We have been building for a year now including the planning phase, etc. Also in the PI district and have dealt with numerous companies. My experiences are based on personal conversations, acquaintances among craftsmen, and employees in various companies that work with them.
I see the following companies
- Team Massivhaus (builds approx. 800 houses/year)
- Ö-Haus
- Kagebau (builds approx. 150 houses/year)
- ECO Haus (builds approx. 150 houses/year)
- Kraft&Pahlke
- Town & Country
- Stollhaus
- Virtus Bau
- Hauscompagnie
- Helma
- Viebrockhaus (builds approx. 1100 houses/year)
- KSW Massivhaus (approx. 50 houses/year)
- Generalbau Peters
- KS Bau Tornesch
- PE Massivhaus
- Nissen Massivhaus (approx. 50 houses/year)
Team Massivhaus did not convince us in the conversation. Also, acquaintances had some problems building with them.
We are building with Kagebau. More on that below.
Town & Country, Stollhaus also had personal conversations that did not go particularly well in our opinion.
Hauscompagnie – I would have REALLY liked to build with them. The conversation was great. The prices were also completely reasonable and the sampling very good. I can only advise you to meet with them at least once.
Viebrockhaus – if you want almost no problems, then this company. But the price is five figures higher than with others. In the close family circle, a salesperson and a construction manager work there. It wasn’t worth it for us since we ourselves have quite a few craftsmen in the family who can also occasionally take a look at our place. EL (own contributions) is practically not possible there, as the trades are strictly scheduled to ensure 3-4 months construction time. At least, that’s what we were told in the conversation.
Generalbau Peters – First impression was very good, but there were no concrete discussions because we already signed shortly after initial contact.
The following aspects play a role here
- Price/performance ratio (also after sampling)
- Construction time (from signing to key handover)
- Construction quality
- Good planning phase, construction phase, and warranty phase
- Possibly own trades
- Possibly use of own contributions
Now explicitly about Kage again. I would rate price/performance at 8/10. The sampling is quite expensive if you have high demands. It definitely can be cheaper; sometimes I see prices here in the forum. If you want exact figures, feel free to PM me (I just noticed you don’t have 100 posts. Can I send you one and you reply to it? Maybe someone here knows?).
You negotiate sockets etc. anyway with the subcontractors. Also, you can get something yourself, for example a washbasin, and talk to the sanitary installer to install it. They just want a data sheet.
The 8 is more because the sampling is expensive in some ways and not because of the quality.
Construction time for us is about 8 months. It can be faster, but that was fine for us. We knew from the start approximately how long it would take and then you adapt to it. We also had no pressure (job change, termination of apartment, etc.)
According to our surveyor and the Viebrockhaus construction manager, the quality is very good. No serious defects, and if something wasn’t entirely clear, it was explained.
The planning was quite relaxed. You just pick a “standard house” and can then do what you want with the floor plan. We didn’t change much there. Kage has a mailing list you can sign up for. When houses are about to be handed over, you can look at the house. We did that several times and then already had an idea of how it would look in the end. There is also a model house park. However, there are only 5-6 houses, but that’s enough to get an impression.
The construction phase is going very well so far. Sometimes nothing happens for 1-2 weeks, but as long as important dates are met, it doesn’t bother us.
I can only report on the warranty phase from friends. There, tiles broke several times and a windowpane had a crack. That was replaced without any problems. Only the coordination was not good. Suddenly the craftsmen showed up at their door even though they didn’t know about it.
EL painter, flooring, paving is standard, but you can also buy those yourself there. Flooring work (vinyl etc.) is done by the company Knutzen. Price/performance is okay. Nothing to complain about. You can also assign the other two things through Kage, but I would rather try to find local companies myself. The price was too expensive for us.
Whether you can do entire trades like electrical or sanitary yourself depends on your attitude in my opinion. We took on one trade ourselves, but they weren’t really pleased about that at first. The problem is, if something goes wrong – who is then responsible? That sounds stupid at first, but you can understand that they don’t want unnecessary stress.
If you tell me which trade might be done in EL, I can tell you if it’s worth it or not. The prices at the subcontractors are reasonable.
In summary, we are very satisfied with our decision.
By the way, the shell is completely made by Kage. Except for the precast ceiling, everything is produced by them. Even the beams for the roof structure. German is spoken continuously on site. Also across subcontractors.