ᐅ Building an End-Terrace House as a Self-Managed Project with a General Contractor
Created on: 27 May 2019 10:48
G
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.
G
goalkeeper2 Oct 2019 08:24Yesterday we had the first meeting with our beam neighbors.
Our middle house neighbor is understandably not very happy that he has to support us with underpinning. However, until yesterday, our construction manager and I had offered him the option to do deeper foundations at his own expense. Since he has no plans yet, this issue is now settled, as otherwise our construction would be delayed.
Things are getting more interesting: it seems he is working with an architect who also happens to be a structural contractor. He is getting a 2.5-story (2.5 floors) shell construction measuring 6.5 x 11m (21 x 36 feet), including a basement, for 75,000. And he really means it.
The roof will cost about 25,000, plumbing/heating 35,000, and they will do the rest themselves. This should be interesting.
In any case, we will definitely consult appropriate experts again regarding the underpinning issue so that we clearly understand our rights as the “affected party” and what we must accept. Underpinning is clearly regulated according to DIN 4123, and these regulations must be followed.
Our middle house neighbor is understandably not very happy that he has to support us with underpinning. However, until yesterday, our construction manager and I had offered him the option to do deeper foundations at his own expense. Since he has no plans yet, this issue is now settled, as otherwise our construction would be delayed.
Things are getting more interesting: it seems he is working with an architect who also happens to be a structural contractor. He is getting a 2.5-story (2.5 floors) shell construction measuring 6.5 x 11m (21 x 36 feet), including a basement, for 75,000. And he really means it.
The roof will cost about 25,000, plumbing/heating 35,000, and they will do the rest themselves. This should be interesting.
In any case, we will definitely consult appropriate experts again regarding the underpinning issue so that we clearly understand our rights as the “affected party” and what we must accept. Underpinning is clearly regulated according to DIN 4123, and these regulations must be followed.
goalkeeper schrieb:
Yesterday we had our first meeting with the party-wall neighbors.
Our middle house neighbor is understandably not happy about having to support us. However, until yesterday, our general contractor and I had still offered him the option to fund deeper foundations himself. But since he doesn’t have any plans yet, that issue is now off the table, because otherwise, our construction would be delayed.
It’s getting more interesting though: apparently he is working with an architect who also happens to be a structural shell builder. He is getting a 2.5-story shell structure, 6.5 x 11m (21 x 36 feet) including basement, for 75,000. And he seems serious about that.
Roof then about 25,000, plumbing/heating 35,000, and they plan to do the rest themselves. This will be interesting.
In any case, we will definitely consult specialized experts again regarding the support structure, so we fully understand our rights as those affected and what we have to tolerate. The support work is clearly regulated by DIN 4123, and that needs to be strictly followed.I think masonry for that should work, so no white waterproofing membrane for the basement. Also, you know, that 75,000 could very well be net costs, maybe the neighbor is not aware of that yet.Our shell construction, as a KfW55 energy standard house with proper insulation, waterproofed basement (“white tank”), with two full floors, drainage, on a floor area of 8.25m x 11m (27 x 36 feet), came to 125,000 gross. So with some compromises, it might work out without additional costs for supporting. Keep us updated.
G
goalkeeper5 Oct 2019 08:57Since there was no deep foundation work this week due to weather conditions, next week my general contractor and his architect will discuss whether a deep foundation is still feasible for us.
It would definitely be advisable.
It would definitely be advisable.
goalkeeper schrieb:
Since deep foundation work couldn’t proceed this week due to the weather, my general contractor and his architect will discuss next week whether a deep foundation is still feasible from our side.
It would definitely make sense. I think I missed part of the explanation. Could you briefly summarize again what the advantage would be?
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