ᐅ Experiences with the construction of the shell structure using brick element construction methods
Created on: 24 Jan 2021 12:12
B
BL_0591Hello everyone,
This is my first post, so I apologize in advance if I am missing any important information needed to answer my question. If that is the case, I will gladly provide any additional details upon request.
My girlfriend and I want to build a single-family house in the Augsburg district (we already own the plot of land). Over the past few weeks, we have been researching potential construction companies and came across a type of solid construction method that was new to us.
This involves the prefabrication of the shell structure using brick element construction. In this process, brick walls are prefabricated by a robot inside a factory, dried, and then transported to the construction site for assembly. The individual wall elements are then "connected" onsite by construction workers. Unfortunately, there is very little to no experience or feedback available about this method on the internet.
According to the builder, this method offers several advantages, such as a shorter assembly time, and the reduction of human errors on site due to skilled labor shortages (with the idea being that a robot does not make mistakes), among others.
Of course, we are primarily interested in the disadvantages, as there are probably some we are not yet aware of. The builder only informed us that shrinkage cracks in the corners of the external walls are common due to the high stress involved.
We would be grateful to receive feedback, firsthand experiences, or general opinions about this type of shell construction.
Kind regards, and have a nice Sunday!
This is my first post, so I apologize in advance if I am missing any important information needed to answer my question. If that is the case, I will gladly provide any additional details upon request.
My girlfriend and I want to build a single-family house in the Augsburg district (we already own the plot of land). Over the past few weeks, we have been researching potential construction companies and came across a type of solid construction method that was new to us.
This involves the prefabrication of the shell structure using brick element construction. In this process, brick walls are prefabricated by a robot inside a factory, dried, and then transported to the construction site for assembly. The individual wall elements are then "connected" onsite by construction workers. Unfortunately, there is very little to no experience or feedback available about this method on the internet.
According to the builder, this method offers several advantages, such as a shorter assembly time, and the reduction of human errors on site due to skilled labor shortages (with the idea being that a robot does not make mistakes), among others.
Of course, we are primarily interested in the disadvantages, as there are probably some we are not yet aware of. The builder only informed us that shrinkage cracks in the corners of the external walls are common due to the high stress involved.
We would be grateful to receive feedback, firsthand experiences, or general opinions about this type of shell construction.
Kind regards, and have a nice Sunday!
If this is going to be your general contractor (GC), they will only use their standard construction method as described. They are capable of this and have specialized in this type of work.
If you still have any questions, ask to see completed houses and talk to the homeowners about their experiences.
Familiarize yourself with the scope of work, as differences between providers become more apparent there.
From our experience, we have worked with prefabricated expanded clay aggregate walls and with masonry using Poroton bricks; both worked well since the GC was very skilled in handling them.
If you still have any questions, ask to see completed houses and talk to the homeowners about their experiences.
Familiarize yourself with the scope of work, as differences between providers become more apparent there.
From our experience, we have worked with prefabricated expanded clay aggregate walls and with masonry using Poroton bricks; both worked well since the GC was very skilled in handling them.
Thank you for the quick response!
The contractor still builds in a somewhat traditional way, but only in a few exceptional cases (usually due to local circumstances – for example, the delivery of the "prefabricated walls" is not possible because of limited space).
He sources the wall elements prefabricated from a nearby brickworks. The external walls are constructed solidly using 36.5 cm (14.4 inches) thick Termopor SL Plan Plus 0.08 W/m·K aerated bricks, installed using the thin-bed mortar method. The interior and partition walls are made of hollow bricks according to structural requirements.
In the next few days, we will definitely try to talk to homeowners; however, we thought that additional opinions certainly couldn’t hurt.
The contractor still builds in a somewhat traditional way, but only in a few exceptional cases (usually due to local circumstances – for example, the delivery of the "prefabricated walls" is not possible because of limited space).
He sources the wall elements prefabricated from a nearby brickworks. The external walls are constructed solidly using 36.5 cm (14.4 inches) thick Termopor SL Plan Plus 0.08 W/m·K aerated bricks, installed using the thin-bed mortar method. The interior and partition walls are made of hollow bricks according to structural requirements.
In the next few days, we will definitely try to talk to homeowners; however, we thought that additional opinions certainly couldn’t hurt.
BL_0591 schrieb:
Through the builder, we only learned that shrinkage cracks in the corners of the exterior walls are common due to the high stress in these areas. Due to system limitations, the exterior walls are joined with butt joints at the corners rather than interlocking brickwork like brick-on-brick. Expansion joints are common in this system, but I would still ask for a more detailed explanation regarding the shrinkage cracks. If we are talking about Rötzer brick element houses here, you can find multiple mentions about them in this forum. On their website, I found similar notes about the "robot" (which, of course, is programmed by an error-prone human, haha), and unfortunately, prominently displayed in the header is a wall panel whose bricks are joined without overlapping joints — something no trained mason would do and, in my opinion, completely contrary to proper craftsmanship.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
BL_0591 schrieb:
Delivery of the "prefabricated walls" is not possible due to lack of space. I see that as a disadvantage as well. Another is that with prefabricated construction, spontaneous changes are no longer possible. You don’t see your house growing day by day...
BL_0591 schrieb:
According to the contractor, this method offers many advantages, such as a short installation time, prevention of human errors on site due to skilled labor shortages (the idea being that a robot doesn’t make mistakes), etc. Regarding traditional construction: a bungalow made with Poroton bricks can be built in 2 days.
This assumes a Polish crew; German crews usually take about a week.
Mistakes are unlikely—either you’ve hired a careless company or a good one that works cleanly. The company’s philosophy is reflected in their work.
Moisture hardly seeps in because the bricks are no longer laid with mortar in the traditional way but are glued.
Moisture tends to come from above, that is, from rain over time, depending on how long the walls remain exposed.
Similar topics