Monolithic or panel house: how they differ and which is better

Monolith or panel? Which building is better to buy an apartment in?

Many residents, when choosing real estate, cannot decide what suits them best - a monolith or a panel. At first glance, they are not much different, since similar technologies and materials are used in their construction, but on the other hand... Let's look at these 2 types of real estate and decide which one is better.

Main characteristics of a monolithic house

The main difference between a monolithic house and a panel house is the pouring of concrete. In monolithic construction, it is poured directly on the building site, and for panel houses, special concrete structures are manufactured in production. The process of pouring a foundation is very difficult to control, and non-compliance with special technology significantly affects the quality of the building structure.

The quality of monolithic houses is very high. You will not notice any seams on their facades, thanks to which they are wear-resistant and durable in all weather conditions. The service life of a monolithic house exceeds 1 century. When buying a house in a monolithic building, you can be calm about heat and sound insulation. In addition, thanks to the high quality, if desired, you have the opportunity to carry out numerous redevelopments.

The disadvantage of monolithic houses is that after purchasing the property you need to spend a significant amount on leveling the walls and floors, as well as finishing them. It is worth noting that compared to a panel house, much more time is spent on building a monolithic house.

Features of a panel house

If in a monolithic house the foundation is poured at the construction site, then concrete panels are specially developed for a panel house. The big advantage of this process is that the production of panels is constantly monitored for compliance with design documentation and regulatory quality requirements.

The construction of a panel house is much faster than a monolithic one, but the cost of such a house is significantly higher for the developer. You will ask why? This is because panel structures must be transported from the factory to the construction site, therefore, throughout the entire period of construction of the house, transportation costs amount to a significant amount.

The advantage of buying an apartment in a panel house is its cost, as well as the fast construction period. In addition, please note that the cost of interior finishing work will be much lower for repairs in a monolithic house.

The downside of a panel house is poor sound insulation due to the small thickness of the panel, the lack of underground parking, as well as the low wear resistance of the finishing of the facade of the house.

Please note that the above disadvantages are not static. It all depends on the developer and the quality of materials.

Panel houses are perfect for those who have a limited budget. Most often, such real estate is purchased by young families or those who want to improve their living conditions.

Panel or monolithic construction?

So what should you choose? Panel or monolith? Today, experts say that thanks to innovation in the construction industry, the future lies in the combination of technologies. European countries have long switched to panel construction, as it is much faster and is practically indistinguishable in quality from other types. Ukraine is also moving forward and trying different technologies. Each developer is individual, therefore, when giving preference to one or the other, not only look at the name of the building, but also at the authority of the developer and reviews of residents.

Source: https://novabydova.com.ua/blog/monolit-ili-panel-v-kakom-dome-luchshe-pokupat-kvartiru/

Construction approaches and results

Despite the fact that concrete is used as the main raw material used in building materials for the construction of both types of houses, there is a significant difference in the way it is used.

Quality control

Concrete slabs and panels for panel buildings are prepared industrially and delivered to the site in finished form. Quality control and compliance with project documentation is carried out at the enterprise, and the task of the builders is simply to correctly connect them, again under the supervision of professionals with many years of experience.

In monolithic construction, the material is poured directly at the site of construction of the house using specially prepared formwork. The technology makes it possible to build unique buildings and implement interesting individual projects, but monitoring the quality of concrete pouring is a complex task and, in some cases, difficult to accomplish.

Pouring a monolith at the site, photo: opalubka-system.ru

Degree of reliability of building structures

Unlike “panels” with inevitable seams between concrete slabs, a monolithic structure is integral.

Monoliths are more earthquake-resistant and durable; their service life is more than a century. The load on the load-bearing external walls of modern monolithic houses is uniform, so cracks almost never occur in them if they are filled correctly.

Number of rooms in apartments, housing configuration

In the panel buildings, most of the apartments are “one-room apartments” and “two-room apartments”, there are three less houses, and there are very few four-room apartments, although there are “vest” apartments. As for monolithic houses, there are practically no restrictions. The technology allows you to create rooms of exclusive shapes and any size, make all kinds of add-ons and transitions, and experiment with variable number of floors.

In addition, do not forget the many-loved advantage of monolithic new buildings - spacious underground parking.

Photo: goldenmile.club

Of course, in new series of panel houses, such as “PIK-2”, which involve the construction of the first floor as a monolith, such joy is also available, but most of the series common in Russia do not provide it.

Redevelopment and finishing, construction speed

As for the possibilities for redevelopment, in panel houses these possibilities are limited to internal load-bearing walls (again, we are not talking about improved series, such as “PIK-2”). Due to the absence of interior partitions in “monoliths,” you can independently and almost without restrictions design and arrange the interior space of your home.

However, the need to “complete the walls” scares off many potential buyers who want to move into a new apartment as quickly as possible and without additional renovation costs.

