Hello everyone,
We are starting to plan an alternative to the costly renovation of our house. So far, we have had our first discussions and collaboration with a general contractor of our choice.
I would appreciate honest feedback so that we can identify any overlooked issues now, rather than during construction.
Summary:
Development plan exists, few restrictions, maximum eaves height of 8m (26 ft) might cause some issues for us.
Plot size: 710m² (7,645 ft²)
Slope: No
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 2
Roof type: Hip roof
Style: Townhouse / Urban villa
Orientation: Plot faces northwest, see attachment
Maximum height/limits: 8m (26 ft) eaves height, 5m (16 ft) setback from northern and western property boundaries for the building, due to requested landscaping
Owners’ requirements
Style, roof type, building type: Flexible; overall package must be appealing
No basement, two full stories
Number of occupants: 6 persons (ages 38, 37, 8, 6, 2, 2)
Space needs: 5 bedrooms on the upper floor, living room, dining room, kitchen, 2 offices on the ground floor, at least 2 showers
Offices: Both offices necessary, 1 fully dedicated home office (regardless of pandemic), 1 study for a teacher
Overnight guests per year: 6; can sleep elsewhere or in one of the offices
Open or closed layout: Flexible
Conservative or modern construction: Flexible
Kitchen: Preferably open with an island (for food prep, not for cooking at)
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: Provision for a wood stove, thus chimney required
2 carports, no garage
Special features: A cleaning area/utility room “mudroom” is desired because our children tend to be messy. Children’s bedrooms to be approximately the same size (+/-).
House design
Designed by: Planner from a construction company
What we like:
- Simple floor plan
- 2 offices
- 5 bedrooms on one level
- Bedrooms roughly the same size
- Kitchen easily furnishable
- Not larger than 200m² (2,153 ft²) (cleaning, construction costs)
- Fits the plot well
- Short access for groceries (directly into kitchen)
What we don’t like:
- The path to the living room goes through the kitchen
- Relatively large circulation areas
- No pantry
Price estimate according to architect/planner: approximately €440,000 (about $490,000) excluding painting and floor coverings (except tiles, which are included for kitchen, entrance, hallway on ground floor, and bathrooms)
Personal price limit for the house including fittings: €540,000 (about $600,000), including fittings and additional construction costs, land extra. Can be increased if needed up to €640,000 (about $710,000)
Preferred heating technology: Heat pump or gas
What can you do without? Which details or extras can you skip?
- Can omit 1 office if the corresponding bedroom is 3m² (32 ft²) bigger (a desk corner instead)
Why does the design look like this now?
We found a standard design that we were able to adapt to our needs with relatively few changes.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan, summarized in 130 characters?
What daily challenges do you see with 4 children that we might have missed? What haven’t we considered?
The house is planned for the top left corner plot (circled) on the site map.
The floor plans have unfortunately been manually altered, so my revisions regarding room names are included. The guest room is actually office 2... The revised room sizes are approximate.
Thank you very much and best regards,
SoL
We are starting to plan an alternative to the costly renovation of our house. So far, we have had our first discussions and collaboration with a general contractor of our choice.
I would appreciate honest feedback so that we can identify any overlooked issues now, rather than during construction.
Summary:
Development plan exists, few restrictions, maximum eaves height of 8m (26 ft) might cause some issues for us.
Plot size: 710m² (7,645 ft²)
Slope: No
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 2
Roof type: Hip roof
Style: Townhouse / Urban villa
Orientation: Plot faces northwest, see attachment
Maximum height/limits: 8m (26 ft) eaves height, 5m (16 ft) setback from northern and western property boundaries for the building, due to requested landscaping
Owners’ requirements
Style, roof type, building type: Flexible; overall package must be appealing
No basement, two full stories
Number of occupants: 6 persons (ages 38, 37, 8, 6, 2, 2)
Space needs: 5 bedrooms on the upper floor, living room, dining room, kitchen, 2 offices on the ground floor, at least 2 showers
Offices: Both offices necessary, 1 fully dedicated home office (regardless of pandemic), 1 study for a teacher
Overnight guests per year: 6; can sleep elsewhere or in one of the offices
Open or closed layout: Flexible
Conservative or modern construction: Flexible
Kitchen: Preferably open with an island (for food prep, not for cooking at)
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: Provision for a wood stove, thus chimney required
2 carports, no garage
Special features: A cleaning area/utility room “mudroom” is desired because our children tend to be messy. Children’s bedrooms to be approximately the same size (+/-).
