ᐅ Prefabricated House Design for a Semi-Detached Home with a Budget Limit
Created on: 19 Aug 2016 14:42
T
timmaed
Hello,
I’m new here and have already read a lot and gathered many tips and advice from the various threads. I would also like to ask for your feedback on my house design:
We want to build a semi-detached house in a new development area in Bavaria. We have set a budget limit of €300,000, with €100,000 allocated for the land. We definitely want a basement.
To stay within budget, we plan to build a prefabricated house due to the shorter construction time. We also want a "cost guarantee" and therefore prefer not to use an architect or individual tenders. We are currently in the process of selecting a suitable provider from many options. Most standard offers include a utility room (HAR) on the ground floor and only three bedrooms in total. Since we will have a basement, we don’t need the utility room on the ground floor; it can be in the basement. However, I would still like to have our recently purchased washer-dryer located in the ground floor shower room so that you don’t always have to go from the basement to the garden. I would also like to have an external basement staircase so I can bring my woodworking and other messy activities directly into the basement. Therefore, the washing machine could also be downstairs.
Here are some principles I tried to consider:
- Concentrate plumbing/sanitary installations in one area.
- Simple geometry; it works on the ground floor but not so much upstairs.
- Compact exterior dimensions.
- Small circulation areas → results in a very small hallway upstairs. It’s not ideal and could be even smaller if all doors were arranged in a pentagon shape. That might even be refreshing, combined with different colored doors or interesting lighting.
- Small footprint (8x9m (26x30 feet)).
- Large, continuous roof area facing south for solar energy.
- Few roof windows (not shown).
- Living room facing south.
- Kitchen facing north.
- Staircase in the living area.
- Washing machine on the ground floor.
The site plan and floor plans have north at the top. The elevations indicate it as well.
Site dimensions, oriented north.
The surroundings could look like this, but nothing has been built yet. No houses, no trees.
Ground floor plan, house size 8x9m (26x30 feet), oriented north.
Upper floor plan, knee wall currently 1m (3 feet), but will probably be smaller.
Isometric view from southeast.
South elevation.
East elevation (obscured by the second semi-detached unit).
Best regards,
Tim
Development plan/restrictions
Plot size: 323m² (about 3,476 sq ft)
Slope: yes, gently sloping from north to south, approx. 30–50cm (12–20 inches) difference across the plot
Site coverage ratio: 0.35
Floor area ratio: 0.7
Building envelope, building line and boundary: one line at 3m (10 feet) from the street, setback distances according to Bavarian regulations
Edge development: semi-detached, the second house on the east side. It doesn’t have to be identical or flush.
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of stories: two; the second full floor is only allowed in the attic
Roof type: symmetrical gable roof
Architectural style: none specified
Orientation: south
Maximum heights/limits: eaves height 4m (13 feet), ridge height 9m (30 feet)
Other requirements: roof pitch 45° +/- 3°
Owners' requirements
Style, roof type, building type: classic
Basement, floors: basement, ground floor, upper floor
Number of people, ages: 2 adults, 2–3 children
Space requirements, ground floor and upper floor:
Ground floor: living, dining, kitchen, guest room, shower bathroom with washer-dryer
Upper floor: 3 bedrooms, bathroom
Basement: workshop, storage room, possibly utility room; due to the gentle slope, the guest room could also be placed on the south side of the basement with exposed basement windows. I grew up like this and really liked it.
Office: for family use, either in the guest room or one of the bedrooms
Guests per year: in-laws, about once a month
Open or closed architecture: open
Traditional or modern building: no preference, main thing is affordable
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen preferred, kitchen island rather not
Number of dining seats: 5
Fireplace: no
Music/stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: yes, at least 1 carport plus 1 open parking space
Utility garden, greenhouse: not currently
Other wishes/special features/daily routine
House design
Who designed it: do it yourself
What do you like particularly?
- There are 5 rooms on approximately 130m² (1400 sq ft).
- All plumbing is stacked vertically (cost saving).
