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!
X
xMisterDx23 Jan 2023 17:20Interesting. My wife was five months pregnant at the topping-out ceremony. In three weeks, we have the house handover; the little one will then be six months old, and the older one is six years old.
Since my wife was on parental leave and my employer was very accommodating because of the little one, it has been a relatively low-stress period.
I can dedicate my two months of paid parental leave, in addition to my 38 days of vacation, entirely to the final stage of construction this year.
What exactly is supposed to be disadvantageous about that?
Since my wife was on parental leave and my employer was very accommodating because of the little one, it has been a relatively low-stress period.
I can dedicate my two months of paid parental leave, in addition to my 38 days of vacation, entirely to the final stage of construction this year.
What exactly is supposed to be disadvantageous about that?
schmeissrein23 Jan 2023 17:2011ant schrieb:
Well-founded statements on long-term utility connections can definitely be found in the forum, just unfortunately not from a crystal ball.Speaking of a crystal ball: as promised, I’ve now drawn a (very ugly) plan showing the utilities known so far. I haven’t received the wastewater information yet. Please refrain from criticizing the appearance of the drawing—I’m fully aware of its flaws 😀
We have a new build on a similar plot, with a driveway over 60m (197 feet) and a front house owned by the family. Here are my thoughts.
- Driveway can be either north or south; north has the advantage of an existing path, but the disadvantage that the construction road damages it and no one can park there.
- South driveway would have to be newly created with a construction road, and utility lines can be an issue.
Family decision.
Water, telecom, wastewater, and electricity must be newly installed for the new house (under the driveway).
We don’t have gas; estimate for 70m (230 feet) is 13,000 €.
Wastewater for the new house: about 80cm (31 inches) to 70cm (27 inches) slope; the sewer must be at least 1.8m (6 feet) lower than the finished floor level (FFL), even deeper if there is a basement.
The construction road installation, placing of wastewater, electricity, and empty conduits was done by the civil engineer/excavator.
For wastewater, there should be an inspection chamber every 20m (66 feet) for hose or high-pressure cleaning.
If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. 😉
- Driveway can be either north or south; north has the advantage of an existing path, but the disadvantage that the construction road damages it and no one can park there.
- South driveway would have to be newly created with a construction road, and utility lines can be an issue.
Family decision.
Water, telecom, wastewater, and electricity must be newly installed for the new house (under the driveway).
We don’t have gas; estimate for 70m (230 feet) is 13,000 €.
Wastewater for the new house: about 80cm (31 inches) to 70cm (27 inches) slope; the sewer must be at least 1.8m (6 feet) lower than the finished floor level (FFL), even deeper if there is a basement.
The construction road installation, placing of wastewater, electricity, and empty conduits was done by the civil engineer/excavator.
For wastewater, there should be an inspection chamber every 20m (66 feet) for hose or high-pressure cleaning.
If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. 😉
schmeissrein23 Jan 2023 18:10Nida35a schrieb:
We have a new build on a similar plot, with a driveway over 60m (200 feet) and a front house owned by family, here are my thoughts.
- Driveway to the north or south is possible; advantage of north is there is already a path, disadvantage is the construction access road damages it and no one can park there.
- Driveway to the south needs to be newly constructed with a construction access road; underground pipes are an issue, family decision.
Water, telecom, sewage, and electricity all need to be newly installed for the new house (under the driveway).
We don’t have gas; the offer for 70m (230 feet) was €13,000.
Sewage for the new house - 80cm (31 inches), - 70cm (27.5 inches) slope; the sewer must be at least 1.8m (6 feet) deeper than the finished floor level (FFL), even deeper if there is a basement.
The construction access road installation, including laying sewage, electricity, and empty conduits underneath, was done by the civil engineer.
For sewage, there is a maintenance opening every 20m (66 feet) for hose or high-pressure cleaning.
If you have further questions, feel free to ask. 😉 €13,000 is quite reasonable. We’ve heard anything from €10,000 to €70,000 from others, so it’s really interesting to hear from someone who has gone through it themselves. Thanks for sharing! Was this "digging on a greenfield site" for you, or did you have to dig up an existing driveway as well?
schmeissrein schrieb:
or did an existing driveway also have to be dug up? We had the choice,
1. a completely new one through the beautiful garden
or
2. using the existing driveway, removing the garage and two sheds.
The family decided on option 2.
Our construction road was required to support 40 tons,
excavation was 40cm (16 inches),
a trench in the middle for wastewater and empty conduit pipes was dug 0.5 to 1 meter (1.5 to 3 feet) deeper, 0.5 meter (20 inches) wide, and everything was installed.
Sand was placed around the pipes and recycled material added, then compacted; the construction road was finished.
The civil engineer was also the paver and was supposed to prepare the base accordingly for a 10-ton (22,000 lbs) paved driveway.
schmeissrein schrieb:
Please refrain from criticizing the unattractiveness of the image; I’m aware of that. Aesthetics don’t matter in technical drawings, but I do have to complain about the lack of information: the plan section is too limited—try not to be so stingy there. I have an initial suspicion that the plot could be connected to the utility networks more intelligently on the right side near the "Pfeifenkopf" than running under the bushes via an easement over a relative’s property. There is a lot of solid insight to be gained here if you don’t only get to the relevant basics on page 9.
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