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!
B
BackSteinGotik25 Apr 2023 19:33WilderSueden schrieb:
You can place the office on the ground floor if you have a basement. But having the technical room, pantry, and office all on the ground floor is simply too much. Even with 160m² (1,722 sq ft), the open-plan living space becomes quite tight. You need to set priorities. I don’t quite understand why this should be considered a natural law—if that were true, nobody would build with basements anymore.. 😉
The linked house shows that it is definitely possible to fit a work/guest room and kitchen plus living area on the ground floor. Of course, it won’t be a grand ballroom..
W
WilderSueden25 Apr 2023 20:25My cousin even managed this with significantly fewer square meters. But in that case, the open-plan living area is just over 30sqm (320 sq ft)...
For this house, I find the open-plan living space too small for such a large house, and the ground floor bathroom is also too small. The pantry takes up workspace in the kitchen. It might be possible to fit everything if planned more cleverly. For example, placing the staircase along the wall, positioning the pantry under the stairs, making the utility and laundry area smaller and without a second exterior door, and so on. The floor plan still wouldn’t be spacious, but at least it would be proportionate to the house size.
For this house, I find the open-plan living space too small for such a large house, and the ground floor bathroom is also too small. The pantry takes up workspace in the kitchen. It might be possible to fit everything if planned more cleverly. For example, placing the staircase along the wall, positioning the pantry under the stairs, making the utility and laundry area smaller and without a second exterior door, and so on. The floor plan still wouldn’t be spacious, but at least it would be proportionate to the house size.
schmeissrein26 Apr 2023 16:24Hello everyone,
I’ll address things step by step:
@xMisterDx
That’s exactly the situation; in a few years, there will simply be more income.
@WilderSueden
We aren’t attached to the central staircase at all; we are quite indifferent about it. The pantry should be underneath it, as you said, although this is not very clear in the drawing. But if the staircase is moved, the pantry will have to be located elsewhere again... That’s exactly what you mean by “arranging it cleverly,” and we hope to achieve that through the discussion with the draftsperson.
@11ant
We have visited both private and show homes. The latter were from such small (or not internet-savvy?) companies that their homes aren’t even visible online. Our fairy godmother wouldn’t have much use for the current apartment; it is really very different from the plan in every respect.
@ypg
I already said that we don’t want seven rooms at all; we would rather save one upstairs. The ground floor space is already planned to be multipurpose: office and guest room. Upstairs there will be two children’s rooms, one of which could be used as a sports/hobby/play/storage room if there isn’t a second child. And we actually want to get rid of the small extra room. 500,000€ is the absolute limit. We estimate 400,000€ for the house, 40,000€ for site development, 20,000€ for the kitchen, and then 40,000€ left for all other costs. That might be peanuts for building in southern Germany, but it’s a frightening amount for us.
@K a t j a
Well, “owning” is a big word—we don’t own it, we’re borrowing it 😀 We don’t dream of seven rooms the size of a castle; I don’t think 12–14m² (130–150 sq ft) is “castle size” for a children’s room.
@hanghaus2023
Our previous experiences with architects were a bit underwhelming. It was always like, “yeah... you can do it that way,” but not the creative idea you would hope for from someone who does this professionally. Your cousin’s anecdote reinforces my belief that it has to be possible somehow, since 160m² (1,722 sq ft) is really quite a lot.
I’ll address things step by step:
@xMisterDx
That’s exactly the situation; in a few years, there will simply be more income.
@WilderSueden
We aren’t attached to the central staircase at all; we are quite indifferent about it. The pantry should be underneath it, as you said, although this is not very clear in the drawing. But if the staircase is moved, the pantry will have to be located elsewhere again... That’s exactly what you mean by “arranging it cleverly,” and we hope to achieve that through the discussion with the draftsperson.
@11ant
We have visited both private and show homes. The latter were from such small (or not internet-savvy?) companies that their homes aren’t even visible online. Our fairy godmother wouldn’t have much use for the current apartment; it is really very different from the plan in every respect.
@ypg
I already said that we don’t want seven rooms at all; we would rather save one upstairs. The ground floor space is already planned to be multipurpose: office and guest room. Upstairs there will be two children’s rooms, one of which could be used as a sports/hobby/play/storage room if there isn’t a second child. And we actually want to get rid of the small extra room. 500,000€ is the absolute limit. We estimate 400,000€ for the house, 40,000€ for site development, 20,000€ for the kitchen, and then 40,000€ left for all other costs. That might be peanuts for building in southern Germany, but it’s a frightening amount for us.
@K a t j a
Well, “owning” is a big word—we don’t own it, we’re borrowing it 😀 We don’t dream of seven rooms the size of a castle; I don’t think 12–14m² (130–150 sq ft) is “castle size” for a children’s room.
@hanghaus2023
Our previous experiences with architects were a bit underwhelming. It was always like, “yeah... you can do it that way,” but not the creative idea you would hope for from someone who does this professionally. Your cousin’s anecdote reinforces my belief that it has to be possible somehow, since 160m² (1,722 sq ft) is really quite a lot.
X
xMisterDx26 Apr 2023 17:21It is an amount that will not be enough for your house size, custom-designed by the architect, with the two extremely expensive KaLeun gables.
Especially if this is your absolute limit and not "well, we still have a 10 to 15% contingency."
Especially if this is your absolute limit and not "well, we still have a 10 to 15% contingency."
X
xMisterDx26 Apr 2023 19:14No offense intended. I can understand that. I don’t exactly feel pure joy when I walk up to my Seat in the morning. I’d much rather see a Porsche or at least a 535i.
But I just can’t afford that. Once you accept that, you actually start to appreciate the Seat a bit.
Because it’s a hundred times better than having no car at all.
But I just can’t afford that. Once you accept that, you actually start to appreciate the Seat a bit.
Because it’s a hundred times better than having no car at all.
I’m actually quite happy with my 23-year-old Volvo (V70), which I bought for 1000 bucks as a construction vehicle (by the way, a completely unsuitable car for construction work), and even more so than the rattling Zoe next to it, despite it being a super modern electric car...
Similar topics