Prefab house made of Neopor - experiences?

The neopore layers are just additional insulation and space for cables and such.

They are insulation on the outside at best (where, for example, porous bricks need less "ETICS" than concrete; in this respect you have to mentally "discount" the thickness here), and on the inside you cannot fully recess flush-mounted boxes in them. Planning for empty conduits and core drilling is no child's play. There are reasons why such seemingly DIY-optimal systems are not widespread in commercial residential construction - where products that can be processed by unskilled helpers are gladly used - (precisely not "nevertheless"). The marketing romance paints the picture of "anyone can play with Lego," which unfortunately is only half the story. The real core is: the blocks are light before filling, and therefore easy to assemble without much effort; and the walls come out straight and plumb even without a plumb line and spirit level. But until the shell construction is finished, they are overall still too labor-intensive to process for contractors or developers to be tempted to see a Columbus egg in them.

There is no insulation on the outside at all (where, for example, porous bricks would require less "ETICS" than concrete, so you have to "discount" the thickness here in your mind), and you can't fully recess flush-mounted boxes on the inside. Planning for empty conduits and core drilling is not child's play. ....

Clearly, aerated concrete requires less exterior insulation. But it also doesn't have the mass like concrete does. In the end, it depends on the builder what is more important to them. The thing with flush-mounted boxes isn't quite right. Flush-mounted boxes have a depth of 40mm. There are also deeper ones, though I don't recall their exact depth at the moment. I believe the maximum is 60mm. Most Neopor stones have an interior insulation of 50mm. Additionally, there is 10-20mm of base plaster on the walls. I think that should be enough for all standard flush-mounted boxes. But yes, beyond that, the concrete work becomes very difficult. All the more important is to plan ahead accordingly and include empty conduits. Regards Eddi

All the more important is to plan ahead accordingly and to include empty conduits.

Exactly, that is essentially what I am getting at: you have to realize that it is not that easy-peasy, even in advertising. I do not want to spoil anyone's insulated block; it certainly warms my engineer's heart what kind of ideas the developers of such systems have put into it - but the truth remains: that is still not the philosopher's stone.

Exactly, that’s my main point: you have to realize that it’s not quite so easy-peasy as advertised. I don’t want to spoil anyone’s concrete block; it does warm my engineer’s heart what kind of thoughts the developers of such systems put into this – but the truth remains: this is still not the philosopher’s stone.

Whether THIS is the invention of the millennium, I also tend to doubt. You can install quite a bit with interior insulation. By the way, treating a Poroton block after the windows are installed is no fun either. Stone fragments and dust generation are not negligible. So planning ahead is the be-all and end-all with every construction method. Even with prefab houses and their supposedly easy-to-work walls, you have major problems when it comes to insulation. Regards Red

I don’t know if it’s still current/relevant. But back then I also thought about building a Lego house out of Neopor. I just found the concept convincing and the respective provider (Hellmann), the only one who probably offered it, also came across so jovial and friendly "no problem at all, here the coffee ladies build their own house, all very simple." I then contacted the provider and asked a few very simple questions for understanding. Like why insulation wouldn’t be laid directly under the base plate as well, that would be ideal because of thermal bridges and all. Then came a rather rude reply that we were probably unsuitable for such a house because we asked too many questions and anyway? I found that absolutely off-putting and so the whole thing was dead for me. And back then I had even ordered an sample set from isorast, where you can have the building material sent in person to look at. In the end, we bought an old building. Looking back, I have to say that a masonry house to expand or something like that would have been significantly less work, since the "tearing out" of the old stuff doesn’t apply. But we have the claim that everything should be new in the end. Still, we are glad we decided like that back then, also considering the costs. In any case, I would advise thoroughly questioning the provider and seeing how long he remains friendly...

I don’t know if this is still current/relevant. But back then I also thought about building a Lego house out of Neopor. I just found the concept convincing ...

Wow, that doesn’t sound good at all. I have now contacted several providers, including heavy builders and prefabricated builders. Only one of them really annoyed me. He simply didn’t listen. For him, the only thing that mattered was that I understand what a m² costs. Whatever. Hellmann doesn’t ring a bell at all. I suspect he is an Isorast distributor. We have another one (Weller). But we also had contact with other providers. Bäuerle Bau Team (very likeable) Magu (versatile) Styrostone (very informative) Schalsteine24 Variant-Haus-Group Regards Red-Ed