The planning solutions of “panels” are characterized by their formulaic nature, while those of “monoliths” are characterized by wide variability.

If the height of the ceilings is important, you should definitely choose a “monolith”, since in panel houses the ceilings are usually much lower. Finishing apartments in monolithic houses is less labor-intensive; thanks to high-quality formwork, the surfaces practically do not need leveling. In “panels” you often have to spend money on leveling the walls - accordingly, finishing is more expensive.

IMPORTANT ABOUT FINISH

Developers are increasingly, wanting to withstand competition, offering such an option as a turnkey apartment in a monolithic building, but still this is an additional fee and is not yet a common practice. Panel high-rise buildings often offer renovated housing, and it is in demand.

It should also be taken into account that panel houses are built three to five times faster than “monoliths”. Both housing options can be rented with both rough and fine finishing. Both types of houses require a well-thought-out ventilation system, and the air circulation system is worth paying attention to when searching for an option to purchase.

Monolith, brick or panel - which is more durable and safer?

Ilya Shirokolobov | www.sk-germes.ru,www.budservis.com.ua

In Soviet times, getting an apartment in a panel house was considered a great success. Many years have passed since then, and such houses gradually faded into the background. The market was flooded with new technologies that turned out to be much more effective than the old ones. However, due to scattered and incomplete information on the Internet, many people have a not entirely correct idea of this or that method of constructing residential buildings.

For example, not everyone knows how much the service life of monolithic houses exceeds the service life of panel houses, how different types of prefabricated houses differ from each other, and how stable buildings made from SIP panels are. In search of answers, the editors of “Roof” interviewed experts.

About the intricacies of modern house building

Today in Kazakhstan, three types of multi-storey housing construction are most common: panel, monolithic and brick. It is worth noting that new high-rise buildings can only conditionally be called brick, since buildings with load-bearing walls made of clay bricks have long ceased to be built, and those that are still for sale were built a long time ago. Now reinforced concrete and monolithic structures are used as the “skeleton” of the building.

Basically, the houses presented on the market in the “Monolith” category are built using brick-monolithic technology. Frame-monolithic construction is also common in our country. It is worth explaining that a brick-monolithic house consists of solid reinforced concrete structures, lined with bricks or blocks on the outside. Layers of insulation and waterproofing are laid between them, and the monolith is poured using formwork, inside of which a reinforcing mesh is installed. After the first floor is filled, the formwork is removed and moved higher.

Unlike the previous type, a monolithic frame house is a lightweight structure. First, the frame is assembled - columns, floor slabs and crossbars, and this happens in the factory workshops. The elements are brought to the construction site in finished form, after which they are assembled into a complete system. External and internal walls are made of lightweight materials, which allows you to adapt the layout of the building to any project.

Often panels are hung on the frame. In this case, the greater the number of layers and thickness, the better. The approach to external walls made using other technologies is approximately the same: two-layer ones are worse than three-layer ones; without insulation it is worse than with insulation; those covered with porous materials are worse than those covered with dense ones.

Naturally, such housing has its own characteristics. Anyone who has lived in a monolithic building knows that the sound of an impact from a fallen object in the apartment on the floor above is felt like a mini-earthquake. The “charms” of life in a monolith are especially felt by those with several children living above their heads. But there are also advantages - here you don’t have to worry about flooding your neighbors, water won’t leak outside the apartment.

As for panel construction , it is based on the use of pre-fabricated large reinforced concrete panels and factory-produced slabs. The technologies used in the construction of such houses in the Soviet Union had many well-known disadvantages. The quality of block houses directly depends on the thickness of the panel, the thermal insulation layer and the chosen finish - you should carefully study these parameters before buying an apartment so as not to wake up at night from extraneous noises behind the wall.

As Sergey Sinitsyn, general director of LLP “ and the man who literally built all the key objects of Almaty (Palace of the Republic, Sports Palace, Medeu skating rink, television tower on Koktobe, etc.) told us, there are fundamental differences between how built in the last century, and the way they are built now.

Is a panel house a worthy alternative to a brick house?

Which is better: a panel or brick house? To answer this question, it is worth briefly characterizing residential buildings made of panel blocks.

The panel is the youngest construction technology. It appeared in the second half of the 20th century in response to a public demand: to have cheaper, but quite comfortable housing.

We are talking about a type of modular construction. The building is erected from ready-made blocks. The material is manufactured in a factory where it is possible to maintain basic technological standards and produce high-quality material.

Fact ! In the 70-80s, the construction of residential buildings from panels was discredited. This is explained by the identification of serious violations in the technology of constructing buildings from blocks and the process of manufacturing the building material itself. Over time, technologies have been adjusted - today the market operates with fairly high-quality economy-class housing.

