ᐅ Floor Plan Design for a Single-Family House, Solid Wood Construction, 140 sqm in Lower Saxony
Created on: 2 Jan 2023 15:30
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-LotteS-
Hello dear house building forum!
Here are some details—based on our best knowledge and judgment—about our house construction project...
Development Plan/Restrictions
Plot size 576 sqm (approx. 6195 sq ft) - parcel 17/28 (see cadastral map)
Slope no – the plot has only a few centimeters (inches) of elevation difference
Floor area ratio (FAR) 0.3 = 172.8 sqm (1861 sq ft)
Plot ratio not defined
Building envelope, building line and boundary 24x24 meter (79x79 feet) plot = N-E-S-W 16x18x16x18 meter (52x59x52x59 feet) building envelope
Edge development no, exceptions possibly according to Lower Saxony Building Regulations
Required number of parking spaces not specified
Number of floors single storey
Roof shape gable/hip/half-hip with 35-50 degree pitch
Architectural style classic detached house
Ridge direction specified = ridge line running west-east
Max height limits ridge height 4.0 m (13 ft), eaves height 8.5 m (28 ft)
Additional rules no oil heating, 50% of the south-facing roof must have solar panels, no building allowed between house and street (e.g., no parking or similar in front yard)
The plot has been purchased and the utility infrastructure in the new development area is already completed (our plot is even located on a pre-asphalted road).
Homeowner Requirements
Style, roof shape, building type solid wooden house made of massive log beams inside, blown insulation, and exterior cladding
Basement, floors no basement – only ground floor + upper floor
Number of occupants, ages three, aged 36, 29, and five and a half
Space requirements on ground and upper floors standard single-family home with 3 bedrooms plus bathroom upstairs, open-plan living area downstairs, guest WC, and large utility/housekeeping room
Office: family use or home office? One room currently usable as office/guest room (backup for future child needs), currently neither of us have jobs with home office option
Open or closed layout living/dining/kitchen preferably open
Conservative or modern construction style conservative
Open kitchen, kitchen island open kitchen yes, kitchen island currently not planned
Number of dining seats daily use for 3, but dining nook should be sufficient for more people
Fireplace planned is a masonry stove
Music/stereo wall no
Balcony, roof terrace no
Garage, carport carport with workshop
Utility garden, greenhouse no
Other wishes/special features/daily routine, including reasons why some things are included or excluded
House Design
Who designed the plan: plan based on our principles, then optimized with the manufacturer’s in-house architect
What do you particularly like? Why? We really like the extended dining nook with the surrounding bench; overall, our ideas about room sizes have been well implemented – whether everything will really work as we imagine, we would like to ask here.
What do you dislike? Why? The chimney’s position might be bothersome in the children's room? Or is that negligible in daily life? We are still not satisfied with the kitchen and bathroom upstairs and are currently looking for a good furnishing/decorating solution.
Price estimate according to architect/planner: Since we are not working with a general contractor but will handle contracts ourselves after the shell is built and do a lot of work ourselves, we don’t have all numbers yet. The following trades are currently being costed.
Personal price limit for the house including fittings: 400,000 up to move-in ready, excluding everything outside the building itself, plot is paid
Preferred heating technology: heat pump with underfloor heating plus photovoltaics with possible storage
If you have to give up something, which details/extensions
- can you do without: We have tried to adapt our demands to the budget as much as possible – does anyone see further savings potential?
- can you not do without: As an absolute last resort, we would remove the dining nook and redesign the ground floor – also, the masonry stove is fixed for us (we just love this cozy atmosphere).
Why is the design the way it is now?
Standard plan from planner? The manufacturer does not offer standard houses; everything is individually designed
Which of your wishes were implemented by the architect? The current plan reflects our wishes quite well. Now we just need fine-tuning, and we hope for your assessments, ideas, and experiences.
A mix of many examples from various magazines... Of course, our inspirations come from many different sources (good and bad…) 😀
What makes it particularly good or bad in your opinion? It feels good to us so far – all our furniture fits, and the things that bother us in our current rented house have been eliminated in the design.
What is the most important/basic question about the layout, summarized in 130 characters?
- Does the layout work as it is, or are there specific arrangements that don’t work?