- The staircase is not right at the front door. (My wife is very particular about cleanliness, I’m not. We need a separation zone between dirty and clean in the house.)
What do you not like?
The upper floor is not quite right yet:
- The "hallway" upstairs is a windowless micro-room with four doors due to maximum space optimization.
- The children’s rooms are about 12m² (130 sq ft) very small; I would prefer them to be 2–3m³ (70–100 cubic feet) larger, at the expense of the bathroom and master bedroom, but I don’t know how.
- I don’t like sloping ceilings where I can hit my head. That would drive me crazy.
(- The basement stairs are missing. Mentally, they are planned under the living room stairs.)
(- Currently no access to the attic.)
Cost estimate according to architect/planner: none yet
Personal price limit for the house including features: €200,000 including basement
Preferred heating technology: geothermal + solar
If you have to give up anything, what would it be?
- Can give up: all frills, anything that costs extra.
- Cannot give up: 4 bedrooms, basement, 2 showers
I’m new here and have already read a lot and gathered many tips and advice from the various threads. I would also like to ask for your feedback on my house design:
We want to build a semi-detached house in a new development area in Bavaria. We have set a budget limit of €300,000, with €100,000 allocated for the land. We definitely want a basement.
To stay within budget, we plan to build a prefabricated house due to the shorter construction time. We also want a "cost guarantee" and therefore prefer not to use an architect or individual tenders. We are currently in the process of selecting a suitable provider from many options. Most standard offers include a utility room (HAR) on the ground floor and only three bedrooms in total. Since we will have a basement, we don’t need the utility room on the ground floor; it can be in the basement. However, I would still like to have our recently purchased washer-dryer located in the ground floor shower room so that you don’t always have to go from the basement to the garden. I would also like to have an external basement staircase so I can bring my woodworking and other messy activities directly into the basement. Therefore, the washing machine could also be downstairs.
Here are some principles I tried to consider:
- Concentrate plumbing/sanitary installations in one area.
- Simple geometry; it works on the ground floor but not so much upstairs.
- Compact exterior dimensions.
- Small circulation areas → results in a very small hallway upstairs. It’s not ideal and could be even smaller if all doors were arranged in a pentagon shape. That might even be refreshing, combined with different colored doors or interesting lighting.
- Small footprint (8x9m (26x30 feet)).
- Large, continuous roof area facing south for solar energy.
- Few roof windows (not shown).
- Living room facing south.
- Kitchen facing north.
- Staircase in the living area.
- Washing machine on the ground floor.
The site plan and floor plans have north at the top. The elevations indicate it as well.
Best regards,
Tim
Development plan/restrictions
Plot size: 323m² (about 3,476 sq ft)
Slope: yes, gently sloping from north to south, approx. 30–50cm (12–20 inches) difference across the plot
Site coverage ratio: 0.35
Floor area ratio: 0.7
Building envelope, building line and boundary: one line at 3m (10 feet) from the street, setback distances according to Bavarian regulations
Edge development: semi-detached, the second house on the east side. It doesn’t have to be identical or flush.
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of stories: two; the second full floor is only allowed in the attic
Roof type: symmetrical gable roof
Architectural style: none specified
Orientation: south
Maximum heights/limits: eaves height 4m (13 feet), ridge height 9m (30 feet)
Other requirements: roof pitch 45° +/- 3°
Owners' requirements
Style, roof type, building type: classic
Basement, floors: basement, ground floor, upper floor
Number of people, ages: 2 adults, 2–3 children
Space requirements, ground floor and upper floor:
Ground floor: living, dining, kitchen, guest room, shower bathroom with washer-dryer
Upper floor: 3 bedrooms, bathroom
Basement: workshop, storage room, possibly utility room; due to the gentle slope, the guest room could also be placed on the south side of the basement with exposed basement windows. I grew up like this and really liked it.
Office: for family use, either in the guest room or one of the bedrooms
Guests per year: in-laws, about once a month
Open or closed architecture: open
Traditional or modern building: no preference, main thing is affordable
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen preferred, kitchen island rather not
Number of dining seats: 5
Fireplace: no
Music/stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: yes, at least 1 carport plus 1 open parking space
Utility garden, greenhouse: not currently
Other wishes/special features/daily routine
House design
Who designed it: do it yourself
What do you like particularly?