Both sides of the coin or the pros and cons of panel residential buildings

Buyers choose panel buildings based on the following positive characteristics of the building:

short construction period;
maintaining a large distance between load-bearing walls during the manufacturing process of the material - this makes it possible to carry out redevelopment (enlarge rooms, glaze a loggia, balcony) without disturbing the basic structure;
affordable cost due to the reduced price of the material;
The creation of a house project is carried out in accordance with the requirements of SNIP.

It makes sense to look at panel buildings from the other side and identify several disadvantages of such housing:

low level of thermal protection. In winter, such rooms are quite cold, especially at the junctions of panels. The problem is solved by external insulation;
poor sound insulation. You can increase the indicator by using soundproof material;
standard layout of apartments in a multi-storey building;
reduced service life.

By improving the production process of panels in modern residential buildings, it is possible to increase the housing area, equip 2 bathrooms, a storage room, and improve thermal protection and noise insulation.

Differences between panel, block, monolithic and brick houses

The housing market today is represented by several types of apartment buildings. Let's consider their features.

Characteristics of block and panel houses

What is the difference between block houses and panel houses? The width of the panels corresponds to the height of the ceilings in the room, and the width of the blocks is significantly less than this figure. Both panels and blocks are made of reinforced concrete. Houses built from panels or blocks have poor sound insulation, they are cold, and it is impossible to remodel them. But at present, the process of factory production of panels has undergone many changes, which has a positive effect on the quality of the products.

The main advantages of panel and block houses are the speed of their construction and the low price of apartments.

The difference between monolithic and brick houses

Every apartment buyer should know the difference between a monolithic house and a brick one. Monolithic house:

has high strength and earthquake resistance
has less weight compared to brick
faster to build
can be of any number of floors and with any layout inside
In rented apartments there are only load-bearing walls - the rest is decided by the buyer himself
has a lower construction cost compared to brick
the price of an apartment in a monolithic building is higher
construction takes longer compared to the construction of a panel
there are almost no seams between the walls
for monolithic houses any architectural forms are possible, and panel houses are of the same type
in monolithic houses there is an opportunity to realize the designer’s and owner’s fantasies
she works according to Federal Law 214
delivers objects on time
provides free legal support for the transaction
gives clients wide opportunities to use mortgages, military mortgages and maternity capital when purchasing apartments

What to choose: monolith or panel?

Various factors influence a potential buyer's choice. He asks himself questions and looks for answers to them that help him make the right decision.

What is the difference between a monolithic house and a panel house? Let's list it point by point:

What is the difference between a panel house and a brick house?

Even a modern panel house of improved quality is inferior in all respects to a brick one. Brick, as a building material, has been known for a long time and has proven itself in the best way. But this is a fairly expensive material, and the construction time for housing from it is long. Therefore, at present, apartments in panel houses are in great demand among buyers.

The size of the rooms in them has increased, and the height of the ceilings has also increased. Sandwich panels allow you to save heat and insulate your apartment from neighbor noise.

It is necessary to mention one more type of modern houses - monolithic brick ones.

GC "Siberia" offers you to buy a two-room apartment in Krasnodar in a monolithic brick building in a residential complex of comfort plus class.

The monolithic brick houses of the Vostochny Park residential complex are distinguished by their excellent quality, the presence of a landscaped local area with a kindergarten and parking there, as well as convenient apartment layouts.

The group has a reputation as a reliable developer, which is confirmed by the information on its official website:

We advise you to contact our office as soon as possible - while apartments in the building under construction are still available. By purchasing a home in a new building with a fine finish, you will give yourself and your loved ones a wonderful gift!

Source: https://xn—-9sbubg3ambdfl1j.xn--p1ai/klientam/228-razlichiya-mezhdu-panelnymi-blochnymi-monolitnymi-i-kirpichnymi-domami/

Which structure should the consumer choose?

Monolithic house for a person who loves a measured lifestyle. People who prefer a high floor for living can live in such a house. This type of housing is suitable for those who want to implement design solutions in their apartment. Moreover, such housing is ideal for a mortgage for young families.

An apartment in a panel house is suitable for people who do not have great financial resources. Yes, an apartment in such a house will be far from ideal, but a non-spoiled layman will be able to make the interior more comfortable, and for this you need to soundproof and heat insulate the apartment.

Considering the qualities of monolithic and panel houses, the choice seems obvious. The advantages of a monolithic structure are much greater than those of a panel structure. But the choice is yours.

Repair and constructionComment

What's better? Panel or monolith?

Having bought housing in a panel house, will you regret the purchase? After all, having paid extra and purchased an apartment in a monolithic building, you can not hear the screams of your neighbors behind the wall day after day, and not complain about the cold. And you can redesign your own living space quite easily. What to choose – panel or monolith?

