ᐅ Solid construction or prefabricated house

Nordlys schrieb:
What I like is the great freedom in planning. And if you want, you can build with a smaller, regional company where customer service still happens directly between the owner and the customer, and you have their mobile number.

You can also have this if you build a timber-frame house with a local carpentry company. However, personally, I wouldn’t call that a prefab house. I had a timber-frame house built by a local carpentry firm using wood fiber insulation. I’m currently working on the interior finishing, but I could have had it delivered turnkey. During the shell construction phase, this structure feels much better to me than a shell made of brick would. How it will be later remains to be seen. I have to say I like the material wood more and more.

These are, of course, personal impressions, and everyone has to decide for themselves what they prefer.

A prefabricated house is usually somewhat more expensive in the single-family home sector when it has the same features, unless it is a low-cost builder.
I don’t know what you are comparing there.
Additional building costs should be similar since they are related to the land, not the house.
The decision is shaped by personal priorities and also by the feeling towards the home builder.

The biggest difference between providers lies in the varying specifications and scope of construction services. Is the foundation slab included or not? Up to what depth are earthworks covered? Which sanitary fixtures are included as standard? How many power outlets, light fittings, etc., are included? What type of stair coverings—wood (which kind?), steel stairs, concrete stairs with tiles, granite, or wood? Is underfloor heating included in the price? What type of roof covering is used, clay or concrete tiles? Which windows with what performance values (e.g., security class)? Is the front door made of plastic or aluminum? What wall construction is used (these also vary significantly between prefabricated and solid houses)? What energy standard will be achieved? What heating system is installed? Is there a mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery? According to the construction specification, what work is the responsibility of the client? Can the floor plan be customized or altered without additional planning costs? These are just a few examples. The scope of construction services consists of what feels like thousands of different details that can vary individually with each provider. That is why prices vary significantly from one solid house provider to another, as well as between different prefabricated house manufacturers. The choice between a prefabricated house and a solid house is therefore not the main cost factor, but rather the overall construction specification itself. This makes it very difficult to compare different providers—regardless of the building method. It’s a real jungle to navigate through. From our experience, prefabricated houses tend to be somewhat more expensive, but we haven’t done a detailed comparison to specify this exactly.

The decision for a building method should primarily not be based on cost. With the same standard, the differences are not that significant, at least when choosing well-established providers. From my experience, small solid house builders are more affordable than the large ones. We ultimately decided to build with an architect and individual contracting (solid construction), as this was clearly the cheaper option for us (more affordable than building with a large general contractor or a small one). My cousin is building a timber frame house. He had the shell constructed by a local carpenter and contracted the remaining trades separately. This was also cheaper than relying on a large prefabricated house manufacturer. Nevertheless, his house was significantly more expensive than ours, which is of course also due to the fact that he is building to a different standard (we are following the Energy Saving Ordinance, he is building KfW 40).

The choice of building method simply depends on personal preference. Some people prefer wood, while others want the classic brick house.

The advantage of prefabricated construction is that, as the client, you have completed all your selections and decisions before the first groundbreaking takes place. With a traditional solid construction house, selections are often made gradually, usually when the specific trades are working on site. Many see this as an advantage, but it can also be a disadvantage.

M4rvin schrieb:
Many prefab house providers offer turnkey options, meaning everything except the foundation slab is included, but it’s naturally difficult to compare

Turnkey is a very flexible term. The initial price you hear in the first discussion often differs significantly from the final cost after one or more rounds of planning and selection of materials and finishes.

M4rvin schrieb:
But with a solid/concrete house provider, the costs are definitely much higher!

That depends on who you’re comparing with. Assuming you mean the big red company, then yes, that’s clear.

But if you actually go to a good general contractor (GC) in your region, they are usually quite a bit cheaper than the prefab house providers at the display park. However, they don’t usually just set up several model homes out in the open like that.

Much more important for you should be which construction method you prefer, and also how much work you want to do yourself (etc).

Curly schrieb:
Prefabricated houses are slightly more expensive than solid construction houses of the same quality and features. You can also find comparisons online.

I don’t really see any advantages for us to choose a prefabricated house. Especially since the soundproofing is probably not at the same level.