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
goalkeeper20 Sep 2019 10:31This could turn into something.
The geotechnical engineer still hasn’t provided a reliable foundation statement based on yesterday’s recommendation. The structural engineer has to ask for clarification again because an important statement was simply not made. It seems to be about the allowable soil pressure for the strip footings.
But the engineer will definitely issue an invoice for this, which I will certainly pay.
The geotechnical engineer still hasn’t provided a reliable foundation statement based on yesterday’s recommendation. The structural engineer has to ask for clarification again because an important statement was simply not made. It seems to be about the allowable soil pressure for the strip footings.
But the engineer will definitely issue an invoice for this, which I will certainly pay.
G
goalkeeper20 Sep 2019 10:37Zaba12 schrieb:
Strip foundation? Why?I can only infer this from the email exchange without knowing the full reasoning of all parties involved.
However, the solution with the L-shaped concrete elements and the embankment including a load-bearing slab was rejected by the structural engineer. The L-shaped elements would not withstand the pressure.
Therefore, they are now considering strip foundations—either in the cohesive or non-cohesive soil depending on the situation. For this, the structural engineer now requires the corresponding preliminary work from the surveyor.
This came from the structural engineer to the surveyor:
- Foundation of all footings (except the party wall) in the cohesive topsoil at
- approximately 101 m above sea level (331 ft). The topsoil will be removed and the footings will be founded on the cohesive soil. Does a required embedment depth need to be considered here?
- (The party wall foundation would be founded frost-free approximately 95 cm (37 inches) deeper)
- Foundation of all footings (except the party wall) in the non-cohesive gravel at
- approximately 100 m above sea level (328 ft). The topsoil will be removed... Can the foundation trenches then be backfilled with lean concrete up to approximately 101 m above sea level (331 ft)? After that, the footings would be built up to the underside of the slab level.
- The party wall foundation in this case (without lean concrete) would also be founded at about 100 m above sea level (328 ft) and would be continuously reinforced for frost protection.
G
goalkeeper20 Sep 2019 10:42Zaba12 schrieb:
Well, good nerves going forward. If the October 1st deadline holds, you still have a chance to have your house weather-tight by Christmas. For me, it started in mid-October last year (and the basement as well). The roof was erected on December 20th or 21st.Thanks – that's the plan as well.
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