Hello everyone,
I’ve finally registered and would like to ask for your advice, tips, and feedback on our floor plan.
We started looking for a plot about 4 years ago and, of course, had a dream house in mind (urban villa, basement, double garage…). Now we’re considering a semi-detached house if we can afford it at the current prices. We have basically scaled back to the minimum – it should just be a regular house for ordinary people ♀️ no frills. We currently live in a 3-room apartment of about 80 sqm (860 sq ft) and in a few years it will definitely be too small. The plot is offered by the city and not overpriced – so we hope we can manage to plan something decent on it. We have already received several offers:
The house is now planned with dimensions of about 8.5x13 m (28x43 ft) (I am not allowed to post the detailed drawing). The garage is planned on the wall between the kitchen and the study.
We’re very curious about your input!
Development plan / restrictions
Plot size: 529 sqm (5695 sq ft)
No slope
Plot ratio (floor area ratio): 0.4
Building coverage ratio: 0.4
Building envelope, building line and boundary approx. 12x15 m (39x49 ft) (garage must be inside the building envelope due to regulations)
Edge development: semi-detached property
Number of parking spaces: 2 if possible
Number of floors: 1
Roof type: gable roof
Style: classic
Orientation: north/west
Maximum heights/limits: 4.5 m eaves height (14.75 ft)
Other requirements: private green area in the west, street in front of house is a dead end and only 3 m wide (10 ft)
Owners’ requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: classic, gable roof, semi-detached house
Basement, floors: no basement (too expensive), 1 full floor allowed according to the development plan = 1.5 floors
Number of residents, age: currently 3 (ages 35, 33, 1), grandparents will stay with us about 4 months a year (spread out), older, grandfather has mobility issues
Room requirements ground floor / upper floor:
- Ground floor: kitchen, living/dining room, pantry, utility/technical room, home office/guest room, shower toilet
- Upper floor: 2 children’s rooms about 15 sqm (160 sq ft) each, bedroom (there should still be enough space next to the bed for a child’s cot), bathroom with bathtub and shower
Office: family use or home office? Both (actually a home office, the second children’s room is initially an office, and the home office downstairs doubles as a guest room for the grandparents so they don’t have to climb stairs. My grandfather would also sleep on the couch, but a) that’s bad for his back and b) he should have privacy and a place to retreat).
Guests per year: frequent, about 12–20
Open or closed layout: open
Conservative or modern construction: still open, but solid construction is planned
Open kitchen, island: open kitchen, if possible without direct line of sight to the living room, no kitchen island but space for a French door refrigerator
Number of dining seats: 8
Fireplace: no
Music/stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: would prefer a garage, but somehow couldn’t plan it on the plot without blocking light on the west side, so we switched to a carport ♀️♀️ the builder then added a garage again; we’re not sure yet how we feel about it
Kitchen garden, greenhouse: vegetable garden, dining table with 8 seats, play area for the kids
Other wishes/particularities/daily routine, including explanations why certain things are or are not desired:
House design
Who designed it: regional builder
What do you particularly like? Why? Utility room and stairs on a shared wall, better use of daylight
What do you dislike? Why? Bathroom arrangement (I’d prefer windows on the west side for the children’s rooms, bathroom ideally with double-wing windows); long narrow hallway; kitchen is too small/too little workspace for cooking and baking a lot; maybe pantry under the stairs or integrate storage in the kitchen? We hardly have any drink crates but currently have a well-stocked 1.5 sqm (16 sq ft) pantry
Price estimate according to architect/planner: 375k without photovoltaic, 360k if built simultaneously with the other half
Personal price limit for the house including fittings: 340k (new kitchen included; we take it with us and will rebuild)
Preferred heating technology: air-source heat pump with underfloor heating
If you had to give up, which features/expansions?
- Could give up: third children’s room (he included it because the ground floor is so large), pantry, open kitchen (although reluctantly ♀️ we have already rationalized down from our “dream house”)
- Cannot give up: guest room/office and shower toilet on the ground floor
Why is the design the way it is now? For example:
Design by the builder’s planner; we have already spoken with several companies and sometimes received standard designs that did not fit at all. Now we get to add our input. Initially, I wanted just 3 rooms plus bath upstairs (he designed the house much bigger so everything fits downstairs), but I’m confused because one company told us the technical room must be on an exterior wall and take up at least 3 m (10 ft) of wall length … ♀️
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
How can we arrange the rooms on the ground floor sensibly and large enough to get good light & enough storage? How does the garage fit on the plot?
