Dear forum members,
We bought a plot of land last autumn and are currently deep into the floor plan design. We would like to share our current draft with you and welcome any comments and opinions.
[F]irst some preliminary information about the plot and its buildability:[/F]
Best regards
We bought a plot of land last autumn and are currently deep into the floor plan design. We would like to share our current draft with you and welcome any comments and opinions.
[F]irst some preliminary information about the plot and its buildability:[/F]
- 1000 m² (10,764 sq ft) rear plot, southwest facing (so southwest is on the left side of the site plan)
- Building boundary up to approx. 16 m (52 ft) behind the property line (up to the dashed line on the site plan)
- No zoning plan (construction according to § 34 of the Building Code)
- Groundwater at surface level and peaty soil (exact geotechnical report pending), so piled foundation required and no basement
- Affordable! (Our maximum budget for the house including foundation slab is €230,000)
- Country house style
- Bright, large windows facing south/garden
- Open living/dining/kitchen area
- Family of four, 1 bedroom and 2 children’s rooms
- Not oversized, max 150 m² (1,615 sq ft), preferably less
- Solid construction using Ytong blocks (for us the most cost-effective option, although we would have liked to build with wood as well).
- Developed ourselves after studying various floor plans (including from the book "Affordable Building with a Small Budget" by Achim Linhardt) with support from architect friends and our planner (an independent civil engineer).
- Dimensions 12.50 x 7.50 m (41 x 25 ft) (the measurements shown on the site plan are from an earlier draft).
- What we like: open living area, all main rooms have large windows facing the garden, efficient size, although the children’s and bedroom could be smaller, sewing/work nook behind the stairs upstairs, plenty of wall space for large wardrobes in the upstairs bedroom and hallway on the ground floor, light shaft in the stairwell, staircase (we originally wanted a straight run staircase but it would have taken too much space; the one with three quarter turns is also fine with us).
- What we don’t like 100% yet: the height of the house from the outside. It is currently planned as a two-story house with an eaves height of 6.2 m (20 ft), with the ground floor 2.84 m (9 ft 4 in) high and the upper floor 2.60 m (8 ft 6 in) high. The gable roof will be an uninsulated, unfinished cold roof, mainly because of the economical prefabricated truss construction method. This is a bit disappointing because I really like sloped ceilings and did not want the character of a townhouse. Lowering the roof with a knee wall of about 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) and an insulated roof with open sloped ceilings would probably be more expensive due to the rafter/beam construction. We would also lose the garden view through the floor-to-ceiling bedroom windows.
- Simple: What do you think about the floor plan?
- Can you still imagine the relatively tall two-story house having a country house character? Maybe it depends on the facade design and choice of materials? Do you think it looks too “blocky,” especially from the front entrance side? Or would a lower eaves height with an attic conversion including a knee wall be preferable?
- We are still unsure how to arrange the windows on the garden side. The drawing with the elevations shows two possible versions. We actually prefer it when the upper floor window is centered over the lower window front. However, this does not align the interior line of sight from the entrance door to the garden/patio door (see ground floor plan). This represents version two; for version one, the window front would have to be shifted about one window width to the right, so that the patio door is behind the dining table. With the window front shifted left, the interior looks better to us, but from the outside it looks strange if it is offset from the upper floor window, right? What do you think?
Best regards
There is a desk in the hallway upstairs? And another one next to the living room downstairs? What are those thin lines that separate this area at the bottom? Glass partitions or is it open? Are two desk corners really needed in the house? If you want to build cost-effectively, I would start saving here. The bedroom also has an excess of square meters that is difficult to use under this premise.
It has already been mentioned that the interior dimensions are missing. If they were available, the original poster (OP) would realize that with a depth of 6.77 meters (22.2 feet), the desired living concept cannot be implemented. Certainly not as spacious as the PC floor plan suggests.
