Hello dear readers,
We are an almost five-person family planning to convert a former horse stable on a small old farm into a residential house. The floor area is about 145 sqm (1,560 sq ft), and except for the four exterior walls and the cantilevered concrete intermediate ceiling, everything will be redone; this has already been checked. Building regulations are also clarified—we are allowed a one-time development in the outer area upon discontinuation of agricultural use.
Now to my question: We would like to hand over the preliminary planning to professionals and then manage the trades ourselves and supervise the construction. On the one hand, because we have many craftsmen in the family and among friends who do not all work with the same contractor and would like to have the freedom of choice; on the other hand, to save costs that we would rather invest in the construction than in an architect for construction supervision. Our architect also only works with a small group of craftsmen, which would severely limit our options. My father could take over construction supervision; he is retired, lives next door, and has basically spent his life renovating houses. However, for actual hands-on work, he is too old, and we are too inexperienced and not able to do it ourselves with three small children.
Our budget is around 350,000, and the timeframe for the renovation is flexible up to two years; after that, the house must be habitable. Since the farmhouse belongs to the family, all connection costs for utilities are eliminated, and the entire budget can be allocated to the renovation.
What would experienced home builders recommend? Is this plan realistic, or would it be better to assign a large portion or specific parts to a general contractor (GC) or architect? Perhaps people here have done something similar and are willing to share their experiences.
Thank you very much and best regards from the Rhineland!
We are an almost five-person family planning to convert a former horse stable on a small old farm into a residential house. The floor area is about 145 sqm (1,560 sq ft), and except for the four exterior walls and the cantilevered concrete intermediate ceiling, everything will be redone; this has already been checked. Building regulations are also clarified—we are allowed a one-time development in the outer area upon discontinuation of agricultural use.
Now to my question: We would like to hand over the preliminary planning to professionals and then manage the trades ourselves and supervise the construction. On the one hand, because we have many craftsmen in the family and among friends who do not all work with the same contractor and would like to have the freedom of choice; on the other hand, to save costs that we would rather invest in the construction than in an architect for construction supervision. Our architect also only works with a small group of craftsmen, which would severely limit our options. My father could take over construction supervision; he is retired, lives next door, and has basically spent his life renovating houses. However, for actual hands-on work, he is too old, and we are too inexperienced and not able to do it ourselves with three small children.
Our budget is around 350,000, and the timeframe for the renovation is flexible up to two years; after that, the house must be habitable. Since the farmhouse belongs to the family, all connection costs for utilities are eliminated, and the entire budget can be allocated to the renovation.
What would experienced home builders recommend? Is this plan realistic, or would it be better to assign a large portion or specific parts to a general contractor (GC) or architect? Perhaps people here have done something similar and are willing to share their experiences.
Thank you very much and best regards from the Rhineland!
SimKu schrieb:
our architect also works only with a small circle of craftsmen, Have you already signed a contract with the architect? They should be experienced with projects like this. Wermelskirchen is close to the Solingen area; from this forum, I would mention @wpic (he is from the Eifel region, not exactly nearby, but in my opinion, a good choice).
In the triangle of architect – craftsman X – craftsman Y, it is not necessary that all three parties have already worked together.
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SimKu schrieb:
My father could take over site supervision; he is retired, lives next door, and has basically spent his life remodeling houses.Even according to the rules of the Energy Saving Ordinance?
I’m not sure if construction under the Energy Saving Ordinance requires professional site supervision. Maybe someone here knows?
ypg schrieb:
I’m not sure if buildings constructed under the energy-saving regulations require professional construction supervision. Maybe someone here knows?From what I have researched, construction supervision can be managed personally. However, the final inspection must of course be carried out professionally. But I’m not an expert in this field.
11ant schrieb:
Have you already signed a contract with the architect? They should be experienced with projects like this. Wermelskirchen is close to Solingen, and from this forum I would suggest @wpic (he’s from the Eifel region, not exactly nearby, but in my opinion a good choice).
In the triangle of architect – contractor X – contractor Y, not all three parties need to have worked together before.No, we don’t have a formal contract yet. We were simply quite satisfied with the ideas the architect presented, and we felt a good personal rapport. However, he only works with companies he already knows and doesn’t make exceptions. For example, since we would like to use clay plaster, that poses a challenge because none of his trusted companies have real experience in that area.
That’s why we considered managing all the contracts ourselves, which would, of course, involve a significant additional workload for us. We would appreciate any recommendations for professionals with genuine experience in such change-of-use projects. Unfortunately, we found that not every architect who claims to be experienced actually is.
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