ᐅ Looking for a construction company in the Greater Stuttgart area!

thanksgiving schrieb:

@erazorlll Has your house been built by now? Are you happy with it? 🙂

Sorry for the late reply, I had started writing earlier but unfortunately forgot to finish.
But you’re right, it’s about time for an update after more than a year.

September 2020 to February 2021
We submitted our building permit / planning permission application in September or at the end of August 2020. According to the state building regulations, in Baden-Württemberg they only have 3 months to process it, but unfortunately the permit was only granted by the end of February 2021.
I posted more details in another thread: https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/dauer-bis-zur-erteilung-der-baugenehmigung-in-bw.37389/post-480606

March to June 2021
Our general contractor had quite a few construction projects where building permits arrived around the same time and had to be scheduled. This caused a bit of a backlog. We received the first version of the work planning sometime in April and then made several changes together with the architect.

An interesting point was the laundry chute. We originally planned to include one but couldn’t find a suitable place through the house. During the execution planning phase we brought it up again, but unfortunately neither the general contractor nor the architect found a solution. At the same time, we had an appointment with the stove fitter to discuss the masonry chimney, and during some small talk we mentioned the laundry chute issue. He then came up with the right solution.

By the end of May, the work planning was finalized and sent to the electrical and plumbing trades as well as the structural engineer. We had a very good meeting with the electrician, and everything seemed fine. However, the plumbing company then noticed that the pipes for the central ventilation system were not accounted for in the plans and wanted to install a 60x40cm (24x16 inches) duct box in the living room (to route pipes from the upper floor to the basement). You can probably imagine our moderate enthusiasm about that. To this day, I don’t understand how after a whole year of planning including a central ventilation system, nobody accounted for the necessary pipes. It’s not like pipes suddenly have to be added; this was known in advance. Well, in the end, after a lengthy discussion, we agreed on a compromise.

July 2021
They actually wanted to start excavation at the end of June, but it kept getting postponed week by week. Sometimes it was because the previous building site wasn’t finished, sometimes the structural engineer wasn’t done, then the excavator driver was on vacation, and sometimes it was blamed on bad weather. This was quite frustrating for us, as we had been working on the house and planning for over a year and finally wanted to get started, but were continually postponed week after week.

August to present 2021
Construction start! Finally, work began and the site hasn’t stopped since. In the last 3 weeks, the entire excavation including utility shafts has been completed, the cistern installed, the foundation and floor slab constructed, two basement walls cast in concrete, the other basement walls built with masonry, and the foundation and floor slab for the garage prepared.

At the same time, the other half of the semi-detached house was started by a different construction company, which has already led to some errors and coordination issues. More about that in the next post 😉

We were also somewhat disappointed or surprised during the bathroom selection — more on that in the post after next 🙄

Regarding whether we are satisfied:
Overall, yes, so far. The planning phase itself was very good, and the general contractor repeatedly contributed ideas. In tricky situations, they tended to choose the path of least resistance rather than looking for the best solution, but I think that is due to the current workload. As a client, you just have to think along and sometimes reject suggestions. The delays at the start of construction were also disappointing. The site manager is really good, motivated, always reachable, and answers every question. Since we are not finished yet, I can’t give a final assessment.

erazorlll schrieb:

We brought it up again during the detailed planning phase, but unfortunately, neither the general contractor nor the architect could find a solution. At the same time, we had an appointment with the stove installer to discuss the masonry chimney, and during some small talk, we mentioned the laundry chute issue. That’s when he came up with the right solution.

Sorry, but this must be a top architect if the stove installer is the one planning the laundry chute. 😀

erazorlll schrieb:

At the same time, we had an appointment with the stove installer to discuss the masonry chimney, and during small talk, we mentioned the laundry chute issue. He then came up with the suitable solution.

Am I correct in assuming that he suggested a spiral duct like those used for air conditioning systems, including access panels?

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erazorlll schrieb:

Sorry for the late reply, I had already started writing back then but unfortunately forgot to finish.
But you’re right, it’s about time for an update after more than a year.

I don’t know where my mind was before; this long post was actually supposed to go into my planning thread, but it ended up here 🙄

11ant schrieb:

Am I correct in assuming that he suggested using a spiral duct like those used for air conditioning, with inspection doors?

For the laundry chute? No, that will be a straight 25mm (1 inch) PVC pipe.

The problem wasn’t the installation itself, but the positioning. Explaining the whole situation would be too complicated, but simply put:
The only suitable spot would have been next to the chimney, which runs from the bathroom on the upper floor, through the living room on the main floor, down to the technical room in the basement. All other locations in the house were always blocked somehow. And right next to the chimney, in every consideration — whether in front, behind, left, or right — it didn’t fit because something was always in the way. Throughout all discussions and even in our own considerations, the question was always on which side of the chimney the chute could still go and what might need to be adjusted on the upper, main, or basement floor to make it fit somehow.

Then the stove installer came up with the idea to simply shift the chimney—in this case, downward. We had briefly considered that at the beginning too, but there was a wall for the kids’ room and a door right there. However, we ended up moving things around a bit so it could fit.

All in all, not rocket science, but during the discussions and planning, everyone was just fixated on “where else can the chute go” and never thought about moving the chimney.

I’m not sure if the issue with the central ventilation system has been resolved, but:
They should embed the ducts into the ceiling with concrete, and the structural engineer can calculate the steel and thickness needed. Done.

The problem was not the horizontal routing of the pipes, as they are installed within the concrete ceiling. The issue was how to get the pipes vertically from the ceiling above the ground floor down into the basement. You have to go through the wall somewhere or run them down in front of the wall, etc.