ᐅ Realistic Cost Estimate: Single-Family Home with Challenging Site Access
Created on: 20 Jan 2023 10:50
S
schmeissrein
Hello everyone,
I have been following this forum for a while and first of all, a big thank you to everyone who shares their advice here and sometimes also speaks hard truths. I didn’t originally want to create a new thread but intended to form an opinion based on other discussions. However, you convinced me that this building project is too individual for that. So here is our plan:
- Building a new single-family house in the far north of Germany (Schleswig-Flensburg region).
- Plot size is over 1000sqm (10,764 sq ft).
- Total square meters are not so important as long as the layout works.
- Basement is not planned.
What we would like:
- Open-plan kitchen-living area of at least 36m² (388 sq ft).
- Guest room (at least 10m² / 108 sq ft) and small guest bathroom with shower on the ground floor, so that in old age, with disability, or a broken leg, the ground floor can be used independently and possibly serve as a bedroom.
- Utility room / storage room / pantry with heat pump of at least 8m² (86 sq ft) (KfW 40 standard would be great, of course).
- Upper floor with three rooms (1 office, 1 master bedroom, 1 child’s room) each at least 14m² (151 sq ft) and one bathroom. Our dream would be a “walk-in” (what a silly word – aren’t all showers walk-in?) shower to avoid having to clean those limescale-rusty, annoying shower enclosures.
- We could contribute labor for garden landscaping and painting/wallpapering; otherwise, we would prefer a turnkey build.
As for the house style, regionally typical Frisian houses or captain’s houses (with all the “cute” features like small gables, etc.) are in consideration, or also not completely unimaginative “normal” single-family houses. We are not afraid of Bauhaus-style concrete marvels either, but those tend to be more expensive. In terms of fittings, no “gold-plated faucets” and no smart home – but decent and presentable.
The big BUT: the plot is not connected to utilities, and the distance to the street is about 65m (213 ft), of which 50m (164 ft) is a paved driveway and paved parking area that would have to be dug up (across another property). The connection costs and incidental construction costs worry us quite a bit. Does anyone have experience with such a “mammoth connection” for a relatively small building project? What realistic costs should we expect for both?
We would greatly appreciate any thoughts on this project, thank you very much in advance!
I have been following this forum for a while and first of all, a big thank you to everyone who shares their advice here and sometimes also speaks hard truths. I didn’t originally want to create a new thread but intended to form an opinion based on other discussions. However, you convinced me that this building project is too individual for that. So here is our plan:
- Building a new single-family house in the far north of Germany (Schleswig-Flensburg region).
- Plot size is over 1000sqm (10,764 sq ft).
- Total square meters are not so important as long as the layout works.
- Basement is not planned.
What we would like:
- Open-plan kitchen-living area of at least 36m² (388 sq ft).
- Guest room (at least 10m² / 108 sq ft) and small guest bathroom with shower on the ground floor, so that in old age, with disability, or a broken leg, the ground floor can be used independently and possibly serve as a bedroom.
- Utility room / storage room / pantry with heat pump of at least 8m² (86 sq ft) (KfW 40 standard would be great, of course).
- Upper floor with three rooms (1 office, 1 master bedroom, 1 child’s room) each at least 14m² (151 sq ft) and one bathroom. Our dream would be a “walk-in” (what a silly word – aren’t all showers walk-in?) shower to avoid having to clean those limescale-rusty, annoying shower enclosures.
- We could contribute labor for garden landscaping and painting/wallpapering; otherwise, we would prefer a turnkey build.
As for the house style, regionally typical Frisian houses or captain’s houses (with all the “cute” features like small gables, etc.) are in consideration, or also not completely unimaginative “normal” single-family houses. We are not afraid of Bauhaus-style concrete marvels either, but those tend to be more expensive. In terms of fittings, no “gold-plated faucets” and no smart home – but decent and presentable.
The big BUT: the plot is not connected to utilities, and the distance to the street is about 65m (213 ft), of which 50m (164 ft) is a paved driveway and paved parking area that would have to be dug up (across another property). The connection costs and incidental construction costs worry us quite a bit. Does anyone have experience with such a “mammoth connection” for a relatively small building project? What realistic costs should we expect for both?
We would greatly appreciate any thoughts on this project, thank you very much in advance!
schmeissrein schrieb:
I found it really difficult to upload this because I didn’t want to share someone else’s "work" without giving credit, You could have simply named the model: Team Massive Friesen-/Captain’s House 155.
For inspiration, you might also want to look at Viebrockhaus and (don't mind the construction style) Gussek Haus.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
schmeissrein22 Jan 2023 23:0411ant schrieb:
You could have simply named the model: Team Solid Framed Frisian/Captain’s House 155.
For inspiration, you might also check out Viebrockhaus and (don’t mind the construction method) Gussek Haus. That simple 😳? Because of the frequent mentions of companies with indirect references (see also "e**Haus* in this thread), I got the impression that this would be frowned upon here. But then we can speak freely 😀 Of course, we have already looked into Viebrockhaus and Gussek Haus, but their designs with an office/guest room on the ground floor always end up being so huge.
schmeissrein schrieb:
In any case, we would add a wall on the left side of the ground floor to separate a home office from the open living area and leave the rest as is. I don’t consider this modification to the standard layout insignificant, and it often leads to a series of complications.
