ᐅ Building an End-Terrace House as a Self-Managed Project with a General Contractor
Created on: 27 May 2019 10:48
G
goalkeeper
Hello everyone,
some of you might have already followed one of my threads about us having to or being allowed to build our end-terrace house on our own responsibility – depending on how you look at it. This means that we are buying an end-terrace plot (215 sqm (2315 sq ft)) in a new development area in the Rhein-Neckar district and will be building on it ourselves – but in coordination with our two terrace neighbors.
The municipality, which sold the plots through a local resident model, ideally wanted applicants to apply as a complete housing group with several families and then build accordingly with a general contractor, construction manager, or architect. Of course, that didn’t really work out, so now there are only individual applicants and also homeowners.
After we were awarded the plot, the addresses of the other terrace neighbors were shared to discuss certain matters, such as roof style, whether or not to have a basement, etc. It was immediately clear that everyone preferred to do their own thing. However, we were still able to agree that the housing group will have a gable roof with a pitch of 35 to 40 degrees (within this 5-degree range).
As the end house, we will build without a basement, while the middle house and the other end house will have basements. This obviously presents a challenge as we would have to make a deep foundation or simply skip it, and the middle house would have to support us, as we will start construction first. The current agreement with the middle house is that we will build a deeper foundation at his expense, as supporting our house later on would be considerably more expensive for him.
We are currently close to signing with the construction manager, the notarization appointment for the plot is at the end of June, and we hope to start construction in the fall of this year. Meanwhile, several other freely planned housing groups are being built around us, which might get in the way with their cranes.
I will document the progress here from time to time – such a self-planned terraced house doesn’t come along very often.
some of you might have already followed one of my threads about us having to or being allowed to build our end-terrace house on our own responsibility – depending on how you look at it. This means that we are buying an end-terrace plot (215 sqm (2315 sq ft)) in a new development area in the Rhein-Neckar district and will be building on it ourselves – but in coordination with our two terrace neighbors.
The municipality, which sold the plots through a local resident model, ideally wanted applicants to apply as a complete housing group with several families and then build accordingly with a general contractor, construction manager, or architect. Of course, that didn’t really work out, so now there are only individual applicants and also homeowners.
After we were awarded the plot, the addresses of the other terrace neighbors were shared to discuss certain matters, such as roof style, whether or not to have a basement, etc. It was immediately clear that everyone preferred to do their own thing. However, we were still able to agree that the housing group will have a gable roof with a pitch of 35 to 40 degrees (within this 5-degree range).
As the end house, we will build without a basement, while the middle house and the other end house will have basements. This obviously presents a challenge as we would have to make a deep foundation or simply skip it, and the middle house would have to support us, as we will start construction first. The current agreement with the middle house is that we will build a deeper foundation at his expense, as supporting our house later on would be considerably more expensive for him.
We are currently close to signing with the construction manager, the notarization appointment for the plot is at the end of June, and we hope to start construction in the fall of this year. Meanwhile, several other freely planned housing groups are being built around us, which might get in the way with their cranes.
I will document the progress here from time to time – such a self-planned terraced house doesn’t come along very often.
G
goalkeeper24 Jul 2019 22:57ypg schrieb:
I completely miss that here. I mean, this is an architect’s design, so for their fee they could stand out a bit from the already existing mass-produced designs.That’s not quite correct. We planned it with the general contractor according to our wishes, and the architect only created the plans.
ypg schrieb:
The design is completely uninspired. It’s not like it hasn’t been criticized.It’s not uninspired but simply pragmatic. And the “love” comes later in the form of furnishings, decor, and the people living in it. After all, you create your home yourself and don’t plan it on a drawing board. It’s a feeling, not a sheet of paper.
kaho674 schrieb:
I lived in exactly this standard design for 7 years. So besides the overview we ladies have developed over the years here, it also comes down to personal experience. And I had a basement with that, plus the floor plan was bigger. My in-laws also live in this design—without a basement though. They constantly complain about having no basement and how cramped the entrance is. I’m just glad to be out of there.
That your opinion hits you so hard, I find rather troubling. Being immediately excluded just to be surrounded by only sweet talk doesn’t make things better.
… But this is not something life depends on, and our opinion shouldn’t spoil your enjoyment. I also see there’s a much bigger issue that still needs to be solved. So all I can do is wish you good nerves! I needed constructive input, not someone who only criticizes everything. And a complete redesign that suits your personal taste isn’t really productive. You hope or wish for additions to your original plan, not a complete overhaul.
