ᐅ Floor Plan Optimization for a Single-Family House: Gable Entrance and Basement
Created on: 2 Jan 2025 19:27
F
Flowerstone
Dear housebuilding community,
We are just at the very beginning of our housebuilding journey. So far, we have gathered information, visited houses, and mainly thought about the requirements we have for our future home. We have tried to incorporate this in the attached floor plan. Not everything is perfect down to the last detail yet; it is mostly about the basic layout and such. We already own the plot (see photo, north is at the top). The house should be positioned as far northeast as possible.
In the next few weeks, we plan to schedule appointments with various general contractors to get initial assessments and offers, which will help us decide with which company we want to build. We are not under any time pressure since it is a private development area, but we would like to start building by the end of 2025 or early 2026.
I hope it is okay to ask for feedback and criticism at this early stage. We thought the earlier we identify mistakes or add new ideas, the better. If this is not the right place for such questions, I’m happy to accept that feedback and come back better prepared.
We appreciate any feedback!
Below is the questionnaire completed to the best of our knowledge and belief.
Development plan / restrictions
Plot size: 719 m2 (7735 sq ft)
Slope: approx. 60 cm (24 inches) gradient within the building area
Building coverage ratio: 0.3
Floor area ratio:
Building area, building line, and boundary: 3 m (10 feet) distance on all sides
Boundary construction: Open construction method; boundary garages up to 9 m (30 feet) allowed
Number of parking spaces: -
Number of storeys: Max. 1 full storey
Roof shape: -
Architectural style: -
Orientation: -
Owners’ requirements
Basement: Yes
Roof shape: Gable roof
Architectural style: Country house
Stories: 1 + attic. Preferably with a high knee wall.
Number of people, ages: 2 (28, 27), two children planned
Room needs on ground floor and upper floor: GF (kitchen, dining, living, office, guest bathroom, vestibule). UF: 3 bedrooms, bathroom, laundry room
Office: I work 80% from home
Guest sleepers per year: 2-3 times per year
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Open with double sliding door
Number of dining seats: 8
Fireplace: No
Music/sound system wall: No
Balcony, roof terrace: No
Garage, carport: Carport
Additional wishes/special features: Access to garden from kitchen, vestibule, laundry room on upper floor, shower in guest bathroom, open kitchen with sliding door
House design
Source of the design:
What do you particularly like? Why?
What do you not like? Why?
Price estimate according to architect/planner: -
Personal price limit for the house including fixtures: 500k
Preferred heating technology: -
If you have to give up something, which details/extensions:
-can you give up:
-can you not give up:
Why has the design turned out this way?
Based on a standard design of a house with gable entrance as a starting point. Large office that could later also be used as a bedroom with a double bed, vestibule, and laundry room on upper floor planned.
We are just at the very beginning of our housebuilding journey. So far, we have gathered information, visited houses, and mainly thought about the requirements we have for our future home. We have tried to incorporate this in the attached floor plan. Not everything is perfect down to the last detail yet; it is mostly about the basic layout and such. We already own the plot (see photo, north is at the top). The house should be positioned as far northeast as possible.
In the next few weeks, we plan to schedule appointments with various general contractors to get initial assessments and offers, which will help us decide with which company we want to build. We are not under any time pressure since it is a private development area, but we would like to start building by the end of 2025 or early 2026.
I hope it is okay to ask for feedback and criticism at this early stage. We thought the earlier we identify mistakes or add new ideas, the better. If this is not the right place for such questions, I’m happy to accept that feedback and come back better prepared.
We appreciate any feedback!
Below is the questionnaire completed to the best of our knowledge and belief.
Development plan / restrictions
Plot size: 719 m2 (7735 sq ft)
Slope: approx. 60 cm (24 inches) gradient within the building area
Building coverage ratio: 0.3
Floor area ratio:
Building area, building line, and boundary: 3 m (10 feet) distance on all sides
Boundary construction: Open construction method; boundary garages up to 9 m (30 feet) allowed
Number of parking spaces: -
Number of storeys: Max. 1 full storey
Roof shape: -
Architectural style: -
Orientation: -
Owners’ requirements
Basement: Yes
Roof shape: Gable roof
Architectural style: Country house
Stories: 1 + attic. Preferably with a high knee wall.
