Hello everyone,
I would appreciate your feedback on the floor plans.
Development Plan / Restrictions:
· Plot size: 1,200 m² (18 m (59 inches) wide)
· Slope: south-facing hill, street to the north
· Site coverage ratio: 0.3
· Floor area ratio: 0.6
· Building envelope, building line, and boundary: see "enlarged building envelope" 12 x 14 m (39 x 46 feet)
· Edge development: garages
· Number of parking spaces: 3 required according to building authority
· Construction type: open building layout
· Building setback: 3 m (10 feet)
· Roof type: pitched roofs 15-30°, hipped roofs to be avoided, see regulations
· Orientation: ridge direction of the buildings parallel to each other
· Exterior design: see section 6 of the regulations
Homeowners’ Requirements
Preliminary: The homeowners (born 1982 male, 1988 female, and two children born 2014 female, 2016 male) want to live on two floors (basement and ground floor). A third children’s bedroom should also be included. The third floor (attic) should be accessible barrier-free.
· Style: Bauhaus (optionally exposed concrete)
· Roof design: large south-facing side (for solar panels, photovoltaics)
· Building type: two-family house
· Basement and floors: basement, ground floor, attic
· Number of occupants and ages as above: (2 + 3 in basement and ground floor, 2 + 1 in attic)
o Space requirements attic: 2 bedrooms, 1 flexible floor plan bathroom, open living/dining/kitchen area, utility room
o Space requirements ground floor: 1 master bedroom, walk-in closet, master bathroom, large open living/dining/kitchen area, wardrobe, storage room
o Space requirements basement: 3 children’s bedrooms, children’s bathroom, optional play corridor, boiler room, cellar, utility room
· Open or closed architecture: open
· Conservative or modern construction: modern
· Kitchen: open kitchen with island (at least on ground floor)
· Balcony, roof terrace: likely sensible on all three floors considering exposed concrete
· Parking spaces: carports if possible, which can later be converted into garages (initial cost saving)
· Heating/thermal technology: air-to-water heat pump (underfloor heating), optional photovoltaics
· Windows: large window areas on the south side, optionally wide, low windows above the kitchen worktop on the ground floor
· Energy efficiency: KfW 55 standard
· High sound insulation (especially for the ceiling of the attic, separate residential unit)
I would appreciate your feedback on the floor plans.
Development Plan / Restrictions:
· Plot size: 1,200 m² (18 m (59 inches) wide)
· Slope: south-facing hill, street to the north
· Site coverage ratio: 0.3
· Floor area ratio: 0.6
· Building envelope, building line, and boundary: see "enlarged building envelope" 12 x 14 m (39 x 46 feet)
· Edge development: garages
· Number of parking spaces: 3 required according to building authority
· Construction type: open building layout
· Building setback: 3 m (10 feet)
· Roof type: pitched roofs 15-30°, hipped roofs to be avoided, see regulations
· Orientation: ridge direction of the buildings parallel to each other
· Exterior design: see section 6 of the regulations
Homeowners’ Requirements
Preliminary: The homeowners (born 1982 male, 1988 female, and two children born 2014 female, 2016 male) want to live on two floors (basement and ground floor). A third children’s bedroom should also be included. The third floor (attic) should be accessible barrier-free.
· Style: Bauhaus (optionally exposed concrete)
· Roof design: large south-facing side (for solar panels, photovoltaics)
· Building type: two-family house
· Basement and floors: basement, ground floor, attic
· Number of occupants and ages as above: (2 + 3 in basement and ground floor, 2 + 1 in attic)
o Space requirements attic: 2 bedrooms, 1 flexible floor plan bathroom, open living/dining/kitchen area, utility room
o Space requirements ground floor: 1 master bedroom, walk-in closet, master bathroom, large open living/dining/kitchen area, wardrobe, storage room
o Space requirements basement: 3 children’s bedrooms, children’s bathroom, optional play corridor, boiler room, cellar, utility room
· Open or closed architecture: open
· Conservative or modern construction: modern
· Kitchen: open kitchen with island (at least on ground floor)
· Balcony, roof terrace: likely sensible on all three floors considering exposed concrete
· Parking spaces: carports if possible, which can later be converted into garages (initial cost saving)
· Heating/thermal technology: air-to-water heat pump (underfloor heating), optional photovoltaics
· Windows: large window areas on the south side, optionally wide, low windows above the kitchen worktop on the ground floor
· Energy efficiency: KfW 55 standard
· High sound insulation (especially for the ceiling of the attic, separate residential unit)
S
sichtbeton8225 Jul 2019 03:52It’s not our fault. The error has already been acknowledged. However, we still have the problem that we will soon have to move out of our apartment and may need to stay somewhere else for up to 8 weeks (about 2 months). And that with 3 children (between 2 months and 5 years old). :-(
S
sichtbeton826 Aug 2019 14:39Life goes on!
