ᐅ Single-family house floor plan, 2 stories with basement, approximately 190 m² living space, plot size approximately 440 m²

Hello everyone,

we are still in the planning phase of our single-family house and have been experimenting a bit with a freeware floor plan program. We would like to get your feedback.

But first, the questionnaire:

Development plan/restrictions
Plot size: 440m² (4,736 sq ft)
Slope: approx. 2m (6.6 ft) over 20m (66 ft) to the east and approx. 2m (6.6 ft) over 20m (66 ft) to the south
Floor area ratio: no development plan available, building according to §34 Baugesetzbuch (German federal building code), so floor area ratio 0.4
Floor space index: see above: 1.2
Buildable area boundaries: north (toward street): approx. 2m (6.6 ft), west: 3m (10 ft), south: 3m (10 ft), east: 6m (20 ft) to the immediately adjacent neighbor’s building, otherwise 3m (10 ft)
Edge development: yes, neighbor to the east
Parking spaces: 2 in garage and 2 in front of garage for guests
Stories: 2 full floors
Roof type: hipped roof (all types are permitted)
Architectural style: modern (all styles are permitted)
Orientation: garden facing south
Maximum heights/limits: same as neighboring buildings, tall enough
Other requirements: none
Street: very narrow, dead-end

Homeowners’ requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: urban villa with hipped or gabled roof, with at least 2.00m (6.6 ft) knee wall height
Basement, floors: basement, ground floor, and upper floor
Number of occupants, age: currently 2, planned 4
Space requirement ground floor, upper floor: about 60-70 m² (650-750 sq ft)
Office: family use or home office? Both, but mostly private use
Overnight guests per year: a few, possibly longer stays in a few years
Open or closed layout: open
Traditional or modern construction: modern
Open kitchen, cooking island: open kitchen with counter or island
Number of dining places: 4-6
Fireplace: no
Music/stereo wall: standard TV wall
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: double garage with one door
Vegetable garden, greenhouse: standard
Other wishes/special features/daily routine, including reasons why some things are wanted or not: guest room and guest bathroom in basement, laundry room on the upper floor

House design
Who planned it: DIY
What do you especially like? Why?: upper floor bathroom and bedroom facing the garden (near the forest edge), separate entrance area with cloakroom so cats can’t run outside the front door, laundry room on the upper floor
What do you dislike? Why?: bathrooms are not stacked vertically, so the drains are under the living room, but we accept that
Preferred heating system: air-to-water heat pump with or without ventilation system

If you had to give up something, which features or extensions
- can you give up: basically nothing 🙂

Why did the design turn out this way?
We sketched out our specific wishes and then made sure they fit within the built-up space.
What do you think makes it particularly good or bad? I hope it will be comfortable to live in.

What is the most important/fundamental question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
How do you like the floor plan? I’m happy to explain our thinking behind particular features if you have questions.
Would the drains under the living room be very noticeable? I think they might be hidden with furniture (possibly DIY). Those black squares in the drawings indicate drains or ventilation shafts.

I plan to present this design to various general contractors. An architect is not an option for various reasons. Please avoid discussions about why we chose general contractors over an architect.

Due to the neighbor’s building on the boundary and the building authority’s instruction that we keep 6m (20 ft) distance from their house wall, we want to place the garage adjacent to their wall (with appropriate foundations, of course, so no pressure is exerted on their basement wall). The garage is about 1m (3.3 ft) lower than the house to reduce the slope from the street to the garage. That’s why I integrated this corner into the ground floor and basement so one can walk down a few steps from the front door to the garage. Possibly, a passage to the garage could be made at the stairs if the height levels work out. The staircase will be a half-landing staircase, but the program cannot display this. From the front door to the street, no steps are necessary; a ramp should suffice.

In the basement, the utility room and hobby room will have light wells, and the guest room/office and bathroom will have a light court. Guest room and office can be combined; it only needs space for a bed, a wardrobe, and a desk.

We look forward to your suggestions!

Good luck Tortuga123

Where is the substantial and still significant slope shown in the design?
How much budget is planned or available for the house, the outbuilding, and the slope reinforcement?