- Is the position and number of windows sufficient?
- Do the children's rooms upstairs need two roof windows or is one enough each?
- Have we missed or overlooked anything important?
- Can a U-shaped kitchen be sensibly planned in the existing space, or do we need to adjust walls downstairs first?
- Are the door positions appropriate regarding width, wall distance, and opening direction?
- Is the utility room (unfurnished room behind the laundry on the north/east side of the ground floor) dimensionally adequate?
- What knee wall height is recommended upstairs? Currently at 40 cm (16 in), we plan to raise it because otherwise, especially the upstairs bathroom will be problematic (though we don’t want a large bathroom, just “as big as necessary” – we would probably place the bathtub in the northeast corner of the room – would that fit?
- We’d like to add a laundry chute from the upstairs bathroom to the utility room – does anyone have a good idea for the best location?
One final note on our general concept:
We intend to buy the house from the manufacturer including insulation, cladding, and roof structure. Assembly will follow the “master carpenter assembly” principle (the company provides two experienced workers, plus 4-5 helpers from us – full warranty and savings of around 15,000-20,000 euros, about three to four weeks of hard work). The manufacturer’s “basic package” also includes windows and the front door, as they must be specially installed due to the house settling.
We plan to contract the foundation slab, roofing, and plumbing work separately. Electrical work (in consultation with the local master electrician), interior finishing (room doors, screed, underfloor heating, floor covering), and small tasks can be done by my partner (trained electrician, highly interested in almost everything, skilled and experienced with wood). I work professionally in an office of a building materials supplier, so I have access to good conditions, storage capacity, and established contacts in the industry. We also have great friends and a large family who are all enthusiastic about our project and willing to support us. We know this will require a lot of work, strain our time, nerves, and budget—but we want to give it a try.
We are now looking forward to suggestions, critical comments, and anything that can help us avoid as many mistakes as possible during the process.
Thank you very much in advance!
Here are some details—based on our best knowledge and judgment—about our house construction project...
Development Plan/Restrictions
Plot size 576 sqm (approx. 6195 sq ft) - parcel 17/28 (see cadastral map)
Slope no – the plot has only a few centimeters (inches) of elevation difference
Floor area ratio (FAR) 0.3 = 172.8 sqm (1861 sq ft)
Plot ratio not defined
Building envelope, building line and boundary 24x24 meter (79x79 feet) plot = N-E-S-W 16x18x16x18 meter (52x59x52x59 feet) building envelope
Edge development no, exceptions possibly according to Lower Saxony Building Regulations
Required number of parking spaces not specified
Number of floors single storey
Roof shape gable/hip/half-hip with 35-50 degree pitch
Architectural style classic detached house
Ridge direction specified = ridge line running west-east
Max height limits ridge height 4.0 m (13 ft), eaves height 8.5 m (28 ft)
Additional rules no oil heating, 50% of the south-facing roof must have solar panels, no building allowed between house and street (e.g., no parking or similar in front yard)
The plot has been purchased and the utility infrastructure in the new development area is already completed (our plot is even located on a pre-asphalted road).
Homeowner Requirements
Style, roof shape, building type solid wooden house made of massive log beams inside, blown insulation, and exterior cladding
Basement, floors no basement – only ground floor + upper floor
Number of occupants, ages three, aged 36, 29, and five and a half
Space requirements on ground and upper floors standard single-family home with 3 bedrooms plus bathroom upstairs, open-plan living area downstairs, guest WC, and large utility/housekeeping room
Office: family use or home office? One room currently usable as office/guest room (backup for future child needs), currently neither of us have jobs with home office option
Open or closed layout living/dining/kitchen preferably open
Conservative or modern construction style conservative
Open kitchen, kitchen island open kitchen yes, kitchen island currently not planned
Number of dining seats daily use for 3, but dining nook should be sufficient for more people
Fireplace planned is a masonry stove
Music/stereo wall no
Balcony, roof terrace no
Garage, carport carport with workshop
Utility garden, greenhouse no
Other wishes/special features/daily routine, including reasons why some things are included or excluded
House Design
Who designed the plan: plan based on our principles, then optimized with the manufacturer’s in-house architect
What do you particularly like? Why? We really like the extended dining nook with the surrounding bench; overall, our ideas about room sizes have been well implemented – whether everything will really work as we imagine, we would like to ask here.
