ᐅ Floor Plan for a Single-Family Home, 240 m², with Partially Built-Over Garage
Created on: 3 Dec 2023 13:51
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Haus 42
Hello everyone,
My wife and I are currently favoring the attached design for our house project. It is our own concept, inspired by forum discussions, catalogs, and model homes, but also discussed with architects and now unrecognizable compared to the first drafts.
A first detailed drawing is in progress (which may include structural and building services adjustments), so general criticism is welcome, but especially suggestions on potential problem areas or ways to achieve essential improvements through small changes: After all, we don’t want to build an expensive house only to regret it later, but rather invest in meaningful improvements (e.g., bay windows). At the bottom, I have listed some specific concerns.
Framework conditions:
Design:
Notes on the floor plans:
Development:
We had several designs, including with a basement, without construction over the garage (which was recently confirmed as possible), with open space, guest rooms on different sides, a 180° half-landing staircase, etc. – the current approach now seems quite logical to us and despite the naturally high costs, not extravagant. I grew up in a house with a full basement and converted attic, and the plan tries to provide similar spaces over two floors.
Ground floor details:
Upper floor details:
Concerns / Questions
We look forward to your comments!
My wife and I are currently favoring the attached design for our house project. It is our own concept, inspired by forum discussions, catalogs, and model homes, but also discussed with architects and now unrecognizable compared to the first drafts.
A first detailed drawing is in progress (which may include structural and building services adjustments), so general criticism is welcome, but especially suggestions on potential problem areas or ways to achieve essential improvements through small changes: After all, we don’t want to build an expensive house only to regret it later, but rather invest in meaningful improvements (e.g., bay windows). At the bottom, I have listed some specific concerns.
Framework conditions:
- Planned residents: two adults (working days home/office: 2/3 and 3/2), two (initially small) children, two cats, guests staying several weeks per year.
- Conditions: Small-town new development area in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, site coverage ratio 0.35, maximum one full story, eaves height max. 5m (16 ft 5 in), gable or half-hipped roof with 20°–50° pitch, minimum distance to street 5m (16 ft 5 in), to neighbors 3m (10 ft).
- Plot: 938 m² (10,094 sq ft), essentially flat, with utility garden and play lawn.
- Neighboring plots: Northeast (“right”) already developed (close to road and at distance from us, since their garage is on the side facing away from us), southwest (“left”) not yet sold.
Design:
- Footprint: approx. 15.5m×11m (51 ft × 36 ft) + garage overhang 2m×8m (6 ft 7 in × 26 ft), garage-boundary distance 1m (3 ft 3 in)
- Living and utility space: ground floor approx. 115 m² (1,238 sq ft), upper floor approx. 125 m² (1,345 sq ft), garage approx. 40 m² (430 sq ft)
- Ceiling height: ground floor approx. 2.60m (8 ft 6 in), upper floor approx. 2.50m (8 ft 2 in)
- Building services: ventilation system, photovoltaic panels on southeast roof, underfloor heating powered by air-source heat pump everywhere except garage/attic.
- Location: the house should be as close to the street as possible (see plan) with the main entrance facing it (southeast), to maximize garden space.
- Gable roof: rather flat (25°) to allow for a high knee wall (>1.20m (3 ft 11 in)), attic therefore only used for storage.
- We are foregoing a basement in favor of a larger footprint, which also enables a barrier-free guest area.
- Ground floor: the living area should get both sunlight and garden views, so it must be on the west side.
- Upper floor: usability of space is the priority, so we accept the narrow corridor (approx. 1.5m×8m (4 ft 11 in × 26 ft)). Still, generous dormers, including in the stairwell, should provide enough daylight.
- Exterior walls are brick-clad, interior rather modern: white walls/kitchen fronts, tiled floors on the ground floor, PVC on the upper floor.
Notes on the floor plans:
- Area measurements do not account for sloping ceilings on the upper floor.
- ⚡ means high-voltage electricity, W (waste) water
Development:
We had several designs, including with a basement, without construction over the garage (which was recently confirmed as possible), with open space, guest rooms on different sides, a 180° half-landing staircase, etc. – the current approach now seems quite logical to us and despite the naturally high costs, not extravagant. I grew up in a house with a full basement and converted attic, and the plan tries to provide similar spaces over two floors.
- What we like: the bright living room, purely functional generous sizing everywhere, especially for guests and thanks to the large room upstairs, the access from the garage.
- What we don’t like: see also the “Concerns” listed at the bottom. Otherwise, the “very generous” house (architect’s comment) might have few ‘eye-catchers’ for its price, e.g., no gallery or two bathrooms upstairs instead of one large. Therefore, general suggestions are welcome on how to enhance the design beyond the floor plan, for instance through lighting, mirrors, windows, external design.
Ground floor details:
- Living room with window fronts each with a door leading to terraces in the southwest (for sunlight) and northwest (toward the garden).
- Kitchen open to the living area; appliances located in a central niche—therefore, to minimize noise, the oven/microwave are there instead of the refrigerator.
- Room behind kitchen (separated by a slightly hidden door) serves as storage and a place for some kitchen appliances and an additional worktop.
- From the hallway, a doorless passage to the living room, doors to guest room, guest toilet, and utility room, also from there access to the garage.
- Large guest room with barrier-free bathroom and external access, potentially a one-room separate apartment.
- Garage for one car, e-scooter/bicycles and as a workshop/storage room, for example for garden tools.
Upper floor details:
- Children’s rooms on the sunnier gable side.
- Children’s bathroom with bathtub, master bathroom with washing machine/dryer (but space in utility room to allow for changes).
- Long dormers above bathrooms/stairwell and fitness/hobby room; no other roof windows.
