ᐅ Which prefabricated house company should we choose?

Is there anyone from the industry here @11ant

Personally, I just prefer the concept of a "prefabricated house" much more. It's not about building faster or having a lower or fixed price. We also looked into other construction methods, but it just wasn’t our thing.

I would recommend the same to @Bohne2015. Just have a look around, maybe it will turn out to be something for you after all.

DeMoehn schrieb:

Personally, I just prefer the concept of a "prefabricated house" much more. It’s not about building faster or a lower or fixed price. We also looked at other construction methods, but they just weren’t our thing.

What exactly does the "prefabricated house" concept mean here, and what are the "other construction methods"?
The concept of a "general contractor" is not tied to building with wall panels—neither with timber frame, masonry, nor cast concrete—and therefore is not linked to any specific construction method.

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https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/

I didn’t write this post to nitpick but to let @Bohne2015 know how we approached this, and that it’s important to first take a good look at everything...

All the companies he mentioned basically build similar timber frame houses in terms of the basic structure. What appeals to me is the type of wall construction and insulation, as well as the fact that the components are prefabricated directly in the factory.

Other “building methods” can involve wood, stone, or whatever else. We looked at “traditional” masonry (stone on stone, and yes, there are 100 different variations) and concrete walls with polystyrene insulation (Kern-Haus). We didn’t like either.

There are hundreds of options. You can’t know all their advantages and disadvantages, and it’s not worth trying. The goal is to get an overview.
In the end, it comes down to gut feeling and what you feel most comfortable with.

I created a detailed list of requirements back then. It was very thoroughly organized and described. (It really took a lot of time and effort.)
I sent this to various prefabricated house manufacturers and general contractors to get quotes, since you can only compare apples to apples.
In the process, all the prefabricated house manufacturers and even the general contractor were eliminated, and in the end, only individual contracting remained.

Mottenhausen schrieb:

For the companies mentioned (since they are not necessarily budget firms), I would definitely include a general contractor specializing in solid construction for price comparison. For us, it was almost exactly 8 weeks from groundbreaking to topping out this week. Traditional brick-by-brick construction and no prefabricated roof truss. Brick-by-brick is not as slow as some people think.

Finally, someone says this.
I also don’t understand why anyone would choose a prefab house. Although, of course, there are huge differences between prefabs.

One of my neighbors had a modular house built. Almost everything inside was finished. I think from Dennert Massivhaus. Now that’s what I call a real prefab house. I can see the time advantage there. But he must have spent much more money than my other neighbors with their prefab houses.

But for all those who say, “I install precast concrete walls/wood frame with 12 months lead time and 6 months delay, then still have the regular interior finishing with screed and all that,” I honestly don’t see the added value or understand the point. Subjectively, my 9 months wasn’t much slower at all.

I don’t want to keep going on about prefab houses because it’s not productive.
However, I would actually be interested in a proper answer to 11ant’s question, since there seems to be a strong conviction behind it.

Assembling MDF boards, mineral wool, wooden planks, and glued membranes delivered from the factory is not really an answer.

I’m not the original poster, but I’ll reply anyway.
The choice in favor of a prefab house is always completely subjective. Some people don’t mind adding external thermal insulation composite systems (ETICS) to the facade, while others prefer to build solid masonry. There isn’t just one type of prefab house. I wouldn’t want to move into a thin wooden box wrapped in foil either. But a house from a regional supplier made almost entirely of wood—that’s how we build, and I find the indoor climate more comfortable (and yes, I know that the wall construction isn’t everything). My husband has lived almost exclusively in wooden or timber-framed houses his entire life. So, solid masonry was quickly ruled out for us.

Sometimes it sounds like prefab houses are considered to be of lower quality. There are good reasons for that. But I do agree with the skeptics: time and cost savings are not among them.