Until now, thousands of Russians live in apartments in panel houses. Technological progress has also affected the technology of building residential buildings. It became possible to build taller houses with a qualitatively new level of comfort. Panel houses built using outdated technologies have a standard appearance and do not differ in variety.

Houses of the P-44T, KOPE, P-3M, GSM-1 series combine all the advantages and benefits of panel houses, and thanks to the use of modern technologies in their design and construction, they can seriously compete with monolithic houses. Panel houses are characterized by small apartment areas, low prices and fairly functional layouts.

It is also important that the apartment is almost ready for renovation, which cannot be said about monolithic houses. Unlike panel houses, monolithic houses have a more attractive appearance, since they are built according to “individual” projects. Apartments in monolithic buildings have a large area. Due to the absence of interior partitions, the owner can design his own apartment.

Distinctive features of buildings

To understand which houses are better, you should consider the characteristic features of buildings of each type.

Monolithic

Monolithic buildings are based on a building construction method that uses exclusively reinforced concrete. These structures are filled with mortar directly at the construction site, so there are no seams. There is no load-bearing wall in the monolith, so it is very easy to remodel the apartment.

Before buying a home, it is worth considering what other pros and cons a monolithic house has.

Advantages of monolithic houses:

They are being built quickly.
Minor shrinkage of the building.
High strength (virtual absence of seams).
Compared to other types - light weight (it is possible to build a structure on heaving soils).
The load is distributed evenly.
Durability.
Waterproof.
High resistance to earthquakes.

This type of building is resistant to external factors and has good performance properties. But it also has disadvantages.

Minuses:

Compared to other types, this one is the most expensive.
There is no construction in winter.
In order for the building's seams to be of high quality, concrete must be poured evenly and around the entire perimeter, and this requires highly paid professionals.
The walls require additional insulation.
Poor sound insulation.
The walls have poor vapor permeability, so it is necessary to install a forced ventilation system.

The disadvantages, however, are insignificant compared to the possibility of redevelopment, so if this is important for the future tenant, you can safely choose an apartment in a monolithic building.

Block

Block buildings are made from reinforced concrete blocks (expanded clay concrete or their cheap analogues - slag concrete).

The technology for their installation and construction is strikingly different from that used in the production of monolithic and panel buildings: the plant produces the monolithic frame of a multi-story building and individual blocks. At the construction site, only the building is assembled, that is, the blocks are connected to each other using cement.

Ceiling beams are made from reinforced concrete slabs. This structure is supported on load-bearing and additional walls. Therefore, redevelopment cannot be carried out in block buildings, since there is a high probability of ceiling collapse.

Panel

Panel structures were in great demand during the Soviet Union, as they were very quick and easy to manufacture. But such structures were cold and damp from the inside.

The manufacturing process of a panel house is reminiscent of block house technology. Now these buildings have become comfortable for living thanks to the development of block manufacturing technology.

Significant differences of a panel house:

The panels can withstand a certain load with a thickness of 180 mm. The blocks will withstand the same load with a thickness of 400 mm and above.
The panels are connected to each other using special metal parts, and the blocks are held together with cement mortar.

Today, panel buildings in their characteristics resemble monolithic and monolithic brick ones.

Monolithic brick house

There is another type - monolithic brick. It looks like monolithic frame buildings. The specificity of its structure is as follows: a reinforced concrete frame is poured onto the foundation, which is subsequently laid with bricks.

To understand why this type of structure is good, it’s worth finding out what the pros and cons of a monolithic brick house may be.

The advantages are as follows:

Heat retention. Cool in summer, warm in winter.
Soundproofing. Unlike block and panel structures, brick perfectly protects from the sounds of the outside world.
Brick allows air to pass through perfectly.
Environmentally friendly.
Strength and durability.
Brick does not require maintenance or treatment; mold will not appear on its surface.

Indeed, brick is an excellent option for building durable housing.

But even a brick house has its disadvantages:

High price. Brick today is an expensive material, which can only be worked by professionals, whose work also needs to be well paid.
Brick is prone to corrosion (over time, a white coating appears on it).
A long construction process, unlike panel or block houses.
Heavy weight of the building. When building a foundation, you need to pay attention to the soil on which the building will stand. If this factor is not taken into account, the entire building may collapse.

If the construction will be carried out from brick, it is worth considering very carefully all environmental factors. In this regard, brick is a very inconvenient material.

A monolithic frame house will have similar pros and cons due to the similarity in construction technology.

Which building should I choose an apartment in?

Purchasing an apartment is a very responsible and important moment. Before choosing which house to buy an apartment in, you need to carefully weigh all the pros and cons, so that in the future your purchase will evoke only positive emotions for many years.

So, in which building should I buy an apartment? Today there are three types of high-rise buildings: brick houses, panel houses and monolithic houses. Let's try to figure out what the main differences between these types of buildings are.

