Disadvantages of timber frame construction

2015-07-27 07:30:25

And regarding the buildings from the 80s or generally everything built between World War II and sometime until recently: that was simply a different time, the goal was to create a lot of living space cheaply. Even in East Germany, the prefabricated building was certainly not the architectural pinnacle of creation.

In East Germany, single-family houses definitely have to be evaluated differently than in the old federal states. A lot was produced in EL. Building materials were scarce and you had to take what you could get. Depending on the relationship with sellers of building materials and craftsmen in the circle of friends and acquaintances, the houses are therefore of very different quality.

When searching for existing properties, we therefore stuck to young used ones from the mid-90s. Since the market for these properties was very clear, building a house was not far off.

2015-07-27 08:41:23

I believe it’s more about the type of use... when you’re 65, you think about the 90 cm next to the bed and you dread having to vacuum the 3 empty children’s rooms again. You might also want a sauna now, and because you’ve saved well, a garage next to the house and a pavilion in the garden - and preferably never stairs again! As young parents, you’re happy when all the children have a room and the bathroom is small - because it’s cheap. The self-built carport is fine for now, and the sauna at the public brine spa (where you can never go anyway because you always lose 120 € right away with kids) is enough.

2015-07-27 11:11:57

I have no intention of moving for professional reasons, in case that's being considered. The employer can stubbornly oppose that for all I care. Likewise, we now want to build big enough so that we won't have to move again later for size-related reasons.

You are approaching this with preconceived opinions in many ways; in that respect, I am almost certain that I could be writing against a brick wall.... I actually mean retirement age – if you even have the luck to reach it fairly healthy; so somewhere from 65 years onward. Today you might put a lot of effort into designing a house (an architect can do that better) that takes your needs in old age into account. Your mistake there – how do you even know what you will want in old age? You can’t even predict with certainty what will happen tomorrow. Biographies change; sometimes faster than one would like. Rhineland regards

2015-07-27 13:20:10

To pick up the discussion again – why do you think that?

I have no intention of moving for professional reasons, in case that's being considered. The employer can resist if they want.
Likewise, we want to build so large now that we won’t have to move again later for size reasons.
Besides, the location of the plot is really great; I wouldn’t want to move to a worse location, and plots in such good locations are rare and expensive. That probably won’t change in the future.

And regarding the buildings from the 80s or generally everything built between World War II and recently: that was simply a different time; the goal was to create affordable living space. Even in East Germany, the panel buildings were certainly not the architectural pinnacle. But if I go back 100 years: a Gründerzeit old building still has a usable floor plan today. It was simply planned large enough. Just like I have a living room over 30 sqm here, nowadays a new build hardly plans it any bigger. In a two-room apartment, mind you. So fundamentally, nothing has really changed; there was only a multi-decade phase in between where more attention had to be paid to money when creating living space.

So how long does such a house actually last? I have read that nowadays roof tiles and roofing stones come with a 30-year warranty, and electrical installations and underfloor heating are said to be very, very durable. Doing exterior plaster, renovating the bathroom, replacing the heat generator, doing walls and floor coverings, etc. are, for me, more or less normal maintenance tasks now. But complete demolition down to the shell after x years and then having to redo electrical, sanitary lines, heating distribution systems, etc.?

So you’re a clairvoyant for the next 40 years and based on that, you build a house full of compromises – now it’s too big for you (kids missing), in five years it’s too small (after the triplets there will be another child), and when you’re old you won’t feel like living in a house that never really fit your life and isn’t suitable for your wheelchair.

2015-09-22 20:43:35

Regarding the initial topic. In our experience, banks and residential building insurances do not always react favorably to a wooden house. They often only recognize "Massivhaus" or "Fertighaus".

2015-09-22 22:26:10

At least with the banks, that is changing. The Sparkasse has made no distinction from the beginning, our main bank just told me that they also no longer make any general distinction nowadays.

I find it quite understandable that the building insurance is higher; if it burns down, everything really has to be replaced...

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Disadvantages of timber frame construction

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