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.
Strange discussion. Of course, you can survive car trips without seat belts, but in accidents, the chances of survival are significantly higher with a seat belt (the same goes for bicycle helmets)... so why skip them? A lock on the window is certainly not absolutely necessary, but it’s not a bad invention either. It’s up to each individual to weigh whether they might want to accept a potential disadvantage in case of fire or prefer the added security in daily life (regarding falling out of the window and burglaries).
kaho674 schrieb:
I always wonder how we managed to survive without lockable window handles, bicycle helmets, and seat belts in the back seats. Luck, chance, fate, the will of God, etc., etc...
This is an abstract discussion.
Many recommend opting for a long fixed interest period just to be sure about the mortgage payments in 20 years. No risk at all! No matter the cost!
On the other hand, a few lockable window handles seem unnecessary since people survived childhood without them.
Caution: I deliberately exaggerated. The individual "quotes" are not from one person and are not attributed.
I may repeat myself, but I couldn’t make peace with myself if any of my children were in an accident and I had saved just a few euros.
I also bought a new child car seat, as well as bicycle helmets and my son’s motorcycle helmet.
USUALLY nothing serious happens. Except when it does. Then I would blame myself.
F
Fummelbrett!4 Nov 2019 13:46Joedreck schrieb:
NORMALLY nothing bad happens. Unless it does. Then I would feel guilty.That's exactly right. Usually everything is fine. Just like with all the pools in gardens – how many unsupervised children "get away" with playing around completely unsecured pools – but then there are that few kids for whom things go wrong. In the 1980s, a friend of my father’s had a car accident. It wasn’t very serious, but the young son in the back seat was completely unrestrained and died as a result. Just a few weeks earlier, that friend had talked with my father about installing seat belts in the back seat.
And honestly, paying a few extra dollars for lockable window handles is a good investment and doesn’t require much effort.
Of course, you can overdo it: a friend seriously wanted to let his child go to the playground wearing only knee pads…
Regarding the tiles again: upstairs in the main bathroom, we have dark tiles on the floor, and in the guest WC, light tiles (where you don’t immediately see footprints because the entrance area was tiled with the same tiles). In between, there is oak parquet flooring. The walls are white in both rooms.
Originally, we wanted slate upstairs because we like its look. However, after learning about the care slate requires, we decided on porcelain tiles with a slate appearance instead—our practical-minded housewife thought, “No, thanks!”
I don’t think this disrupts our “color concept,” since the bathrooms are on separate floors. So, I would consider what makes sense and what you like for each bathroom individually.
As much as we like the dark tiles in our very bright upstairs bathroom, we wouldn’t have wanted them in the entrance area—color scheme aside—and not in the small, relatively dark guest WC either. The lighter floor tiles work much better there! Conversely, the bathroom upstairs with light tiles might have seemed a bit dull.
So, what would have been the harm if I had forced myself to stick to just one tile?
Therefore: feel free!
Originally, we wanted slate upstairs because we like its look. However, after learning about the care slate requires, we decided on porcelain tiles with a slate appearance instead—our practical-minded housewife thought, “No, thanks!”
I don’t think this disrupts our “color concept,” since the bathrooms are on separate floors. So, I would consider what makes sense and what you like for each bathroom individually.
As much as we like the dark tiles in our very bright upstairs bathroom, we wouldn’t have wanted them in the entrance area—color scheme aside—and not in the small, relatively dark guest WC either. The lighter floor tiles work much better there! Conversely, the bathroom upstairs with light tiles might have seemed a bit dull.
So, what would have been the harm if I had forced myself to stick to just one tile?
Therefore: feel free!
G
goalkeeper5 Nov 2019 10:41Today, Viebrockhaus started the excavation – it’s interesting to see how tight the space is with only three construction sites in the area – and especially how much material still has to be handled by the basement builders despite the 1.30m (4 ft 3 in) height difference.
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