I find the corner in the hobby room strange.
What is the reason for it?
Would it affect the bright and pleasant atmosphere of the room, which is intended for work/office use?

Otherwise, as a layperson, I like it so far.

ypg schrieb:

Where is the significant slope shown in the design?
How much budget is planned or available for the house, the outbuilding, and the slope reinforcement?

Hi @ypg: I’ve attached the blank site plan with the elevation points. So the slope isn’t actually that steep. Only the garage needs to be about 1 meter (3 feet) lower than the house because of the slope. That’s why — and also due to some other ideas — we have a basement; otherwise, if we built on a slab, we would have to somehow support the excavation for the garage on that side.
The slope bends more sharply in the middle of the property, around the right side of the house. The rest to the left isn’t really very sloped. Garden landscaping, possibly with L-shaped retaining walls along the southern boundary, will be done gradually over time.

I’ll add a picture later so you can get a better visual idea of it.

Otherwise, we’ve already discussed the location and height of the house and garage in another post (though I’m not sure how to link it here).

The budget for the house is up to 400,000 euros (about $440,000), and the initial cost estimate from a general contractor is actually below that. The garage would initially be placed at the back and possibly built later. It’s just planned and permitted for now. Ancillary costs are planned to be around 50,000 euros (about $55,000).

Hausbautraum20 schrieb:

I find the corner in the hobby room odd.
What is the reason for that?
Wouldn’t that disrupt the nice, light-filled space, especially if used as a work/office room?

Otherwise, as a layperson, I like it so far.

Hi @Hausbautraum20: My partner wants as much hobby room as possible, and he says he doesn’t need windows (it will be his gaming room with a private “retro museum”) :-D That corner was the only way I could arrange the rooms, and it’s not really a problem — it would be his crafting corner. He currently works there under daylight lamps with a magnifying glass and is fine with that (we currently live in a basement apartment, and the craft room there doesn’t have a real window either). Alternatively, he might make a vending machine corner there... Most of his ideas are focused on this room; for everything else, I was allowed to decide however I wanted :-D

Tortuga123 schrieb:

The budget for the house is up to 400,000, with an initial cost estimate from a general contractor even below that. We would initially place the garage at the back and possibly build it later. It should only be included in the planning and approval for now. Additional costs are planned at around 50,000€ (approximately $54,000).

Okay, then you are either building in a very affordable area or the initial estimate is quite inaccurate.
We ourselves are over that for 160 sqm (approximately 1,720 sq ft) without a second bathroom and with a lot of DIY work.

A family member is currently building 160 sqm (approximately 1,720 sq ft) turnkey with a basement for 500k. In addition, there are 100k for exterior work, including slope stabilization, light well, terrace, double garage, and driveway.

However, both cases are in Bavaria.

@Hausbautraum20: The plot is located in Neuwied (northern Rhineland-Palatinate).

It should be mentioned that later on, we will probably spend around 400k just for the house itself, excluding landscaping, earthworks, and the garage. One offer from the general contractor (we had an appointment with them over the weekend) gave us a fixed price of €346,000 for exactly the cubic meters of enclosed space including the basement with living area. Turnkey. Of course, our earthworks will be additional. For the basement, the company handles the waterproofing, and the technical inspection authority (TÜV) approves it, then our earthworks contractor installs the protection board, drainage, sewer connections, etc.

Their price includes tiling and sanitary fixtures in the upper floor bathroom and the ground floor toilet. That means the basement bathroom will naturally add about €5,000 on top. Electrical work will probably cost more as well, maybe another €5,000. Tiling and painting in the rest of the house will likely be another €15,000 to €20,000. Then there are other extras here and there, and so on. So it all adds up. Although I believe this general contractor already offers a fairly high standard according to the scope of work description.

The house will be built entirely with Ytong blocks. According to the survey, there is no water in the ground. I have read that with Ytong in the basement area, the waterproofing needs careful attention, but I trust the builder, the TÜV, and our earthworks contractor on that. And who knows if we will even live there for 20 years. We might have other plans in the future...

We also have a few more appointments with other general contractors in the next few weeks.