Cast-in-Place and Prefabricated Panel Houses
There are significant differences between cast-in-place houses and prefabricated panel houses in terms of construction methods, performance, costs, construction periods, and applicable scenarios. The choice should be made based on specific needs.
1. Construction Methods The construction process of cast-in-place houses is similar to 'making a cake on site': Workers first need to erect formwork and bind steel bars, then pour concrete and wait for it to solidify and take shape. Eventually, beams, columns, and floor slabs form an integral structure. The core lies in completing all procedures on site, relying on manual operations and the natural curing of concrete. Prefabricated panel houses adopt a 'modular assembly' model: Prefabricated panels are cement components produced in advance in factories. They are made by nailing wooden boards to form molds, arranging steel bars, and pouring cement. After being transported to the construction site, they are directly spliced and assembled. Their advantage is reducing on-site wet work, but they rely on component transportation and precise对接 (docking/connection).
2. Performance Comparison Due to integral pouring, cast-in-place houses have strong structural continuity and excellent seismic performance, fully meeting current building seismic standards. Their concrete has high density, providing good sound insulation and thermal insulation effects, and their service life usually exceeds 50 years. Existing structures of prefabricated panel houses generally have issues such as weak seismic resistance, poor sound and thermal insulation. The joints are prone to becoming structural weak points, and their service life is about 30-50 years. However, with technological development, assembled composite panels (combining prefabricated panels with cast-in-place layers) have significantly improved seismic resistance. For example, the 2026 Beijing Changping Life Valley International Pharmaceutical Smart Manufacturing Park (Phase II) project adopted such technology.
3. Costs and Construction Periods Prefabricated panel houses, with factory-prefabricated components and on-site assembly, have a construction period 30% shorter than traditional methods and may have lower labor costs. However, component transportation costs and joint treatment costs need to be considered. Cast-in-place houses require on-site completion of all procedures such as formwork erection, steel bar binding, and concrete pouring. The construction period is relatively long, and labor and material costs are high, but long-term maintenance costs are low.
4. Applicable Scenarios Cast-in-place houses are suitable for scenarios with high requirements for structural integrity, such as high-rise residential buildings, large-span spaces (e.g., shopping malls, stadiums), and areas requiring waterproofing and leakage prevention like bathrooms. Prefabricated panel houses are mostly used for temporary buildings, low-rise residential buildings, or projects with tight budgets. However, strict joint waterproofing treatment is required to avoid leakage problems. Modern assembled buildings, through modular design, have gradually replaced traditional prefabricated panel houses, balancing efficiency and performance.
