Advantages and Disadvantages of House Prefabricated Panels

The advantages of house prefabricated panels are fast construction speed, low cost, and easy installation; the disadvantages are weak disaster resistance, short service life, poor thermal insulation, sound insulation, and waterproofing effects, and potential safety hazards during construction.

Advantages

• Fast construction speed and low cost: Prefabricated panels are manufactured in advance in factories according to corresponding specifications and can be directly transported from the factory for splicing and installation when used. This production method can control costs to the greatest extent. For example, in the 1970s and 1980s, the price of prefabricated panels was within the affordability range of farmers and was widely used for rural house construction, greatly shortening the construction cycle and reducing construction costs.
• Easy installation: The installation process is relatively simple, only requiring splicing operations without overly complex procedures. It does not require much professional technical experience, and even farmers can complete the installation work alone. This not only saves labor costs during the construction process but also improves construction efficiency.

Disadvantages

• Weak disaster resistance: House prefabricated panels are composed of numerous cement components spliced together, similar to randomly stacked building blocks. The overall structure is not stable enough and cannot effectively withstand the impact of natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods. If an authoritative institution determines that the main structure is damaged and cannot resist natural disasters, the house may even be demolished.
• Short service life: Compared with the 70-year service life of commercial housing, the service life of prefabricated panel houses is relatively short, generally only 30 - 40 years, and some are even only 20 years. After the service life expires, the main structure of the house will gradually age, posing a risk of collapse and bringing significant safety hazards to the lives and property of residents.
• Poor thermal insulation and sound insulation effects: Due to being spliced from cement components, the sealing between building components is not good. In cold winters and hot summers, the temperature difference between indoors and outdoors is not significant, and residents need to keep the air conditioner on to regulate the indoor temperature. At the same time, its sound insulation effect is also poor. If the voice inside the house is slightly loud, neighboring residents can hear it, resulting in a poor living experience.
• Poor waterproofing effect: The characteristic of poor sealing also leads to the situation where top-floor residents may face roof leakage during heavy rain, and even repairs cannot completely solve the problem. If residents upstairs forget to turn off the faucet or the fish tank breaks, the downstairs will be flooded.
• Potential safety hazards during construction: Some construction units use sea sand to reduce costs during construction. The chloride ions in sea sand can corrode steel bars. In addition, there are also problems such as overly thin steel bars inside the floor slabs and poor concrete quality, all of which埋下 (lay down, here it means 'pose') safety hazards for the house quality.