When building a new home, every builder is faced with the question of what construction method is best. Whether it is a solid house or a prefabricated house, both types of construction have advantages and disadvantages that must be weighed against each other.
In terms of market distribution, the answer is clear. Currently around 20% of all newly built single- and semi-detached houses are built using prefabricated construction (source: Bundesverband Deutscher Fertigbau eV), almost four out of five houses are massively built. So, despite these numbers, what speaks in favor of the prefab home and why do most builders build a solid house? Let’s give the answer.
SOLID HOUSE OR PREFABRICATED HOUSE BROUGHT TO THE POINT
Prefab homes have a prefabricated base structure, usually an industrially produced timber frame structure, which is transported to the building site and erected on site. The wooden frame is covered on both sides with prefabricated panels and the cavities are thermally insulated. Since the individual parts are industrially produced to order, it is possible to quickly build a prefabricated house within a few days of factory production. The timber frame structure can be an important topic for environmentally conscious builders, since the building materials, depending on the insulation used, essentially consist of renewable raw materials.
The massive houses are built on site using the traditional brick-on-stone construction method, with the exception of the variant in which the external wall elements are also prefabricated in a brick factory. The building envelope and load-bearing internal walls are made of natural, massive building materials such as brick, aerated concrete, pumice or sand-lime stone. Thermal insulation results from the thermal conductivity of the stones installed in the external masonry.
Solid houses can be designed very flexibly due to their construction. Where prefabricated houses are tied to their prefabricated basic structure, in massive houses the architect can take all individual wishes into account and incorporate them into the design. All building owners’ dreams, no matter how unusual, can be realized. This makes each solid house unique. Flexibility is also an advantage if the house needs to be renovated or expanded at a later time. In principle, with massive houses built stone by stone anything is possible, while the timber frame construction of the prefabricated house sets clear limits here.
INTERNAL CLIMATE AND ACOUSTIC PROTECTION
Prefabricated houses are essentially made with the natural and renewable raw material of wood. However, insulating the spaces between the wood studs with an additional moisture barrier to protect the wood structure creates a building envelope so tight that air and moisture cannot be balanced without ventilation. Solid houses, on the other hand, have a natural balance of humidity. Solid wall building materials can absorb and release water vapor, ensuring a healthy indoor climate.
Even when it comes to acoustic insulation, the answer to the question between a solid house and a prefabricated house is clear. In a solid house, the greater mass of the building materials already ensures good sound insulation outside and inside the house. The lightweight construction of prefabricated houses has obvious disadvantages, especially regarding the transmission of footfall noise between individual rooms.
THERMAL INSULATION AND FIRE PROTECTION
At first glance, prefabricated houses have an advantage in terms of thermal insulation. With the same wall thickness, the costs for insulating the wall of a prefabricated house are lower than the costs of producing thermally insulated stones for the conventional brick wall. The external and internal walls of a solid house, due to their mass, are ideally able to store heat and release it only slowly. This creates comfort and saves on heating costs in the transition period, when daytime temperatures are still warm but nights are already cold.
Since solid houses consist almost exclusively of non-combustible building materials, they offer optimal fire protection requirements. In the case of a prefabricated house, additional effort is required in the cladding of the timber frame structure to achieve the same fire protection.
DURATION AND RESALE VALUE
It is obvious to everyone that a solid conventional house, stone by stone, is built “for eternity”. But even modern prefabricated house constructions have a technical lifespan of over 100 years. However, for a prefabricated house the loan value at banks is often lower. This is because the resale value of prefab homes is lower in direct comparison. Solid homes have a more stable value. Solid house or prefabricated house, in terms of maintaining value, solid houses are definitely the best investment for a builder.
latest posts published
Elegance and versatility for your table
Plant shelf: transform your interior!
creative tips for your stay
Comfort and style at home
mix styles and dishes!
Transform your interiors with elegant pastel colors
Give a unique Boncoeurs gift
Olfactory elegance: reinvent your interiors
Brighten up your windowless space: effective tips
