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.
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.
11ant schrieb:
Is your wife really so heartless that she can just relax while you’re working hard?Turn it around! I told my wife the garden is hers!
Winniefred24 Nov 2019 11:28We have 650m2 (approximately 7,000 square feet), which is actually a bit too large for me, but there wasn’t really much choice at the time. We were just happy to have gotten anything at all. Anyway, we have a lot of lawn area, but part of it is laid out as a wildflower meadow, which I plan to expand. Good for the insects, and good for me because it means less work. I only have hardy perennial shrubs, and we have several trees. Only the roses (pruning, winter protection) and hydrangeas (watering, winter protection) require occasional care. Otherwise, I garden ecologically and with minimal effort. We mow rarely, leave most of the wildflower meadow alone, don’t rake leaves in the fall, and don’t cut back perennials. They decompose naturally. I don’t chase aphids or other pests anymore either; nature balances itself out.
Nevertheless, the garden does require work, even if we only prune occasionally. There’s always green waste to dispose of, the roses and hydrangeas need some winter protection, and even mowing, though infrequent, takes time. I enjoy doing it, but for me, it shouldn’t be more than this. We only have one raised bed and a corner with raspberries and strawberries, otherwise no flower or vegetable beds that need tending (my brother grows a lot of vegetables in the courtyard, but that’s his responsibility). The real work mainly comes from the fruit trees and bushes because the fruit needs processing. On the other hand, this means we have a steady yearly supply of sour cherries, plums, peaches, pears, currants, raspberries, strawberries, especially apples, and rhubarb. I don’t buy applesauce or compote, nor jam, because we jar everything ourselves in the cellar, and I freeze berries and rhubarb for baking over the winter. It’s also quite enjoyable. Thanks to my brother, we hardly ever have to buy tomatoes, cucumbers, etc. in the summer. And if we ever have more fruit than we can handle and no one takes it, it just becomes windfall fruit, which is great for wasps and hornets.
I’m sure I would be happy with a smaller garden as well. At the moment, we just have the luxury of a lot of lawn area, a pavilion, and so on, which means we can host large gatherings at home, set up a pool, the children can run and ride their bikes, and the dog can run along. It’s hard to find the right balance. When we lived in a rental flat with a small garden, we definitely had more free time but less luxury.
Nevertheless, the garden does require work, even if we only prune occasionally. There’s always green waste to dispose of, the roses and hydrangeas need some winter protection, and even mowing, though infrequent, takes time. I enjoy doing it, but for me, it shouldn’t be more than this. We only have one raised bed and a corner with raspberries and strawberries, otherwise no flower or vegetable beds that need tending (my brother grows a lot of vegetables in the courtyard, but that’s his responsibility). The real work mainly comes from the fruit trees and bushes because the fruit needs processing. On the other hand, this means we have a steady yearly supply of sour cherries, plums, peaches, pears, currants, raspberries, strawberries, especially apples, and rhubarb. I don’t buy applesauce or compote, nor jam, because we jar everything ourselves in the cellar, and I freeze berries and rhubarb for baking over the winter. It’s also quite enjoyable. Thanks to my brother, we hardly ever have to buy tomatoes, cucumbers, etc. in the summer. And if we ever have more fruit than we can handle and no one takes it, it just becomes windfall fruit, which is great for wasps and hornets.
I’m sure I would be happy with a smaller garden as well. At the moment, we just have the luxury of a lot of lawn area, a pavilion, and so on, which means we can host large gatherings at home, set up a pool, the children can run and ride their bikes, and the dog can run along. It’s hard to find the right balance. When we lived in a rental flat with a small garden, we definitely had more free time but less luxury.
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goalkeeper28 Nov 2019 13:51And here we go...
Winniefred28 Nov 2019 14:01It already looks really great!
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Fummelbrett!28 Nov 2019 14:40It looks really good! But somehow I feel a bit sorry for the house; it stands there so lonely and isolated in the area. It kind of awakens a maternal instinct. Not that the house might get cold or catch a chill... When will the windows be installed?
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goalkeeper28 Nov 2019 14:48Fummelbrett! schrieb:
When will the windows arrive? On December 9th.
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