Hello,
I have been reading along for some time now and finally dare to share a floor plan here.
First, here is the list of questions:
Zoning Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 576 sqm (6,200 sq ft)
Slope: Yes, slight. According to the site plan, the top "right" corner is at 295.4 meters (970 feet), lower at 293.88 meters (964 feet), left side goes from 295.17 meters (968 feet) to 293.43 meters (963 feet)
Floor area ratio: 0.3
Building envelope, building line and boundary: Applies to house number 16
Surrounding buildings
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of stories: 2 full floors required, plus optional recessed floor (setback floor)
Roof type: Flat roof, max. 5° pitch
Maximum height/limits: Max. 10 m (33 ft) high
Additional requirements: Equipment (heat pump) must be integrated, not external. Maximum of 2 residential units. Specific exterior colors required, rainwater should infiltrate (soil report says this is unlikely). Roofs must be greened. No oil or gas heating allowed.
Client requirements
Style, roof type, building type: Actually, none specified.
Basement, floors: No basement, 2 floors.
Number of occupants, ages: 4 people — 2 adults, 2 children
Ground floor space needs: Daily life (living, kitchen, dining, technical room, guest room)
Upper floor: Family (2 children's rooms, master bedroom, separate bathrooms), home office
Office: Home office, second workspace for occasional use such as a work window sill for example in the bedroom
Guests per year: Currently few.
Open or closed architecture, conservative or modern style: Either is fine.
Open kitchen, kitchen island: We are still considering. Initial wish was separate pantry like in the floor plan. An island would be nice if space allows.
Number of dining seats: Normally 4, rarely up to 8.
Fireplace: None.
Music/stereo wall: Multi-room audio with central unit in technical room.
Balcony, roof terrace: Neither.
Garage, carport: 1 garage
Other wishes: Central vacuum system, laundry chute, smart home (KNX) (I am mostly doing this myself, yes, I am a certified electrician, can program, but will also get additional help)
House design
Who designed the plan:
- Planner from a construction company: Correct, with some input from us. Based on an existing plan.
Price estimate by architect/planner: approx. 485,000 € (euros) for the house, approx. 210,000 € for the plot including basic services (survey, soil report, etc.)
Personal price limit for the house including features: approx. 800,000–850,000 € (including land)
Preferred heating technology: Heat pump
If you had to give up, which details/extra features could you skip:
- Could skip:
- Cannot skip:
Why is the design like it is now? For example:
Standard design by the planner? Yes, with minor wishes from us (wall between study and child’s room 2, T-walls in bathrooms, porch roof, conservatory, pantry)
What do you find especially good or bad about it? So far it seems to fit; apart from possibly the pantry/dining room, we don’t see major issues yet. But that’s why I’m here now.
Edit: The furniture shown in the floor plans can be safely ignored. Planners seem to like adding these.
Best regards
Ganneff
I have been reading along for some time now and finally dare to share a floor plan here.
First, here is the list of questions:
Zoning Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 576 sqm (6,200 sq ft)
Slope: Yes, slight. According to the site plan, the top "right" corner is at 295.4 meters (970 feet), lower at 293.88 meters (964 feet), left side goes from 295.17 meters (968 feet) to 293.43 meters (963 feet)
Floor area ratio: 0.3
Building envelope, building line and boundary: Applies to house number 16
Surrounding buildings
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of stories: 2 full floors required, plus optional recessed floor (setback floor)
Roof type: Flat roof, max. 5° pitch
Maximum height/limits: Max. 10 m (33 ft) high
Additional requirements: Equipment (heat pump) must be integrated, not external. Maximum of 2 residential units. Specific exterior colors required, rainwater should infiltrate (soil report says this is unlikely). Roofs must be greened. No oil or gas heating allowed.
Client requirements
Style, roof type, building type: Actually, none specified.
Basement, floors: No basement, 2 floors.
Number of occupants, ages: 4 people — 2 adults, 2 children
Ground floor space needs: Daily life (living, kitchen, dining, technical room, guest room)
Upper floor: Family (2 children's rooms, master bedroom, separate bathrooms), home office
Office: Home office, second workspace for occasional use such as a work window sill for example in the bedroom
Guests per year: Currently few.
Open or closed architecture, conservative or modern style: Either is fine.
Open kitchen, kitchen island: We are still considering. Initial wish was separate pantry like in the floor plan. An island would be nice if space allows.
Number of dining seats: Normally 4, rarely up to 8.
Fireplace: None.
Music/stereo wall: Multi-room audio with central unit in technical room.
Balcony, roof terrace: Neither.
Garage, carport: 1 garage
Other wishes: Central vacuum system, laundry chute, smart home (KNX) (I am mostly doing this myself, yes, I am a certified electrician, can program, but will also get additional help)
House design
Who designed the plan:
- Planner from a construction company: Correct, with some input from us. Based on an existing plan.
Price estimate by architect/planner: approx. 485,000 € (euros) for the house, approx. 210,000 € for the plot including basic services (survey, soil report, etc.)
