ᐅ Prefabricated House with Solid Construction – Which Building Company to Choose

Hello everyone,

We are planning to purchase a prefabricated house built with solid construction. We do not have a plot of land yet. Our budget, excluding the land, is 200,000 € (about 220,000 USD). We have already looked at several houses online and read many reviews. This has made us more uncertain, since hardly any construction company gets good ratings on the internet. So far, we have found two companies that we really like, but unfortunately they only build in Lower Saxony or Northern Germany. Do you have any recommendations for companies in Rhineland-Palatinate?

Because we have relatives with strong craftsmanship skills, we are planning a so-called shell house to save some money and be able to customize it individually. Here is a rough outline of what we are looking for:

1.5 stories
about 140 m² (1,500 sq ft)
5-6 rooms
no basement
no garage
underfloor heating
ventilation system

We are aware that our budget is not very large, but we absolutely want to avoid poor workmanship. Therefore, we would appreciate any tips that could reduce costs or improve energy efficiency.

What are the must-haves (for example, wall materials, stairs, flooring, etc.)?
What can safely be chosen in the standard version?

We would be very grateful for any advice.

Thank you in advance!

In the standard package, you can choose everything that is interchangeable, replaceable, or purely aesthetic. For example, the bathroom. The standard sink plus faucet can easily be replaced after a few years. Windows don’t perform any worse if they are white instead of gray.

An unglazed roof tile will remain watertight for thirty years or more. Tiles costing around 20 Euros won’t fall off the wall or break if you step on them. What you must not save on is the house’s framework. Concrete floor slab class C25. Fiber-reinforced screed. Titanium zinc gutters. Heating system from a reputable manufacturer. Sufficient electrical outlets. Etc.

Comfort extras such as smart home systems, in my opinion controlled ventilation systems, wood stoves, and aluminum front doors are absolutely dispensable.

The standard should include a clean, durable roof structure, proper insulation, and warm walls, preferably aerated concrete.

Buildings with simple rectangular shapes without bay windows, angles, or projections are cheaper to construct. A decent roof overhang of at least 50 cm (20 inches) protects the facade if it is rendered. Smaller windows are also more economical; large glass corners and floor-to-ceiling windows are expensive.

And remember, small savings add up. Saving 1,000 Euros ten times results in 10,000 Euros saved.

An important factor, if you have the choice, is the location. Good building ground and low development costs due to short trenches save a lot.
Karsten

Hello Nicon1001,

welcome to the forum. It’s a great decision to join here; you can get really helpful tips to perfect your own planning. It helped me a lot when I started planning our house in Halsenbach near Emmelshausen back in 2015.

At that time, we first focused on turnkey houses with timber frame construction and later on those with solid construction. We spent every weekend in Mülheim Kärlich and requested quotes from almost all the companies there. In the end, we would have paid at least 30% more with each company than if we handled the project ourselves. (Which is somewhat understandable, since these companies can be held liable for any defects later on.)

So my first question is, have you firmly decided to build a turnkey solid construction house, or would it also be an option to contract the individual trades yourselves?

It’s a bit more work, but if you have such skilled relatives, it might be the best way to get the most out of your budget.

Since you also live just a stone’s throw from our building site, you’re welcome to come by and see the quality of the completed work on site. I could then give you the contact details of the craftsmen involved, all from the local area and with excellent reputations. Not all of them were the cheapest, but their prices offered the best value for the quality provided.

What would you have done by professionals, and where would you do the work yourselves?

Best regards and have a nice weekend,
Michael

Hello and thank you very much for the responses so far. We are about 99% certain that we want to go with a prefabricated house. This is also because of the liability from a single source that you, Invi85, mentioned. My brother-in-law runs a plastering company, and I trust him to handle almost the entire interior finishing (except for electrical work and plumbing – for that, we have an electrician and a plumber on the football team). Last summer, he independently built a significant extension to his own house.
More detailed arrangements haven’t been made yet, since different builders have different understandings of what a “shell and core” or “unfinished” house includes. For example, I’m not sure yet if he feels confident installing the underfloor heating. Generally, I plan to request quotes from the prefabricated house manufacturers for both the “shell and core” option as well as the turnkey option, so we can compare whether it’s worthwhile to do some of the work ourselves or have it done.

Currently, the companies we are seriously considering are Wagener Systemhäuser, ID Massivhaus, and Econ. Unfortunately, we have already received several rejections because we’re located outside the main building region. We have not yet received any feedback from these three companies.

I’m quite skeptical about companies like Town & Country or EinSteinHaus due to numerous negative reviews online. Even though our budget is relatively limited, we want decent quality work. This is a huge investment for us after all.

I look forward to any further tips and advice from you.

Have a great weekend,

Marco

I am a bit confused by the term “prefabricated house” in solid construction. On the website, you can read that they build using prefabrication, but the others are regular brick-and-mortar house builders, or am I mistaken?

Brief regards

He probably means a full-service company.