Experiences with Glatthaar Fertigkeller

Dear forum,
since I believe that other forum members might also be interested in how a basement from the market leader for prefabricated basements in Germany looks in our case, I have decided to post the following contribution.

We recently constructed a basement with the company Glatthaar Fertigkeller in the "Thermosafe" design (core insulation) with waterproofing against rising seepage water. We decided on this because after the sales discussion, we felt justified in paying the additional cost for this design due to:
- Preserving the concrete look inside as well as outside, which would have matched the house with a natural wood facade
- Savings by not necessarily needing plastering inside and outside, just painting with concrete glaze

Unfortunately, this could not be realized for the following reasons:

- Inside, the door and window reveals are executed in such a way that plastering the corresponding interior walls is practically unavoidable.
- Outside, the joints were executed in such a way that plastering is also necessary there ("putty pockets" instead of butt joints, although otherwise agreed)

You can see both in the attached pictures.

To be fair, Glatthaar Fertigkeller agreed after appropriate discussion to plaster the exterior area. Unfortunately, this means that the originally planned preservation of the concrete look is no longer possible. According to Glatthaar Fertigkeller, the interior execution as shown in the picture is "normal". Interested builders can form their own opinion based on these pictures.

It should also be mentioned that despite the contractual agreement "Q1 joint closing," I was only able to exert enough argumentative pressure after consulting an expert for Glatthaar Fertigkeller to seal the joints. I also have a picture of this as an example (that was before grouting).

Another part of my experience with Glatthaar Fertigkeller is that the base insulation was not properly extended down to the slab insulation, which according to the expert is a clear technical defect and not a standards-compliant execution (see picture). After an expert inspected my basement and informed me, Glatthaar Fertigkeller at least financially covered the subsequent sealing.

Furthermore, I want to mention that the aforementioned company Glatthaar Fertigkeller did not install the dimpled membrane with their own subcontractors but orally commissioned my earthworks company without prior consultation. To be fair, I can add: after some discussion, Glatthaar Fertigkeller covered the costs for this.

Based on the above and further – not elaborated here – experiences, I can personally conclude that I regret the decision for the company Glatthaar Fertigkeller. In my – of course purely subjective assessment – I have never had similar problems and disputes with any other trade – and none has cost me nearly as many nerves so far.

Have fun – nonetheless – building!

SteffenS

Hello,

we have had only good experiences with Glatthaar Fertigkeller.

Our basement consists of WU concrete with waterproofing against rising seepage water and is insulated on the outside. We have the "Dreischeibenwände" which were poured on site with in-situ concrete.

The construction was completed on time as promised and we have no complaints regarding quality. All openings for sockets and lamp outlets are exactly where they should be, all walls are straight and for concrete almost unnaturally smooth.

The only defect we had was a small air bubble (about the size of two tennis balls) under the factory-installed insulation beneath a basement window in the in-situ concrete.

After a short phone call with the site manager, a team from Glatthaar appeared on our construction site the very next day to add the missing concrete.

We can therefore wholeheartedly recommend the company Glatthaar.

Regards,

Dirk

Hello Dirk,

yes, the term "smooth" was also often emphasized in the sales conversation. Only, as you can see in my pictures, unfortunately nothing is smooth there. Also, something that is rarely mentioned beforehand: Only one side of the interior walls is smooth formwork. And there is no contractual assurance of "smooth" as such – I would have liked that, but I was persuaded otherwise. My own fault, one could perhaps say rightfully.

Anyway, the question to the forum: Do the reveal areas in Glatthaar cellars always look like this? That is what they are trying to make me believe. So far, there has been no financial concession, even though I now have to plaster the reveal area and the affected walls.

Therefore, I cannot share your recommendation (probably understandable with the attached pictures).

Regards, Steffens

Since I have now dealt with the topic a bit or am currently doing so, weren’t these deficiencies already apparent when erecting the walls? Or did they only arise gradually? In the event that these things are already visible on the truck or during erection, one should probably have intervened earlier, especially regarding, for example, the window reveal. As you already wrote, one actually takes this approach exactly for these reasons, a smooth plaster-like surface as well as prefabricated i.O components.

Hi home builder, yes, you could already see that when it was being set up - but what can you do when the installation date of the house is 14 days later. However, the company Glatthaar Fertigkeller does not consider this a defect. If you meet a representative of the company Glatthaar Fertigkeller - I would be interested in their reaction to the pictures. However, the execution of the reveal areas is - compared to the numerous other disputes with the company Glatthaar Fertigkeller - not even the worst for me. In any case, when I hear "Glatthaar" and as above "almost unnaturally smooth": I can't quite believe it based on my experience. Attached is another view - which probably won't be found in the glossy brochure. Regards, Steffens

Well, as you already mentioned in the picture yourself, what I can say about this as a layman is far from good and evil. As I said, I am only a layman and not a plasterer or bricklayer, but in the current situation I probably would not have had these parts installed. It’s easy to say now and I also don’t know if it would even be possible if, as you said, deadlines have to be met.
As wrote, he also worked with this company and there were apparently no problems. It’s just incredibly annoying as so often and if you’re unlucky, then usually really so.
do you maybe have a picture from your installation of the basement?
For other interested parties in prefabricated basements, these are good examples and for my part, should it come to it, regardless of which provider since there are still really many who also offer smooth surfaces, I will of course bring up such examples without naming other providers and get a statement in advance!
Thanks in advance for that, even if it no longer helps you personally.
Could one possibly have intervened here with a construction supervisor / expert / architect or similar who was on site during the installation?