ᐅ Floor plan design for a single-family house with a basement on a sloped site
Created on: 16 Sep 2017 11:43
C
cherioHello!
Last year, we purchased a 709m² (7,631 sq ft) sloped plot of land and are now working on the floor plan and obtaining quotes from local home builders. I created a rough floor plan using MS Visio and shared it with the builders. They were allowed and encouraged to modify and optimize the plan based on their experience. We have now received a draft and a quote that largely meet our expectations. In my template, I designed a U-shaped staircase, but the builder’s representative modified the plan for their offer to include a straight staircase. This staircase from the basement to the ground floor, however, opens directly into the middle of the living/dining area.
This raises the question for us about potential issues such as cold air from below, drafts, and other negative effects. The builder said that basements are not as cold as they used to be. But what if the door downstairs is left open and there is a draft going upstairs? What if our children come home with friends and stand right in the middle of the living room?
Otherwise, we are already very happy with the upper floor and the ground floor layout. Some minor adjustments can still be made in the basement, for example, access from the carport into the basement room, and so forth.
Here are the details:
Development plan/restrictions: Yes
Plot size: 709m² (7,631 sq ft)
Slope: Yes
Floor area ratio (FAR): 0.4
Plot ratio: 0.8
Building envelope, building line, and boundaries:
Edge development: garages/carports allowed
Number of parking spaces
Number of floors: 2 full stories
Roof type: gable roof 28°–38°
Architectural style
Orientation
Maximum heights/limits: eaves height 6m (20 ft) above natural ground level
Additional requirements: transverse gables and roof structures only allowed on the hillside side, due to noise protection
Owners’ requirements:
Style, roof type, building type: detached single-family home with basement
Levels: basement, ground floor, attic
Number and age of inhabitants: 2 adults (36, 37), 2 children (1, 3)
Space requirements on ground and upper floor
Office: family use or home office? Family use
Guest bedrooms per year: 5–10
Open or closed layout: open
Traditional or modern construction: traditional
Open kitchen, island: yes
Number of dining seats: 6–8
Fireplace: yes
Music/speaker wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: double carport
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Other wishes/special features/daily routine, please also explain why you want or do not want certain features:
WC in basement, so the children do not have to walk through the whole house when playing outside. Storage room on the ground floor to hold water crates and the vacuum cleaner. Children’s bedrooms of equal size with views of greenery.
House design:
Planner:
- Planner from a construction company: Yes
- Do-it-yourself: MS Visio drawing
What do you particularly like and why?: small hallway in the upper floor, layout and size of bedrooms upstairs; orientation of rooms on ground and upper floor according to cardinal directions; open design; large windows facing south; office in basement; hidden coat closet under the stairs in basement
What don’t you like and why?: staircase exit on ground floor; entrance area in basement possibly too small
Price estimate according to architect/planner: €280,000 including carport
Personal price limit for the house, including fittings: €360,000 total, excluding landscaping
Preferred heating technology: air-to-water heat pump with ventilation system and heat recovery (Proxon). The Proxon by Zimmermann Lüftung.
If you had to skip some features or extensions, which ones?
- Could skip: fireplace, wood stove on ground floor; double carport (possibly later)
- Could not skip:
Why did the design turn out like it is now?
Received template and optimized with own ideas.
Standard plan from planner? No, customer-specific.
What do you think makes it particularly good or bad?
What is your most important/fundamental question about the floor plan, summarized in 130 characters?
- The plan for the offer shows a straight staircase. This staircase from basement to ground floor opens right into the middle of the living/dining room. We wonder about cold air from below, drafts, and other negative effects.
I look forward to your suggestions and constructive feedback.
Best regards,
Cherio
Last year, we purchased a 709m² (7,631 sq ft) sloped plot of land and are now working on the floor plan and obtaining quotes from local home builders. I created a rough floor plan using MS Visio and shared it with the builders. They were allowed and encouraged to modify and optimize the plan based on their experience. We have now received a draft and a quote that largely meet our expectations. In my template, I designed a U-shaped staircase, but the builder’s representative modified the plan for their offer to include a straight staircase. This staircase from the basement to the ground floor, however, opens directly into the middle of the living/dining area.
This raises the question for us about potential issues such as cold air from below, drafts, and other negative effects. The builder said that basements are not as cold as they used to be. But what if the door downstairs is left open and there is a draft going upstairs? What if our children come home with friends and stand right in the middle of the living room?
Otherwise, we are already very happy with the upper floor and the ground floor layout. Some minor adjustments can still be made in the basement, for example, access from the carport into the basement room, and so forth.
Here are the details:
Development plan/restrictions: Yes
Plot size: 709m² (7,631 sq ft)
Slope: Yes
Floor area ratio (FAR): 0.4
Plot ratio: 0.8
Building envelope, building line, and boundaries:
Edge development: garages/carports allowed
Number of parking spaces
Number of floors: 2 full stories
Roof type: gable roof 28°–38°
Architectural style
Orientation
Maximum heights/limits: eaves height 6m (20 ft) above natural ground level
Additional requirements: transverse gables and roof structures only allowed on the hillside side, due to noise protection
Owners’ requirements:
Style, roof type, building type: detached single-family home with basement
Levels: basement, ground floor, attic
Number and age of inhabitants: 2 adults (36, 37), 2 children (1, 3)
Space requirements on ground and upper floor
Office: family use or home office? Family use
Guest bedrooms per year: 5–10
Open or closed layout: open
Traditional or modern construction: traditional
Open kitchen, island: yes
Number of dining seats: 6–8
Fireplace: yes
Music/speaker wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: double carport
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Other wishes/special features/daily routine, please also explain why you want or do not want certain features:
WC in basement, so the children do not have to walk through the whole house when playing outside. Storage room on the ground floor to hold water crates and the vacuum cleaner. Children’s bedrooms of equal size with views of greenery.