I’ve finally registered and would like to ask for your advice, tips, and feedback on our floor plan.
We started looking for a plot about 4 years ago and, of course, had a dream house in mind (urban villa, basement, double garage…). Now we’re considering a semi-detached house if we can afford it at the current prices. We have basically scaled back to the minimum – it should just be a regular house for ordinary people ♀️ no frills. We currently live in a 3-room apartment of about 80 sqm (860 sq ft) and in a few years it will definitely be too small. The plot is offered by the city and not overpriced – so we hope we can manage to plan something decent on it. We have already received several offers:
- Architect, 290k for the house (calculated with 1300 €/sqm…)
- Nationwide prefab house supplier 390k
- Regional company, solid construction 375k
The house is now planned with dimensions of about 8.5x13 m (28x43 ft) (I am not allowed to post the detailed drawing). The garage is planned on the wall between the kitchen and the study.
We’re very curious about your input!
Development plan / restrictions
Plot size: 529 sqm (5695 sq ft)
No slope
Plot ratio (floor area ratio): 0.4
Building coverage ratio: 0.4
Building envelope, building line and boundary approx. 12x15 m (39x49 ft) (garage must be inside the building envelope due to regulations)
Edge development: semi-detached property
Number of parking spaces: 2 if possible
Number of floors: 1
Roof type: gable roof
Style: classic
Orientation: north/west
Maximum heights/limits: 4.5 m eaves height (14.75 ft)
Other requirements: private green area in the west, street in front of house is a dead end and only 3 m wide (10 ft)
Owners’ requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: classic, gable roof, semi-detached house
Basement, floors: no basement (too expensive), 1 full floor allowed according to the development plan = 1.5 floors
Number of residents, age: currently 3 (ages 35, 33, 1), grandparents will stay with us about 4 months a year (spread out), older, grandfather has mobility issues
Room requirements ground floor / upper floor:
- Ground floor: kitchen, living/dining room, pantry, utility/technical room, home office/guest room, shower toilet
- Upper floor: 2 children’s rooms about 15 sqm (160 sq ft) each, bedroom (there should still be enough space next to the bed for a child’s cot), bathroom with bathtub and shower
Office: family use or home office? Both (actually a home office, the second children’s room is initially an office, and the home office downstairs doubles as a guest room for the grandparents so they don’t have to climb stairs. My grandfather would also sleep on the couch, but a) that’s bad for his back and b) he should have privacy and a place to retreat).
Guests per year: frequent, about 12–20
Open or closed layout: open
Conservative or modern construction: still open, but solid construction is planned
Open kitchen, island: open kitchen, if possible without direct line of sight to the living room, no kitchen island but space for a French door refrigerator
Number of dining seats: 8
Fireplace: no
Music/stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: would prefer a garage, but somehow couldn’t plan it on the plot without blocking light on the west side, so we switched to a carport ♀️♀️ the builder then added a garage again; we’re not sure yet how we feel about it
Kitchen garden, greenhouse: vegetable garden, dining table with 8 seats, play area for the kids
Other wishes/particularities/daily routine, including explanations why certain things are or are not desired:
- We have to build to KfW40 standard, and if photovoltaic panels are installed, 40% of the roof area must be photovoltaic (city requirement)
- Need space for a deep freezer in the utility room
- Showers should be walk-in or at least have a low bathtub
- We are not allowed to build a separate apartment on the plot
House design
Who designed it: regional builder
What do you particularly like? Why? Utility room and stairs on a shared wall, better use of daylight
What do you dislike? Why? Bathroom arrangement (I’d prefer windows on the west side for the children’s rooms, bathroom ideally with double-wing windows); long narrow hallway; kitchen is too small/too little workspace for cooking and baking a lot; maybe pantry under the stairs or integrate storage in the kitchen? We hardly have any drink crates but currently have a well-stocked 1.5 sqm (16 sq ft) pantry
Price estimate according to architect/planner: 375k without photovoltaic, 360k if built simultaneously with the other half
Personal price limit for the house including fittings: 340k (new kitchen included; we take it with us and will rebuild)
Preferred heating technology: air-source heat pump with underfloor heating
If you had to give up, which features/expansions?
