Self-Built Houses: Avoid Using Prefabricated Panels

It is not advisable to use prefabricated panels for self-built houses. As a commonly used floor form in the early 20th century, prefabricated panels played a role in specific historical stages, but their technical flaws significantly conflict with modern construction requirements. A detailed analysis is as follows:

1. Insufficient Structural Safety
Prefabricated panels are cement components prefabricated in factories and connected by being placed on ring beams at both ends. There are independent gaps between panels, and the steel bars are only anchored to the ring beams. This structure results in significantly weaker integrity compared to cast-in-place slabs, making them prone to dislocation or even collapse under external forces such as earthquakes. Existing prefabricated panel houses generally have weak earthquake resistance, while modern building codes have significantly higher requirements for structural safety, making it difficult for prefabricated panels to meet seismic fortification standards.

2. High Durability and Maintenance Costs
The service life of prefabricated panels is approximately 30-50 years, and the gaps in the middle are prone to cracking due to material shrinkage, temperature changes, and other factors, leading to frequent water leakage problems. Long-term leakage accelerates steel bar corrosion, further weakening structural strength and creating a vicious cycle. In contrast, cast-in-place concrete forms a seamless structure through integral pouring, offering better waterproof performance and durability, with lower long-term maintenance costs.

3. Obvious Functional Defects
Prefabricated panels have poor sound insulation and thermal insulation performance. Noise from activities upstairs can be clearly transmitted downstairs, and their high thermal conductivity makes them prone to heat absorption in summer and heat loss in winter, resulting in low living comfort. Modern construction places greater emphasis on energy efficiency and environmental protection, requiring high-performance insulation materials and sound insulation designs to enhance performance, which prefabricated panels cannot achieve through simple modifications.

4. Mature Technical Alternatives
With the development of construction technology, cast-in-place concrete and prefabricated construction have become mainstream choices. Cast-in-place concrete achieves structural integration through on-site pouring, completely eliminating gap issues; prefabricated buildings such as CMC composite modules adopt a steel-concrete integral pouring process, retaining the efficiency of factory prefabrication while improving earthquake resistance through modular connections, with construction periods 30% shorter than traditional methods. Since 2022, China has implemented renovation policies, focusing on repairing and renovating prefabricated panel houses and only demolishing dangerous buildings, further indicating their technical obsolescence.

Conclusion: Prefabricated panels have significant shortcomings in safety, durability, functionality, and technological advancement, failing to meet modern construction standards. For self-built houses, priority should be given to cast-in-place concrete or new prefabricated construction technologies to ensure structural safety, living comfort, and long-term value.