- There are 5 rooms on approximately 130m² (1400 sq ft).
- All plumbing is stacked vertically (cost saving).
- The staircase is not right at the front door. (My wife is very particular about cleanliness, I’m not. We need a separation zone between dirty and clean in the house.)
What do you not like?
The upper floor is not quite right yet:
- The "hallway" upstairs is a windowless micro-room with four doors due to maximum space optimization.
- The children’s rooms are about 12m² (130 sq ft) very small; I would prefer them to be 2–3m³ (70–100 cubic feet) larger, at the expense of the bathroom and master bedroom, but I don’t know how.
- I don’t like sloping ceilings where I can hit my head. That would drive me crazy.
(- The basement stairs are missing. Mentally, they are planned under the living room stairs.)
(- Currently no access to the attic.)
Cost estimate according to architect/planner: none yet
Personal price limit for the house including features: €200,000 including basement
Preferred heating technology: geothermal + solar
If you have to give up anything, what would it be?
- Can give up: all frills, anything that costs extra.
- Cannot give up: 4 bedrooms, basement, 2 showers
B
Bauexperte19 Aug 2016 17:26Hello,
Dreams are nice; however, they are not very practical when it comes to building a house.
Plot: €100,000
Single-family house 130 m² (1,400 sq ft) according to energy-saving regulations: €208,000
Usable basement: €42,500
Conversion to living basement: €20,000
Geothermal heat pump: €10,000
Drilling depends on soil conditions; can range from €10,000 to 15,000
Solar: €6,000
Painting/flooring finishes in final stage: €20,000
Additional construction costs due to slope: €50,000
Outdoor areas in final stage: €10,000 (only the essentials)
Reserve for extras: €10,000
Carport: €6,000
All-in estimated investment: €495,000
I suspect that a condominium might be the smarter choice with that budget.
Regards, Bauexperte
Dreams are nice; however, they are not very practical when it comes to building a house.
timmaed schrieb:
We have set a budget limit of €300,000, with €100,000 allocated for the plot of land. We definitely want a basement.
Slope: yes, gently descending from north to south, about 30-50cm (12-20 inches) difference across the property
Basement and floors: basement, ground floor, upper floor
Basement: workshop, storage room, possibly a utility room; due to the gentle slope, we could place the guest room on the south side of the basement and have exposed basement windows. I grew up like that and it worked well for me.
Garage, carport: yes, at least one carport plus one open parking space.
- There are 5 rooms in approximately 130m² (1,400 sq ft).
Personal price limit for the house including equipment: €200,000 including basement
Preferred heating technology: geothermal + solar
Plot: €100,000
Single-family house 130 m² (1,400 sq ft) according to energy-saving regulations: €208,000
Usable basement: €42,500
Conversion to living basement: €20,000
Geothermal heat pump: €10,000
Drilling depends on soil conditions; can range from €10,000 to 15,000
Solar: €6,000
Painting/flooring finishes in final stage: €20,000
Additional construction costs due to slope: €50,000
Outdoor areas in final stage: €10,000 (only the essentials)
Reserve for extras: €10,000
Carport: €6,000
All-in estimated investment: €495,000
I suspect that a condominium might be the smarter choice with that budget.
Regards, Bauexperte
just 200,000€ too expensive, there’s still room for improvement.
@Bauexperte: how do you always come up with 20,000€ for flooring and wall work done by yourself? “a few” tiles are always included in these houses. so the floor coverings for the bedrooms and living areas are still missing. let’s round up to 100sqm (for very large houses it’s less). with 60€/sqm (per square meter) in materials, you can get great flooring including accessories, installation is DIY, so 6,000€ material cost.
as for wall work, it’s floor area times 3.5 including the ceiling (130sqm x 3.5 = roughly 500sqm surface). quality wallpaper including all accessories costs around 5€/sqm, which equals 2,500€ for painting materials.
if I now round both sums up again, I reach 10,000€. this amount is already premium class, you can do it for half the price without major compromises. (we paid 3€/sqm for walls/ceiling and 22€/sqm for laminate flooring including underlay).
if you have these tasks done professionally, 20,000€ could be realistic, but then it wouldn’t be DIY.
