowels are for)

Get someone to calculate how thick a wall really needs to be if it has to support weight.

ceritus80 schrieb:

- Better sound insulation inside and out

That’s a challenge for all lightweight constructions. However, windows—which are actually the weak points—have improved significantly compared to the past.

Instead of listing generalizations like these, your list should include questions relevant to your project. Where exactly do you draw the line as a shell or shell-and-core house? For example, in a prefabricated house, are interior walls already finished, or do you still have to install the (non-load-bearing) ones yourself? What about the wiring in those walls? In solid construction, the electrician simply chisels the channels; for prefab, you need more coordination. Which tasks are you doing yourself or subcontracting, but the house builder still has to account for?

ypg schrieb:

Most of the time, it’s a gut feeling, a memory from the past, or something that can’t really be rationalized. That’s why flood victims will probably lean more towards solid construction (see above). Conservative people as well.
Others find wood more appealing or tactile than stone, or they’re fundamentally interested in the prefab house industry and are therefore considering HTB, meaning timber panel construction.

Building a single-family home is too serious an investment for me to have a prefabricated house delivered on a low-loader to the site just out of fascination as a spectator because of the scheduled delivery date. The most successful stone house seller is not the Oder or Ahr valley floods, but, still seriously, the story of the three little pigs and the big bad wolf. Tactile-wise, gypsum drywall is the same whether behind it is an insulated composite system in a timber frame or a metal stud in a light-frame construction wall inside a “solid” house.

ypg schrieb:

I would approach this a bit more objectively. After all, it’s rare these days that salespeople are pushy.

I can’t confirm that. The relentless follow-up from commission hunters responsible for the area after requesting information hasn’t decreased at all. That’s logical—interested parties must be secured regardless of economic conditions as long as they are ‘hot.’ This even tends to intensify when order volumes drop.

WilderSueden schrieb:

It mainly depends on where the wood comes from and what else is used in the construction.

Anyone thinking of “prefab” houses and assuming they are made of wood clearly hasn’t read the ingredient list. There is a lot of nostalgic “forest cabin” image floating around in people’s minds.

WilderSueden schrieb:

For what reasons?

Despite all the “fundamental advantages,” these are usually matters of (mis)belief ;-)

WilderSueden schrieb:

It’s mainly a question of intermediate floors. Wood floors store little heat; concrete floors have good thermal mass. Personally, I consider high heat storage capacity more of an advantage, because the temperature doesn’t rise as sharply with the same heat input.

A pro/con spreadsheet decision-maker might theoretically conclude that the absolute best solution is to build a timber house with concrete floors *ROTFL*

WilderSueden schrieb:

The question is whether you need that for a shell house.

I don’t see any connection between the finishing stage and the energy efficiency class—not even as an exclusion, really (?)

WilderSueden schrieb:

Have someone calculate how thick a wall really gets when it has to carry some load.

If you’re a nobleman who only eats from pewter plates, you can mount your upper cabinets more securely on cavity toggle anchors, which “light-frame walls” require anyway *again ROTFL*

WilderSueden schrieb:

It’s a problem with all houses built with lightweight materials. Though compared to before, the windows (which are actually the weak points) are already much better now.

Through the continuous installation gap around the window frame, significantly more noise can pass through than even a single-glazed pane would transmit via vibration. The “enlightened consumer” is focusing on completely wrong suspects in their flat earth model. And that’s exactly where the salespeople catch them.

WilderSueden schrieb:

Instead of such platitudes, your list should contain questions relevant to your project. Exactly where do you draw the line for your shell house? For example, with a prefab house, are the interior walls already done or do you still have to build the (non-load-bearing) ones yourself? What about the wiring inside those walls? In masonry construction, the electrician simply chisels channels, but in prefab construction, you have to coordinate more. Which tasks are you doing yourself or subcontracting but the builder has to consider?

You’ve surprisingly found an interesting argument for shell houses here: uncomplicated, spontaneous late-stage electrical installation thanks to walls only being “site-closed” later *LOLLL* *SCNR*
But yes, the personal definition of the desired finishing stage is a very powerful factor in pricing. All providers differ widely across construction methods here, and this turns out to be a much more interesting consulting field for a self-appointed architect than the ever-popular floor plan sketches.

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11ant schrieb:

The persistent contact by the commission-driven agents in the area requesting information materials has in no way decreased.

There is a clear difference between stalking and showing up with a building plan and property documents!