ᐅ Prefabricated House (Wood) vs. Solid Construction (Masonry)

It really depends on the specific case. You cannot compare a timber frame house with a solid brick or concrete house, as the differences are simply too significant. What I would recommend is to look at a timber frame house and ask specifically what it would cost. The same goes for a solid house. The key point is that the appearance often strongly depends on the style. With a timber frame house, you probably want a large roof overhang, whereas with a solid house, maybe not.

TinaW schrieb:
The thing is that the appearance largely depends on the style. With a timber-frame house, you probably want a large roof overhang... with a masonry house, maybe not.

Could it be that you are turning a prefabricated timber house into a log house now? From the outside, a prefabricated timber house doesn’t show that it isn’t solid construction, so they could be built in a similar style.

Svantje schrieb:
Hello,

I want to build a 150m² (1,615 sq ft) KfW-70 house.

Is there a general estimate for the price difference between a prefabricated house (wood) and a solid construction (brick on brick)?

Thank you in advance!

Svenja

Hello Svenja,

As you can see from the answers, it is not possible to give a general statement about the price.

An offer usually does not cost you anything. Therefore, I would also recommend selecting two suppliers with houses you like. Request a quote from them, and then you will know the exact difference.

Best regards

K.Brodbeck

Hello,
we have compared numerous offers. Overall, I would say that a prefabricated timber house (at least here in Saxony) is somewhat more expensive than a solid construction. The standard package for a solid house from local providers was around 1100 - 1200 Euros per m² (floor area multiplied by number of floors, excluding the basement). For this price, we would not have gotten a prefabricated house with the same specifications. However, this might be different in other federal states.

Yes, yes, I know, now all the experts will say you can’t compare that, nonsense, and so on. But we read all the construction descriptions from the providers that we were interested in (around 5-6). We accounted for differences as much as possible. The result was always similar. After a while, you develop a feel for it, and in the end, solid construction was about 10% to 15% cheaper here for us.

Hello,

we decided to build a solid brick-and-mortar house in North Rhine-Westphalia. It all started with companies offering prefabricated timber frame construction, as I am a fan of machine production. The offer for a one-and-a-half-story design to KfW 70 standard with an air-to-water heat pump, complete underfloor heating, and a fireplace was around 230,000 euros +/- 10,000 euros depending on the provider.

However, we eventually noticed that a standard house is easy to realize with prefabricated construction, but companies often charge extra for things like knee wall height extensions or a convertible attic with a full staircase. With solid brick construction, these changes are easier to implement because the architect simply includes them in the plans. Also, cladding is easier to carry out with a solid construction method, based on our experience.

In short: prefabricated construction fits well for standard designs, but the more changes you plan to the building envelope, the better solid construction fits. That is at least my experience.

You should be aware that if you want to compare quotes from about three providers each, you will spend approximately three to four months on this. You will also notice that the salespeople are not very interested in you the more questions you ask and the more detailed your requests for offers get.

In my case, there were six prefabricated construction companies, none of which remained because none managed to provide a decent offer. Of the two solid house manufacturers, only one ultimately succeeded in delivering an offer according to our wishes with a drawing. Prices were similar across the board, and as mentioned above, due to unclear construction and service descriptions, comparing the offers was difficult.

I hope this helps a little.

Bastiann111 schrieb:
...in the end, we noticed that a standard house is always easier to build as a prefabricated house, and companies charge significantly extra for things like knee wall height increases or a convertible attic with a proper staircase. With a brick-and-mortar construction, these features are easier to implement since the architect simply includes them in the plans. According to our experience, installing a brick veneer is also simpler with a solid construction method.
In short: standard designs fit well with prefab construction, but the more changes you plan to the building envelope, the more suitable solid construction becomes. At least that is my experience.
You should be aware that if you want to compare offers from about three providers each, you will spend around 3-4 months doing this. Furthermore, you will notice that the salespeople are not very interested in you the more questions you ask and the more detailed you want the quotes.
I contacted 6 prefab companies, but none remained as none managed to provide a proper offer. Of the two solid house builders, only one eventually succeeded in delivering an offer that met our requirements, including drawings. Prices were similar across the board and, as mentioned above, due to the confusing construction and scope descriptions, it was difficult to compare offers fairly.

Hello,

sorry, but that statement is definitely too general and not quite accurate.

Our new house (construction started spring 2014) is a custom-designed prefabricated house using timber framing. Naturally, a custom prefab house is more expensive than one of the standard models – just some keywords: structural engineering & architect...

Our sales consultant certainly had a hard time with us – we are now on planning version IV. Every new version was an improvement on the previous one and included many changes. The consultant remains friendly and open to change requests even today!!!

We also took the effort to compare the detailed scope of work from our three favorites (a multi-page Excel spreadsheet) to get a clear overview of the fair value of each offer. This also provides a strong basis for negotiation if the favorite option isn’t necessarily the cheapest provider.

Each house offer lives and dies with the building consultant you work with – I believe this has very little to do with whether the consultant sells solid construction or prefab houses.

Regards,

Dirk