Number of people, ages: 2 (28, 27), two children planned
Room needs on ground floor and upper floor: GF (kitchen, dining, living, office, guest bathroom, vestibule). UF: 3 bedrooms, bathroom, laundry room
Office: I work 80% from home
Guest sleepers per year: 2-3 times per year
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Open with double sliding door
Number of dining seats: 8
Fireplace: No
Music/sound system wall: No
Balcony, roof terrace: No
Garage, carport: Carport
Additional wishes/special features: Access to garden from kitchen, vestibule, laundry room on upper floor, shower in guest bathroom, open kitchen with sliding door
House design
Source of the design:
- Do-it-yourself
What do you particularly like? Why?
- Staircase not in the dirty area
- Kitchen can be either open or closed
- Laundry room on upper floor
What do you not like? Why?
- Basement stairs unfortunately not in the vestibule
- Bathroom on upper floor not clearly divided into wet and dry areas
Price estimate according to architect/planner: -
Personal price limit for the house including fixtures: 500k
Preferred heating technology: -
If you have to give up something, which details/extensions:
-can you give up:
-can you not give up:
Why has the design turned out this way?
Based on a standard design of a house with gable entrance as a starting point. Large office that could later also be used as a bedroom with a double bed, vestibule, and laundry room on upper floor planned.
11ant schrieb:
However, there are no height restrictions specified here - I never claimed otherwise.
11ant schrieb:
the development plan is limited to not allowing a second full story and permitting no more than two dwelling units. I said nothing different. Please quote @hanghaus2023 if you want to explain something to him.
I am usually against building basements without good reason. But except for the one mentioned here:
this is actually a not too bad list of reasons for needing a basement:
At first glance, your list seems quite convincing, but you might still want to consider the following: Almost everything you mention can just as well be stored above ground. There is no real reason to put these things underground, as the rooms are not much cheaper if they are meant to be livable spaces. So if you need heating, electricity, flooring, doors, internet, phone, water, wastewater – all that stuff – you won’t really save anything. However, you will lose natural daylight.
Yes, you might save a bit if you only install the bare essentials and use very cheap materials in the basement. But those savings are likely consumed by the extra excavation work. In the end, it might be a break-even situation with the disadvantage of dark rooms.
What seems questionable, however, is the enormous space requirement, which brings me back to the budget issue.
Flowerstone schrieb:
9.2 Safety/Flexibility: I know several families who suddenly had 3 instead of 2 children. Without a basement, we wouldn’t have an office anymore, which is absolutely necessary.
this is actually a not too bad list of reasons for needing a basement:
Flowerstone schrieb:
9. Our thoughts on the basement:
9.1 Organization: horse equipment, tires, sports gear, musical instruments, paper recycling, deposit bottles, party/hobby room, sauna/wellness, technical equipment
9.5 Possibly some of the excavation material can be used to fill the garden (after temporarily setting aside the topsoil), since we have a slope of over 1m (3 feet) in the backyard.
At first glance, your list seems quite convincing, but you might still want to consider the following: Almost everything you mention can just as well be stored above ground. There is no real reason to put these things underground, as the rooms are not much cheaper if they are meant to be livable spaces. So if you need heating, electricity, flooring, doors, internet, phone, water, wastewater – all that stuff – you won’t really save anything. However, you will lose natural daylight.
Yes, you might save a bit if you only install the bare essentials and use very cheap materials in the basement. But those savings are likely consumed by the extra excavation work. In the end, it might be a break-even situation with the disadvantage of dark rooms.
What seems questionable, however, is the enormous space requirement, which brings me back to the budget issue.
Flowerstone schrieb:
4. Our thoughts in favor of an entrance vestibule: A wet dog can’t run directly into the house. The house cat doesn’t always try to run outside. Dirt zone clearly separated. Large wardrobe, separated from the living area.
5. Large wardrobe closet in the entrance vestibule: Yes, that’s true. Somehow it got lost in the planning back and forth. Here, you could possibly plan a 200x60 cm (79x24 inches) niche towards the office, without losing too much space in the office (to potentially fit a double bed). Or is that not a good idea?
6. Bathroom in the dirt zone: True, good point, thanks. The entrance would definitely be better in the clean area. We need to see how to organize that in the floor plan. I’ll think about it.
7. Swap children’s room and bedroom: Thanks for the different perspective, I hadn’t considered that. Probably the bedroom in the north would really make more sense.
8. Kitchen open/closed/sliding door: Also a good argument. It really takes up a lot of space. Basically, we prefer an open kitchen. On the other hand, there are the “classic” fears of clutter and noise that we can’t just “lock away.” That’s why the sliding door solution came up. We’ll have to meditate on this some more. Thanks again for the advice. You have really put a lot of thought into this. Many people want certain things just because others have them or because they read about them, without really understanding the benefits or the actual need.
K a t j a schrieb:
Here is not exactly a bad list of reasons for needing a basement: But also not a good one.
