What Are the Hazards of Prefabricated Houses
The hazards of prefabricated houses are mainly reflected in the following aspects:
Poor earthquake resistance: Prefabricated panel houses lack overall integrity as they are assembled from multiple prefabricated panels, lacking firmness and toughness. Their structure is similar to simply stacked building blocks, failing to form a complete whole. In the event of an earthquake, the floor slabs and walls are prone to instant separation, and entire prefabricated panels may fall directly, greatly reducing escape time and seriously threatening the lives of occupants.
Short service life: Compared to ordinary concrete buildings (usually with a designed lifespan of about 70 years), the lifespan of prefabricated panel houses is significantly shorter, possibly only 20-30 years. Over time, problems such as wall cracks and ceiling leaks frequently occur, and the structural stability continuously declines. Many old prefabricated panel houses are identified as 'dangerous buildings', and the repair costs are high with significant technical difficulties.
Prominent wall cracks and water leakage issues: Walls are prone to mottling and cracks, floor deformation, and common water leakage from windows and top floors. Improper joint treatment can lead to long-term leakage, requiring top-floor residents to frequently collect water during rainy days, seriously affecting living comfort.
Poor thermal insulation performance: The walls and doors and windows of prefabricated houses have insufficient sealing, allowing cold air to easily infiltrate through gaps in winter and indoor temperatures to soar with outdoor temperatures in summer. Under extreme weather conditions, the indoor environment is harsh, and energy consumption significantly increases.
Vulnerable connection points: Prefabricated panels are only simply overlapped and fixed to walls, with rough joint-filling techniques between panels and lacking rigid framework support such as ring beams and structural columns. When foundation settlement or wall cracking occurs, the panels are prone to misalignment and loosening. Long-term exposure to wind, sun, heat expansion, and cold contraction can lead to weathering at the connections and rusting of steel bars, continuously reducing strength and posing a risk of collapse.
Common use of substandard materials: Some small workshops reduce costs by using thin steel wires instead of steel bars and using concrete with substandard grades or insufficient thickness. Such prefabricated panels have obvious brittle failure characteristics and may break instantly when exceeding their load-bearing capacity. Stacking heavy objects, renovation construction, or aging over time may all trigger sudden collapses.
Poor sound insulation: The sound insulation performance of the walls in prefabricated panel houses is insufficient, and the sounds of daily activities from neighbors are clearly audible, seriously affecting living privacy and quality of life.
Limited internal structural adjustments: The walls are strongly related to the overall structure, and large-scale renovations may damage stability, making it difficult for residents to adjust the spatial layout according to their needs and limiting personalized design of living functions.