Brick house

Brick houses are being built in smaller quantities these days. More modern and cheaper materials have replaced brick, but, nevertheless, these houses are time-tested. They remain the best option for living.

Advantages of brick houses:

A brick house will last for many years, or even centuries. This is a durable, reliable, aesthetic and, importantly, environmentally friendly house.
Brick has fire-resistant properties.
Brick houses withstand various weather conditions well and do not rot.
Brick has a high heat capacity (this is both a plus and a minus). This means that in the summer it’s cool behind the brick walls, but in the winter it’s warm, but if in winter, when it’s cold, the heat is turned off for a long time (this happens in our country), it will be cold in the apartment. Short-term heat outages (5-6 hours, for example) will not greatly affect the temperature change in the apartment.
Another advantage of brick is that this material absorbs and releases moisture. In our climate this is a huge plus. It's easier to breathe in a brick house!

Disadvantages of brick houses:

As mentioned earlier, this is a large heat capacity of the brick, which is both a plus and a minus. If the brick house is new, you will have to wait until all the residents move in and the house shrinks. Shrinkage of a brick house, unlike a concrete one, does not occur with the entire building at once, but with its individual sides.

During a fire, brick loses 60-70 percent of its strength, and the masonry becomes brittle. Another disadvantage is the high cost of bricks, as a result of which apartments are more expensive than their competitors.

Panel house

Currently one of the most popular types of housing. Panel houses of the 137 series are in particular demand.

Advantages of panel houses:

In modern panel houses, new materials have begun to be used, so now panel houses are approaching the heat-saving indicators of brick houses, which is a significant advantage.
The building “shrinks” all at once. Even in a new house, you can immediately make repairs without fear of distortions.
Panel houses are the most affordable housing today.
Another advantage of panel houses is that they are delivered fully furnished. This significantly saves money and time.
But the main advantage of panel houses for consumers is still their low price.

Disadvantages of panel houses:

The joints between the panels are very difficult to make airtight. These are the statistics for today, what then can we say about Soviet-built houses? As residents say, there is “siphonitis” in the houses.

The disadvantages include very good audibility not only from the street, but also from neighbors. Panel houses have low ceilings. Many panel houses have very small kitchens.

Monolithic house

Monolithic construction is rapidly gaining momentum. Today, monolithic houses are already becoming a competitor to brick ones. This relatively young and fast method of constructing buildings is very promising.

Briefly about technology. At the construction site of the house, reinforcement is installed in formwork forms, and concrete is poured into the form. They wait for it to harden, then the mold is dismantled and transferred to the next floor, where the described steps are repeated. The result is a solid frame on a foundation made of piles.

Monolithic houses come in two types: brick-monolithic and monolithic-frame.

Brick-monolithic houses are based on a monolithic frame, and the external walls are made of brick and insulation (often aerated concrete is used as insulation).

Monolithic frame houses are houses built using the latest technology. Its essence is that first a monolithic frame is assembled, then external and internal walls are made from lightweight structures. Unlike other technologies, all frame elements (columns, crossbars and hollow-core floor slabs) are manufactured at the factory. They are only assembled at the construction site.

Advantages of monolithic houses:

Monolithic houses occupy a middle position between brick and panel houses.
The advantages over panel houses are the absence of seams at the joints, as a result of which heat loss is reduced. Such houses have good sound insulation.
The advantage over brick houses is the price. Another positive aspect is that the structures are supported by monolithic columns. So, when remodeling an apartment, you can safely remove the walls or punch arches into them. Redevelopment of apartments using this construction method is limited only by your imagination.
Monolithic houses are durable, their service life is estimated at 100 years. Environmentalists also confirmed the safety of such buildings. The monolithic structure ensures uniform shrinkage of the soil.

Source: https://issdom.ru/node/34

X-Files: what you need to know about panel, brick and monolithic houses?

Before delving into the pros and cons of each material, it is important to understand the developer’s logic. He chooses not the material for construction, as is commonly believed, but the entire construction system. The system is selected based on the segment: whether it will be economy class housing or luxury real estate. Obviously, in the first case, the emphasis is on the speed of construction and the availability of apartments for buyers, in the other - on quality, comfort and the corresponding high price.

Panel houses

In our country, panel houses began to be built en masse in the late 50s; they were supposed to provide housing for as many people as possible. There are about five generations of panel buildings in Russia, the most common being the five-story Khrushchev-era buildings. They, as now, are assembled from separate blocks, it resembles a construction set.

Price:

Panel houses are built quickly and easily; they are the most budget-friendly housing. However, the price for them is not always cheap - it is wrong to assume that panel houses are built exclusively in residential areas or on the outskirts. If land is expensive, the price of an apartment also becomes more expensive.

Term:

Different types of panel houses have their own service life; it is better to look at the documentation of a particular house. For some types of panel houses it can be minimal - fifty years.

