Solid construction - definitely us
Since we are already planning our house, how should one plan and build a house? Where is the trend going? Back to solid houses? Or are prefab houses etc. still in trend?!
Is it simply a cost question? Whoever can afford solid construction does it, the others without money just settle for prefab houses??
Hello Bauer,
well, the whole thing about "solid from stone or timber frame construction," to me, having browsed through many websites and construction magazines for a few months now, almost seems like a matter of faith à la "Star Wars or Star Trek ???"!
Personally, I find it totally ridiculous that advocates of both construction types fight each other fiercely and always point out the disadvantages of the other construction method...
I can tell you as an independent soon-to-be-homebuilder how I see it:
1. Banks still (regardless of what they say upfront) value a solid house better than a prefab house with timber frame construction; this is important for loan approval, i.e., in property valuation/appraisal.
2. Solid houses have a lower depreciation than timber frame construction houses.
3. Solid houses are easier/faster to sell than timber frame construction houses.
4. Solid houses are better regarding soundproofing than timber frame construction houses.
5. Solid house walls usually have to be thicker (= less net living area!) than those of timber frame construction houses with comparable later U-value, if you want to build monolithically (e.g., with just one type of brick, without an external thermal insulation composite system [ETICS]), which we want, by the way, because:
6. ETICS, which are multilayered, are personally too prone to defects for me (depends on the installer), and most timber frame construction houses I have seen so far have multilayered ETICS.
- Yes, there are also solid wood houses, but those are very expensive in comparison.
7. Solid houses/their stone walls are supposed to have better heat storage capacity and also keep the heat outside better in summer. I can confirm this regarding my grandparents’ house in the south. Inside it’s always nice and cool while outside the heat is blazing.
8. "Prefab houses," especially timber frame construction houses, are MORE EXPENSIVE (!!!) than solid houses that you get through tenders together with an architect!!!
- How do I know this?
I honestly have about 80 construction magazines here, and there are always some houses from prefab house providers, who mostly build timber frame construction houses with ETICS, and then also solid houses, which were realized together with (usually at least) an architect.
I calculate the price per square meter EVERY TIME, and I found out, strangely, that timber frame construction houses with ETICS from prefab house providers are always more expensive than mostly solid architect houses!
It might be because the timber frame prefab house providers have an administrative apparatus, many employees, advertising, branch offices, etc., so all that has to be paid for first.
- Okay, you also have to shell out a few thousand euros for the architect, but in the end, that pays off (if you have a good architect).
- Speaking of architects: I have three in the close selection, and all three say they build about 90 to 100% solid houses; although they can do timber, most Germans want solid.
Surely there are more pros and cons, but I don’t have them all in my head.
- Anyway, because of some of the above reasons, we have decided on a solid house. Whether prefabricated parts or brick by brick, that is still to be decided (I still have to consult the future architect).
- The reason I keep writing "timber frame construction houses" instead of just "prefab houses" is because, as already correctly mentioned, there are also solid prefab houses!
So, these are cast finished or bricks stacked in the factory, and then the individual panels, sometimes even whole rooms, sometimes even with pre-installed kitchen, are brought on large trucks, and voila, your solid house is finished.
The monolithically built walls - with good but thick stones - just seem somehow more trustworthy to me; if something happens there, I immediately know it’s the stone or some kind of seal or something, and with the other construction method I first have to guess which layer of the ETICS might have a problem... - I also think that repairs on a monolithic system (also solid wood, of course) should be easier and therefore cheaper than on a multilayer ETICS system.
There are also good bricks (e.g., porous bricks) that are then additionally insulated with a single-layer insulation material, achieving equally fantastic or maybe even better values than a thick monolith; perhaps the total thickness of the wall is then the same, but by using insulation instead of a single thick brick maybe cheaper? Because monoliths with super good U-values could certainly be more expensive... - but as I said, I don’t have any experience with that yet, I have to ask myself first.
Because, as has been correctly said several times:
It’s all about saving energy.
Besides, with well-insulated and low-heat-consuming houses, you are also rewarded with low-interest loans from the KfW.
Regards
Honey Cake