ᐅ User Experiences with Air Source Heat Pumps, Wood Stoves, Solar Systems, and Noise Issues

Hi,

the utility room could theoretically be relocated to the attic! This way, you can gain a room downstairs. The downside is that you would have to carry all the stuff upstairs regularly. Also, the costs for the piping and wiring should be reviewed again here.

Regards, Waldemar

Petri schrieb:
The plot is already owned. Landscaping and similar work are not planned immediately, since it only concerns the area around the house, so the trees and plants on the property will remain. Only the remnants from the construction need to be cleaned up, or new lawn installed.
I have read a lot in this forum, which is also why I posted, as I couldn’t fully find answers to our questions.
A dormer is not planned.
But I will reconsider the additional costs and revise my list.

We approached the suppliers with this budget in mind; it could have been said that it’s not realistic.
But thanks for the feedback.

In almost every cost-related discussion here in the forum, expenses are listed. Just take a look. Landscaping and similar work are usually done later because there is often no space, time, or available funds immediately after building. But terrace and driveway materials also cost money. If you have existing trees on your property, some may need to be removed—this brings additional costs. The building location also plays a role.

Regarding the house: If there is no gable, then you must have some kind of extension… That is already quite a large house shown in your plans and it doesn’t really match your desired budget.

A larger footprint on the ground floor with a smaller upper floor can possibly be achieved by a lower roof pitch, possibly a staggered shed roof, or leaving some rooms on the upper floor unfinished. However, this is usually not possible with standard floor plans unless you invest more.

Petri schrieb:

We approached the suppliers with these budget expectations, which you could also say were unrealistic.

They don’t necessarily tell you that :p

We had a sales representative come by, and the turnkey house (without the foundation slab) was quoted at €217,000. Since that was too expensive for us, he started cutting costs and recalculated the price:

Foundation slab – well, you could do that yourself!
Installing doors – no problem, you can handle that on your own!
Plastering – there’s definitely savings to be had there!
and so on.

In the end, the house cost nearly €70,000 less, but it was only a shell construction. That price also didn’t include additional materials, not to mention the longer construction period and the extra rent payments that come with it.

What I want to say is: anyone can make the house fit your budget on paper. In the end, it usually comes down to calculating around €1,500 per square meter (£150/sq ft / US$140/sq ft approximate, not converted in text) for the overall cost.
And that’s for a house without a vestibule and with a small bay window in the living room. That would have cost us about €12,000 extra with our supplier, without adding much usable space.

You can really expect about €35,000 to €40,000 in additional construction-related costs. I also thought that was too much, but my Excel spreadsheet, where I track and monitor expenses, confirms it exactly!

Jaydee schrieb:

What I mean is: Anyone can make the house calculations look good until it fits your budget. In the end, it usually comes down to estimating around €1500 per square meter (about $140 per square foot).

And you can definitely expect additional construction costs of €35,000 to €40,000 (about $37,000 to $42,000). I also thought that was too high, but my Excel spreadsheet where I track and monitor the costs tells me exactly that!

I also have several Excel spreadsheets. Every cost item I can find anywhere gets added.
Reading all of this, it means to me either to drastically reduce the house size to fit our budget or increase the budget. But the €1500 per square meter (about $140 per square foot) is a good rule of thumb for me.

Petri schrieb:

Our biggest and second biggest problem was that we want the large bathroom (with bathtub) on the ground floor, as well as our bedroom. This significantly increases the floor area.

Is there a specific reason why the bedroom absolutely has to be on the ground floor? Usually, bedrooms are separate from the living areas. This also prevents guests from "accidentally" entering the bedroom 😉 .

Additionally, parents often want to stay close to their children during the night. In our case, one of our little ones tends to wander around at night and ends up in our bed. Having bedrooms on different floors might prevent this but could also increase the risk of a nighttime fall on the stairs for a sleepy child.

f-pNo schrieb:
Is there a specific reason why the bedroom must be on the ground floor? Usually, bedrooms are kept separate from the living areas.

We based it on our age. We want to avoid having to renovate the house again in 25 years or so just because we can no longer manage the stairs. That’s also why the doors downstairs are 1 meter (3.3 feet) wide. The point about the child is a good argument, though. Thanks for the tip.