ᐅ Affordable Building Without Compromising Quality, Architect-Designed Home
Created on: 2 Jan 2024 12:33
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Hello everyone!
I have been quietly following this forum for some time, and our house-building project (single-family home) will probably start in Q1/Q2.
I am wondering how to build a house in 2024 cost-effectively without compromising quality.
We have a budget of about 500,000-600,000 euros for the entire construction (excluding the land).
That is a lot of money, but not unlimited – I want to get the best out of it.
A brief overview of our project:
~120m2 (two floors), steep slope, no basement (not possible), 2 adults (maybe one child max in the future), undeveloped plot.
I assume that land development, slope work, and foundation slab will cost around 100,000 euros.
That leaves around 400,000 euros for a move-in ready house.
We have already looked at prefab house providers, but none of their offers matched what we wanted – customizing prefab houses is about as expensive as working directly with an architect.
The plan is to have the house built "ready for finishing" (shell and core) and carry out most of the interior work ourselves (walls, floors, tiles, bathrooms—only the tiling!—and outdoor terraces). We have sufficient craftsmanship skills for this!
Where is the best place to save costs?
What features are often installed without real benefit? (e.g., laundry chute, central vacuum system, automatic blinds, etc.)
Where should you definitely not save?
Should an independent expert inspect the work? Or is that a waste of money for a general contractor/architect-led build?
Should the construction contract be reviewed by a lawyer?
My current thoughts are:
* Simple building shape (rectangle), straightforward pitched roof construction
* No unnecessary home technology (ventilation system, smart home, etc.)
* Minimize large window areas
* Only a carport, no double garage
* The building method (timber frame, solid wood construction like Holz100, masonry) is still open – I prefer timber frame/solid wood.
* Good planning once is cheaper than planning two or three times
* Double checking is cheaper than fixing poorly done work afterwards
* A wood stove is nice, but a fireplace is also expensive.
Where else can you save? What unnecessarily drives construction costs up?
Our idea is:
If we skip things like a double garage, we have more budget for high-quality interior finishes.
We prefer to invest in interior finishing rather than, for example, a laundry chute, central vacuum system, automatic blinds, and so on.
I understand that features like a laundry chute can be subjective when it comes to being "unnecessary" or not.
The goal is to figure out what is essential for a house build, where one should definitely not save, and which elements can be omitted.
There are also significant price ranges for stairs, windows, doors, facades, and roof coverings.
Does it have to be an expensive branded roof? Will a cheaper option suffice?
With this "pre-planning," I also want to minimize the cost of architectural planning. If we come to the architect with a realistic, well-thought-out plan, it probably saves a few thousand euros... Also, an independent building surveyor can save money by detecting issues early on – once the progress payment is made, it is hard to get the money back.
Thanks in advance for your tips and opinions.
I have been quietly following this forum for some time, and our house-building project (single-family home) will probably start in Q1/Q2.
I am wondering how to build a house in 2024 cost-effectively without compromising quality.
We have a budget of about 500,000-600,000 euros for the entire construction (excluding the land).
That is a lot of money, but not unlimited – I want to get the best out of it.
A brief overview of our project:
~120m2 (two floors), steep slope, no basement (not possible), 2 adults (maybe one child max in the future), undeveloped plot.
I assume that land development, slope work, and foundation slab will cost around 100,000 euros.
That leaves around 400,000 euros for a move-in ready house.
We have already looked at prefab house providers, but none of their offers matched what we wanted – customizing prefab houses is about as expensive as working directly with an architect.
The plan is to have the house built "ready for finishing" (shell and core) and carry out most of the interior work ourselves (walls, floors, tiles, bathrooms—only the tiling!—and outdoor terraces). We have sufficient craftsmanship skills for this!
Where is the best place to save costs?
What features are often installed without real benefit? (e.g., laundry chute, central vacuum system, automatic blinds, etc.)
Where should you definitely not save?
Should an independent expert inspect the work? Or is that a waste of money for a general contractor/architect-led build?
Should the construction contract be reviewed by a lawyer?
My current thoughts are:
* Simple building shape (rectangle), straightforward pitched roof construction
* No unnecessary home technology (ventilation system, smart home, etc.)
