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.
Okay, this situation does happen nonetheless, so how should it be managed? The cellular concrete tends to crumble away.
How should the construction company approach this task? I have never seen or read about this before. Or does nothing happen when compacting the material?
How should the construction company approach this task? I have never seen or read about this before. Or does nothing happen when compacting the material?
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goalkeeper14 Aug 2020 20:43tomtom79 schrieb:
Okay, this situation exists nevertheless, so how should it be handled now? The cellular concrete keeps crumbling away.
How should the construction company proceed with this task? I’ve never seen or read about this before. Or does nothing happen when testing the compacted material?It’s best to look up DIN 4123 – everything is clearly explained there.
The issue is simple: if done properly, it’s a routine procedure – but with the neighboring crew, we never really felt they could just do it properly. And if they had nothing to hide, it wouldn’t have been a problem to let our soil expert supervise the process.
I hope you have two cameras covering your terrace and driveway, along with a small notice sign. Especially if the person starts digging again, or if their potential unregistered worker shows up, these could be helpful pieces of evidence for the relevant authorities.
Good luck moving forward, and hopefully they will give up so you can find a new opportunity. As exhausting and stressful as this situation has been for you, it has also been very interesting and informative for many readers following along.
Good luck moving forward, and hopefully they will give up so you can find a new opportunity. As exhausting and stressful as this situation has been for you, it has also been very interesting and informative for many readers following along.
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goalkeeper29 Aug 2020 14:59The week after next, a settlement hearing is scheduled at the regional court – let’s see how it goes...
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goalkeeper3 Sep 2020 20:15The appointment has been postponed to week 38.
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Martial.white3 Sep 2020 20:30Thanks for the update. Still keeping my fingers crossed.