What do you dislike? Why? The chimney’s position might be bothersome in the children's room? Or is that negligible in daily life? We are still not satisfied with the kitchen and bathroom upstairs and are currently looking for a good furnishing/decorating solution.
Price estimate according to architect/planner: Since we are not working with a general contractor but will handle contracts ourselves after the shell is built and do a lot of work ourselves, we don’t have all numbers yet. The following trades are currently being costed.
Personal price limit for the house including fittings: 400,000 up to move-in ready, excluding everything outside the building itself, plot is paid
Preferred heating technology: heat pump with underfloor heating plus photovoltaics with possible storage
If you have to give up something, which details/extensions
- can you do without: We have tried to adapt our demands to the budget as much as possible – does anyone see further savings potential?
- can you not do without: As an absolute last resort, we would remove the dining nook and redesign the ground floor – also, the masonry stove is fixed for us (we just love this cozy atmosphere).
Why is the design the way it is now?
Standard plan from planner? The manufacturer does not offer standard houses; everything is individually designed
Which of your wishes were implemented by the architect? The current plan reflects our wishes quite well. Now we just need fine-tuning, and we hope for your assessments, ideas, and experiences.
A mix of many examples from various magazines... Of course, our inspirations come from many different sources (good and bad…) 😀
What makes it particularly good or bad in your opinion? It feels good to us so far – all our furniture fits, and the things that bother us in our current rented house have been eliminated in the design.
What is the most important/basic question about the layout, summarized in 130 characters?
- Does the layout work as it is, or are there specific arrangements that don’t work?
- Is the position and number of windows sufficient?
- Do the children's rooms upstairs need two roof windows or is one enough each?
- Have we missed or overlooked anything important?
- Can a U-shaped kitchen be sensibly planned in the existing space, or do we need to adjust walls downstairs first?
- Are the door positions appropriate regarding width, wall distance, and opening direction?
- Is the utility room (unfurnished room behind the laundry on the north/east side of the ground floor) dimensionally adequate?
- What knee wall height is recommended upstairs? Currently at 40 cm (16 in), we plan to raise it because otherwise, especially the upstairs bathroom will be problematic (though we don’t want a large bathroom, just “as big as necessary” – we would probably place the bathtub in the northeast corner of the room – would that fit?
- We’d like to add a laundry chute from the upstairs bathroom to the utility room – does anyone have a good idea for the best location?
One final note on our general concept:
We intend to buy the house from the manufacturer including insulation, cladding, and roof structure. Assembly will follow the “master carpenter assembly” principle (the company provides two experienced workers, plus 4-5 helpers from us – full warranty and savings of around 15,000-20,000 euros, about three to four weeks of hard work). The manufacturer’s “basic package” also includes windows and the front door, as they must be specially installed due to the house settling.
We plan to contract the foundation slab, roofing, and plumbing work separately. Electrical work (in consultation with the local master electrician), interior finishing (room doors, screed, underfloor heating, floor covering), and small tasks can be done by my partner (trained electrician, highly interested in almost everything, skilled and experienced with wood). I work professionally in an office of a building materials supplier, so I have access to good conditions, storage capacity, and established contacts in the industry. We also have great friends and a large family who are all enthusiastic about our project and willing to support us. We know this will require a lot of work, strain our time, nerves, and budget—but we want to give it a try.
We are now looking forward to suggestions, critical comments, and anything that can help us avoid as many mistakes as possible during the process.
Thank you very much in advance!
From the perspective of the children’s rooms, the unused bay window structure does not seem like the best solution to me – if this ridge direction is chosen, I would at least use a “captain’s gable” at the top (and not symmetrical, but only on the children’s room side; the spare children’s room would then have two roof windows). To be honest, considering the overall layout, I find it too risky to build a custom design here. If the builder does not offer standard house models, you can at least base it on an existing standard design (which has proven successful and works well without tight spaces), for example the well-known Flair 113. Plumbing—especially drainage—and electrical systems must be planned very carefully here; the usual contractors are accustomed to chasing grooves and using a Hilti pogo hammer, which, in my opinion, is not suitable for the “log cabin” approach. Regarding the knee wall height, I see little flexibility in the zoning plan. As far as I know, the mentioned Flair has an average knee wall height of about 90cm/100cm/110cm (35in/39in/43in); if that reference is too large for the budget, perhaps a Raumwunder 90 model could also be considered. I do like the bay window idea here, but I would question the “log cabin” style and rather aim for a more “classic” timber frame panel construction house (or a cellular concrete kit house).