@Bauexperte: how do you always come up with 20,000€ for flooring and wall work done by yourself? “a few” tiles are always included in these houses. so the floor coverings for the bedrooms and living areas are still missing. let’s round up to 100sqm (for very large houses it’s less). with 60€/sqm (per square meter) in materials, you can get great flooring including accessories, installation is DIY, so 6,000€ material cost.
as for wall work, it’s floor area times 3.5 including the ceiling (130sqm x 3.5 = roughly 500sqm surface). quality wallpaper including all accessories costs around 5€/sqm, which equals 2,500€ for painting materials.
if I now round both sums up again, I reach 10,000€. this amount is already premium class, you can do it for half the price without major compromises. (we paid 3€/sqm for walls/ceiling and 22€/sqm for laminate flooring including underlay).
if you have these tasks done professionally, 20,000€ could be realistic, but then it wouldn’t be DIY.
@Payday
I completely agree. We also finished about 100sqm (1076 sq ft) of flooring ourselves, as well as primed, wallpapered, and painted a larger area, and all together, including materials and tools, we stayed well below 10,000. Having the remaining square meters tiled professionally cost less than 5,000. If you do everything yourself, I would also say it’s well under 15,000.
I completely agree. We also finished about 100sqm (1076 sq ft) of flooring ourselves, as well as primed, wallpapered, and painted a larger area, and all together, including materials and tools, we stayed well below 10,000. Having the remaining square meters tiled professionally cost less than 5,000. If you do everything yourself, I would also say it’s well under 15,000.
Wow, I didn’t expect such a lot of feedback, especially from so many well-known people... Thank you!
On the show "Germany’s Search for the Super Homebuilder," I probably wouldn’t have become a superstar architect with the jury votes.
I can’t respond to everything that quickly.
What I have done so far is estimate the ancillary construction costs and the contingency budget.
I put together the following additional costs from online sources, but it’s clearly missing something because of the slope on the site. At first, I only relied on SRTM elevation data. However, the development plan specifies the height difference. It’s not just 0.3m (1 foot); it’s closer to 2m (6.5 feet)!
Can’t I build smaller there and fully expose one side of the basement, living on the garden side? That would have to result in huge savings. Maybe I wouldn’t even need a house anymore, and just live in the basement like the Hobbits? [ATTACH alt="tiny-houses-Wandarbeiten-Eigenleistung-bodenbelaege-Keller-bnk-150074-1.jpg"]11994[/ATTACH]
Okay, just a little joke aside.
I’m going to look up additional costs for sloped sites now. This was my original cost estimate:
Building permit / planning permission: 2,000.00 €
Surveying: 2,500.00 €
Structural engineer review: - €
Soil report: 1,000.00 €
Architect and site management: ? €
Construction access road: 450.00 €
Excavation for basement / slab foundation: 1,350.00 €
Removal of excess soil: 3,600.00 €
Site connection and utility hookups: 7,500.00 €
Insurance: 300.00 €
Property transfer tax: 3,300.00 €
Notary: 1,400.00 €
Land registry: 500.00 €
Total ~24,000 €
For the interior fit-out, I planned to do it myself:
Interior furnishings materials m² €/m²
Parquet flooring: 5,000.00 € for 100 m² (50 square feet)
Tiles: 1,500.00 € for 30 m² (16 square feet)
Plastering: 2,000.00 €
Painting: 2,000.00 €
Interior doors: 1,000.00 €
Total ~12,000 €
But I have a small question about my floor plan... Is it at least somewhat sensible? Or am I as far off there as with the costs? I’m afraid it will get just as much criticism.
On the show "Germany’s Search for the Super Homebuilder," I probably wouldn’t have become a superstar architect with the jury votes.
