ᐅ Assessment & Assistance for a Semi-Detached House, Approximately 180 sqm, DIY Floor Plan

ypg schrieb:

Learned… Where? Of course, if you wanted to, you could basically install different kinds of staircases. Why do so few homeowners do it? Because there is a dependency between the stairwell, structural engineering, and the ceiling. A staircase has to be supported by something, which in standard house construction is usually load-bearing walls. Whether the support runs across or the other way around doesn’t depend only on the load-bearing walls but also on the staircase itself. Or you focus on the staircase and then adjust the load-bearing walls accordingly.

Stairs with a central turn typically either have an additional load-bearing wall inside the stairwell, a structural column, or a large open stairwell. But somewhere the upper floor has to be supported, and therefore the ceiling has to be braced—not just at the outer edges. With a lot of money, you can plan much more freely, but that’s not included in a €550,000 budget. You would rather see that in an open house over 280sqm (about 3,000 sq ft) like in @rick2018’s case.

Also, you obviously can’t build over the stairwell. One or two steps is okay. Otherwise, you lose headroom. Walking on a staircase with a stairwell that is too small isn’t practical and no professional would design or build that.

By the way, it’s also not visually appealing if you go from the ground floor to the upper floor and then have to look past a cramped stairwell.

Anyway: I tend to be a bit unreasonable when it comes to great aesthetics. Spatial effect can create more sense of size and openness than 1–2sqm (10–20 sq ft) of additional space. However, you have to more or less accept your family planning and give up one or more wishes if you want a reasonably comfortable daily routine for 4 people living under a semi-detached roof over the years.

This includes room usage and necessary storage and shelving space.

Your staircase steals several square meters (sq ft) from the living area without benefit. You’re extending the hallway into the living area through the staircase’s position, which is almost no longer usable, except for placing a small dresser on the higher part of the stairs. The kitchen feels like a stairwell entrance; no one wants to play there, and there isn’t much natural light in that area either.

While a space-saving staircase can integrate quite well in a terraced or semi-detached house, this staircase layout mostly has drawbacks.

As I said above, the execution is rather questionable.

ypg schrieb:

Ground floor
Squeezing doors into a room corner doesn’t look good from a visual perspective. Also, on the left side of the plan there is basically no space along the entire width for furniture. Any furniture placed there becomes a barrier. And yes, your wardrobes will probably _not_ be enough for all four of you. A dresser or an additional coat hook is barely possible there.

Is the kitchen large enough?
The hidden door to the freezer room also takes up space for 2 tall cabinets… so with a slim fridge and oven, you end up with about 2.40m (7 feet 10 inches) of worktop space remaining. The island could be that long, though.

The dining table is quite far from the kitchen activity. There is also open space that doesn’t contribute much to room layout.
The living room is only suitable for a narrow TV cabinet.

Upper floor
Children’s rooms should get natural light and face south here. The bedroom can share that side with the bathroom. The staircase’s extra length causes problems again, so you can’t place a door where it’s needed.

The bathroom has unnecessary walking space at the entrance and therefore about 3sqm (32 sq ft) less usable area.

The stairwell is built over.

Attic floor
Without a fridge, you have a lot of floor space where you can’t stand. The bed will probably be difficult to use effectively. It’s best to incorporate the roof slope and standing height into the furniture design.

You’re left with a manageable room, maybe 4 x 4m (13 x 13 ft), and a narrow room for the freezer / utility room plus some storage space. I don’t see a hallway for space reasons. If you put in many windows up there, it could become a welcoming space.

ypg schrieb:

With a semi-detached house, you’re limited: here a small plot and building envelope, no west side, entrance and staircase location are almost predetermined if you want to get the best out of it. I think it’s wrong to want to install a gallery staircase and sacrifice valuable space for that. At least for a staircase that is right in the middle but excluded from activity, despite being close to the kitchen. It would be a foreign element in the house.

I do think, and have seen several projects where people got much more out of a semi-detached house than usual. But you don’t have to reinvent the terraced or semi-detached house to create openness or generosity.

A nice, classic, but modern staircase with natural light on the upper floor and no walls you can bump into—that’s already half the battle. Laundry chute all the way to the top—that way you can sort laundry during breaks. Large gable windows up there would make it hard for the resident to pick their favorite reading spot.

If you don’t come to terms with the limitations of a semi-detached house, I would suggest looking further and selling the plot again.

If you do, take some of the suggestions and try to make the design interesting with simple solutions that actually work.

kbt09 schrieb:

If you want to make the house 12 m long (39 feet), but the building boundary only allows for a 12 m (39 feet) window, do you already have positive indications that the terrace will be approved? As far as I know, the terrace outside the building boundary must be approved by an exemption.

Mar_Mar schrieb:

So I just conclude that some companies that exclude this simply do not want or cannot accommodate customer requests outside the standard.

kbt09 schrieb:

It takes some getting used to.

Mar_Mar schrieb:

Ground floor: It might be a matter of taste, but personally I find it better when there is just a wall behind an open door, rather than a cupboard that you can only use when the door is closed.

Mar_Mar schrieb:

Do you happen to have a floor plan that creates a sense of openness and spaciousness without reinventing the wheel? I’m just out of ideas...

Mar_Mar schrieb:

Which drawing software would you recommend for a beginner to create a floor plan?

11ant schrieb:

The "background story" can be found here ***** and https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/haustechnik-raum-unters-dach-moeglich.44821/

Mar_Mar schrieb:

The top post is not mine

hanse987 schrieb:

Pencil, ruler, and graph paper

Mar_Mar schrieb:

How do I get the exact number? If we have a maximum eave height of 6.5 meters (21.3 ft) and a 30-degree pitched roof, how much distance do we need to maintain or how far can we build at a lot width of 11.5 meters (37.7 ft)?

kbt09 schrieb:

If you want to make the house 12 meters (39.4 ft) long, but the building boundary only allows a 12-meter (39.4 ft) window, do you already have positive indications that the terrace will be approved? Because, as far as I know, terraces outside the building boundary must be approved by a special permit.

Mar_Mar schrieb:

I always look at the neighboring buildings. If the house across the street has maximized everything and still has a terrace, shouldn’t that work for us as well?