ᐅ Building an End-Terrace House as a Self-Managed Project with a General Contractor
Created on: 27 May 2019 10:48
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goalkeeper
Hello everyone,
some of you might have already followed one of my threads about us having to or being allowed to build our end-terrace house on our own responsibility – depending on how you look at it. This means that we are buying an end-terrace plot (215 sqm (2315 sq ft)) in a new development area in the Rhein-Neckar district and will be building on it ourselves – but in coordination with our two terrace neighbors.
The municipality, which sold the plots through a local resident model, ideally wanted applicants to apply as a complete housing group with several families and then build accordingly with a general contractor, construction manager, or architect. Of course, that didn’t really work out, so now there are only individual applicants and also homeowners.
After we were awarded the plot, the addresses of the other terrace neighbors were shared to discuss certain matters, such as roof style, whether or not to have a basement, etc. It was immediately clear that everyone preferred to do their own thing. However, we were still able to agree that the housing group will have a gable roof with a pitch of 35 to 40 degrees (within this 5-degree range).
As the end house, we will build without a basement, while the middle house and the other end house will have basements. This obviously presents a challenge as we would have to make a deep foundation or simply skip it, and the middle house would have to support us, as we will start construction first. The current agreement with the middle house is that we will build a deeper foundation at his expense, as supporting our house later on would be considerably more expensive for him.
We are currently close to signing with the construction manager, the notarization appointment for the plot is at the end of June, and we hope to start construction in the fall of this year. Meanwhile, several other freely planned housing groups are being built around us, which might get in the way with their cranes.
I will document the progress here from time to time – such a self-planned terraced house doesn’t come along very often.
some of you might have already followed one of my threads about us having to or being allowed to build our end-terrace house on our own responsibility – depending on how you look at it. This means that we are buying an end-terrace plot (215 sqm (2315 sq ft)) in a new development area in the Rhein-Neckar district and will be building on it ourselves – but in coordination with our two terrace neighbors.
The municipality, which sold the plots through a local resident model, ideally wanted applicants to apply as a complete housing group with several families and then build accordingly with a general contractor, construction manager, or architect. Of course, that didn’t really work out, so now there are only individual applicants and also homeowners.
After we were awarded the plot, the addresses of the other terrace neighbors were shared to discuss certain matters, such as roof style, whether or not to have a basement, etc. It was immediately clear that everyone preferred to do their own thing. However, we were still able to agree that the housing group will have a gable roof with a pitch of 35 to 40 degrees (within this 5-degree range).
As the end house, we will build without a basement, while the middle house and the other end house will have basements. This obviously presents a challenge as we would have to make a deep foundation or simply skip it, and the middle house would have to support us, as we will start construction first. The current agreement with the middle house is that we will build a deeper foundation at his expense, as supporting our house later on would be considerably more expensive for him.
We are currently close to signing with the construction manager, the notarization appointment for the plot is at the end of June, and we hope to start construction in the fall of this year. Meanwhile, several other freely planned housing groups are being built around us, which might get in the way with their cranes.
I will document the progress here from time to time – such a self-planned terraced house doesn’t come along very often.
goalkeeper schrieb:
The plan is to pave around the front and sides of the house and, at least in the garden, to spread out 120 cubic meters (4,238 cubic feet) of soil so it can settle. My wife said I could do it with a shovel. Then let your wife start—when she loses interest after about half a cubic meter (18 cubic feet), remind her of her statement.
goalkeeper schrieb:
Have you ever lived directly under the roof? In our current rented apartment, it gets over 30°C (86°F) in the summer—even at night. Our new house faces west, has 2m (6.5 ft) wide windows, and the living space is in the attic. Therefore, the cooling system will also run in night mode during the peak summer nights. The new houses are well insulated—both ways. Our bedroom is under the roof (top floor), on the southwest side (the upper left window in my avatar). Before we installed shading this summer, the house felt like a sauna. But as soon as the roller blinds were fitted, the indoor temperature dropped (even though the house had been heated up for weeks beforehand), and the bedroom became comfortably cool for sleeping. I am confident that this year, if shading is consistently applied from the start and the house doesn’t heat up in the first place, it will feel even more comfortable.
With shading, we experienced pleasant indoor temperatures even during this year’s extreme heat. At night, we let the cool air in, then close the windows and lower the blinds. We never had temperatures over 26°C (79°F) anywhere in the house, even though, as mentioned, it was very hot beforehand.
A gentler cooling method involves chilled water pipes arranged in spirals within the ceiling. However, that’s probably too late for you. They cool the ceiling to the temperature of the chilled water, causing the cooler air to sink. This provides about 5°C (9°F) of cooling without any drafts. It should be more than enough for the new houses.
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goalkeeper14 Jan 2020 13:09We are getting an air-to-water heat pump that also has a cooling function through the underfloor heating system. However, our general contractor still recommends adding an air conditioning unit.
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boxandroof14 Jan 2020 13:18How is the roof insulated?
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goalkeeper14 Jan 2020 13:26boxandroof schrieb:
How is the roof insulated?240mm (9.5 inches) insulation batts
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