K a t j a schrieb:
Almost everything you list can just as well be located above ground. I have to disagree: most things can actually be stored better above ground, if you can even call it storage.
Flowerstone schrieb:
9. Our thoughts on the basement:
9.1 Organization: Horse gear, tires, sports equipment, musical instruments, paper recycling, deposits, etc. don’t have to be stored or have space in the living area.
9.2 Safety/Flexibility: I know several families who suddenly had three instead of two children. Without a basement, we wouldn’t have an office anymore, which is absolutely necessary.
9.3 Party/hobby room: We both grew up with a basement and used it a lot for parties and hobbies.
9.4 We would also like to have a sauna/wellness room.
9.5 Our (probably too naive) calculation behind this: Horse equipment like saddles and so on can be dirty, smelly, and also heavy. They need to be transported and stored with proper air circulation.
Tires can be bulky. It makes sense to find a different place rather than carrying four tires (two sets) up and down the stairs eight times at tire change time.
Sports equipment and musical instruments are too valuable to just store away. For use or storage, a utility basement is not ideal.
Recycling waste is also not worth spending physical effort to store.
Party basement, wellness room—well, you have to be able to afford that too. You want the all-in-one solution for every eventuality for $480,000. Sorry, but that’s somewhat naive.
However, I am also a bit surprised: These are all preferences from the 1980s, when basements were often built for storage and social spaces like parties. Those days are long gone. Basements are no longer the default solution for storage and socializing, no matter how much you sweat at those parties.
It’s also worth noting that you’re mixing a living basement with a utility basement here. Officially, an office where you spend time cannot be approved as an office in a utility basement.
Basically, you are forgetting that with a gable roof house there is still attic space available for expansion*, * but only if you order it as expandable. Otherwise, the structural design nowadays often saves costs by limiting attic space to storage only.
Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) is still cheaper than many other regions. But a country-style villa with all the space extras is even here not feasible.
Before you get discouraged by tight finances, I suggest reading some threads on house financing, planning, and building costs.
Don’t despair: a piano can be better placed in the dining room, the garden is better than any training equipment, and with good bathroom planning, a small sauna can be added later. Parties are held in the carport, on the terrace, or in the living area—and that all offers more living comfort than the dusty rooms older generations had.
F
Flowerstone7 Jan 2025 12:22Hi everyone,
Thanks again for the great suggestions and questions. They really gave us a lot to think about and reflect on, especially regarding the basement.
The idea of an aging-in-place bedroom on the ground floor is indeed an unnecessary limitation, and you’re definitely right about that.
We’re aiming for knee wall heights of about 120-140cm (47-55 inches); I think that would make the upper floor quite usable.
I can’t provide reliable input on the height issues. So far, there is only one neighbor with a shell construction, building what looks like a typical gable roof house to me as a layperson. We’ll just get some advice from them.
Also, the reminder to look again at catalogue floor plans was helpful. We found two more that actually come very close to our wishes. Now we’ll have some discussions and see what comes out of it.
Best regards
Thanks again for the great suggestions and questions. They really gave us a lot to think about and reflect on, especially regarding the basement.
The idea of an aging-in-place bedroom on the ground floor is indeed an unnecessary limitation, and you’re definitely right about that.
We’re aiming for knee wall heights of about 120-140cm (47-55 inches); I think that would make the upper floor quite usable.
I can’t provide reliable input on the height issues. So far, there is only one neighbor with a shell construction, building what looks like a typical gable roof house to me as a layperson. We’ll just get some advice from them.
Also, the reminder to look again at catalogue floor plans was helpful. We found two more that actually come very close to our wishes. Now we’ll have some discussions and see what comes out of it.
Best regards
V
Vrumfondel7 Jan 2025 12:58ypg schrieb:
Sports equipment and musical instruments are too expensive to be stored away without use. A utility basement is not suitable for either use or storage.
This is a clear case of "maybe yes, maybe no" – the piano stays in the room, and the drum set should always be ready to play. But here’s where it starts: the dedicated drummer often owns different sets of cymbals, snares, and toms that are either regularly swapped out or simply collected. Even among electric guitarists and bassists, it’s quite common to have a larger “fleet” of instruments that can’t all be kept in the practice room. Whether this amount is necessary would probably get very different answers from Marie Kondo and Joe Bonamassa – but the statement "musical instruments should not be stored in the basement" often doesn’t reflect real life ;-)
H
hanghaus20237 Jan 2025 12:58Flowerstone schrieb:
We have found two more options that actually come very close to what we want. Could you please share the floor plans here?