Personal price limit for the house including features: approx. 800,000–850,000 € (including land)
Preferred heating technology: Heat pump
If you had to give up, which details/extra features could you skip:
- Could skip:
- Cannot skip:
Why is the design like it is now? For example:
Standard design by the planner? Yes, with minor wishes from us (wall between study and child’s room 2, T-walls in bathrooms, porch roof, conservatory, pantry)
What do you find especially good or bad about it? So far it seems to fit; apart from possibly the pantry/dining room, we don’t see major issues yet. But that’s why I’m here now.
Edit: The furniture shown in the floor plans can be safely ignored. Planners seem to like adding these.
Best regards
Ganneff
Arauki11 schrieb:
Of course, everyone has different priorities,That's true: one person values air conditioning, another prefers KNX. The one with air conditioning doesn’t have KNX and just presses the button instead.And before worrying about the hinge of a swing door, there are more important questions to address first. This is putting the cart before the horse. There isn’t even a wall yet! And that’s a good thing.
Tip: I would think carefully about what I expect from a turnkey general contractor.
ypg schrieb:
Tip: I would carefully consider what to expect from a full-service general contractor.Ideally, nothing should be located farther than walking distance from the scope defined in their standard work description; otherwise, you might easily end up with the same fate as @R.Hotzenplotz.https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
11ant schrieb:
Try to avoid anything beyond walking distance from the standard described in your construction service agreement, otherwise you might easily share the fate of @R.Hotzenplotz. Exactly! I often think of him when discussions about wishes come up here, especially when the house design reflects a general contractor who approves and drafts all homeowner requests in the plans, even though they are not feasible, difficult to implement, look modest, or must already be misrepresented.
They give you the impression that all wishes can be realized, but in reality, they either cannot be executed properly or only with errors. This can become very costly—for the homeowner.
ypg schrieb:
And before worrying about the hinge of a swing door, there are more fundamental questions to clarify. Here, the cart is being put before the horse. There’s not even a wall yet! And that’s a good thing.That’s also somewhat my feeling, but I also understand the enthusiasm for beautiful details. The main thing is not to lose sight of the crucial matters or their priority. I’m reminded of a (possibly expensive) slope, etc.ypg schrieb:
Exactly: one person thinks air conditioning is great, another prefers KNX. The one who has air conditioning doesn’t have KNX and just presses the button..Exactly, it’s what truly brings a personal comfort gain—luckily everyone is different. But checking this carefully for yourself should always be the top priority.ypg schrieb:
That’s right! I often think of him when discussing wishes here, but the general contractor reflects a house design that approves and drafts every homeowner’s wish, even if it’s not feasible, difficult to implement, or has to be presented in a distorted way.
He gives you the impression that all wishes can be realized, but they either can’t or only with errors.That was exactly our experience here. The general contractor was really enthusiastic and full of his own ideas. When construction began, he would often ask, somewhat annoyed, why “we” did things that way, as it was so expensive and complicated. The email in which we had suggested things ourselves (e.g., internal gutters, almost gigantic window areas, etc. — which we then did not implement at all) didn’t change his awareness, just as the reminder that he had enthusiastically added these items to the plan. I’m so glad we came through that mostly intact……wiltshire schrieb:
Starting with quality flooring first is understandable. Good quality here is unfortunately always quite expensive. It would look somehow odd if the Eames Lounge Chair stood on laminate.I’ve had good experiences with second-choice hardwood flooring, although this time we installed thick solid wood planks. When laid over a large area and done with some care, you don’t notice any difference in terms of price or top-quality material.wiltshire schrieb:
Venetian blinds with slats are admittedly an effective shading element—I wouldn’t have installed them even if I had been paid to.That’s the beauty of individuality; eventually, I’ll have to check out those stylish folding windows. Here, a south-facing exposure is planned, and you can also work well with a sensible roof overhang, but that too has to be precisely planned—not just left to the general contractor.Ganneff schrieb:
Ah, we recently had a HouseBuilding Plus fair here. There were more people and many conversations— and as often, the smaller companies where the owner was at the stand and led the discussions came across as most competent.Maybe also base some decisions on what you can more easily do yourself, like choosing hardwood flooring instead of tiles, for example.ypg schrieb:
It gives you the impression that all your wishes can be fulfilled, but in reality, they either can’t do it or only manage it with mistakes. I think along these lines when I see photovoltaics mentioned only as a line of text on the facade parapet in house elevations. In my mind’s eye, I picture the doorstep of the laundry balcony from “The Robbers.”
Arauki11 schrieb:
That was exactly our experience here. The general contractor was really enthusiastic and came up with plenty of ideas. But when construction started, he often asked rather irritably why “we” had done things that way, saying it was very expensive and complicated. The email where we ourselves had suggested these things (internal gutters, nearly gigantic window areas, etc.—which we ultimately didn’t implement) didn’t change his attitude, nor did the reminder that he had enthusiastically included them in the plans himself. I’m so relieved we made it through that relatively unscathed... But are you talking about the previous house now?
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
11ant schrieb:
Are you referring to the previous house now?No, the current one from 2021. The one from 1990 was basically built by an experienced site manager without an architect and as a self-managed project, since general contractors and such were not common back then. At that time, there was the "Green Dot" system in Baden-Württemberg, meaning building without a building permit/planning permission under certain conditions. I thought that made sense, which is probably why it no longer exists. Back then, my construction manager’s signature was sufficient.