Swedish Element House / AB-Elementhus Renovation vs Demolition

  • Erstellt am 2019-06-12 17:51:18

ChriHol

2024-03-27 21:55:59
  • #1
Hello Jana,

welcome to the club! I currently have no idea what an Aengelholm looks like; it is not included in the catalogs I took over from the previous owner.

What do you mean by craftsmen seeing a need for renovation? What does that refer to? Walls or load-bearing elements? Windows? Electrical installation?

Of course, you can renovate gradually. That requires patience and composure, because the house turns into a permanent construction site. That’s really not everyone’s thing, I speak from experience. Therefore, you should think it over carefully. Moreover, there are renovation measures that are much easier to carry out in an empty house. For example, the heating question. How do you want to heat in the future? What kind of heating system is installed now, which radiators? If a heat pump is an option, you should definitely consider underfloor heating. It is not only more efficient than radiators but also much more pleasant. And that, for example, I would do while the house is still empty.

Then there’s the question of additional internal insulation of the exterior walls. The walls are already significantly better insulated than average. Nevertheless, our energy consultant advised us to add internal insulation and new windows. That, too, is much easier as long as the house is empty and no one is disturbed by the unavoidable dust.

Independently of the heating question, I would critically examine the floors. Have you already checked how the structure is on the ground floor and how it is in the attic? In our case, there were two layers of bitumen-impregnated hard fiber boards laid crosswise on the basement ceiling (concrete), then another layer of thin hard fiber, and on top of that parquet, laminate, or carpet. Over the years, the unevenness of the basement ceiling pressed through, so the parquet became slightly wavy. You don’t necessarily see that at first glance. There was screed only in the basement, the kitchen, and the bathroom.

Like HarvSpec, we decided on a dry construction underfloor heating system; we cursed quite a bit while installing it but spent the first two winters in very pleasantly tempered rooms. Warm wooden floorboards are simply heavenly... (Sorry, had to say that. The floors were connected with a lot of sweat and tears, but it was so incredibly worth it!)

On that occasion, we also installed a secondary wall on the interior walls and routed the electrical installation behind it, because, in our opinion, there were too few sockets in the house.

As far as I know, Coloroc is asbestos-free, as in general SEH placed much earlier than others on producing free of harmful substances. The company that manufactured the stones is now called Marmoroc; they can certainly say something about the composition of Coloroc.

The neighboring house is a Landskrona. The owner decided to replace the Coloroc façade with an ETICS façade; however, I don’t know how or if he ventilates the wooden walls behind it at all.

Many greetings
 

Hanina

2024-03-27 22:57:17
  • #2
Hello Jana,

we also live in the same region and have presumably had the "same" house for years. I also strongly suspect that the Coloroc facade is asbestos-free, but I have never had it tested. A few years ago, I completely repainted the facade, including priming and two coats of paint. The coats are so thick that they would seal everything anyway. Of course, the back of the stones is not sealed. Before the purchase, we had formaldehyde tests done. They were negative or at a very low and acceptable level in the smallest rooms. Renovations are somewhat more complex because you have to proceed with caution in some areas. Inside, we covered everything with Fermacell boards and had them plastered. For example, you should make sure that no extremely long screws are used for the boards that perforate the vapor barrier everywhere. We paid a lot of learning money regarding craftsmen, and it does no harm to ask once more and to keep an eye on things. If you are considering a photovoltaic system, I advise you to have the statics calculated beforehand. I had this done a few years ago because the rafter spacing seemed relatively large to me. The result was that it was still sufficient to meet the current normative requirements. However, the roof does not have much reserve left. The system is now installed and works perfectly.

Best regards
 

ChriHol

2024-04-02 12:54:36
  • #3
Hello Jana,

I had overlooked the pictures of the opened ceiling that you posted last week. That doesn’t look like the original ceiling construction to me; but I could be mistaken, because according to the previous owner we still have the "old" ceiling construction made of elements filled with sawdust. If the supports for the drywall panels can be properly attached, that is certainly a good option, has done that too.
 

HarvSpec

2024-04-02 16:40:25
  • #4
However, we also have the sawdust ceiling panels. But if you want them, it's a bit of effort.
 

HerrHeld

2024-04-07 17:50:03
  • #5
Hello dear forum,

I can only agree, a truly exemplary forum here with great and helpful posts. We are facing the exciting decision to buy an AB element house and your experiences are super helpful.

We have a question about your pollutant tests. Did you have them carried out by a specialist? If not, where did you buy your test kit and what were your experiences with it? You really encourage us here that the houses are not heavily contaminated.

This will be a wild ride with renovation and purchase but we are looking forward to it.

Best regards from Besigheim.
 

ChriHol

2024-04-07 18:12:44
  • #6
Hello,

the seller commissioned an expert at that time.

Best regards Christoph
 

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