House design:
Planner:
- Planner from a construction company: Yes
- Do-it-yourself: MS Visio drawing
What do you particularly like and why?: small hallway in the upper floor, layout and size of bedrooms upstairs; orientation of rooms on ground and upper floor according to cardinal directions; open design; large windows facing south; office in basement; hidden coat closet under the stairs in basement
What don’t you like and why?: staircase exit on ground floor; entrance area in basement possibly too small
Price estimate according to architect/planner: €280,000 including carport
Personal price limit for the house, including fittings: €360,000 total, excluding landscaping
Preferred heating technology: air-to-water heat pump with ventilation system and heat recovery (Proxon). The Proxon by Zimmermann Lüftung.
If you had to skip some features or extensions, which ones?
- Could skip: fireplace, wood stove on ground floor; double carport (possibly later)
- Could not skip:
Why did the design turn out like it is now?
Received template and optimized with own ideas.
Standard plan from planner? No, customer-specific.
What do you think makes it particularly good or bad?
What is your most important/fundamental question about the floor plan, summarized in 130 characters?
- The plan for the offer shows a straight staircase. This staircase from basement to ground floor opens right into the middle of the living/dining room. We wonder about cold air from below, drafts, and other negative effects.
I look forward to your suggestions and constructive feedback.
Best regards,
Cherio
The best approach is to scan all of this (or convert the drawings directly into suitable formats) so that JPEGs or PNGs can be shared here, which are clear enough to understand. Phone photos of printouts, due to their gigapixel resolution and then compression, result in images that only the painter himself can recognize. And including measurements would be really helpful.
... these are already good conditions – also allowing for a spacious garage roof terrace. Does this fit with the setback requirements as well?
The staircase does not have enough space in front of the first step.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
cherio schrieb:
Floor area ratio: 0.4
Plot ratio: 0.8
... these are already good conditions – also allowing for a spacious garage roof terrace. Does this fit with the setback requirements as well?
The staircase does not have enough space in front of the first step.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
sven.conzi16 Sep 2017 15:45€280,000 seems a bit tight for 160m² (1,722 sq ft) plus a basement.
sven.conzi schrieb:
280,000 € seems a bit tight for 160 sqm (1,722 sq ft) plus basement. That is the "net" house price. Of course, additional costs such as utility connections, earthworks, heating, tiling, sanitary installations, etc., will also apply, which can quickly increase the total amount.
11ant schrieb:
It’s best to scan everything (or convert the drawings directly into suitable digital formats), so people can view clear JPEGs or PNGs. Photos taken with a phone from printed copies tend to get compressed and lose quality, making the images only understandable to the painter himself. Including dimensions would be very helpful.
... these are already good conditions – also to afford a spacious garage roof terrace. Does that comply with the setback requirements?
The staircase does not have enough space in front of the first step.Unfortunately, we only received a DIN A1 printout with the house images and floor plans. I believe we will only get electronic documents if we commit to the provider.
I am still not completely satisfied with the reception and entrance area either. I also found the space quite tight. I think we will need to revisit that and find a different solution.
Thanks again for the input!
Best regards, cherio
I consider the estimate of €280,000 (about $310,000) potentially unrealistic based on the photos I have seen. To give you an idea, here is the price our architect received from the structural builder for the shell construction, along with our plans...
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/Grundriss-für-11m-x-8-25m-ok.24781/
We are paying €146,000 (about $162,000) for a shell construction including site grading, utility connections (trenching only), backfilling, compaction, L-shaped retaining walls (also for the carport), terrace edging, rainwater cistern, drainage, etc. According to the architect, about €126,000 (about $140,000) of that amount applies directly to the shell construction.
Now, consider that you have 20 m² (215 sq ft) more than we do and a far more complex design. So, I would estimate around €160,000 (about $177,000) for your shell construction. That leaves you with €120,000 (about $133,000) for everything else. How is that supposed to work? About €30,000 (about $33,000) will go to ventilation and heating, €10,000 (about $11,000) for the fireplace, and €20,000 (about $22,000) for a double carport. That leaves only €60,000 (about $66,000) for all the remaining work.
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/Grundriss-für-11m-x-8-25m-ok.24781/
We are paying €146,000 (about $162,000) for a shell construction including site grading, utility connections (trenching only), backfilling, compaction, L-shaped retaining walls (also for the carport), terrace edging, rainwater cistern, drainage, etc. According to the architect, about €126,000 (about $140,000) of that amount applies directly to the shell construction.
Now, consider that you have 20 m² (215 sq ft) more than we do and a far more complex design. So, I would estimate around €160,000 (about $177,000) for your shell construction. That leaves you with €120,000 (about $133,000) for everything else. How is that supposed to work? About €30,000 (about $33,000) will go to ventilation and heating, €10,000 (about $11,000) for the fireplace, and €20,000 (about $22,000) for a double carport. That leaves only €60,000 (about $66,000) for all the remaining work.
cherio schrieb:
I created a rough floor plan using MS Visio and shared it with the providers. This floor plan was allowed and intended to be modified and optimized by the providers based on their experience. What you’ve shown so far is just the response from one provider – what did your original draft look like before their revisions? – please share it here.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
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