Hello everyone! 🙂
Thanks to your abundant feedback, you luckily prevented us from building a dark dwarf cave, and we completely restarted the floor plan from scratch. Now we have finally reached the point where our building start notification is with the building authority *cheers* So now it’s a four-week wait, and then construction could begin.
Below are the final floor plans, elevations, and sections. Also included is the site plan showing our house on our plot. Here is the link to our floor plan thread: https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/grundrissplanung-efh-massivholzbauweise-140qm-in-niedersachsen.44745/
If there is interest, I could create a small "construction diary" here from this thread… Since we are not building turnkey with a general contractor, there will surely be some avoidable mishaps, but that somehow also belongs to the experience… 😀 We would definitely appreciate feedback and will likely have some questions during the build where we will need your assistance… 🙂
A brief overview of our project:
We (m37, f30, and little m6) dream of a cozy home and were fortunate to get a plot in a new residential area in a neighboring village through the city in May 2022. The brutal price surge and material shortages almost made us give up, but in November we re-evaluated what we really want. The budget is limited, the times unpredictable, and interest rates naturally much higher than we would like… But ultimately, the decision was clear: with a lot of own effort, we still want to give it a try. Now or never, and if so, it should be a place with a feel-good factor. Those who have read our floor plan thread know: we are building a timber house. Wall construction: inside 10.0 x 21.8 cm (4 x 8.6 inches) spruce planks – 20.0 cm (8 inches) blown-in cellulose insulation – 5.8 cm (2.3 inches) spruce paneling as exterior cladding = KfW40 standard, which was important to us. The house has a continuous one-meter (3.3 feet) roof overhang. Roof insulation, visible roof structure, and *unfortunately* only a permitted eaves height of 4.00 meters (13.1 feet) according to the development plan, which was a major challenge for us as first-time builders… 🙁 But we believe we have now found a solution so that our upper floor will still be reasonably usable despite the only 30 cm (12 inches) knee wall, thanks to the south dormer for the children's rooms and the north side for the staircase.
Currently, our plan looks like this (in practice, everything will probably take 1-3 months longer anyway 😀):
Earthworks by the end of September (no fixed date yet), immediately followed by the foundation slab – both coordinated by myself. Then the house builder will come at the end of October and erect the entire house within 4-5 weeks (walls, ceilings, roof frame including insulation, windows, front door), after which we will largely handle the entire interior work ourselves (electrical, plumbing, heating) in close cooperation with professional tradespeople. Then still needed are roof tiles and photovoltaics, screed work, and flooring – nothing will be done to the interior walls; they will remain natural. All exterior work will come later and to the extent the budget (hopefully) allows. We plan to move in by Easter (yes, you can laugh now :p), but without ambitious goals, you won’t finish; besides, we will soon have drawn a large loan amount, so the double financial burden will weigh heavily on us.
In any case, this is already by far the most exciting, exhausting, and nerve-wracking project we have ever undertaken – and unfortunately, we are just at the very beginning 😀
Thanks to your abundant feedback, you luckily prevented us from building a dark dwarf cave, and we completely restarted the floor plan from scratch. Now we have finally reached the point where our building start notification is with the building authority *cheers* So now it’s a four-week wait, and then construction could begin.
Below are the final floor plans, elevations, and sections. Also included is the site plan showing our house on our plot. Here is the link to our floor plan thread: https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/grundrissplanung-efh-massivholzbauweise-140qm-in-niedersachsen.44745/
If there is interest, I could create a small "construction diary" here from this thread… Since we are not building turnkey with a general contractor, there will surely be some avoidable mishaps, but that somehow also belongs to the experience… 😀 We would definitely appreciate feedback and will likely have some questions during the build where we will need your assistance… 🙂
A brief overview of our project:
We (m37, f30, and little m6) dream of a cozy home and were fortunate to get a plot in a new residential area in a neighboring village through the city in May 2022. The brutal price surge and material shortages almost made us give up, but in November we re-evaluated what we really want. The budget is limited, the times unpredictable, and interest rates naturally much higher than we would like… But ultimately, the decision was clear: with a lot of own effort, we still want to give it a try. Now or never, and if so, it should be a place with a feel-good factor. Those who have read our floor plan thread know: we are building a timber house. Wall construction: inside 10.0 x 21.8 cm (4 x 8.6 inches) spruce planks – 20.0 cm (8 inches) blown-in cellulose insulation – 5.8 cm (2.3 inches) spruce paneling as exterior cladding = KfW40 standard, which was important to us. The house has a continuous one-meter (3.3 feet) roof overhang. Roof insulation, visible roof structure, and *unfortunately* only a permitted eaves height of 4.00 meters (13.1 feet) according to the development plan, which was a major challenge for us as first-time builders… 🙁 But we believe we have now found a solution so that our upper floor will still be reasonably usable despite the only 30 cm (12 inches) knee wall, thanks to the south dormer for the children's rooms and the north side for the staircase.