- Could give up: third children’s room (he included it because the ground floor is so large), pantry, open kitchen (although reluctantly ♀️ we have already rationalized down from our “dream house”)
- Cannot give up: guest room/office and shower toilet on the ground floor
Why is the design the way it is now? For example:
Design by the builder’s planner; we have already spoken with several companies and sometimes received standard designs that did not fit at all. Now we get to add our input. Initially, I wanted just 3 rooms plus bath upstairs (he designed the house much bigger so everything fits downstairs), but I’m confused because one company told us the technical room must be on an exterior wall and take up at least 3 m (10 ft) of wall length … ♀️
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
How can we arrange the rooms on the ground floor sensibly and large enough to get good light & enough storage? How does the garage fit on the plot?
hausbau23inHE schrieb:
I didn’t understand the part about the driveway to the garage; if the garage is on the left side of the house ... unfortunately, the property does not border any road on that section anymore.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
This is all just a calculation game. You can probably achieve a great KfW rating with 1m (3.3 ft) of crushed glass under the slab and 50cm (20 inches) of PUR insulation on the top ceiling, even with 36.5 monolithic unfilled walls. I haven’t checked it, but it’s possible.
Tolentino schrieb:
This is all just a numbers game.... and in any case, that means "three times zero is still zero" – because no matter how you look at it, KfW40 at 1.3k per square meter (1.3k per 10.8 square feet) is not achievable. *) I just had a sudden idea: the planner might be mixing up square meters and cubic meters!
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
hausbau23inHE schrieb:
The house is now planned with dimensions of about 8.5x13m (28x43 feet) Ok, I found it. However, I calculate about 180 m² (1,938 sq ft) from that.
Two years ago, that would mean construction costs of around 360,000, namely a reasonable €2,000/m² (approx. $186/sq ft). In some areas, even more.
hausbau23inHE schrieb:
Number of people, current ages 3 (35, 33, 1), A small family had big dreams.
I find it confusing that no additional building costs are mentioned. It’s even stated somewhere that if you build together with the neighboring semi-detached house, you can save 15,000. That can only refer to additional building costs, so the 360,000 must include those!
You should check with your local area about construction prices. Maybe you are in a bubble that we in the rest of the country don’t know about. This is not meant ironically, but I find it hard to believe.
Plan B:
hausbau23inHE schrieb:
We have to build to KfW 40 standard and if photovoltaic, then 40% of the roof area must be photovoltaic panels (requirement from the city) I would question that with your local authority and possibly file an objection. In our case, there was also a requirement for KfW 55 standard. That led to the new development area remaining undeveloped because it wasn’t popular. Eventually, the municipality dropped that requirement.
hausbau23inHE schrieb:
…third children’s room (he added it because the ground floor is so large), pantry, open kitchen, although reluctantly ♀ we’ve already started scaling back our “dream house” Unfortunately, the “extra” room also has to be paid for. You are basically building square meters you don’t really need. And I’m also mentioning the attic that you have, which could theoretically be converted for additional tenants, children, or similar.
And that brings us to the sensitive point:
hausbau23inHE schrieb:
You can’t do without: guest room/office and shower toilet on the ground floor hausbau23inHE schrieb:
Grandparents will stay with us for about 4 months per year (spread out) (older, grandpa is not very mobile anymore) What does that mean exactly? What is meant by 4 months? Are these your grandparents and your grandpa, or your parents who will be staying with you alternately? I mean, visits are lovely!... if they leave after three hours. Or after three days without staying for three months! But this reads more like a second residence. Every weekend. Or a week in one month... It sounds like it’s already agreed upon. As if you are their holiday home.
Or is it because they want to see the child? Maybe there is an alternative to find a small apartment for grandpa or for you to visit him? In the past, people used to give up their own bed or set up a sleeping space with the children.
You simply don’t have the funds to build for others, even if they are dear family members.
You should at least discuss this visitor room with them. Maybe they could contribute something towards the house for the planned “right of residence”!
Edit: The original poster restricted their profile as a new user. So I assume we won’t hear more from them. 😳
I have now also looked at the additional building costs. 80,000 is very well planned for a flat plot.
Could it be that the calculations are done completely differently? That many things are mixed together?
How does the architect calculate? Like an independent architect or like a general contractor?
Maybe the 1,300 €/sqm (121 €/sq ft) are the shell construction costs? 😳
Could it be that the calculations are done completely differently? That many things are mixed together?
How does the architect calculate? Like an independent architect or like a general contractor?
hausbau23inHE schrieb:
and yes, the architect seriously estimated 223 sqm (2,400 sq ft).
Maybe the 1,300 €/sqm (121 €/sq ft) are the shell construction costs? 😳