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Perhaps our sketch helps: eaves at 4.5 m (15 ft), ridge at 9 m (30 ft). So each is 50 cm (20 inches) higher than your really uncomfortable values.
Subtracting 50 cm (20 inches) from our knee wall height would result in 67 cm (26 inches).
I have actively helped build log homes before; there are two in the family. I would have also mentioned the typically required utmost precision for electrical planning. Not only windows and doors have special installation rules in this case (with sliding strips).
I also consider the design bold, but with a good planner who supports the owners, it can work at the specified height. However, the large flat roof carport and the masonry stove might be cut from the budget, since photovoltaic systems with battery storage are not cheap.
Subtracting 50 cm (20 inches) from our knee wall height would result in 67 cm (26 inches).
I have actively helped build log homes before; there are two in the family. I would have also mentioned the typically required utmost precision for electrical planning. Not only windows and doors have special installation rules in this case (with sliding strips).
I also consider the design bold, but with a good planner who supports the owners, it can work at the specified height. However, the large flat roof carport and the masonry stove might be cut from the budget, since photovoltaic systems with battery storage are not cheap.
Thank you, @11ant, for your contribution! 🙂
So I understood you this way: You mean completely forgetting the symmetry of the house, moving the dining nook further west (that is, centered in the children’s room?) instead of just as a single-story “extension,” and planning a gable over both floors there that “comes out” within the main children’s room? How would you solve the terrace situation then? Between the kitchen and dining room and then wrapping around the gable? Otherwise, I would have a southeast-facing terrace towards the street. I do like symmetry – but if the floor plan functions better, I am open to it. Unfortunately, the ridge direction cannot be changed. The floor plans are oriented north because the driveway must run along the northern property boundary according to the development plan for our specific plot (I didn’t consider this in the initial post). So the house will be placed as far northeast within the building window as possible – or do you see this differently?
At first, we planned the dining nook as a captain’s gable extending into both rooms, but it looked terrible (due to the construction, it was hardly usable in the children’s rooms, was completely disproportionate and huge… and of course expensive). I find the idea of addressing only one room really interesting. Have you ever seen something like that so we could better imagine the exterior appearance?
Maybe it’s better to use the eastern children’s room instead to connect the dining nook to a more open kitchen and give the extension more of an “L-shape” character? Then the terrace orientation would improve.
Or would that significantly devalue the main children’s room?
I looked at the Flair 113 – but we would have to change quite a bit to make it fit us (e.g., a large utility/laundry room, changing orientations and room layouts), so the proven functionality would then be somewhat irrelevant again – right? Do you perhaps have another standard design in your extensive portfolio?
Do you see any structural issues with our floor plan? Setting aside our dining nook for now? (Which, by the way, feels really great "in real life." Sitting on the corner bench, seeing the roof structure above, and having light from east, south, and west – almost like a “winter garden – dining nook – extension.”)
Yes, we need to plan everything in advance very carefully. The electrical conduit channels will be milled directly during the manufacturing process, allowing us to plan reserve conduit channels as well. The same applies to piping. We planned to coordinate all the sketches with the master electrician and heating/plumbing master before finalizing our plans.
Maybe @i_b_n_a_n could offer some advice? You’ve built this way too, haven’t you? At least the heating/plumbing specialist is really excited to work with us on this. For him, this is a cool project where he can also give us a lot of freedom in laying and ordering materials for the underfloor heating. The electrician will do most of the electrical planning himself, and only fine-tuning with the master will be done. Besides his electrical training, he also studied electrical engineering and is very knowledgeable about wiring. As a hobby, he wants to plan and install KNX everywhere himself.
Regarding the knee wall: I’m unsure which parameters we need to change concerning roof pitch and the discrepancy with floor area calculations due to the “one-and-a-half-story” structure – the roof angle is definitely not fixed. Currently, it’s set to 45 degrees, but anything from 35 to 50 degrees is possible.