Four of the seven sliding doors need to be re-delivered. It should take about six weeks. We accepted three of them as a goodwill gesture. These are the ones on the lowest floor for the children's rooms. The passage height is only 2.05m (6 ft 9 in), but should be sufficient. For any others, we would have insisted on replacing all the windows. We don’t gain any advantage from this. It would have been possible to continue with the interior work on the lowest floor separately from the two upper floors, but now everything has come to a complete "stop."
I was on vacation the last two weeks. It was a great time, but also exhausting.
The four ground collectors, each 300m (980 ft) long, were also buried and connected to the manifold. So almost no more earth will be moved in the garden. It was quite annoying because only one trench could be dug at a time for each collector, and the excavated soil was basically piled on the next trench. The trenches couldn’t be opened simultaneously. That meant every pile of soil was moved at least five times.
Four of the seven sliding doors need to be re-delivered. It should take about six weeks. We accepted three of them as a goodwill gesture. These are the ones on the lowest floor for the children's rooms. The passage height is only 2.05m (6 ft 9 in), but should be sufficient. For any others, we would have insisted on replacing all the windows. We don’t gain any advantage from this. It would have been possible to continue with the interior work on the lowest floor separately from the two upper floors, but now everything has come to a complete "stop."
I was on vacation the last two weeks. It was a great time, but also exhausting.
The four ground collectors, each 300m (980 ft) long, were also buried and connected to the manifold. So almost no more earth will be moved in the garden. It was quite annoying because only one trench could be dug at a time for each collector, and the excavated soil was basically piled on the next trench. The trenches couldn’t be opened simultaneously. That meant every pile of soil was moved at least five times.
S
sichtbeton826 Aug 2019 14:41This is how it looks now after backfilling.
S
sichtbeton826 Aug 2019 14:46And true to the saying "when things go wrong, they go really wrong," we had to find out that L-shaped concrete blocks were spray-painted with old-fashioned symbols. Fortunately, none were on our property. However, some blocks had to be stored outside in a field. This was agreed upon with the landowner, who also received 3-4 truckloads of free excavation material. Luckily, most of the L-blocks were placed with the front side against the ground, but those that were standing upright were vandalized...
S
sichtbeton825 Sep 2019 11:23Almost exactly one month of standstill since the last post. Not much has happened on the construction site. Today and/or tomorrow, the four (too shallow) lift-and-slide doors will be removed, and the new ones will be installed on Monday. Then interior and exterior plastering, drywall, and screed work can finally continue.
Good news first, then bad news: additional costs.
I was aware that there would be extra expenses. I expected and planned for a mid five-figure amount. However, now that the following trades have been priced with "real" offers instead of estimates, the amount is six figures. This has been discussed and approved with the financier. At the beginning of the week, the structural work payment request came in. It was estimated that the cost was about ten thousand euros more than the original offer. Now it has increased to 65 thousand euros.
Of course, we contributed to this as well (e.g., surface-mounted instead of flush-mounted fittings, a few more power outlets, aluminum-clad windows, ...), but certainly not six-figure extra costs (now starting with digit two). This really hits hard emotionally.
At this point, a warning to all future home builders!
One of my mistakes was initially managing costs according to the cost breakdown by components (as per DIN standards). Since this is based on building parts, it became difficult to impossible over time. I then switched to a breakdown by trades. In hindsight, it was very unfortunate to rely on estimated costs (although provided by an expert [architect]) instead of "real" offers.
The "upgrades" happened because we always asked for alternatives when submitting offers. For example, for the windows:
a) White plastic
b) Anthracite plastic
c) Plastic with anthracite aluminum cladding.
The price difference between a) and c) was not very high. However, it wasn’t clear if offer a) matched the price level used in the cost calculations.
I am still stunned and hope everything will turn out well. Looking forward to sharing progress pictures soon.
Good news first, then bad news: additional costs.
I was aware that there would be extra expenses. I expected and planned for a mid five-figure amount. However, now that the following trades have been priced with "real" offers instead of estimates, the amount is six figures. This has been discussed and approved with the financier. At the beginning of the week, the structural work payment request came in. It was estimated that the cost was about ten thousand euros more than the original offer. Now it has increased to 65 thousand euros.
Of course, we contributed to this as well (e.g., surface-mounted instead of flush-mounted fittings, a few more power outlets, aluminum-clad windows, ...), but certainly not six-figure extra costs (now starting with digit two). This really hits hard emotionally.
At this point, a warning to all future home builders!
One of my mistakes was initially managing costs according to the cost breakdown by components (as per DIN standards). Since this is based on building parts, it became difficult to impossible over time. I then switched to a breakdown by trades. In hindsight, it was very unfortunate to rely on estimated costs (although provided by an expert [architect]) instead of "real" offers.
The "upgrades" happened because we always asked for alternatives when submitting offers. For example, for the windows:
a) White plastic
b) Anthracite plastic
c) Plastic with anthracite aluminum cladding.
The price difference between a) and c) was not very high. However, it wasn’t clear if offer a) matched the price level used in the cost calculations.
I am still stunned and hope everything will turn out well. Looking forward to sharing progress pictures soon.
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