Hello fellow home builders,
Like many of you, I am currently in the early stages of planning my house. I’m really just at the beginning: the plot is reserved, I have had some discussions with construction companies, and I have created a spreadsheet listing all additional building costs, partly based on many contributions I found here in the forum.
However, there is one concerning item: earthworks.
The plot slopes down about 1.5–2 meters (5–6.5 feet) along its entire width (20 meters / 65 feet). I have been reading a lot over the last few days and I am currently very uncertain about what costs for earthworks I should expect. Right now, I have a very wide estimate range of 20,000 to 100,000 Euros, which makes planning difficult.
In my last conversation with a builder, the sales representative told me that the civil engineering companies I contacted could not provide a proper quote because soil reports and similar documents are missing. But I can only provide all the required information once I purchase the plot—a bit of a catch-22.
So I’m trying my luck here in the forum. Maybe some of you have had a similar plot and have built on it, and can give me a rough cost estimate or advice on which additional items to expect compared to a flat plot.
Yes, I know it’s quite difficult without knowing the soil conditions, but perhaps the current wide estimate of 20,000 to 100,000 Euros can be narrowed down a bit.
I’m attaching a picture taken from the front.
By the way, the planned house will be 9.5 meters (31 feet) wide and 11.5 meters (38 feet) deep, and the plot starts right at the left edge of the picture.
I appreciate any helpful and constructive input.
Like many of you, I am currently in the early stages of planning my house. I’m really just at the beginning: the plot is reserved, I have had some discussions with construction companies, and I have created a spreadsheet listing all additional building costs, partly based on many contributions I found here in the forum.
However, there is one concerning item: earthworks.
The plot slopes down about 1.5–2 meters (5–6.5 feet) along its entire width (20 meters / 65 feet). I have been reading a lot over the last few days and I am currently very uncertain about what costs for earthworks I should expect. Right now, I have a very wide estimate range of 20,000 to 100,000 Euros, which makes planning difficult.
In my last conversation with a builder, the sales representative told me that the civil engineering companies I contacted could not provide a proper quote because soil reports and similar documents are missing. But I can only provide all the required information once I purchase the plot—a bit of a catch-22.
So I’m trying my luck here in the forum. Maybe some of you have had a similar plot and have built on it, and can give me a rough cost estimate or advice on which additional items to expect compared to a flat plot.
Yes, I know it’s quite difficult without knowing the soil conditions, but perhaps the current wide estimate of 20,000 to 100,000 Euros can be narrowed down a bit.
I’m attaching a picture taken from the front.
By the way, the planned house will be 9.5 meters (31 feet) wide and 11.5 meters (38 feet) deep, and the plot starts right at the left edge of the picture.
I appreciate any helpful and constructive input.
Thank you very much for the many responses in such a short time.
Asking the "new neighbors" is not so simple, since this is a new development area and at most about one-third of the houses are built, and these are mostly just at the shell stage. I would need to be lucky to be on site and meet a homeowner; then I could probably get information about the soil conditions.
The houses in the background have been there for a while, so I think I can forget about getting soil information from them.
I am attaching a few more pictures that reflect my current idea: an elevation map, the existing houses, and their retaining structures, although there is a 4-meter (13 ft) height difference over 20 meters (66 ft) width. The picture with the two houses under construction shows one with a basement (on the right) and on the left only a slab-on-grade foundation; I had been considering the left option. The easiest would of course be to just happen to meet the homeowners. Since my currently reserved plot has a road to the right, I also save myself from needing retaining L-shaped stones compared to that.
I would plan a garage or carport either on the left or the right side, whichever is easier to implement in the end. This may be built right up to the property line.
Asking the "new neighbors" is not so simple, since this is a new development area and at most about one-third of the houses are built, and these are mostly just at the shell stage. I would need to be lucky to be on site and meet a homeowner; then I could probably get information about the soil conditions.
The houses in the background have been there for a while, so I think I can forget about getting soil information from them.
I am attaching a few more pictures that reflect my current idea: an elevation map, the existing houses, and their retaining structures, although there is a 4-meter (13 ft) height difference over 20 meters (66 ft) width. The picture with the two houses under construction shows one with a basement (on the right) and on the left only a slab-on-grade foundation; I had been considering the left option. The easiest would of course be to just happen to meet the homeowners. Since my currently reserved plot has a road to the right, I also save myself from needing retaining L-shaped stones compared to that.
I would plan a garage or carport either on the left or the right side, whichever is easier to implement in the end. This may be built right up to the property line.
Is there no plan with more elevation points and some length measurements? Also, are the currently submitted plans aligned to north? Are there any building envelope restrictions? Does the property need to be accessed from the current bottom of the plan?
What makes you say that?
yorolf87 schrieb:
Since my currently reserved plot has a street on the right side, I can save myself from installing retaining L-shaped walls compared to others.