Okay, thanks for your feedback here! Initially, we planned a solid masonry house for summer – with completely excessive costs and uncertainty because we have no experience with that construction method at all. Therefore, the timber house (although it must be planned meticulously) really seems like a safe option since our house will be fully weather-tight within four weeks, and we can better estimate the following work… Besides that, the sense of space, in our opinion, is unbeatable. Honestly, we fell in love with this construction method. Especially since our manufacturer works without vapor-impermeable foil technology and the kit meets KfW40 standards.
Maybe the wall structure is relevant here: Inside, 100mm (4 inches) log plank, 200mm (8 inches) cellulose blown insulation, 55mm (2 inches) log plank as exterior cladding. Visually more like a Swedish house, so no full tree trunks.
I attached the current section and an exterior view again below!
11ant schrieb:
From the children’s rooms’ perspective, the bay window structure seems “unused” to me and not the best solution – if you’re set on this ridge direction, I would at least add a “captain’s gable” at the top (not symmetrical, but only assigned to the children’s room, with the additional spare children’s room getting two roof windows).
So I understood you this way: You mean completely forgetting the symmetry of the house, moving the dining nook further west (that is, centered in the children’s room?) instead of just as a single-story “extension,” and planning a gable over both floors there that “comes out” within the main children’s room? How would you solve the terrace situation then? Between the kitchen and dining room and then wrapping around the gable? Otherwise, I would have a southeast-facing terrace towards the street. I do like symmetry – but if the floor plan functions better, I am open to it. Unfortunately, the ridge direction cannot be changed. The floor plans are oriented north because the driveway must run along the northern property boundary according to the development plan for our specific plot (I didn’t consider this in the initial post). So the house will be placed as far northeast within the building window as possible – or do you see this differently?
At first, we planned the dining nook as a captain’s gable extending into both rooms, but it looked terrible (due to the construction, it was hardly usable in the children’s rooms, was completely disproportionate and huge… and of course expensive). I find the idea of addressing only one room really interesting. Have you ever seen something like that so we could better imagine the exterior appearance?
Maybe it’s better to use the eastern children’s room instead to connect the dining nook to a more open kitchen and give the extension more of an “L-shape” character? Then the terrace orientation would improve.
Or would that significantly devalue the main children’s room?
11ant schrieb:
Honestly, in the overall setup, building a custom design seems too ambitious. If the supplier doesn’t offer standard house models, you can at least reference a proven standard design (which has been tested and works without bottlenecks), for example, the well-known Flair 113.
I looked at the Flair 113 – but we would have to change quite a bit to make it fit us (e.g., a large utility/laundry room, changing orientations and room layouts), so the proven functionality would then be somewhat irrelevant again – right? Do you perhaps have another standard design in your extensive portfolio?
Do you see any structural issues with our floor plan? Setting aside our dining nook for now? (Which, by the way, feels really great "in real life." Sitting on the corner bench, seeing the roof structure above, and having light from east, south, and west – almost like a “winter garden – dining nook – extension.”)
11ant schrieb:
Water—especially drainage—and electrical planning must be extremely precise here. The usual electricians and boiler technicians are used to chasing grooves and dancing with a Hilti pogo tool, which I would say doesn’t apply here with the “log house” build. Regarding the knee wall height, I read in the development plan…
Yes, we need to plan everything in advance very carefully. The electrical conduit channels will be milled directly during the manufacturing process, allowing us to plan reserve conduit channels as well. The same applies to piping. We planned to coordinate all the sketches with the master electrician and heating/plumbing master before finalizing our plans.
Maybe @i_b_n_a_n could offer some advice? You’ve built this way too, haven’t you? At least the heating/plumbing specialist is really excited to work with us on this. For him, this is a cool project where he can also give us a lot of freedom in laying and ordering materials for the underfloor heating. The electrician will do most of the electrical planning himself, and only fine-tuning with the master will be done. Besides his electrical training, he also studied electrical engineering and is very knowledgeable about wiring. As a hobby, he wants to plan and install KNX everywhere himself.
