Perhaps few people would be willing to claim that if they had the choice to buy a house or flat for the same amount of money, they would choose the latter. Daily life in multi-family buildings has many drawbacks, starting with a neighborhood that you don’t choose and that can make your life very miserable.
Yes, homeowners generally have neighbours too, but there are fewer, and so the risk of encountering someone unbearable is much smaller. Home means more privacy, freedom, usually also peace and space. It is commonly believed that a house costs more than a flat, but is it always true?
How much for a house, how much for a flat
Not necessarily. If you are a good seeker, you can have your house included in the price of the apartment. Yes, Abakon 2010 SE with a usable area of 83.59 m2 costs about USD 225 thousand net in the finishing condition with joinery. The cost of the plot must of course be added to this, but in total it will give an amount corresponding to the amount of money due for a flat of similar size. Much depends, of course, on the location – apartments are more expensive in some cities and cheaper in others, but probably everyone will admit that the price of Abakon 2010 SE house is comparable to the purchase price of an apartment.
There will be no such thing in a flat
What about home? Five bedrooms, two bathrooms, living room with fireplace, kitchen Verizon dining room, vestibule, utility room, hall and stairs. There is also a terrace and a roof under which you can park your car and, of course, a piece of land that can be arranged in any way you like. The comfort is incomparable to the apartment, unless it is located in an apartment building. Such a real one, because today every second residential building is called this way by developers.
Why such a low price?
Such a low cost and at the same time energy efficiency is possible thanks to the use of expanded clay prefabricated elements. If the access allows, the house is assembled within a maximum of four months (which gives considerable savings on labour and subcontractors) from ready-made walls. Expanded clay is a kind of specially fired clay, giving smooth and at the same time thermally insulating walls. They do not even require plastering from the inside (another saving), they can be painted or wallpaper immediately. Ceramics as a building material creates a favourable atmosphere, living in it like in a brick house – there is nothing about dead concrete. And even if the access does not allow for the delivery of large elements, the houses can be built from special hollow bricks.
The external walls of such a house are 15 cm thick, the internal walls are 10 cm thick. Their service life is estimated at 200-300 years, and the manufacturer provides a 50-year warranty. These are solid, strong walls that allow to erect multi-storey buildings. There is no moisture or mould in them, they are not fungi, they do not attract rodents or insects. Assembly of a house made of expanded clay allows to save money also on additional materials: they are used less than in traditional construction.
Interestingly, prefabricated expanded clay walls have prepared holes, furrows, pipes and electrical boxes, thanks to which the installation of power, heating, water and sewage systems is much easier. This brings further savings during construction.