144 square meters (1,550 square feet) for a maximum of 230,000 euros (€). That is not 1,600 euros (€) per square meter. Did the architect say this is feasible? If you have been a quiet reader here for a while, you probably already know the answer to whether this is doable.
144 square meters (1,550 square feet) for a maximum of 230,000 euros (€). That is not 1,600 euros (€) per square meter. Did the architect say this is feasible? If you have been a quiet reader here for a while, you probably already know the answer to whether this is doable.
O
Osnabruecker4 Mar 2020 05:4915m2 (160 sq ft) children's room
20m2 (215 sq ft) bedroom
Large window area
230,000 € might be the price from a prefab home manufacturer starting at the foundation slab.
Plus additional construction-related costs and interior finishes, easily exceeding 300,000 €
20m2 (215 sq ft) bedroom
Large window area
230,000 € might be the price from a prefab home manufacturer starting at the foundation slab.
Plus additional construction-related costs and interior finishes, easily exceeding 300,000 €
What exactly gives this house a country cottage feel? With two children, I wouldn’t do without a second shower; it always causes stress when everyone wants to use the bathroom at the same time in the morning. Your bedroom is huge, but the bathroom is quite small for four people. On the sofa, there is only space for two, and you have the entire dining and kitchen area behind you, facing a wall.
Best regards,
Sabine
Best regards,
Sabine
S
Sparfuchs774 Mar 2020 07:26Osnabruecker schrieb:
15m2 (160 ft²) children's room
20m2 (215 ft²) bedroom
Large window area
€230,000 (approximately $245,000) is perhaps the price from a prefab house manufacturer starting at the foundation slab.
Additional construction incidental costs and interior fittings easily push it above €300,000 (around $320,000). Well, you can’t really generalize, although this will probably apply to over 90% of current projects. It is still possible to build very affordably nowadays, but several criteria need to be met, otherwise it turns out badly.
A 150m2 (1,615 ft²) house usually ends up with additional costs totaling around €320,000 to €350,000 (about $340,000 to $370,000). This can be reduced through:
- Location advantage (for example, building in Saxony is cheaper than in Hamburg)
- Lots of personal work
- Good personal connections
- Contracting individual trades separately
I assume that a pile foundation is not included in the budget; otherwise, I see little chance of staying within it.
To press 150m2 (1,615 ft²) into €230,000 (about $245,000), everything has to be just right, and you need to limit all fittings to the bare minimum. On top of that, you have to organize the trades yourself, do as much personal work as possible, and hopefully leverage existing contacts. Then it MIGHT be enough. Whether you can manage that and if it’s worth it for you, you’ll have to decide. With such a tight budget, even I would get cold feet.
We are currently building as well and will end up below €1,500/m2 (about $140/sq ft). But we are doing a lot ourselves or have good contacts:
- External thermal insulation composite system (ETICS) as personal work
- Flooring as personal work
- Complete electrical installation as personal work
- Plumbing through friends
- Interior insulation (ceiling and roof) as personal work
- Drywall as personal work
- Windows ordered from Poland and installed as personal work
- Organizing the trades ourselves (only feasible with local companies)
- Materials as own equity
and so on.
At 120m2 (1,290 ft²), the situation would already look a bit better.
S
Sparfuchs774 Mar 2020 07:39Curly schrieb:
The couch only fits two people, and you have the entire dining and kitchen area behind you, facing a wall Friends of ours have arranged the living area in their apartment in a similar way. It’s not uncomfortable and works fine for family life. However, I wouldn’t do it like that if I were designing my own house. It looks worse on the floor plan than it actually feels in reality.
I just noticed the ceiling heights of 2.8 and 2.6 meters (9 ft 2 in and 8 ft 6 in). You could also consider lowering those if you need to save every last dollar (which is likely with this budget). A height of 2.60 meters (8 ft 6 in) downstairs and 2.5 meters (8 ft 2 in) upstairs is still sufficient and can save you a significant amount of money.
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