Regarding the knee wall: I’m unsure which parameters we need to change concerning roof pitch and the discrepancy with floor area calculations due to the “one-and-a-half-story” structure – the roof angle is definitely not fixed. Currently, it’s set to 45 degrees, but anything from 35 to 50 degrees is possible.
11ant schrieb:
I do like the idea of the dining bay window here, but I would put a question mark by the “log house” concept and rather aim for a more “classic” timber frame panel house (or a cellular concrete kit house).
Okay, thanks for your feedback here! Initially, we planned a solid masonry house for summer – with completely excessive costs and uncertainty because we have no experience with that construction method at all. Therefore, the timber house (although it must be planned meticulously) really seems like a safe option since our house will be fully weather-tight within four weeks, and we can better estimate the following work… Besides that, the sense of space, in our opinion, is unbeatable. Honestly, we fell in love with this construction method. Especially since our manufacturer works without vapor-impermeable foil technology and the kit meets KfW40 standards.
Maybe the wall structure is relevant here: Inside, 100mm (4 inches) log plank, 200mm (8 inches) cellulose blown insulation, 55mm (2 inches) log plank as exterior cladding. Visually more like a Swedish house, so no full tree trunks.
I attached the current section and an exterior view again below!
X
xMisterDx2 Jan 2023 19:14For that size, the Flair 134 model would be more suitable, starting at 275,000 EUR in a mid-priced area like Hannover. It could work if you do a lot of the work yourself and find reasonably priced contractors.
Here it is already, I only read your reply after I had finished responding to 11ant. 🙂
Thank you very much for your sketch... 67cm (26 inches) is really also very little. Currently, 40cm (16 inches) is in the plan, which of course is out of the question. Can the roof pitch be adjusted more to improve this, or would that ruin the sense of space? Could 80cm (31 inches) also work? What is your experience with this construction method?
Yes, that’s true, the sanitary installations have to be placed in front of a structure – we definitely need to look at this in more detail. The example houses gave a very good impression of what needs to be done differently here compared to usual practice.
The carport is already mentally crossed out; we won’t get it from the manufacturer. Maybe later from a hardware store with a deliberately contrasting style – but we still had it planned and calculated once. As a placeholder, it’s nice 😀
Storage would be cool. Whether we retrofit one in the end remains to be seen – both are "buffer positions."
The masonry heater is planned as a DIY kit. My uncle has already built one himself and is a master bricklayer and structural engineer. The chimney sweep thinks the idea is cool and is not putting any obstacles in our way – even though it’s a self-build!
i_b_n_a_n schrieb:
maybe our sketch helps, eaves at 4.5m (15 feet), ridge at 9m (30 feet). Also each 50cm (20 inches) higher than your really uncomfortable values.
Subtracting 50cm (20 inches) from our knee wall height would result in 67cm (26 inches)
Thank you very much for your sketch... 67cm (26 inches) is really also very little. Currently, 40cm (16 inches) is in the plan, which of course is out of the question. Can the roof pitch be adjusted more to improve this, or would that ruin the sense of space? Could 80cm (31 inches) also work? What is your experience with this construction method?
i_b_n_a_n schrieb:
I have already helped extensively with log cabin construction; there are two in the family. Otherwise, I would have also mentioned the required highest precision in electrical planning. Special installation rules apply not only to windows and doors (with sliding rails).
Yes, that’s true, the sanitary installations have to be placed in front of a structure – we definitely need to look at this in more detail. The example houses gave a very good impression of what needs to be done differently here compared to usual practice.
i_b_n_a_n schrieb:
I also see the planning as ambitious, but in my opinion, it can work with a good architect who is on the clients’ side, even at the proposed height. But the huge flat-roof carport as well as the masonry heater might fall victim to the budget, since photovoltaic with battery storage is not cheap.
The carport is already mentally crossed out; we won’t get it from the manufacturer. Maybe later from a hardware store with a deliberately contrasting style – but we still had it planned and calculated once. As a placeholder, it’s nice 😀
Storage would be cool. Whether we retrofit one in the end remains to be seen – both are "buffer positions."
The masonry heater is planned as a DIY kit. My uncle has already built one himself and is a master bricklayer and structural engineer. The chimney sweep thinks the idea is cool and is not putting any obstacles in our way – even though it’s a self-build!
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