ᐅ Swedish House: Selection Criteria for Timber House Manufacturers?

Hello,

we recently purchased a beautiful plot of land in a great location. There is currently a bungalow from the 1960s on it that is contaminated with biocides and asbestos, but in the long term, we plan to build a nice new house here. We want a Swedish-style house and already have very clear ideas about the floor plan and design. What we—and many others—find challenging is choosing the right building partner.

Generally speaking: What are the criteria to consider when making this choice?

The criteria I have in mind are:

Construction quality/building method:

• Wall construction: Every company promotes its wall build as particularly good in their brochures, sometimes highlighting eco-friendliness or healthy indoor climate, sometimes extreme tightness, or energy efficiency. Ultimately, the question is: How much difference does the wall make? The U-values are usually similar, and you probably don’t notice much difference when living in the house. Correct?
• Assembly: This is where evidently the quality varies greatly; there are plenty of horror stories on construction blogs. Assumption: With large providers, the premium segment offers a certain level of security, while with regional providers you might get lucky and see or talk to existing projects or clients. Ultimately, it’s hard to evaluate in advance.
• “True Swedish houses” sometimes don’t meet German standards, KfW funding eligibility is not guaranteed, spare parts can be difficult to obtain. On the other hand, German houses built in the “Swedish look” are not quite as authentic (windows don’t open outwards, fewer decorative details, etc.)

Heating systems:

• Each provider has their preferred system, which the salespeople like to promote (currently often air-to-air heat pumps 🙄 ). So far, every manufacturer has signaled that I can have whatever system I want.
• Ventilation systems are probably quite similar.

Pricing:

• After a superficial comparison of several larger and smaller, nationwide and regional providers, I get the impression: A house of the same size and quality ultimately costs roughly the same. Some manufacturers advertise low prices but include little in the base package, so you have to add a lot. Others seem expensive at first but include much more. Large manufacturers spend a lot on marketing and sales staff but benefit from synergies and high volume, so smaller providers aren’t necessarily cheaper.

Payment terms/financial stability:

• Payment according to construction progress is usual. On the other hand, a large provider (Sch...) offers the advantage that 90% of the purchase price is only due after handover. I find this very reassuring because the provider goes into advance performance and covers many risks. (It also eliminates bridge financing.)
• Looking into the German Federal Gazette (Bundesanzeiger) reports of some providers was sobering. If a company’s balance sheet shows heavy over-indebtedness, I find it difficult to award them a contract for a single-family home.

Sympathy:

• In the end, you need to feel comfortable with “your” provider. Advertising materials and especially the salesperson must convey trust and sympathy. I think the art is not to be lulled into a false sense of security. In conversation, you can see how critical questions are handled and whether there is a willingness for cooperative problem-solving.

Experience/online reviews:

• I find it extremely difficult to decide which online reviews and reports are genuine, which are frustrated exceptions, and which are basically “bought.” Also, these are always just snapshots; there can be outliers both good and bad everywhere.

I would be glad to hear from you: What have I missed? What are your “litmus tests” for choosing prefabricated house manufacturers? What were the decisive factors for you that made provider X convince you?

Best regards
Stefan

Hello Stefan,

We are currently building a prefabricated house ourselves, working with the company Gussek Haus. You can find my construction blog, which includes decision criteria for choosing a provider and various other aspects, as well as the construction diary, by searching for "Gussek Haus ratgeberportal kigorosa."

But I can also address a few points here.

Assembly: Gussek Haus is one of the larger and at the same time relatively affordable prefabricated house providers. The assembly went smoothly and very quickly for us (foundation slab: 1.5 days, house installation: 1.5 days, roofing, finishing touches, and cleanup: 2.5 days). The assembly team consisted of five people, worked well together, and appeared very professional. Since the construction site is close to us, we were able to visit several times a day and always directly address our questions and concerns. On the last day, we were invited to an internal inspection by the site manager. Apparently, the assembly team receives a bonus for good work. For us, there was only a slightly damaged interior window sill and a missing shower board. Both will be delivered later with the interior work.

Heating technology: I have written about this in more detail as well. In short: after comparing all costs, our ranking is district heating, followed by geothermal energy, and then the air-to-water heat pump. Regarding the ventilation system, there was a price difference of 15,000 euros between our three finalists, with not all providers willing to completely exclude the ventilation system if it was not desired.

Pricing: I somewhat agree with that. We received very different price quotes for the same house—even after adjusting for costs. It is also crucial whether you need the best equipment in all areas or if medium quality is sufficient in some parts. In the latter case, it is important whether the provider offers products and services in both price categories.

Our most important decision criteria were 1. provider size, 2. price-performance ratio, and 3. construction time. Secondary factors were personal conversations, impressions at the model house park and factory, recommendations, and regional proximity.

Are you already familiar with the prefabricated house compass? It might be helpful to take a look at it as well.

Good luck,
Kirstin

Thank you, Kirsten, for your detailed response. I read through your building blog with great interest.

kigorosa schrieb:

Are you familiar with the prefabricated house guide? Taking a look there might also be helpful.

