Hello dear members,
First, I would like to introduce myself.
My name is Christopher, I am a little over 28 years old, and I work as a technical draftsman.
I have extensive experience in industrial assembly and large projects both domestically and abroad. Besides that, I am also engaged in artistic work, and this is my first step toward building a house.
The dream of owning a home has existed for several years, although I have to say that I am a lifelong single and intend to remain so by choice.
However, I do have a young son.
In my area, rent costs are outrageous. For example, for about 70sqm (750 sq ft), I pay nearly €900 (almost $970) all-inclusive rent.
I gave up my assembly work abroad about two years ago and now hold a well-paying job as a technical draftsman in the metal industry.
As I mentioned, I am artistically inclined and have always been a do-it-yourselfer and planner as much as possible.
A typical single-family house is definitely out of the question for me as a lifelong single, as it is simply too expensive. Instead, the idea came up to basically build a “flat” on my own land—a bungalow.
But the whole thing should not become a huge undertaking, so (please don’t judge me) I want it to be a low-budget project. I will forgo all the extras that nowadays seem standard. I am also forgoing a basement. The only thing I could imagine is underfloor heating.
The bungalow’s floor plan is planned to be L-shaped.
The reason for trying to build the bungalow on a relatively small budget is that I cannot accept the fixed package prices from various builders. Even if I can afford it, I don’t want to pay more than necessary. In most forums, you get strange looks when you talk about saving costs. I simply don’t want to help finance someone else’s new luxury car.
Now, to the idea:
To reduce costs, I have the following plan for building the L-shaped bungalow:
About 100sqm (1075 sq ft) of living space.
From a company or with their support, I want only the foundation slab, the external-external walls (meaning the outer L-shaped side, is that understandable?), and the flat roof to be installed. No masonry interior walls, and the interior L-side should be made entirely of glass elements. Can you imagine what I mean?
To support the ceiling, I could accept an unsightly support post at the bend.
All utility lines should be available only at central locations, so expensive installations running across the house would be avoided (kitchen and bathroom right next to each other).
I want no interior walls because, first, I prefer open spaces due to my artistic approach, and second, I only want the bathroom, one bedroom, and possibly a small storage closet as separate rooms—which I would then build myself using drywall as needed.
So basically, an L-shaped loft on private land.
Heating will be with wood—a wood stove or open fireplace. My parents have been heating only this way for a long time and are very satisfied.
For any installations, I have people within my close circle.
There are also enough masons and plasterers available.
Is it possible to realize this with prefabricated walls, or would you recommend masonry?
What have I forgotten?
What else should be considered?
What costs should I expect?
We will temporarily leave out local building regulations.
I believe I can realize the project with a budget of about 100,000 to 150,000 (without land).
What costs would you estimate for a 100sqm foundation slab? (I have very good contacts with the son of a large concrete company, so I could get concrete relatively cheaply.)
Would you try to get the floor-to-ceiling windows cheaper abroad? After all, it is quite a few meters.
What I would like to know in general is whether such a simple bungalow is doable within this budget—with self-labor assumed—or if I am setting myself up for failure?
As a single person, I don't want or can’t take on debts of $300,000 because I want to continue living, so no single-family house. It should be simple, low-maintenance, and, if possible, affordable at roughly the current rent level. An apartment does not come into question because I absolutely hate them!
I also don’t want to start visiting construction companies yet because I am still quite young, so I would probably be an easy target for being taken advantage of. My current halfway knowledge about house building is not enough for those negotiations.
Where did you get your information about real costs, what is really necessary, and so on?
I am attaching an image from Google to roughly illustrate what I have in mind (unfortunately not an L-shaped bungalow but should give an idea) — basically just a foundation slab, two exterior walls, a ceiling, and the rest glass.
The glass in the picture is too expensive, I know.
Best regards
The Greenhorn Gustl
First, I would like to introduce myself.
My name is Christopher, I am a little over 28 years old, and I work as a technical draftsman.
I have extensive experience in industrial assembly and large projects both domestically and abroad. Besides that, I am also engaged in artistic work, and this is my first step toward building a house.
The dream of owning a home has existed for several years, although I have to say that I am a lifelong single and intend to remain so by choice.
However, I do have a young son.
In my area, rent costs are outrageous. For example, for about 70sqm (750 sq ft), I pay nearly €900 (almost $970) all-inclusive rent.
