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
la.schnute schrieb:
I’m really sorry for not aligning the site plan to true north! I honestly thought that mainly people who have been following the project from the beginning and are involved would respond. The people who casually share their tips and assessments here also do so in many other threads for various other homeowners. When more than a dozen homeowners are each asking for advice just on their floor plans in their own threads, plus several others in different subtopics, it becomes difficult to keep track of what one of 50 questioners might have added a few days earlier.
Therefore, it makes sense to include all relevant information directly in the current drawings whenever possible.
la.schnute schrieb:
When I ask for advice—metaphorically speaking—about which dress to wear to an event, I expect people not to just suggest pants, you know? Speaking metaphorically, it might be that you have very noticeable bow legs and wearing a dress would be a complete mistake for you. Since you don’t recognize this, only a few do, those people might try to convince you to wear pants before you embarrass yourself in public wearing a dress. The fact that some users don’t see your bow legs, or even try to sugarcoat them because they personally like dresses, and only offer their personal taste (dress is great) without addressing your unattractive legs, could also be the case.
la.schnute schrieb:
And the claim that an open space on the ground floor isn’t possible with the house dimensions is simply nonsense. Almost no one said that. It was just repeatedly pointed out that a household, a sound system, and an open floor plan don’t work well together.
la.schnute schrieb:
I’m not really familiar with this, but my partner says he needs to install two smaller speakers about 1 meter (3 feet) behind the sofa. Where exactly? There’s not even a wall there. As far as I know, those speakers are usually installed at ear level.
la.schnute14 Mar 2020 13:15ypg schrieb:
Metaphorically speaking, it could be that you have severe knock knees and a dress would be a totally wrong choice for you. Since you don’t realize this, but only some people do, those people might try to convince you to wear pants before you embarrass yourself in public wearing a dress.
That some users don’t see your knock knees, even try to put a positive spin on it because they themselves like dresses, and just want to promote their own taste (dress is great) without addressing your unattractive legs, could also be the case. Weren’t you already planning to leave, @ypg? This argument completely contradicts my life philosophy: mature adults have the right to decide such things themselves, whether it’s about dresses or house building, and what society thinks about it honestly doesn’t matter at all. Overweight people can wear bikinis, people with knock knees can wear dresses, and everyone basically has the right to build a house as they like. I really don’t care about universal standards of beauty — maybe that’s something you only learn in colorful and diverse big cities like Berlin, Hamburg, etc. So to me, the comparison is way off and your continuation just shows that we have very different views on life. I would simply NEVER EVER impose my opinion on you or anyone else if you or that person wants something completely different.
And I don’t know if you often browse architecture magazines, but modern single-family homes designed by architects are indeed often styled like that. So my wish is actually not that unusual or strange at all.
bauenmk202014 Mar 2020 13:44la.schnute schrieb:
I’m not very familiar with this, but my boyfriend says he needs to install two smaller speakers about 1 meter (3 feet) behind the sofa. Apparently, they can’t be placed directly on a wall behind the sofa (please don’t ask me why). But he is an acoustics engineer at Teufel and is not very willing to compromise on this. It’s kind of his main passion. Interesting: I also have a Teufel system (a bit older; Theater 80). But I am currently planning the placement of the rear speakers as well. Instead of positioning them 1 meter (3 feet) behind the couch, you can also place the speakers above the seating position — somewhat to the side at about 2.3 meters (7.5 feet) high. The speaker would then be angled toward the listening position. When calibrating the sound system, the speaker distances are “equalized.”
I will definitely plan for conduits for the speakers.
But I can understand that if you do this professionally, you want the setup to be done without compromises.