Do you mean the one from Capital? I found the older version (2018), which was divided into evaluation categories, somewhat useful. The newer one (2019) seemed a bit sparse since it only shows the overall ranking in the end. There is no information about the construction process or an objective assessment of the quality of actually built houses. The entire ranking is based on manufacturer data. As a house manufacturer, you could optimize your informational materials and certifications to achieve a good rating, but the biggest issues could still happen at the construction site… (although there is probably a correlation between quality standards and actual quality). By the way, Gussek Haus is completely missing from the 2019 prefabricated house guide.

Best regards,
Stefan

visor1999 schrieb:

Hello,

we recently purchased a wonderful plot of land in a great location. Currently, there is still a bungalow from the 1960s on it, contaminated with biocides and asbestos, but in the long term, we want to build a beautiful new house here. We want a Swedish-style house and already have very specific ideas for the floor plan and design. What we—and many others—find difficult is choosing the right building partner.

Generally speaking: What criteria should be considered when making this choice?

The criteria I have in mind are:

Construction quality / building method:

• Wall structure: Every company promotes its wall construction in brochures as especially good—sometimes particularly eco-friendly or healthy to live in, sometimes very airtight or especially energy-efficient. Ultimately, the question is: How much difference does the wall really make? The U-values are usually similar, and differences inside the house are probably not noticeable. Correct?
• Assembly: This is where the real differences seem to appear; there are plenty of horror stories on building blogs. Assumption: Large companies’ premium segments offer a certain level of security, while with local providers, you might have the luck to see or talk to actual construction sites or homeowners. But it’s hardly possible to evaluate beforehand.
• “Authentic Swedish houses” sometimes don’t comply with German standards, KfW subsidy eligibility is not guaranteed, and spare parts can be hard to get. On the other hand, German houses in “Swedish style” are less authentic (windows don’t open outward, fewer decorative details, etc.).

Heating technology:

• Every supplier has their favored system that their salespeople like to promote (currently often air-to-air heat pumps :rolleyes 🙂. In the end, every manufacturer has indicated to me so far that I can get what I want.
• Ventilation systems probably don’t differ much.

Pricing

• After a superficial comparison of some large and small, nationwide and regional providers, I get the impression that a house of the same size and quality ends up costing about the same. Some manufacturers advertise very low prices but include little in the standard package, so you have to upgrade extensively. Others appear expensive at first but already include a lot. Large manufacturers spend a lot on marketing and sales teams but benefit from economies of scale and volume, so smaller providers aren’t necessarily cheaper.

Payment terms / financial stability

• Payment usually follows construction progress. On the other hand, a large provider (Sch...) offers that 90% of the purchase price is only due after handover. I see this as a great security because the provider puts up the money upfront and absorbs many risks. (It also eliminates bridge financing.)
• With some providers, looking at their financial reports in the Bundesanzeiger was sobering. If the balance sheet shows significant overindebtedness, it’s hard for me to entrust someone like that with an order for a single-family home.

Sympathy:

• In the end, you have to feel comfortable with “your” provider. Marketing materials and especially the salesperson’s personality must convey security and trustworthiness. I think the key is not to be lulled into a false sense of security. It becomes clear in conversation how they handle critical questions and whether they are willing to work in a solution-oriented way.

Experience / online reviews

• I find it extremely difficult to judge which online reviews and reports are genuine, which are frustrated exceptions, and which are basically “bought.” Besides, these are always just glimpses, and there can be outliers both positive and negative everywhere.

I would be happy to hear from you: What have I missed? What are your “test criteria” for prefab home manufacturers? What were the deciding factors for you in choosing provider X?

Best regards
Stefan

The choice is tough. You have to filter.

Pick what is important to you.
Healthy living conditions
Swedish look
KfW funding

For us, it was a Passive House on a steep slope, so wall structure didn’t matter.
If you like the Swedish house, I would say choose a Swedish house, not just a look-alike, and don’t worry about KfW.
You need to decide what matters to you.
Then filter from there.

Air-to-air heat pump is the maximum for Passive Houses.

Our experience with price was similar.

Regarding the Bundesanzeiger:
All insolvencies I have professionally encountered had strong balance sheets and good ratings beforehand. Things can change quickly.

You need to feel comfortable with your provider.

Our neighbors live in an Eksjö Hus, an original from Sweden. A beautiful house. But the wooden houses from Fjordborg here in the neighborhood are also nice. The ones from ccanhaus marlow seem somewhat cheaper, and probably are. Eksjö offers everything truly Swedish: white aluminum gutters, wood-aluminum windows that open outward, softwood interior doors...

Nordlys schrieb:

Eksjö Hus, original from Sweden

We also have a catalog from Eksjöhus; some of their houses could almost serve as a reference for the term "Swedish house." However, a quick search on Google reveals several clients who apparently had bad experiences with their distributor for northern Germany (or are still involved in an ongoing legal dispute). I recently met someone who worked in sales for this company, and the general impression was, "Everything delivered from Sweden is top quality, but what the construction crew in northern Germany does with it unfortunately looks completely different."

That feels too risky to me.

In general, genuine Swedish house manufacturers typically do not offer turnkey construction, meaning no comprehensive warranty from a single source. As a risk-averse prospective homeowner, I prefer to delegate as much trade and coordination risk as possible to the house manufacturer.