I gave up my assembly work abroad about two years ago and now hold a well-paying job as a technical draftsman in the metal industry.
As I mentioned, I am artistically inclined and have always been a do-it-yourselfer and planner as much as possible.
A typical single-family house is definitely out of the question for me as a lifelong single, as it is simply too expensive. Instead, the idea came up to basically build a “flat” on my own land—a bungalow.
But the whole thing should not become a huge undertaking, so (please don’t judge me) I want it to be a low-budget project. I will forgo all the extras that nowadays seem standard. I am also forgoing a basement. The only thing I could imagine is underfloor heating.
The bungalow’s floor plan is planned to be L-shaped.
The reason for trying to build the bungalow on a relatively small budget is that I cannot accept the fixed package prices from various builders. Even if I can afford it, I don’t want to pay more than necessary. In most forums, you get strange looks when you talk about saving costs. I simply don’t want to help finance someone else’s new luxury car.
Now, to the idea:
To reduce costs, I have the following plan for building the L-shaped bungalow:
About 100sqm (1075 sq ft) of living space.
From a company or with their support, I want only the foundation slab, the external-external walls (meaning the outer L-shaped side, is that understandable?), and the flat roof to be installed. No masonry interior walls, and the interior L-side should be made entirely of glass elements. Can you imagine what I mean?
To support the ceiling, I could accept an unsightly support post at the bend.
All utility lines should be available only at central locations, so expensive installations running across the house would be avoided (kitchen and bathroom right next to each other).
I want no interior walls because, first, I prefer open spaces due to my artistic approach, and second, I only want the bathroom, one bedroom, and possibly a small storage closet as separate rooms—which I would then build myself using drywall as needed.
So basically, an L-shaped loft on private land.
Heating will be with wood—a wood stove or open fireplace. My parents have been heating only this way for a long time and are very satisfied.
For any installations, I have people within my close circle.
There are also enough masons and plasterers available.
Is it possible to realize this with prefabricated walls, or would you recommend masonry?
What have I forgotten?
What else should be considered?
What costs should I expect?
We will temporarily leave out local building regulations.
I believe I can realize the project with a budget of about 100,000 to 150,000 (without land).
What costs would you estimate for a 100sqm foundation slab? (I have very good contacts with the son of a large concrete company, so I could get concrete relatively cheaply.)
Would you try to get the floor-to-ceiling windows cheaper abroad? After all, it is quite a few meters.
What I would like to know in general is whether such a simple bungalow is doable within this budget—with self-labor assumed—or if I am setting myself up for failure?
As a single person, I don't want or can’t take on debts of $300,000 because I want to continue living, so no single-family house. It should be simple, low-maintenance, and, if possible, affordable at roughly the current rent level. An apartment does not come into question because I absolutely hate them!
I also don’t want to start visiting construction companies yet because I am still quite young, so I would probably be an easy target for being taken advantage of. My current halfway knowledge about house building is not enough for those negotiations.
Where did you get your information about real costs, what is really necessary, and so on?
I am attaching an image from Google to roughly illustrate what I have in mind (unfortunately not an L-shaped bungalow but should give an idea) — basically just a foundation slab, two exterior walls, a ceiling, and the rest glass.
The glass in the picture is too expensive, I know.
Best regards
The Greenhorn Gustl
@Steffen80 Answers like that really help, thanks!
The image is meant just to give a rough idea.
Why am I naive?! Because I’m asking here?! Come on, were you all born wise?! At first, all you can do is gather information, right?!
How would you approach it?! Just leave everything to the builder and pay based on length x width?!
With the mentioned 100,000–150,000 (one hundred to one hundred fifty thousand), you can probably set up a simple L-shaped "hall" without interior walls, plaster, kitchen, etc. Essentially a shell for self-finishing.
P.S.: I am a technical draftsman for metal components, meaning milling, turning, laser, and bending parts. Possibly small assemblies too, but I never said I was a building draftsman.
Best regards
The image is meant just to give a rough idea.
Why am I naive?! Because I’m asking here?! Come on, were you all born wise?! At first, all you can do is gather information, right?!
How would you approach it?! Just leave everything to the builder and pay based on length x width?!
With the mentioned 100,000–150,000 (one hundred to one hundred fifty thousand), you can probably set up a simple L-shaped "hall" without interior walls, plaster, kitchen, etc. Essentially a shell for self-finishing.