Currently, our plan looks like this (in practice, everything will probably take 1-3 months longer anyway 😀):
Earthworks by the end of September (no fixed date yet), immediately followed by the foundation slab – both coordinated by myself. Then the house builder will come at the end of October and erect the entire house within 4-5 weeks (walls, ceilings, roof frame including insulation, windows, front door), after which we will largely handle the entire interior work ourselves (electrical, plumbing, heating) in close cooperation with professional tradespeople. Then still needed are roof tiles and photovoltaics, screed work, and flooring – nothing will be done to the interior walls; they will remain natural. All exterior work will come later and to the extent the budget (hopefully) allows. We plan to move in by Easter (yes, you can laugh now :p), but without ambitious goals, you won’t finish; besides, we will soon have drawn a large loan amount, so the double financial burden will weigh heavily on us.
In any case, this is already by far the most exciting, exhausting, and nerve-wracking project we have ever undertaken – and unfortunately, we are just at the very beginning 😀
P
Pinkiponk26 Jul 2023 17:00ypg schrieb:
And why does he have that? Because he has to carry out your projects 🙂Well, I would love to learn that from you, dear ypg, ;-) how to motivate my husband to carry out my projects. I keep complaining that he always plays the hero for other women, while I’m left struggling. ;-)11ant schrieb:
Lots of tools, but no spirit level, mind you ;-)I’m completely lost here. 🙂Pinkiponk schrieb:
Well, I’d really like to learn from you, dear ypg, ;-) how to motivate my husband to carry out my projects. I keep complaining that he always plays the hero for other women in need, while I’m left struggling on my own. ;-) Oh dear, then you’re in the same boat as me :p
ypg schrieb:
Wow, then you’re in the same situation as me :pSo... Most of the time, he implements his own ideas with his pile of stuff – which often also match my taste. 😎 Last Christmas, for example, there was a really great homemade floor lamp made from an old oak beam 🙂
Pinkiponk schrieb:
I'm confused. As long as you're standing straight... I seem to recall he had a slightly skewed perspective on the slope of your land 🙂
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Yesterday, we received a written notification from the building authority confirming that our construction commencement notice has been received. I am a bit confused – during the course of our project, a general contractor representative, an architect, and also our house manufacturer mentioned or implied that, after four weeks have passed, we are allowed to start "automatically" as long as we have not received any objection from the building authority. However, this letter states "Construction work may only begin once I have confirmed to you in a separate letter that 1) the site infrastructure according to Section P30 Paragraph 1 of the Building Code is secured, and 2) a provisional prohibition according to Section P15 Paragraph 1 Sentence 2 [I]Building Code has not been applied for."[/I]
The letter is dated as received on July 18th, created on July 20th, and was delivered by post on July 28th.
In the assumption of the 4-week deadline, I scheduled my foundation contractor for calendar week 38 – I guess I have to cancel it under these circumstances, right?
The letter is dated as received on July 18th, created on July 20th, and was delivered by post on July 28th.
In the assumption of the 4-week deadline, I scheduled my foundation contractor for calendar week 38 – I guess I have to cancel it under these circumstances, right?
-LotteS- schrieb:
We were informed in writing yesterday by the building authority that our construction start notification has been received. Now I’m a bit confused – during our project, a representative of the general contractor, an architect, and in connection with our home builder, it was mentioned and/or implied that after four weeks we could "automatically" begin, as long as we received no objection from the building authority. That is just the simplified, popular explanation ...
-LotteS- schrieb:
Now the letter states "Construction work may only begin once I have confirmed to you in a separate letter that 1) the utility connections according to P30 section 1 of the Building Code are secured and 2) a preliminary prohibition according to P15 section 1 sentence 2 of the Building Code has not been requested."
The letter is dated as received on 18.07, created on 20.07, and arrived by post on 28.07.
I scheduled my foundation excavator assuming the 4-week period for week 38 – I guess that’s not going to work under these circumstances, right? … and this is the detailed version. No outright refusal, but also no free pass, rather a conditional approval with a reservation and a note about a possible objection. This means you are being promised a "go-ahead," but you still have to wait for it. Starting earlier would not yet be authorized. A "deemed approval by expiry of the deadline" has not occurred here because the authority has not been inactive; instead, they have begun processing with the obligatory note that your lack of objection alone does not constitute unconditional approval. It will still take some time – but likely considerably less than if they had requested additional documents or corrections due to incompleteness. I assume the parties entitled to file the mentioned possible objection received similar notification by mail, have one month after receipt to respond, and you now know the typical duration of postal transit. Provided the case officer is not ill, you can roughly estimate when the final "go" will be given.
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