- The proposed wardrobe near the room entrance would have to be removed. Where would it go instead?
- The dining table ends up cramped in the middle because the sofa needs to be relocated. What about access to the terrace?
- How exactly is the staircase supposed to run now? If it remains as in the standard layout, then the dining table blocks the way. If the staircase is reversed, it would end up leading nowhere on the upper floor, or is an open gallery not planned?
X
xMisterDx23 Jan 2023 06:46I’m afraid with your budget, you’ll have to take the risk of being “bored to death.”
Utility installation per meter here in the relatively affordable eastern part of the country costs about 120 EUR per trade (electrical, water, wastewater) on paved surfaces. You’ll need at least three trades (electricity, water, and sewage), so that’s 360 EUR*70m (possibly even 75m), since you pay up to the main connection, not just the property boundary. Wastewater can be even more expensive because proper sewer lines need to be built.
Just for that, you’re looking at around 25,000–27,000 EUR. Plus possibly additional intermediate connections.
Oh, and the hookups themselves cost about another 5,000 EUR.
We paid just under 15,000 EUR for five utilities (gas, water, electricity, wastewater, telecom) for 12m from the distribution cabinet to the middle of the street.
No idea if telecom will still excavate for a flat rate of 800 EUR at 70m.
If you have 500,000 EUR all-in, then the house must not cost more than 350,000 EUR turn-key (as usual, excluding flooring, painting, and kitchen). That leaves you little choice but the boring standard house models, and only from the cheaper providers. Unless you go down to around 100m² (about 1,075 sq ft). But then it probably gets boring anyway...
Utility installation per meter here in the relatively affordable eastern part of the country costs about 120 EUR per trade (electrical, water, wastewater) on paved surfaces. You’ll need at least three trades (electricity, water, and sewage), so that’s 360 EUR*70m (possibly even 75m), since you pay up to the main connection, not just the property boundary. Wastewater can be even more expensive because proper sewer lines need to be built.
Just for that, you’re looking at around 25,000–27,000 EUR. Plus possibly additional intermediate connections.
Oh, and the hookups themselves cost about another 5,000 EUR.
We paid just under 15,000 EUR for five utilities (gas, water, electricity, wastewater, telecom) for 12m from the distribution cabinet to the middle of the street.
No idea if telecom will still excavate for a flat rate of 800 EUR at 70m.
If you have 500,000 EUR all-in, then the house must not cost more than 350,000 EUR turn-key (as usual, excluding flooring, painting, and kitchen). That leaves you little choice but the boring standard house models, and only from the cheaper providers. Unless you go down to around 100m² (about 1,075 sq ft). But then it probably gets boring anyway...
X
xMisterDx23 Jan 2023 08:11hanse987 schrieb:
I don’t consider this change to the standard floor plan insignificant, and it often leads to a chain of problems.
- The planned wardrobe will have to be removed to allow access to the room. Where should it go then?
- The dining table will be squeezed into the middle because the sofa has to be placed somewhere. What about access to the terrace?
- How exactly is the staircase supposed to run now? If it follows the standard floor plan, the dining table will be in the way. If the direction is reversed, the staircase on the upper floor ends up in nowhere, or is there supposed to be no open gallery? The table is placed sideways, and the window near the sofa is raised a bit. The living room has plenty of space, and if you want the staircase including the void space in the living room, go ahead.
The tradeoff is very small children’s rooms.
The wardrobe can be moved to where the storage room is; nobody really needs that storage room, and it only makes the entrance smaller.
A shower in the guest bathroom – if someone wants it. No one will actually shower there and then run through the whole house with a towel around their waist to the wardrobe.
The floor plan wastes about 10m² (100 sq ft) on a “twist.” Mainly because the large hallway without a staircase hardly makes sense, but having the staircase in the living room consumes a lot of space. And the void space... it’s hard to find a better way to waste space and money.
schmeissrein23 Jan 2023 08:54hanse987 schrieb:
I don’t think this change to the standard floor plan is insignificant and it often leads to a chain reaction of issues.
- The planned wardrobe for room access would have to be removed. Where would it go then?
- The dining table will be squeezed into the middle because the sofa needs a place. What about access to the terrace?
- How exactly is the staircase supposed to run now? If it’s like in the standard plan, the dining table gets in the way. If the direction is reversed, then the staircase upstairs ends abruptly or is there supposed to be no open gallery? The wardrobe would be moved to the storage room. The dining table would be placed in the center of the bay window. Terrace access would be behind the sofa. The staircase will follow the professionals’ design, not mine 😀 I wish I had uploaded the floor plan directly from Team Massivhaus, mine was really just a rough sketch.
@xMisterDx
Thank you, that’s exactly the answer I was hoping for! I have now contacted the utility providers in writing again and hope to get a clearer statement regarding connection costs. Unfortunately, we don’t have 500,000 saved up, but that’s the amount we feel comfortable taking out as a loan (or the difference to our equity). And the comment about the boring design was a bit casual on my part, I admit that, but we currently live nicely and therefore we’re not under pressure to build a house that we might regret later. So rather than building a completely boring house just because the budget only allows that, we’d rather wait a few more years and save more equity. I’ll discuss the concerns you raised in your second thread with the family — we really fell in love with the open staircase in the living area, but we also think there are good counterarguments here.
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