I can’t respond to everything that quickly.
What I have done so far is estimate the ancillary construction costs and the contingency budget.
I put together the following additional costs from online sources, but it’s clearly missing something because of the slope on the site. At first, I only relied on SRTM elevation data. However, the development plan specifies the height difference. It’s not just 0.3m (1 foot); it’s closer to 2m (6.5 feet)!
Can’t I build smaller there and fully expose one side of the basement, living on the garden side? That would have to result in huge savings. Maybe I wouldn’t even need a house anymore, and just live in the basement like the Hobbits? [ATTACH alt="tiny-houses-Wandarbeiten-Eigenleistung-bodenbelaege-Keller-bnk-150074-1.jpg"]11994[/ATTACH]
Okay, just a little joke aside.
I’m going to look up additional costs for sloped sites now. This was my original cost estimate:
Building permit / planning permission: 2,000.00 €
Surveying: 2,500.00 €
Structural engineer review: - €
Soil report: 1,000.00 €
Architect and site management: ? €
Construction access road: 450.00 €
Excavation for basement / slab foundation: 1,350.00 €
Removal of excess soil: 3,600.00 €
Site connection and utility hookups: 7,500.00 €
Insurance: 300.00 €
Property transfer tax: 3,300.00 €
Notary: 1,400.00 €
Land registry: 500.00 €
Total ~24,000 €
For the interior fit-out, I planned to do it myself:
Interior furnishings materials m² €/m²
Parquet flooring: 5,000.00 € for 100 m² (50 square feet)
Tiles: 1,500.00 € for 30 m² (16 square feet)
Plastering: 2,000.00 €
Painting: 2,000.00 €
Interior doors: 1,000.00 €
Total ~12,000 €
But I have a small question about my floor plan... Is it at least somewhat sensible? Or am I as far off there as with the costs? I’m afraid it will get just as much criticism.
Yes… it probably isn’t that well designed. Is the eaves height really 4 m (13 ft)?
I definitely wouldn’t recommend a knee wall (pony wall) shorter than 1 m (3 ft).
Regarding the ground floor:
An 8 m (26 ft) exterior dimension results in about 720 cm (284 inches) interior width. The WC is about 150 cm (59 inches) plus presumably an 18 cm (7 inches) load-bearing wall, so that leaves a maximum of 552 cm (217 inches) for the kitchen and probably dining area… That’s tight.
The staircase… everyone has to walk through the living area first (how are you going to place the sofa and such?) to get to the upper floor.
The staircase will also likely fail because the headroom from the landing going down will be too low:
Four steps = approx. 72 cm (28 inches)… with a finished ceiling height of 250 cm (98 inches), you won’t have 180 cm (71 inches) of headroom at the edge of the stairwell opening.
Regarding room sizes on the upper floor… would it be an option to put the parents on the ground floor and have a small guest room plus two larger children’s rooms upstairs?
But as mentioned, all of this would require a different staircase layout.
I definitely wouldn’t recommend a knee wall (pony wall) shorter than 1 m (3 ft).
Regarding the ground floor:
An 8 m (26 ft) exterior dimension results in about 720 cm (284 inches) interior width. The WC is about 150 cm (59 inches) plus presumably an 18 cm (7 inches) load-bearing wall, so that leaves a maximum of 552 cm (217 inches) for the kitchen and probably dining area… That’s tight.
The staircase… everyone has to walk through the living area first (how are you going to place the sofa and such?) to get to the upper floor.
The staircase will also likely fail because the headroom from the landing going down will be too low:
Four steps = approx. 72 cm (28 inches)… with a finished ceiling height of 250 cm (98 inches), you won’t have 180 cm (71 inches) of headroom at the edge of the stairwell opening.
Regarding room sizes on the upper floor… would it be an option to put the parents on the ground floor and have a small guest room plus two larger children’s rooms upstairs?
But as mentioned, all of this would require a different staircase layout.
U
Username_wahl19 Aug 2016 22:07Try searching for tiny houses online; you might find some useful information there.
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