ᐅ Swedish Prefabricated Panel House / AB-Elementhus Renovation vs Demolition

Hello Jana,

welcome to the club! I have no idea what an Aengelholm looks like; it’s not included in the catalogs I inherited from the previous owner.

What do you mean by craftsmen seeing renovation needs? What does that refer to? Walls or load-bearing elements? Windows? Electrical installation?

Of course, you can renovate step by step. This requires patience and calmness because the house turns into a permanent construction site. That’s really not for everyone, speaking from experience. So you should think it over carefully. Also, there are renovation measures that are much easier to carry out while the house is still empty. For example, the heating system. How do you want to heat in the future? What type of heating system is installed now, and which radiators? If a heat pump is an option, you should definitely consider underfloor heating. It is not only more efficient than radiators but also much more comfortable. That, for example, is something I would do while the house is still empty.

Then there is the question of additional internal insulation of the external walls. The walls are already significantly better insulated than average. Nevertheless, our energy consultant recommended additional internal insulation and new windows. This is also much easier to do while the house is empty and no one is bothered by the inevitable dust.

Regardless of the heating question, I would take a close look at the floors. Have you checked how the construction is on the ground floor and in the attic? In our case, there were two layers of bitumen-treated hardboard panels laid crosswise on the concrete ceiling of the basement, then another thin hardboard layer on top, and finally parquet, laminate, or carpet. Over the years, the unevenness of the basement ceiling pushed through, so the parquet became slightly wavy. That’s not always obvious at first glance. Screed was only used in the basement, kitchen, and bathroom.

Like HarvSpec, we chose dry construction underfloor heating, swearing quite a bit during installation, but we spent the first two winters in very comfortably heated rooms. Warm wooden floorboards are simply heavenly... (Sorry, had to say that. The floors involved a lot of sweat and tears, but it was so worth it!)

On that occasion, we also installed a drywall furring system on the interior walls and rewired the electrical installation behind it because, in our opinion, the house had too few power outlets.

To my knowledge, Coloroc is asbestos-free, just as SEH placed emphasis much earlier than others on producing without harmful substances. The company that manufactured the stones is now called Marmoroc; they can probably provide more information about the composition of Coloroc.

The neighboring house is a Landskrona. The owner decided to replace the Coloroc façade with a ETICS (external thermal insulation composite system) façade; however, I don’t know how he ventilates the wooden walls behind it—or if at all.

Best regards

Hello Jana,

We live in the same region and have presumably had the "same" house for years.
I also strongly suspect that the Coloroc facade is asbestos-free, but I have never had it tested. A few years ago, I completely repainted the facade, including priming and a two-layer topcoat. The coatings are so thick that they would seal everything anyway, except of course for the back of the bricks.
Before buying, we conducted formaldehyde tests. They were negative or, in the smallest rooms, at a very low and acceptable level.
Renovations are somewhat more demanding because you need to be careful in certain areas. Inside, we covered everything with Fermacell boards and had them plastered. For example, you should be careful not to use excessively long screws for the boards, which would then puncture the vapor barrier everywhere. We paid some learning fees regarding craftsmen and found that asking more questions and paying close attention doesn’t hurt.
If you are considering a photovoltaic system, I recommend having the structural load capacity calculated beforehand. I had this done a few years ago because the rafter spacing seemed relatively wide to me. The result was that it was still sufficient to meet current regulatory requirements, but the roof doesn’t have much reserve capacity. The system has since been installed and works perfectly.

Best regards

Hello Jana,

I missed the pictures of the open ceiling that you posted last week. It doesn’t look like the original ceiling structure to me; however, I might be mistaken because according to the previous owner, we still have the "old" ceiling construction, which is made of elements filled with sawdust. If the joists for the drywall panels can be properly fastened, that is certainly a good option—@HarvSpec did the same.

However, we also have the sawdust chip ceiling panels. But if you want them, it does require a bit of effort.

Hello dear forum,

I can only agree, this is a truly exemplary forum with great and helpful contributions.
We are facing the exciting decision to buy an AB prefabricated house, and your experiences are very helpful.

We have a question about your pollutant testing. Did you have it carried out by a professional? If not, where did you buy your testing kit and what were your experiences with it? You are really encouraging us here that the houses are not heavily contaminated.

This will be a challenging ride with renovation and purchase, but we are looking forward to it.

Best regards from Besigheim.

Hello,

The seller hired an inspector at the time.

Best regards,
Christoph