Comfort:

Panel houses do not retain heat well and let in a lot of noise. It is difficult to redesign such apartments “for yourself” - the main structures of the house must be preserved, and it will not be possible to move the walls.

In modern conditions, developers can make a panel house with high quality - technology allows for better sealing of seams, this will increase heat and noise insulation. For example, houses made of expanded clay concrete slabs have good sound insulation, and the so-called sandwich panels (a three-layer material that consists of two sheets of metal and insulation between them) retain heat well, but in Russia they are not so common.

Ravil Khasanov - architect-designer, work experience - 12 years:

— The construction period depends on the technology and climate, but on average it is 7–12 months. This is one of the few advantages of this type of construction. Panel houses, in theory, can be made with high quality and correctly, but in reality they are of low build quality; they use cheap technologies and materials.

Panel houses are usually multi-storey - this is a huge wall. When many people live in a house, the areas adjacent to the house are distributed according to standards, and there must be at least minimal amenities - what the city authorities force you to do. This is usually a formal set - horizontal bars or a playground; Naturally, few people think about aesthetics.

Unfortunately, this also applies to work on a panel house as a whole. In theory, a panel house can be made of very high quality, but in practice this is almost impossible to find.

Monolithic houses

Monolithic buildings are a solid structure without seams. Special formwork serves as the main structure into which concrete is poured. For this type of house, a strong foundation is important - usually a concrete base slab, about a meter thick, reinforced with reinforcement. Such houses are very reliable: in the USSR they were built in seismic zones, now monolithic structures are used for reliability in the construction of some parts of military facilities, subways, and cosmodromes.

Monolithic houses began to be built en masse in the 90s, since then they have become increasingly more complex, and developers can choose more and more interesting architectural forms.

Price:

Construction of a monolithic house takes about one and a half to two years. They are relatively inexpensive and popular among people with average incomes. Sometimes this technology is also used in the construction of luxury houses and business class housing.

Term:

If the developer complied with all the standards during construction (the most important requirement is that concreting must be done at a temperature of +5 degrees or higher), then the service life of such a house is quite long - about 100-150 years.

Comfort

: The sound insulation in the house is good, but due to the characteristics of the material, vibration noise and impact noise will be heard - a hammer drill, musical bass. Since solid materials are used in the construction of such a house, they do not allow moisture to pass through - the likelihood that the neighbor above you will flood you becomes less.

Sergey Lobov, architect, work experience - 16 years:

— Monolithic houses are convenient to build, it is technologically advanced and quite fast. The technology itself has taken root in Russia because it is a visually understandable house: if you make the foundation and frame well, then it is impossible to spoil such a house. At the same time, an investor or builder can change the filling material in a monolith and use different architectural forms.

A big plus for the tenant is the small number of supports; you get an apartment with a free layout, which you can make “for yourself” - demolish the walls, attaching only to vertical partitions - risers with water, for example (

We remind you of the need to obtain the appropriate permits - editor's note
).
If I buy an apartment in such a building, I understand that I can rearrange everything - I like this freedom. Brick houses

Brick is a durable material for building a house, and is usually used to build luxury houses. Developers can afford to come up with an original architectural form, since the building is not built in one piece, each brick is laid out separately.

Price:

The highest cost, the construction of such a house is expensive. The construction period is about two and a half years.

Term:

Brick is the most reliable and durable material; if technology is followed, it can last up to 150 years; if the brick is ceramic - even longer. In this type of house, rotting is excluded, and rain, temperature changes, and the sun do not affect the strength of the house even after a long time.

Comfort:

Brick retains heat well, and sound insulation depends not only on the material. If the builders have made high-quality load-bearing structures and partitions, then the insulation will be good, this needs to be checked in a particular house. Often, builders also use additional insulation or hollow bricks, which retain air, so that the apartment retains heat even better.

Ravil Khasanov:

— A brick house can be understood as different types of houses. To me, a classic brick house has brick walls and hollow core panel floors. Now another system is used, when a house is built from a monolithic frame, and it is filled with brick. From the outside it will seem that the house is made of brick, but in fact it will be made of a monolithic frame - and the monolithic layers are very difficult to see.

A classic brick house is really very convenient and comfortable, both in terms of material and infrastructure. Usually it has a small number of floors, such houses are built on expensive land, so most likely, to save money, the developer will build an underground parking lot, and the area around the house, due to the small number of residents, will be quite sufficient.

It is important to pay attention to the foundation of the house - the material is heavy, so the support must be strong. If you buy a brick apartment on the secondary market, carefully inspect the walls for cracks. If the previous residents recently made renovations, then most likely it will be impossible to see them, then inspect the facade. Single cracks are not so dangerous, but many cracks located parallel or fan-shaped should alert you.

