ᐅ Terraced Corner House Floor Plan in Development – Any Suggestions for Changes?
Created on: 20 Aug 2022 21:05
B
Bauherrin123
Hello dear forum members,
we are building an end-terrace house measuring 7 by 10 m (23 by 33 ft) without a basement. It will have 2 full floors and an attic above. Now the question is which roof we should have. I was shown a house with a 38-degree gable roof without a knee wall, which I found very nice in terms of the feeling of space. Now we have been informed that only a 35-degree gable roof is allowed for us, but with a 30 cm (12 inches) knee wall. What I didn’t realize was that our attic has a maximum height of only 63 cm (25 inches). So the attic space is very low. Now I have no basement and hardly any storage space and I’m a bit frustrated because the building permit application is now in front of me. I initially agreed that this was okay, but I would prefer a 1 m (3 ft) knee wall. The development plan only allows a maximum of 30 cm (12 inches). I’m really unsure what to choose... I don’t want to spend unnecessary money if it doesn’t make a big difference since we have a very large plot and can build storage in the garage, barn, or garden house...
What would you do?
A. 38-degree gable roof or
B. 35-degree gable roof with 30 cm (12 inches) knee wall or
C. 35-degree gable roof with 1 m (3 ft) knee wall, applying to the city office...
We would need to submit a request to the building authority to increase the knee wall to 1 m (3 ft), which would mean more effort, bureaucracy, and delays... I don’t know what it would cost or if it’s even possible, but it’s weighing on my mind because I only read online about people who built houses with a knee wall on the attic. The extra cost of $3,000–$5,000, if that’s roughly the amount, would be worth it to me if it creates nicer rooms and I get a higher attic for storage.
The second problem is that the plot is much lower than street level. We are paying an extra €10,000 to fill the plot with gravel up to street level. Now the house will be built just slightly above street level, so there will be a step at the entrance. There will be a total of 3 terraced houses, and we have the end house. In our row, two finished terraced houses from other builders are already standing next to ours. However, these are built 1 m (3 ft) above street level with 3 or 4 steps higher, so they probably look taller overall. I find this visually unappealing and also, personally, I want our house to be higher.
What are your thoughts on this?
I’m also uploading my floor plan, which I think is finished. I don’t understand how high the ceilings are; can someone tell from the plans? Inside the rooms, how high are they? And generally, do you notice anything about the floor plan?
My building permit application is ready, but I want to change it after all. It doesn’t suit me, and I’m sure it will cause trouble with the company if they have to make changes for us, but I want to be able to decide again and just need some feedback here.
Looking forward to your support!
Best regards
we are building an end-terrace house measuring 7 by 10 m (23 by 33 ft) without a basement. It will have 2 full floors and an attic above. Now the question is which roof we should have. I was shown a house with a 38-degree gable roof without a knee wall, which I found very nice in terms of the feeling of space. Now we have been informed that only a 35-degree gable roof is allowed for us, but with a 30 cm (12 inches) knee wall. What I didn’t realize was that our attic has a maximum height of only 63 cm (25 inches). So the attic space is very low. Now I have no basement and hardly any storage space and I’m a bit frustrated because the building permit application is now in front of me. I initially agreed that this was okay, but I would prefer a 1 m (3 ft) knee wall. The development plan only allows a maximum of 30 cm (12 inches). I’m really unsure what to choose... I don’t want to spend unnecessary money if it doesn’t make a big difference since we have a very large plot and can build storage in the garage, barn, or garden house...
What would you do?
A. 38-degree gable roof or
B. 35-degree gable roof with 30 cm (12 inches) knee wall or
C. 35-degree gable roof with 1 m (3 ft) knee wall, applying to the city office...
We would need to submit a request to the building authority to increase the knee wall to 1 m (3 ft), which would mean more effort, bureaucracy, and delays... I don’t know what it would cost or if it’s even possible, but it’s weighing on my mind because I only read online about people who built houses with a knee wall on the attic. The extra cost of $3,000–$5,000, if that’s roughly the amount, would be worth it to me if it creates nicer rooms and I get a higher attic for storage.
The second problem is that the plot is much lower than street level. We are paying an extra €10,000 to fill the plot with gravel up to street level. Now the house will be built just slightly above street level, so there will be a step at the entrance. There will be a total of 3 terraced houses, and we have the end house. In our row, two finished terraced houses from other builders are already standing next to ours. However, these are built 1 m (3 ft) above street level with 3 or 4 steps higher, so they probably look taller overall. I find this visually unappealing and also, personally, I want our house to be higher.