P.S.: I am a technical draftsman for metal components, meaning milling, turning, laser, and bending parts. Possibly small assemblies too, but I never said I was a building draftsman.
Best regards
S
Steffen8016 Aug 2017 20:37You are "apparently" naive because you don’t make the effort to acquire the absolute basic knowledge about homeownership. It even starts with using incorrect terms.
At least, that’s not how I approached it...
At least, that’s not how I approached it...
What exactly is basic knowledge?! Where is that defined?! Where do you even start?! And where does it end?
People like you are rather naive, thinking that humans can’t create anything bigger than themselves. A house is just a modern hut, as I said at the beginning—it should be built as simply, inexpensively, and without extras as possible. I have no idea why other self-builders always have something against a low-cost build; after all, YOU don’t have to live in it, I do!
If I can get a complete prefab house including extras, fully finished, from a company for 250,000, why wouldn’t my “low-cost version” with self-labor work out for 150,000?!
Didn’t I mention at the beginning that I’m only semi-knowledgeable? — and then you come along and say I don’t even know all the terms..?!?
That’s like a teacher scolding little Max for not already knowing the answer to his question... Hypocrisy?!
Then tell me where I should get information... if you had read my post, you’d have noticed that’s exactly what I asked: where I can get information. Save your time if you don’t want to answer questions and move on, thanks!
People like you are rather naive, thinking that humans can’t create anything bigger than themselves. A house is just a modern hut, as I said at the beginning—it should be built as simply, inexpensively, and without extras as possible. I have no idea why other self-builders always have something against a low-cost build; after all, YOU don’t have to live in it, I do!
If I can get a complete prefab house including extras, fully finished, from a company for 250,000, why wouldn’t my “low-cost version” with self-labor work out for 150,000?!
Didn’t I mention at the beginning that I’m only semi-knowledgeable? — and then you come along and say I don’t even know all the terms..?!?
That’s like a teacher scolding little Max for not already knowing the answer to his question... Hypocrisy?!
Then tell me where I should get information... if you had read my post, you’d have noticed that’s exactly what I asked: where I can get information. Save your time if you don’t want to answer questions and move on, thanks!
Marvinius II16 Aug 2017 20:50Gustl89 schrieb:
@Steffen80 Answers like these really help, great!
The picture is just meant to give some food for thought.
Why am I naive?! Because I’m asking here?! My goodness, were you all born wise?! At first, you can only gather information, right, or can you do more?!
How would you approach it?! Hand everything over to a builder and pay for length x width?!
With the mentioned 100,000–150,000, you should be able to erect a simple L-shaped “hall” without interior walls, plaster, kitchen, etc. Basically, a shell building for self-finishing.
PS: I am a technical draftsman for metal components, meaning milling, turning, laser, and bending parts. Possibly small assemblies, but I never said I was a building drafter.
Best regards By “builder” you probably mean architect? Someone has to submit the building permit / planning permission. And such a simple bungalow hall with a flat roof won’t be allowed everywhere by the building authority. And if it is, then more likely in extravagant, expensive villa areas...[emoji6]@Marvinius II:
That's true, regarding the regulations I meant in the post that we shouldn't consider them for now. I'm just focusing on the construction costs.
Besides, there are already many smooth-style bungalows in my area, just not in an L-shape with a glass front. I didn't know that the floor plan is decisive for a building permit / planning permission. Around here, they always said it just had to fit the local architectural style (I'm from Austria).
Best regards
That's true, regarding the regulations I meant in the post that we shouldn't consider them for now. I'm just focusing on the construction costs.
Besides, there are already many smooth-style bungalows in my area, just not in an L-shape with a glass front. I didn't know that the floor plan is decisive for a building permit / planning permission. Around here, they always said it just had to fit the local architectural style (I'm from Austria).
Best regards
L is too expensive. Rectangular shape. Flat roof is too costly; a gable roof with a 25-degree pitch is the most affordable. Large glass facade is too expensive. A single patio door should be sufficient. Wood heating with pellets is possible, but gas is the cheapest option. Alternatively, a air-to-water heat pump, which is only slightly more expensive.
Check out Danwood bungas. They know how to keep costs low. 100 m² (1,076 sq ft) can be done for 150. That’s just the house without additional costs and without the land. You’d need around 300. Karsten
Check out Danwood bungas. They know how to keep costs low. 100 m² (1,076 sq ft) can be done for 150. That’s just the house without additional costs and without the land. You’d need around 300. Karsten
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