* Minimize large window areas
* Only a carport, no double garage
* The building method (timber frame, solid wood construction like Holz100, masonry) is still open – I prefer timber frame/solid wood.
* Good planning once is cheaper than planning two or three times
* Double checking is cheaper than fixing poorly done work afterwards
* A wood stove is nice, but a fireplace is also expensive.
Where else can you save? What unnecessarily drives construction costs up?
Our idea is:
If we skip things like a double garage, we have more budget for high-quality interior finishes.
We prefer to invest in interior finishing rather than, for example, a laundry chute, central vacuum system, automatic blinds, and so on.
I understand that features like a laundry chute can be subjective when it comes to being "unnecessary" or not.
The goal is to figure out what is essential for a house build, where one should definitely not save, and which elements can be omitted.
There are also significant price ranges for stairs, windows, doors, facades, and roof coverings.
Does it have to be an expensive branded roof? Will a cheaper option suffice?
With this "pre-planning," I also want to minimize the cost of architectural planning. If we come to the architect with a realistic, well-thought-out plan, it probably saves a few thousand euros... Also, an independent building surveyor can save money by detecting issues early on – once the progress payment is made, it is hard to get the money back.
Thanks in advance for your tips and opinions.
I
IIIIIIIIIIIIII4 Jan 2024 12:56haydee schrieb:
You won’t get the entire plot terraced and retained for 100k.Not the whole plot, but the building site plus a terrace for the summer should be possible, right? For 100k you can get quite a bit of excavator time and retaining walls, or am I mistaken?
Nearby, a hillside was recently excavated to create parking spaces for 5-6 cars—including a 2-3 meter (6.5-10 feet) high retaining wall for slope stabilization.
I’ll inquire about how much that cost.
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hanghaus20234 Jan 2024 13:05If planned carefully, it is often possible to manage with very little slope stabilization. The house itself should provide that.
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WilderSueden4 Jan 2024 15:09IIIIIIIIIIIIII schrieb:
Not the entire plot, but the building site plus a terrace for the summer should probably be included, right?
With 100,000 you can already get quite a lot of excavation time and stones, or am I mistaken? You don’t only have the excavator. Overall construction logistics are much more complicated on steep terrain. It starts with the roads being much narrower than in typical residential areas, and the curves are often tighter. Tractor-trailers usually can’t access the site, so everything has to be delivered with a smaller three-axle truck. You can’t just dump materials by the roadside; they need to be transported away immediately, often using a crane. Finding a level area for crane setup, like 4 x 4 meters (13 x 13 feet), is difficult, and then you already incur costs for the necessary shoring. And so on.
We’re often in Upper Valais, where everything is steep away from the Rhone River. A few years ago, a house was built in a settlement there, and the concrete mixers had to reverse through the settlement uphill. They certainly charge accordingly for that extra effort.
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Gerddieter4 Jan 2024 15:50Just ask the local building developer about a standard package for you.
They can probably offer a good price, and if you’re lucky, you might be able to use their entire planning setup – that saves a lot more than reinventing the wheel with your own architect.
Saving on square meters helps too, but then you have to be quite modest.
Tiles, sinks, toilets, window sizes, and other selection options usually don’t offer much potential for savings – as long as you stick to standard choices, it just won’t get more expensive.
They can probably offer a good price, and if you’re lucky, you might be able to use their entire planning setup – that saves a lot more than reinventing the wheel with your own architect.
Saving on square meters helps too, but then you have to be quite modest.
Tiles, sinks, toilets, window sizes, and other selection options usually don’t offer much potential for savings – as long as you stick to standard choices, it just won’t get more expensive.
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xMisterDx4 Jan 2024 20:56WilderSueden schrieb:
(...)
We often visit Upper Valais, where everything is steep away from the Rhone River. A house was built in the neighborhood 2-3 years ago, and the concrete mixers had to reverse uphill through the settlement. They definitely charge extra for the additional effort.Definitely, and with an added guarantee...
I just checked, and the site contractor charged us a flat fee of 1,000 EUR due to restricted access. We are located right at the intersection of two 5m (16ft) wide roads, and during the construction of the shell structures in the new development area, the roads were even about 6m (20ft) wide...
Be prepared for some extra costs...
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