What makes you say that?
hanghaus2023 schrieb:
Because of the geology, I would first ask the neighbors if there are any special conditions in the area. yorolf87 schrieb:
Asking the "new neighbors" is not that simple; it’s a new development area, and at most about one-third of the houses are built, mostly just as shells. I would have to be lucky to be onsite and meet a builder to possibly get information about the soil conditions. I would understand the term "neighbors" here to mean those in 3/5 and 3/6, whose houses have been finished for some time.
yorolf87 schrieb:
I’m attaching a few more pictures showing my current idea, [...] The picture with the two houses under construction shows one with a basement (right) and on the left only a slab foundation; the left option is what I had in mind. You can already see that the neighbor with the "left option" is estimated to spend about 40% of the costs that his neighbor spends on building a utility basement on the uphill side and a living basement on the downhill side. He is essentially wasting money by laying his slab foundation frost-deep with an unused crawl space below. Many avoidable costs, and these don’t even count as excavation work yet. Quite unwise—you shouldn’t want to copy that. The footprint probably shows a rectangular house (on the left) with an attached double garage (on the right) and comes from a specific house design. If you haven’t utilized the potential for a living basement in this design, you should discard or substantially revise it. As far as I interpret your building composition, I would also recommend against having a passage between the house and garage, and suggest placing the garage lower than the house—you could even position it separately, possibly along the right boundary of the property. Also, read externally (including the quotation marks) “With or Without a Basement: A Rule as a Decision-Making Tool.”
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Unfortunately, that’s all the information available so far; more details will likely only come after purchasing the plot (surveying, soil report).
Yes, the plans are oriented to north, I forgot to mention that.
There are building boundary restrictions; the house/foundation slab shown in the picture falls within this development boundary.
The main entrance door faces south, the right side (east side) is essentially garden/hedge.
As someone not experienced in earthworks, I just assumed this because otherwise there would be retaining walls (L-walls) directly at the street for the plot, and I can’t imagine that would be allowed.
Thank you for the honest and straightforward answer; it’s already helpful for my entire project. As I mentioned, I’m at the very beginning, so I was hoping for experienced help here. Reading this, maybe building on a slab isn’t so clever after all, even though the height difference at the house is about 2 meters (6.5 feet) more.
The garage isn’t currently planned, as I am still deciding whether I really want to go ahead with the plot or if I might end up with too many problems or costs. For now, I’m gathering ideas and suggestions from you.
Yes, the plans are oriented to north, I forgot to mention that.
There are building boundary restrictions; the house/foundation slab shown in the picture falls within this development boundary.
The main entrance door faces south, the right side (east side) is essentially garden/hedge.
As someone not experienced in earthworks, I just assumed this because otherwise there would be retaining walls (L-walls) directly at the street for the plot, and I can’t imagine that would be allowed.
11ant schrieb:
You can basically see that the neighbor on the “left variant” wastes about 40% of the costs that his neighbor invests in building a utility basement on the hill side and a living basement on the valley side, just by founding his slab unused at crawlspace height and frost depth. A lot of avoidable costs, not even accounted for yet as “earthworks.” Pretty foolish, and you shouldn’t want to copy that.
Thank you for the honest and straightforward answer; it’s already helpful for my entire project. As I mentioned, I’m at the very beginning, so I was hoping for experienced help here. Reading this, maybe building on a slab isn’t so clever after all, even though the height difference at the house is about 2 meters (6.5 feet) more.
The garage isn’t currently planned, as I am still deciding whether I really want to go ahead with the plot or if I might end up with too many problems or costs. For now, I’m gathering ideas and suggestions from you.
yorolf87 schrieb:
Thank you for the open and honest response; that already helps me a lot with the whole project. As I mentioned, I’m just at the beginning, so I was hoping for some experienced advice here. You’ll find most of the help you need simply by reading lots of different threads. For complete beginners, in the same place as my basement posts, you’ll also find the "House Construction Roadmap, also for you: the HOAI phase model!"
yorolf87 schrieb:
When I read that, maybe building on a slab foundation isn’t such a great idea, even though the elevation difference for the house is over 2 meters (6.5 feet). The garage wasn’t planned yet at this point, With a 2m (6.5 ft) height difference under the footprint of the house, you pay 100% of the basement costs whether you build it or try to avoid it. Did I misinterpret the house outline and you’re planning an L-shaped bungalow?
yorolf87 schrieb:
since I’m still undecided whether to really go ahead with the plot or if I’ll end up with too many problems/costs. Your biggest cost trap is the layer 8 problem (missing punctuation smiley, not my fault).
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
I am actively participating in this forum, but when it comes to getting a specific question answered about an existing plot of land, just reading is not enough.
OK, I was not aware of this; I might have found out in one of the many threads. So I can discard the current plan anyway. It was an L-shaped single-family house with two full floors.
I just like to have the garage attached.
11ant schrieb:
If there is a 2m (6.6 ft) height difference under the building footprint, you have to pay 100% of the basement costs, whether you build it or try to avoid it. Did I misinterpret the building outline, and are you planning an L-shaped bungalow?
OK, I was not aware of this; I might have found out in one of the many threads. So I can discard the current plan anyway. It was an L-shaped single-family house with two full floors.
11ant schrieb:
Your biggest cost trap is the Layer 8 problem
I just like to have the garage attached.
Similar topics