What are your thoughts on this?
I’m also uploading my floor plan, which I think is finished. I don’t understand how high the ceilings are; can someone tell from the plans? Inside the rooms, how high are they? And generally, do you notice anything about the floor plan?
My building permit application is ready, but I want to change it after all. It doesn’t suit me, and I’m sure it will cause trouble with the company if they have to make changes for us, but I want to be able to decide again and just need some feedback here.
Looking forward to your support!
Best regards
B
Bauherrin12321 Aug 2022 13:30K a t j a schrieb:
If you swing the door open, I don’t think you’ll get the full 3 m (10 feet). I wouldn’t want to constantly have the office door slam into me, though. Until now, I didn’t realize the door would be in the way, and I thought the 3 m (10 feet) wall was worth it. I will discuss it with my husband and then report back on what we decide. However, I also think we will probably decide against it and go with the second option mentioned here. After all, a cabinet that is 50 cm (20 inches) longer isn’t that much more. Many thanks for the suggestion.
Approximately a 15 cm (6 inch) step leads to the balcony, based on the height of the parapet measured from the unfinished floor. The parapet height is 25 cm (10 inches), minus roughly 15 cm (6 inches) for the floor build-up and about 5 cm (2 inches) for the threshold of a standard window, resulting in a 15 cm (6 inch) step.
@Bertram100 ... no landing stairs are drawn. The staircase shown, measuring 176 x 251 cm (69 x 99 inches), is just a continuously rising U-shaped staircase.
@Bauherrin123 ... the planned dining/living area layout will be problematic. The table is about 180 cm (71 inches) wide and placed in a niche with a rough structural size of 326 cm (128 inches), so roughly 320 cm (126 inches) finished size. With your planned positioning above and below the table, only about 70 cm (28 inches) remain. If someone is sitting there, no one else can pass. Placing the sofa in the middle of the room as you did means the head will be about 250 cm (98 inches) from the TV, and it will be difficult to access the niche between the TV and sofa at the bottom of the plan. It also creates an awkward corner at the top left of the plan. To make matters worse, the positioning of both table and sofa blocks all clear and straight paths to the garden exits.
The kitchen also urgently needs planning. Since the door opens outward, you should consider moving the door about 60 cm (24 inches) further down on the plan to keep the option open to place kitchen units along the upper wall of the plan. I don't know your heights, but is the finished parapet height of about 90 cm (35 inches) sufficient, or should the kitchen worktop height be checked again?
@Bertram100 ... no landing stairs are drawn. The staircase shown, measuring 176 x 251 cm (69 x 99 inches), is just a continuously rising U-shaped staircase.
@Bauherrin123 ... the planned dining/living area layout will be problematic. The table is about 180 cm (71 inches) wide and placed in a niche with a rough structural size of 326 cm (128 inches), so roughly 320 cm (126 inches) finished size. With your planned positioning above and below the table, only about 70 cm (28 inches) remain. If someone is sitting there, no one else can pass. Placing the sofa in the middle of the room as you did means the head will be about 250 cm (98 inches) from the TV, and it will be difficult to access the niche between the TV and sofa at the bottom of the plan. It also creates an awkward corner at the top left of the plan. To make matters worse, the positioning of both table and sofa blocks all clear and straight paths to the garden exits.
The kitchen also urgently needs planning. Since the door opens outward, you should consider moving the door about 60 cm (24 inches) further down on the plan to keep the option open to place kitchen units along the upper wall of the plan. I don't know your heights, but is the finished parapet height of about 90 cm (35 inches) sufficient, or should the kitchen worktop height be checked again?
Bauherrin123 schrieb:
I can't find your 15cm (6 inches) step anywhere, where is it exactly? The roof terrace will actually be a balcony... I’m planning to put some small garden furniture there. The plan states a parapet height of 25cm (10 inches). What does this parapet height refer to? Is it the raw structural measurement or the finished floor level? If it’s from the finished floor surface, then there is actually a 25cm (10 inches) step. This is because the floor construction on a roof terrace is usually higher than the floor build-up inside the house. I would personally skip the entire balcony, as I don’t see any benefit in having it.
Has the kitchen already been planned? For example, where are the tall cabinets supposed to go in the current layout?
Why does the terrace only have a depth of 2m (6.5 feet)? Try putting a table and some chairs there and see if you can walk around them comfortably. I would rather go for a depth of about 3m (10 feet) to allow practical use.
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