My in-laws also live in a similar floor plan in a mid-terrace house and manage very well with it. The specifications are just that—fixed. And I’d rather have a narrow hallway and a slightly wider kitchen—a hallway is not a real living space but just a passage to the front door or the restroom. You don’t need a width of 1.5 meters (5 feet) for that.
It’s not my design, but I don’t think it’s terrible.
- What would really bother me are the parking spaces lined up one after the other. It might be okay for one car, but if I read correctly, you have two station wagons. I can’t imagine it being very convenient for bikes to maneuver around the cars, if it even works at all.
- For the ground floor, I’d be interested in seeing your exact furniture layout. As it is now, I’m not very happy with it.
- The upper floor and attic are fine. I find the dormer in the attic a bit too narrow for a double bed, but I believe you’re not allowed to make it wider.
- In general, there isn’t enough storage space for my taste.
But fundamentally, why do you want to submit the building permit / planning permission in the next few days when the height situation hasn’t been clarified yet?
- What would really bother me are the parking spaces lined up one after the other. It might be okay for one car, but if I read correctly, you have two station wagons. I can’t imagine it being very convenient for bikes to maneuver around the cars, if it even works at all.
- For the ground floor, I’d be interested in seeing your exact furniture layout. As it is now, I’m not very happy with it.
- The upper floor and attic are fine. I find the dormer in the attic a bit too narrow for a double bed, but I believe you’re not allowed to make it wider.
- In general, there isn’t enough storage space for my taste.
But fundamentally, why do you want to submit the building permit / planning permission in the next few days when the height situation hasn’t been clarified yet?
hanse987 schrieb:
I find the dormer in the attic a bit too narrow for a double bed.That also caught my eye. I would really like to see the layout. I’m afraid that with a 2m (6 ft 7 in) wide bed including the frame, you don’t have 40cm (16 inches) of clearance on either side, plus there’s the sloping ceiling at the head. Also, the 2m (6 ft 7 in) line is quite far away.Otherwise, I agree with all the points hanse987 mentioned. I’m curious to see what comes out of lowering the plot level. Maybe a basement with considerable height above ground could be possible? Then it might also be an option to place the parents’ bedroom down there.
goalkeeper schrieb:
I needed constructive input, not someone who always just talks everything down. You did get input. On the other hand, you shouldn’t overestimate everything. We are perfectionists here. Not everyone can or wants to be.
goalkeeper schrieb:
...a hallway is not really a living space but a passage to get to the front door or bathroom. It doesn’t need to be 1.50 m (5 feet) wide for that. On the contrary. The hallway at the entrance is one of the most important living spaces in the house. It is used more often than the path to the bedroom and often by everyone together. But we have already discussed this.
At the moment, I am much more fascinated by the street situation you have there. I wonder how that is supposed to work. Does the street run along the house like some kind of elevated track? With 1.50 m (5 feet), you would need safety railings on both sides. Wouldn’t that mean almost all builders would have to raise their entire property by 1.50 m (5 feet)? That would be enormous volumes of soil.
Is the street already finished?
G
goalkeeper25 Jul 2019 06:22kaho674 schrieb:
You already had the input. On the other hand, you shouldn’t overestimate everything. We are perfectionists here. Not everyone can or wants to be like that.
Quite the opposite. The hallway at the entrance is one of the most important living spaces in the house. It is used more frequently than the way to the bedroom and often by everyone together. But we already discussed all that.
Right now, I am much more fascinated by the street situation in your area. I wonder how that is supposed to look. Does the street run like an elevated railway past the house? At 1.50 m (5 feet), you would need fall protection on both sides. Then wouldn’t practically all homeowners have to raise their entire plots by 1.50 m (5 feet)? That would involve massive amounts of earth.
Is the street already finished? If you zoom in a bit, you can clearly see the slope – which is about 1.50 m (5 feet). The street is also clearly visible already.
And yes… basically, all 20 builders in this terraced housing area will have to raise their land.
We’re viewing the area from the southwest according to the plan.
goalkeeper schrieb:
If you zoom in a bit, you can clearly see the slope – and it’s about 1.50 m (5 feet).From a distance, it doesn’t look that high, does it? What do the other builders think about this? Maybe the city will arrange the filling themselves?Similar topics