ᐅ Homeowners' Assistance After Fire Caused by Technical Fault

Dear members and moderators,

I am a young woman who has experienced many hardships this year. Among other things, on November 22nd, my house burned down due to a technical defect (according to the experts and criminal investigators) in the kitchen extractor hood, which vented through the roof structure. As a result, I am currently somewhat homeless, uncertain, and not yet well organized, and I would appreciate honest and professional advice.

In 2011, I bought a prefabricated house for €200,000. I lived there until the date mentioned above. The house was built in 2000 (the construction company no longer exists) and was supposedly renovated again in 2007 by the second owner.

Since then, I have undertaken further construction work myself, as there was a lot of poor workmanship.

The building insurance now states that the rebuilding will be reimbursed at replacement cost, on the condition that I reconstruct the building in the same or similar way. The old structure is to be demolished down to the foundation slab, and then rebuilding can begin.

I have already contacted Fingerhaus for a quote (which I have not yet received). The sales representative estimated that for a 150 m² (1,615 sq ft) house, the turnkey costs including tile and painting work would be around €300,000 to €350,000. It seems the insurance is also very interested in speeding up the rebuilding process.

I have forwarded all construction documents that were provided to me by the previous owner to the sales representative, who appears to be trustworthy.

However, given the current situation, it looks like I would not be able to move back in until around this time next year. Is this realistic?

Do you have any recommendations on how I might find a new home faster? Are there types of houses that can be built more quickly than a prefabricated house? What conditions need to be met? I once read that some houses arrive already "finished." Of course, I would hire an independent expert because I am on my own, work in sales, and do not really have any expertise in new construction.

I do not yet have a detailed cost breakdown but have an approximate estimate.

Here are the key details:

Purchase price 2011: €200,000
Building site: sandy to loamy soil with sandstone
Groundwater level: 5 m (16 ft)

Foundation slab remains – rebuilding on existing foundation slab

Foundations: strip concrete footings
Exterior walls: timber frame construction with insulation according to DIN, OSB + gypsum plasterboard
Exterior plaster: smooth, light-colored paint
Partition walls: timber frame construction with insulation according to DIN, OSB + gypsum plasterboard
Ceilings: reinforced concrete, wood ceilings with insulation according to DIN
Floors: concrete, floating screed, tiles, laminate
Roof structure: half-hipped roof (krüppelwalmdach) 45° – traditionally a purlin roof with insulation; knee wall height 1 m (3 ft), but construction must not be executed as a purlin roof
Roof covering: Frankfurter tiles
Stairs: wood
Stairwells: timber frame construction with insulation according to DIN, OSB + gypsum plasterboard
Windows: wooden windows with insulating glazing, external shutters
Doors: wood
Heating: electric night storage heater (now I would prefer a geothermal heat pump from Viessmann) instead of gas
Gross floor area: 155.34 m² (1,672 sq ft)
Sealed ground area: 2.66 m² (29 sq ft) entrance stairs
Floor area: 110.34 m² (1,188 sq ft)
Enclosed volume: 705.40 m³ (24,918 cu ft) residential building, garage, carport
Floor area ratio: 0.14

Best regards and many thanks in advance,

Susan2106

Oh dear, I’m sorry to hear that.

I don’t believe the process will be much faster. Building application, building permit/planning permission, insurance clarification, ordering house components, construction of the house, interior finishing.

The houses are not ready-made and stored in a warehouse, and the construction companies have full order books. Try contacting smaller carpentry firms in the area; they might be a bit quicker.

Even smaller companies need about 4 months for the actual construction work.
With prefab house manufacturers, it’s comparable to ordering a new car: you select the house/car options, and eventually, your model comes off the production line and is delivered to you.

Depending on how many customers are ahead of you, you can estimate how long it will take.
Complete prefab houses made of precast reinforced concrete elements, including plumbing, are also available. In this case, the assembly doesn’t take place on your foundation but in the factory, so the duration is similarly long or short.

You should focus on making sure that 100% of the reconstruction costs are covered. Living elsewhere, even if it’s difficult, is then the lesser evil...

The main thing is to have the major finances sorted out.

Thanks for the quick responses and comments. Everything is settled with the insurance, and I have great support in that regard. That’s really excellent. I understand that I can't move in immediately :-( However, Fingerhaus just told me that due to this emergency situation, they are willing to prioritize the construction of my house. That sounds good at first, but I would be interested to know if there are already experiences and recommendations for these complete prefabricated houses made from precast reinforced concrete elements, including plumbing? What should be considered, and so on?

Best regards

I have only seen a documentary about this on Welt der Wunder? If I’m not mistaken, it was a Polish company, but that was several years ago.