- Access to attic via fitness/hobby room.
Concerns / Questions
- The (currently half-landing) staircase may need to be spiral to allow doors to fit under its end. Is preserving the half-landing for climbing safety worth a bay window?
- Prefabricated houses often have bay windows, although they might be energetically disadvantageous. Are they mainly for aesthetics, or have we missed practical opportunities by not including any?
- Is the staircase too close to the entrance, e.g., regarding dirt distribution?
- We would like remote/central control for roller shutters on all burglary-relevant windows. Would narrow windows be acceptable in the utility room, guest bathroom, and ground floor toilet, to prevent break-ins? Does anyone have experience with this?
- With a 25° pitch and 1.20m (3 ft 11 in) knee wall, is an overhanging roof suitable as a cover for the entrance and/or terrace without causing too much shading? What other canopy options would make sense, especially since the terrace is on the exposure-prone side?
- To prevent bicycles from scratching the car in the garage, should it be widened? This would reduce the remaining strip on the southwest side, where the tightest boundary distance (at the west corner, “top left”) is currently about 5m (16 ft 5 in).
- Is a TV placed directly next to the window front a problem due to the northwest orientation?
- Should the pantry behind the kitchen have a second sink?
- Would it be better to fill the garden-facing dormer entirely with windows rather than leaving corners open as planned?
- Which windows should be included in the bathroom dormer considering there are houses on the opposite side of the street?
We look forward to your comments!
There is basically nothing wrong with doing some puzzling yourself, but you have to be able to recognize your limits... which often becomes clear through the process of working on it yourself. Simply knowing how to incorporate necessary structural elements like projections, recesses, wall thicknesses, etc., to accommodate all technical installations, already sets quite strict boundaries.
Haus 42 schrieb:
The question was simply whether the other design here had already been discussed. No, not really. If you read normally or pay close attention, the first sentence is the question. The second sentence was just a bold guess on my part, not a question.
ypg schrieb:
We know that one design, don’t we?! It has already been discussed here. …and then writing again that I’m confusing something… well…
You would usually respond differently to that…
Haus 42 schrieb:
You’re probably confusing something. And now a little clarification, which I think you need.
I was 100% sure that I knew it. However, I’m not often active in the mentioned forum and rarely post.
In life, you remember especially unpleasant or particularly successful things. A beauty you encounter and notice will still be recognizable to you a year later. It’s the same with things you don’t like, such as art that catches your eye because you dislike it.
That’s unfortunately how it was with your design in June. I immediately remembered this labyrinth with the guest area and the study room, as well as this – obviously missing for everyone – living room. The forum there wasn’t really created for chatting and arguing… Ultimately, the respondents there are more likely to be professionals who use their work breaks briefly to answer users’ questions and are polite so as not to alienate potential future clients.
Here, we are among house-building enthusiasts who tend to be more honest. At least, that should be the case. Few are professional, but many have experience, experience as a hobby and passion, or just good intuition.
It’s not about preferences like whether an open kitchen is a must, whether to have a basement or attic, the desire for an in-law unit, or whether a house without a children’s bathroom makes sense. Nor is it about wall thicknesses that a designer can control. It’s about “space,” zoned rooms where every occupant can move and develop. Where daily activities can flow smoothly without disturbing or being disturbed. Yes, it’s also important that the area is appropriate for the cost. A sketch is already very good for assessing usability.
Cost: If someone wants to build their small wooden cabin with matches, then higher costs will likely arise; such faulty thinking (matches are cheap) should be discouraged for those planning to build. Square meters should be where they can be well used or add value.
Your argument about having too many square meters doesn’t hold: none of your unnecessary square meters can be used differently. Your open space is already unusable — there is a lot of dead space, and it will remain that way. Or it will be used unsatisfactorily.
In short: it’s not apparent that you have the talent to design a house. Just because you can operate a program doesn’t mean you can design. Unfortunately, you have wasted half a year.
Putting a garage inside the thermal envelope was something that could be done 30 years ago — nowadays, a prospective builder could know that without wanting to do the design themselves 😉
Maybe it has to come to this first, that someone tells you straight because you didn’t pick up on the hint.
Haus 42 schrieb:
And switching forums after six months seemed reasonable given the fundamental opposition to doing your own planning – but apparently, this exists everywhere. So there is definitely no talk of "flitting back and forth" (HeimatBauer). Maybe it needs to be said clearly: No, there is no fundamental rejection of designing your own plans. However, there is rejection of DIY designs when there is a complete lack of talent. In that case, time is wasted for everyone involved, and what is even worse: there is a risk that you will actually build that mess. Since we all care for each other here, of course we don’t want you to waste your hard-earned money and only realize the mistake when it’s too late.
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HeimatBauer11 Dec 2023 07:43We are still going around in circles, and the original poster has been stuck in the same place for at least six months. Advice is at best superficially accepted, fundamental principles are dismissed with many words, and we will probably see each other again in another forum in six months’ time.
What I said before pointing out the long history remains even more true now:
What I said before pointing out the long history remains even more true now:
HeimatBauer schrieb:
My tip to the OP: Build the house exactly as you want. You want it, you get it. Nobody inside has to be happy except yourself.
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HeimatBauer11 Dec 2023 07:50Costruttrice schrieb:
That doesn’t just happen by chance! Or do you also work as a doctor because you’ve watched Emergency Room and Grey’s Anatomy? My last post along these lines was deleted – and yes, this is not one of those well-known groups on other platforms where such “I saw that once on ER” approaches are loudly applauded.
Haus 42 schrieb:
Given the fundamental resistance to personal planning – which apparently exists everywhere.This alone is reason enough to reflect on whether there might be some wisdom underlying this fact.