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.
goalkeeper schrieb:
Today I was informed by the general contractor that the structural engineer strongly criticized the foundation proposal to the geotechnical expert. According to him, it would never hold with the L-shaped concrete blocks. goalkeeper schrieb:
Today, the general contractor informed me that the structural engineer strongly rejected the foundation proposal presented to the geotechnical engineer. According to them, using L-shaped concrete blocks would never be stable enough. There is also a risk that, during any later underpinning work, everything could shift. It seems the geotechnical engineer did not take into account that a boundary wall would be constructed on one side at a later stage.
Our general contractor is now working with the structural engineer on a cost-neutral alternative, which they apparently have already found. We should receive an update today or tomorrow on how the foundation will be executed.
The start of construction must be strictly maintained for October 1st. What could this cost-neutral idea be? I can’t think of anything!
I suspect the alternative will only be feasible with the neighbor’s cooperation.
G
goalkeeper19 Sep 2019 11:21Zaba12 schrieb:
What is the cost-neutral idea supposed to be? I can’t think of anything!
I can already see that the alternative will probably only work with the neighbor’s help. Cost-neutral compared to the 15,000 for the fill. It will probably be a foundation solution that extends down to the neighbor’s basement depth.
goalkeeper schrieb:
Cost-neutral compared to the 15k for the embankment. It will probably be a foundation solution that extends down to the neighbor’s basement depth. Ok. I’m curious to hear what you report this evening! Please include an explanation as well.
Foundation at the neighbor’s basement depth? What happens to the space between the foundation and the finished floor level? I can’t imagine how to implement that without lowering the ground floor. Your general contractor can’t work magic either. Or maybe they can.
I already hear the basement calling.
G
goalkeeper19 Sep 2019 11:59Zaba12 schrieb:
Foundation at the neighbor's basement depth? What happens to the space between the foundation and the finished floor level? I can’t imagine how to do that without lowering the ground floor. Your general contractor can’t perform magic either. Or maybe he can. He roughly explained it to me before: the slab is then made as a precast concrete element and rests on the foundations.
Therefore, there is no need to fill the space with expensive compactible material; the excavation can be used instead. The fill no longer supports the slab, but the foundations.
If I find out the exact method, I’ll gladly explain it here.
kaho674 schrieb:
How are they supposed to know how and where the neighbor plans their basement foundation? Maybe they want a ceiling height of 2.60m (8 feet 6 inches) there... If they are really willing to pay several thousand euros for the necessary compensation due to 15cm (6 inches) additional ceiling height, that would be more than unwise.
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