House design
Designed by: Planner from a construction company
What we like:
- Simple floor plan
- 2 offices
- 5 bedrooms on one level
- Bedrooms roughly the same size
- Kitchen easily furnishable
- Not larger than 200m² (2,153 ft²) (cleaning, construction costs)
- Fits the plot well
- Short access for groceries (directly into kitchen)
What we don’t like:
- The path to the living room goes through the kitchen
- Relatively large circulation areas
- No pantry
Price estimate according to architect/planner: approximately €440,000 (about $490,000) excluding painting and floor coverings (except tiles, which are included for kitchen, entrance, hallway on ground floor, and bathrooms)
Personal price limit for the house including fittings: €540,000 (about $600,000), including fittings and additional construction costs, land extra. Can be increased if needed up to €640,000 (about $710,000)
Preferred heating technology: Heat pump or gas
What can you do without? Which details or extras can you skip?
- Can omit 1 office if the corresponding bedroom is 3m² (32 ft²) bigger (a desk corner instead)
Why does the design look like this now?
We found a standard design that we were able to adapt to our needs with relatively few changes.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan, summarized in 130 characters?
What daily challenges do you see with 4 children that we might have missed? What haven’t we considered?
The house is planned for the top left corner plot (circled) on the site map.
The floor plans have unfortunately been manually altered, so my revisions regarding room names are included. The guest room is actually office 2... The revised room sizes are approximate.
Thank you very much and best regards,
SoL
B
blubbernase31 Jan 2022 17:48@SoL Did my private message get through? Somehow the conversation doesn’t show up for me.
Hello [USER=22473]@SoL,
I don’t think the plan in #33 is bad at all. For an exact assessment, I’m missing the furniture layout. Especially the kitchen, living room, bedrooms, and bathrooms should be furnished to scale. Since the utility room/laundry room is so small, it would be best to furnish that as well. With six people, you will probably need a separate hot water storage tank. Heating, electrical connection, water connection, washing machine, dryer – I think this will be more than tight. The hallway is quite spacious – you will probably have to sacrifice some of that space.
For your plot, I expect relatively high development costs. You will first have to build a road leading into the property and then up to the house. Then there are all the utility lines. Paths, parking spaces – in my opinion, everything is a bit further away than usual. You should keep that in mind.
I don’t think the plan in #33 is bad at all. For an exact assessment, I’m missing the furniture layout. Especially the kitchen, living room, bedrooms, and bathrooms should be furnished to scale. Since the utility room/laundry room is so small, it would be best to furnish that as well. With six people, you will probably need a separate hot water storage tank. Heating, electrical connection, water connection, washing machine, dryer – I think this will be more than tight. The hallway is quite spacious – you will probably have to sacrifice some of that space.
For your plot, I expect relatively high development costs. You will first have to build a road leading into the property and then up to the house. Then there are all the utility lines. Paths, parking spaces – in my opinion, everything is a bit further away than usual. You should keep that in mind.
Yes, unfortunately the information about the utility connection fees is correct. But it’s better this way than having an unsuitable plot of land. 🙄
Attached are the furnished floor plans. At the request of my better half, we swapped the utility room and a study to give the utility room at least 2sqm (21.5 sq ft) more space.
@blubbernase: Unfortunately, I am unable to send private messages—maybe because nothing has been received yet.
Attached are the furnished floor plans. At the request of my better half, we swapped the utility room and a study to give the utility room at least 2sqm (21.5 sq ft) more space.
@blubbernase: Unfortunately, I am unable to send private messages—maybe because nothing has been received yet.
S
Steinaufstein431 Jan 2022 19:01I think the floor plan is quite good. And everyone has their own room, which I really like. In my opinion, relocating the utility room also makes sense.
haydee schrieb:
I can’t help feeling there isn’t enough storage space.
Wouldn’t it make more sense to combine the two small home offices into one large room?A shared office is unfortunately not an option, as my wife needs quiet to work on plans, while I have many conference calls. We tried this at home and gave up...I still have concerns about the multipurpose room regarding noise (echo) and whether it can be made cozy. What has been your experience with that?