ᐅ Building an End-Terrace House as a Self-Managed Project with a General Contractor

Created on: 27 May 2019 10:48
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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.
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Muc1985
3 Nov 2019 11:32
Goalkeepers are the kings of the ring!
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kbt09
3 Nov 2019 11:39
The other construction project is a basement build... you can see the large piles of excavation material. It will be interesting when late builders start working with basements.
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goalkeeper
3 Nov 2019 13:58
Regarding the topic of windows: we chose locking handles for all the windows. On the ground floor for burglary protection, and in the rest of the house for child safety.

However, wouldn’t the push-button version be sufficient and, above all, more practical on the first floor and attic?
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ypg
3 Nov 2019 14:14
On the upper floor, child safety measures are needed; on the ground floor, burglary protection is required.
Winniefred3 Nov 2019 18:36
This is probably a matter of personal preference, but the push-button lock is easy for even very young children to figure out, so it doesn’t provide real protection. They just move a chair to the window and open it before you even notice. That’s why we use keys, since we’re not always upstairs when the children are in their rooms.
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Scout
3 Nov 2019 19:03
You also need to use the keys, meaning you should always lock the windows and then keep the keys at least an arm’s length away from the window.

Before that, however, you should invest in proper fittings and surface-mounted locks. Only then consider additional features like window handles with locks. This is also the official advice from the police.