ᐅ Experiences with General Contractors in Saarland and Surrounding Areas

11ant schrieb:

Maybe @kati1337 from the Southwest Palatinate will put in a good word for you with her gem of a general contractor (?)

Unfortunately, that is off the table. He has wanted to slow down for a long time and will apparently stop all construction activities completely next year due to health reasons.

11ant schrieb:

Maybe @kati1337 from the Southwest Palatinate will put in a good word for you with her gem of a general contractor (?)

kati1337 schrieb:

Unfortunately, that is off the table. He had planned to scale back for some time and will probably stop all construction activities next year for health reasons.

I had suspected that already and therefore didn’t even dare to ask...

11ant schrieb:

If you know my (currently expanding) house building plan, I’m glad to hear that (and thank you for mentioning it). But it also surprises me how you still come to the mistaken idea that only those looking for original floor plans would need their own architect. Although this is not a standard architect’s service phase model (which is also why there are new “Reloaded” episodes), even adapting a catalog design is potentially done much better by an architect than by the sales consultants of general contractors. Soon enough, customer requests might push me to include this in my service portfolio. Introductory meetings really get valuable only when they happen during the dough rest/setting phase (see most recent episode). Choosing a general contractor covertly (without a free architect or other independent advisor and without a tender process) is almost always a “there’s a smarter way” idea. You don’t save anything this way – not even the architect’s fee – except security and efficiency.

Hmm, we had actually hoped that our changes would be so minimal that we wouldn’t need an architect for them... For example, there’s a spectral catalog floor plan that appeals to us a lot; we might only enlarge it a bit (or raise the knee wall – maybe that alone would make the rooms upstairs, which feel a little small to us, more usable). And for that, the architect’s fee seems a bit too much?

11ant schrieb:

What exactly is inappropriate about Wabau’s catalog houses if you basically trust the suitability of standard models?

None really fit properly – unevenly sized children’s rooms or a closed kitchen, every one seemed to have some drawback...

11ant schrieb:

Superficial “cold contact” is practically always the key to underperforming results. Have a look at the five-point list in my post with the prison window regarding the keyword construction company search. Without a preliminary design (or reference to a specific building proposal from the respective provider’s catalog), a salesperson sees you as an “unqualified lead.” You won’t get better than unsatisfactory answers this way – this phenomenon is called “causal connection” ;-)

Yes, we are not giving up yet; they are still welcome to convince us 🙂

Mog-Pharau schrieb:

Hmm, we had actually hoped that our adjustments would be so minimal that we wouldn’t even need an architect… For example, there is a standard floor plan from a catalog that appeals to us a lot, which we might only slightly enlarge (or maybe raise the knee wall; that might already make the upper floor rooms, which we find a bit too small, more practical for our needs). In that case, wouldn’t the architectural fees be a bit too much?

Try to drop the mindset that “architect = exorbitant fees for minimal changes,” since that only gets in your own way. Enlargement – as I have mentioned several times – is good in terms of length, but not width. Raising the knee wall is tricky for two reasons: first, many catalog designs are optimized according to building codes. That means, where the attic floor counts as a full floor, it’s possible. Where it doesn’t, the models are usually designed for two-thirds of the federal states, and then in three-quarters of the states, raising the knee wall is still allowed. Second, providers differ on this because many of them (similar to increasing floor height on straight walls) see this as a preferred option to charge extra.

Mog-Pharau schrieb:

None of them really fit – unevenly sized children’s rooms or a closed kitchen, each plan had some disadvantage…

I already said this: the problem is the third child (or the second home office), since catalog designs regularly target the average family (2 adults, 2 children; total rooms for sleeping/guest/working: 3). Unequal children’s rooms are rather a minority (and I see them as positive since most families actually have children of different ages – twins are less common). However, parents tend to have the persistent misconception that unevenly sized children’s rooms would be interpreted by the kids as unequal parental love. In practice, it’s more often the opposite – that being treated equally with the younger sibling is perceived as ignoring the older child’s maturity and thus “unfair” in relative terms.

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https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/

We are also planning to build in Saarland this year. I have already searched through the entire forum. So far, only the major general contractors have been mentioned. Has anyone had other experiences or can specifically recommend a general contractor? Perhaps there is someone who is also planning to build a house this year. I would be happy to connect and exchange information.

Finanzfrage16 schrieb:

We are also planning to build this year in the Saarland region. I have already searched through the entire forum. So far, only the major general contractors have been mentioned.

If you have already gone through the entire forum, you have probably come across my advice not to approach general contractors too early and without proper consultation. Depending on the exact location within Saarland where you want to build, construction companies from the Trier area or even the Vulkaneifel region might not be far away. Tell us more about yourselves, your requirements, and your plot of land, so we can better determine which approaches and companies are most recommendable.

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https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/

11ant schrieb:

If you have already searched through the entire forum, you should have come across my advice not to approach a general contractor too early and without consultation. Depending on where you want to build in the Saarland region, construction companies from the Trier area or even the Vulkaneifel are not too far away. Tell us about yourselves, your needs, and your plot of land, so we can better determine the best routes and companies to recommend.

Hello Ant,
thanks for the information.
We are planning a single-family house in Saarlouis with 140m2 (1507 sq ft). We are open to both options, whether timber frame or solid construction.