Prefabricated house or solid construction - what is your opinion?

Hello Dirk, thank you for your quick response! The Excel sheet is a great idea and will be implemented by my husband this very evening! I will probably receive the construction service descriptions at the first appointments with the respective companies? We have already extensively informed ourselves about additional construction costs & still more will surely come. We just want to be really well informed beforehand so that no 150 TEuro suddenly means our ruin. ^^

Hello,

yes, usually you will receive the construction service description at the latest by the first appointment. You should also place great importance on having everything defined as precisely as possible. Statements like "usual quality" and "typical craftsmanship" execution, for example, leave a lot of room for interpretation (see "Dacia" and "Porsche"...

You can also request information material by mail – reputable companies have no problem sending their usually very detailed construction service descriptions.

I would recommend that you also visit a new housing development and have a look around – if you like one or the other house, you can definitely approach the residents and ask who built the house and what their experiences are.

Something you should also keep in mind – the construction contract should already include all your wishes (special features, floor coverings, etc.) as far as possible. Therefore, it makes a lot of sense to do a so-called preliminary sampling before signing the contract in order to include the most important wishes (e.g., walk-in shower, recessed spotlights, ...) in the contract.

With most construction companies, the final equipment specification only comes after signing the contract, so it is extremely important to know what still lies ahead for the builders.

For example, despite a very comprehensive preliminary sampling, we still added just over 10% to the fixed price during the final equipment specification.

However, we had planned a buffer for exactly that from the very beginning.

Best regards,

Dirk

Thank you! Those are really good tips!
You can probably do the preliminary sampling at solid and wooden construction companies as well, right?
I heard from a provider yesterday that after signing the contract, I have to go to the Dutch border to the sample workshop and choose everything there. Is that common?

We favor the regional provider anyway (a good friend built with them two years ago) - I’m curious to what extent a fixed price can be contractually agreed here.

I do think that most providers from both segments offer these preliminary samples.

With us, companies that did not offer any were immediately removed from the list of potential contractors.

Visiting the company's headquarters is also common, as due to the variety of possible materials, not every consultant can have even close to everything on site.

The provider at the Dutch border wasn’t by any chance called G....k?

A regional provider is a good idea; however, the "big" prefabricated house providers are not always available locally. But the extra travel can be worth it.

If you want, I can send you the link to our construction blog, where we have just reported a lot on the topic of choosing the "right" company.

Regards,

Dirk

I would love to read the construction blog! That would be nice!

The thing with the Dutch border was awesome. My husband was blown away! There you get kitchen, garage, spa bathroom, Vespa and iPad for FREE!!!
We picked 2 providers for the prefabricated house, B*Z* and Schw..
The regional house building company would build massively.

Hello,

You are really just at the very beginning ... if the following answer is meant seriously!

The thing with the Dutch border was a**k**f. My husband was blown away! There is a kitchen, garage, spa bathroom, Vespa, and iPad FREE of charge!!!

I want to see the provider who has something to give away Not even the budget builders of the blue faction. Moreover, one or several looks into the contract terms are advisable with this provider.

We picked out 2 providers for the prefabricated house, B*Z* and Schw..
The local house building company would build massively.

The above also applies to B*Z* (contract terms); with Schw***r you have chosen a reputable provider.

Best regards from the Rhineland