Prefab house - yes or no?

So, if you are really able to define everything beforehand, then a general contractor will also tell you exactly down to the cent what the house will cost you. Regarding construction time, a prefabricated house must be prefabricated in the factory after signing the contract, which can also take several months depending on the workload. A solid construction also requires a certain lead time depending on the order backlog, but this is usually not as long as the time it takes for the prefabricated house to be manufactured. The shell construction was completed for us in about 5 weeks, even though we had asked for breaks in between because we had pulled all the cables ourselves. In other words, until the shell is up, normally a maximum of the 5 weeks of shell construction time can be added, but usually significantly less. The interior finishing is comparable (I have done both). In solid construction, you have to chase out slots and plaster the walls; in a prefabricated house, you have to double-board hundreds of square meters of walls and ceilings, fill and sand them – the rest is comparable. An acquaintance (prefabricated house) needed about 8 months from the setup date!!! to moving in, but he also did quite a lot himself; another (solid construction) only needed about 6.5 months but also did less himself. If you also add the lead time for manufacturing the house in the first case, it took significantly longer. Many are deceived by the fact that the house is put up so quickly in one day, but the house is not there one day after signing the contract, and inside there is then only a bare skeleton and still a lot to do. The only advantage when the house is set up is that you are quite independent of the weather; otherwise, a prefabricated house has no relevant advantages for me, especially not if you buy it turnkey.

Thank you for the detailed explanation. Everything sounds very consistent. Regarding turnkey, I would like to add that we decided on it because the surcharge compared to the "baustufe belagsfertig" stage was very low.

Also, just a feeling, solid construction has always been built, and it has always lasted, some solid houses have stood for over a thousand years. It can't be wrong.

Everyone as they like. There are wooden churches over 600 years old just as there are old solid buildings. Nevertheless, today the expected service life according to construction experts is 70-80 years for solid construction, 60-70 years for timber frame construction. Why it is so short for both, I have also discussed several times. It is attributed to the fact that standards have evolved so far that demolition is more economical than renovation. Both construction methods are supposed to have a longer service life purely technically. Depending on the source, modern timber frame buildings are also expected to have service lives of over 100 years.

once again you bring up the topic of solid houses when someone talks about their experiences with their prefabricated house. that’s about comparing apples to oranges. let me guess, you own a solid house?

ypg brings this up because it is simply wrong to claim that only prefabricated houses are available completely from a single source. it is simply wrong; if you want, you can get any type of house from a single source! that’s exactly what general contractors are for

That's how it is

You cannot speak of advantages on one side when the other has the same advantage.
I wrote above that each choice brings advantages, but this must be decided individually by the builder.

By the way, I only provide neutral information; what one makes of it, the reader must find out for themselves.

The very good predictability of prefabricated houses may be tempting. Finding solid construction contractors who have capacity available is currently difficult anyway. Many in our construction area therefore rely mainly on Swedish prefabricated houses. There, the economy hasn’t overheated as much, so the manufacturers can deliver, and as far as I can see, they do so reliably and quickly. Of course, you have to like the house style. Wooden facades, often bungalow style, you need a plot of land clearly over 600 sqm due to the large floor slabs. Very shallow roof pitches, open kitchen-living rooms, relatively small bedrooms, but large living areas. However, then you are certainly not getting a bad house at a fair price, and you can rely on it being finished by date [xy].

They are...?

-As mentioned, a lower valuation when buying used or refinancing. Generally, expert reports assume a usage period about 20 years shorter.
-The sound insulation is not comparable to a 20cm concrete ceiling and walls made of sand-lime brick. Before we built, we visited several prefabricated houses, ranging from very cheap to upscale price levels.
-Possible problems with mounting heavy objects.
-Each hole pierces the vapor barrier. To what extent that matters if a screw is put back in afterward I cannot judge, but it seems suspicious to me if I first tape everything meticulously and then drill holes again.
-And to conclude, a brief summary of what I found on the internet back then:
In the prefabricated house, a drain pipe in the kitchen was not properly connected, which fortunately was noticed quite quickly. Nevertheless, 2 walls had to be opened up again and the soaked insulation replaced extensively. According to the expert, it was lucky that this was detected so soon, because if the water had leaked more slowly and the damage had not been noticed as quickly, the wooden frame might have been affected, which would have required a very costly renovation, if at all possible. It was also lucky that it was in the kitchen and not upstairs in the bathroom, where the water would have run down and spread out nicely.
In solid construction, something like this is no fun either, but drying is probably easier here and the building structure is significantly more resistant.

A quick counter-question: what actual advantages does a prefabricated house offer? And please, not that it is faster. We already discussed that planning etc. takes about the same time. Apart from that, most people live in their house 40-50 years, so is being 4 weeks earlier or later really decisive?
I mean real, tangible advantages!
The only one I see is the reduced effort for water and electrical installation. But that only applies if you do it yourself. Most will probably have that done, so please list the advantages for the finished house!

A small addition, this is not a disadvantage of the prefabricated house, but I would call it an advantage of the solid house. We were still able to add an extra wall and change a window during the construction phase—try that with a prefabricated house...