How to check an apartment on the secondary market:

Sergey Lobov:

— I sometimes help friends when buying a house - I usually look at the same thing. It is important to know - did the builders use wooden or monolithic floors? If it's wooden, it means you could lose your apartment in a fire. If the ceilings are monolithic, then most likely only the apartment that is the source of the fire will burn. I look at the condition of vertical communications - for example, wear of pipes. Ideally, you need to look into the basement - is there water there? This will determine whether there will be mosquitoes in the house; if the basement is wet, then the foundation will gradually collapse. Very often the basement is wet because the communications are leaky - I’ve seen a lot of houses like this. The fix is very simple - usually you need to connect two plastic pipes, like closing the lid of a jar, but this may not be monitored.

It is necessary to look at the condition of the windows - how the sashes close and open, what is the condition of the beams under the floor, whether the floor is level or not, whether there are cracks on the walls or not. If there is, then he walks, breathes, if you put up wallpaper, this will be an additional inconvenience.

How to check an apartment on the primary market:

Sergey Lobov:

— I look at about the same thing in the new house. The problem is that in this case it is more difficult to understand how it will behave over time. You can focus on indirect signs - if some parts are made with high quality, it means that the foremen tried, worked, and monitored the workers. If it’s not done miraculously, but simply carefully, that’s enough, and such a house inspires trust.

When buying a house, I would not rely on the developer, but would look at a specific house: the infrastructure nearby and around, materials and details. Personally, I have a requirement for my home - it must be beautiful for me personally. In this case, it doesn’t matter to me which company built it, how much the clinker bricks that were used there cost. If the house is aesthetically pleasing on the outside, I’m sure everything inside is also done with high quality; “fake houses” can be found very rarely.

But you can still check the quality of the developer’s work. Ask the developer or look in the project declaration for information about the houses he has already built, you can go and see it with your own eyes. It is best to choose a house that was completed a year or two ago - a longer period will give biased results, because the developer can build better now. Sometimes the territory of the house is closed, but you can negotiate with the developer. Don't be shy about communicating with residents - this way you can meet potential neighbors and get their opinion about the house.

What stereotypes about materials do you want to challenge?

Ravil Khasanov:

- A cheap and good house made of any material can be found in almost any city - it’s only a matter of time. Any house can ideally look, if not pretty, then at least normal. Even the worst facade can be carefully covered with a nice and inexpensive material - it will look good. In practice, this is very rare, but there is a good example - a developer made houses from white sand-lime brick with dark brown wooden inserts - it is very cheap, but it looks neat and even beautiful. In practice, this rarely happens - the chain is too large. The house-building plant must make nice material, and everything at the construction site must be arranged correctly.

But you can also ruin a good façade. It can be simple but cute and well proportioned. Sometimes for some reason it is covered with terrible material, which everyone associates with vulgarity and cheapness. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the tastes of the developer based on previous works.

Sergey Lobov:

— There is a stereotype that luxury housing is always of good quality. In our country, elite housing is a more or less well-built house; in fact, it may not have the qualities of elite housing, speaking from the point of view of Western architecture. In our minds, this includes an underground parking lot, a large apartment area, high ceilings, and two bathrooms. In fact, it is ordinary, just not very scary, and the prefix “elite” adds a percentage to the cost of the apartment. Don't pay attention to the titles, evaluate the apartment itself.

Which house to choose: panel, brick or monolithic

Buying a home requires informed decisions. Potential buyers take into account many factors when trying to find the optimal combination in the price-quality formula.

Today, there are three main construction options: panel, brick or monolithic. Let's look at the strengths and weaknesses of each design.

Monolithic housing construction - pros and cons

Just the word “monolith” exudes reliability. But this is not the only thing that makes monolithic houses one of the most popular. What attracts people to apartments in houses built using this method?

First, let's highlight the strengths of monolithic construction:

The estimated service life reaches 150 years, such houses are more durable and earthquake-resistant

When building such a house, load-bearing columns are often used instead of interior walls - and you can plan the interior space yourself

The construction technology is such that the walls are smooth even with rough finishing, and it will be easier for you to make repairs

If the heating or water supply systems fail, the neighbors below will not be affected - monolithic floors will not allow water to seep through.

Weaknesses include:

Insufficient level of sound insulation, although this is true only in comparison with a panel house and in relation to impact noise. You won’t hear your neighbors behind the wall, but you can’t escape the sound of a working rotary hammer

Thermal insulation - but it largely depends on the quality of the developer’s work

Cost - it is directly related to construction technology. We won’t delve into the topic, let’s just say that in bad weather or in winter it requires additional labor.

Brick buildings – does the quality justify the price?

It is believed that living in a brick house is the safest from an environmental point of view. Especially if ceramic brick was used for construction - it absorbs and releases moisture, preventing the appearance of mold and fungi.

