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
A staircase with a 24cm (9.5 inches) tread depth is misleading. Go ahead and measure the tread depth on every staircase you find. Is there any with a 24cm (9.5 inches) tread? No, right? Ask yourself why! Even with an overhang, they are barely walkable. Climbing up might just be manageable, but when going down, anyone with a shoe size larger than 36 will need a safety rope every time. It gets really tricky when you’re going around corners.
K
knalltüte5 Mar 2020 07:4511ant schrieb:
Exactly, and that’s what I’ve been saying here for three years. Unfortunately, many home builders think in terms of “margarine vs. ‘good’ butter” and assume that thick facing bricks are of higher quality—completely ignoring the very different production methods. And anyway, more is better, just don’t “only” use accents :-(
That’s where my pirate bed will go—perfect!
No. This is produced by someone who finds relaxing in repetitive tasks, creating a whole range en suite. Yeah, someone like me. As a student, I did that at the brickworks around the corner for about 7-8 DM (that’s roughly 35 years ago). Headphones on and working piecework! Sawn thin bricks or halves. Deafening noise, but relaxing it was not (piecework).
I have to agree with Katja that a rise of 18.5cm (7.3 inches) means a tread depth of 24cm (9.4 inches) is very, very short. According to the general step measurement formula used in stair construction, the ideal run should be around 61cm (24 inches). On average, it should be about 63cm (25 inches) or even a bit more, which corresponds to a tread depth of approximately 26 to 27 cm (10.2 to 10.6 inches).
In my case, the stairwell opening was already fixed, so I couldn’t influence it anymore, and the dimensions were quite tight. We had to do a lot of “tinkering” to fit a staircase that complies with the DIN standard. This also led to the issue of having a relatively small tread depth.
I actually had an accident, just as Katja describes: stepping too far forward when going down, the ball of my foot slipped over the front edge, and I fell. I did sustain a noticeable injury. So, I can only advise giving the topic of a “proper staircase” enough attention.
I actually had an accident, just as Katja describes: stepping too far forward when going down, the ball of my foot slipped over the front edge, and I fell. I did sustain a noticeable injury. So, I can only advise giving the topic of a “proper staircase” enough attention.
Altai schrieb:
I’ve already had one accident, ... Ouch! Was everyone okay?
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