Disadvantages of panel structures

Panel houses - pros and cons, reviews from residents

Before talking about the disadvantages of panel buildings, it is worth noting that some of them do not belong to new types of new buildings. However, the most significant disadvantages are:

Low seismic resistance. During strong earthquakes, panel structures may collapse completely or partially.
Poor sound insulation. Of course, we can eliminate this defect with the help of additional wall cladding with special materials.
The presence of interpanel seams. Because of this, heat and sound insulation is impaired, and moisture can also enter, which will lead to excessive dampness and mold.
In new panel buildings, as a rule, it is stuffy in summer and cool in winter.
Poor apartment layout. These houses have rectangular rooms, small kitchens and low ceilings. But modern developers are striving to correct this defect.
In such houses it is forbidden to trench walls for wiring.

Which houses are better - brick, panel or monolithic?

08.02.2017

Which houses are better - brick, panel or monolithic?

The construction of apartment buildings using panel technology dates back to the times of the Soviet Union. At the end of the 50s of the 20th century, large-scale construction of panel plants began to provide housing for Soviet citizens. Such buildings have “survived” to this day.

Construction technology

The specifics of this type of construction are simple - using the “constructor assembly” method, the building is assembled from concrete slabs, and the joints between them are laid with cement mortar.

Currently, concrete panels have begun to be replaced with sandwich structures, the core of which is made of noise and heat insulation materials. The dimensions of such panels are larger than those of their predecessors, therefore, in houses built using sandwich structures, the ceiling height and distance between load-bearing walls are increased compared to conventional concrete panels.

Pros and cons of panel structures

Construction takes the least amount of time (from 3 to 12 months), compared to brick and monolithic ones.
The most affordable cost of housing, due to the low cost of materials and low energy and labor costs.
The design service life is 40-50 years. The actual service life can be up to 1.5 times longer than the design one.
Primary repairs do not require any special effort. The panel has a smooth and even texture that you can easily putty on yourself.

The disadvantages of multi-apartment panel buildings are:

The layout is designed in such a way that it cannot be changed - most of the walls are load-bearing.
Low level of sound insulation. An excessively high level of audibility is achieved due to the small thickness of the panels.
Poor thermal insulation. The reasons for this shortcoming may be the small thickness of the panels or poorly sealed joints between them, which unscrupulous developers are often “famous for.” You can increase the level of thermal insulation only by installing an additional layer of insulation yourself, which entails additional costs.

Modern panel-type buildings are superior to Soviet ones in the following indicators:

The layout of the room has been noticeably improved.
It is possible to purchase an apartment with an already glazed balcony and two bathrooms.
Various building facades.
High-quality multilayer panels provide higher levels of noise and heat insulation.

Brick houses

Brick apartment buildings

Currently, the percentage of construction of brick houses has noticeably decreased. This is due to the relatively high cost of materials and the duration of work compared to other construction methods. It takes 1.5-2 years to build a high-rise building made of brick (10-18 floors). This figure is 30% higher than the construction of monolithic structures and 50% higher than panel ones. Modern brick apartment buildings belong to the premium housing segment.

Pros and cons of brick

From an architectural point of view, it is possible to construct any structures from brick.
Designers are not limited by standard layouts.
High confidence in the material among buyers.
The best heat and noise insulation performance among all construction technologies.
The material is able to absorb and release moisture.
This eliminates problems such as the occurrence of mold and fungi due to dampness in the room.
Long service life - up to 150 years.
The most pleasant microclimate indicators, that is, the room is not cold in winter and not hot in summer.

The material has significantly fewer disadvantages than advantages, but they are still present:

Brick does not conduct sounds well, but is not a guaranteed protection against household noise.
High cost of apartments in brick buildings.
Long construction period.

Brick houses

The construction of brick houses is one of the oldest technologies. Modern brick houses are built less frequently and are mostly low-rise.

Advantages

Warm apartments. Since brick has good thermal conductivity, such apartments are warm in winter, and, on the contrary, cool in summer when it’s hot. Brick walls are very thick and they do not need additional insulation.
I can't hear my neighbors. Brick has one of the best sound insulation compared to other materials. Therefore, in such a house you will not only not hear your neighbors, even the sounds of repairs will not cause such inconvenience as in a “socket” or “monolith”.
Durability and reliability. Brick is considered the most comfortable material for housing. Because the buildings are durable and reliable in operation.
Environmental friendliness . According to experts, it is much easier to breathe in brick houses, and the appearance of fungus and mold is minimized there. Because this material absorbs moisture well and also releases it well.
Individual design . New brick houses very rarely have standard layouts. Therefore, the buyer has a choice; they can order an apartment according to their design from planners. In addition, with the help of brick you can play with architecture, and externally such houses often look much more aesthetically pleasing than their panel “brothers”.