Hello everyone,
I have already taken over the construction cost thread quite a bit with this potential project. I'll show you a few things and hope for your input because we are still unsure whether we want to buy the property or not.
About the property: The house comes with a 2500 m² (27,000 sq ft) plot made up of 3 parcels. It is located in an area with poor infrastructure (but that’s where my family lives, and I grew up there, so we want to move there) in Rheinland-Pfalz. Boris says building plots in the area go for around 50€ per m² (approx. $5 per sq ft). The land consists of 3 parcels and is partly in a residential zone and partly adjoining garden land. There are also many older fruit trees on the garden areas, which we like.
The house on the plot was built in 1928, with an extension from the 1960s. The total living area was given by our realtor as 207 m² (2,230 sq ft), although I don’t fully trust the calculation. The expert who showed us around said that the attic should not be counted because the ceiling height is below 2.30 m (7.5 ft). The house has a basement.
What we like about the property is the large living area, the possibility to renovate the floor plan to a relatively modern standard (ground floor), the huge plot with good distance from neighbors, and the existing old trees. What we don’t like is the current layout on the upper floor (little hallway, extension only accessible through room 7).
What we want to change (structurally possible according to the initial impression of our expert):
- Ground floor: Dining area will become the kitchen, the door between dining (which will be kitchen) and living room should be widened, possibly with a sliding door, the old kitchen will become a pantry.
- Bathroom on the upper floor, either room 5 or 7 would be suitable.
- Door breakthrough in the hallway upstairs next to the stairs leading to the extension.
- Old bathroom in the basement: This will be my husband’s home gym. The bathroom will be removed completely except for the shower so that one can shower downstairs after working out (or after coming in dirty from the garden).
We would probably use the attic for “less frequently used” rooms because of the low ceiling height. Maybe for storage and a nice guest room.
On the upper floor, there should be space for a bathroom, bedroom, two children’s rooms, and a utility room for washing and drying.
On the ground floor, living, dining, kitchen + pantry, office, and possibly a shower-gym area should fit.
Heating should go in the basement (energy consultant recommends pellet heating). I’m not sure how good that is; we currently have the THZ504 air-to-water heat pump with ventilation and really like it. I would like to have the same again but don’t know if it is suitable to heat a house that probably won’t get better than KfW 85 standard.
I have already taken over the construction cost thread quite a bit with this potential project. I'll show you a few things and hope for your input because we are still unsure whether we want to buy the property or not.
About the property: The house comes with a 2500 m² (27,000 sq ft) plot made up of 3 parcels. It is located in an area with poor infrastructure (but that’s where my family lives, and I grew up there, so we want to move there) in Rheinland-Pfalz. Boris says building plots in the area go for around 50€ per m² (approx. $5 per sq ft). The land consists of 3 parcels and is partly in a residential zone and partly adjoining garden land. There are also many older fruit trees on the garden areas, which we like.
The house on the plot was built in 1928, with an extension from the 1960s. The total living area was given by our realtor as 207 m² (2,230 sq ft), although I don’t fully trust the calculation. The expert who showed us around said that the attic should not be counted because the ceiling height is below 2.30 m (7.5 ft). The house has a basement.
What we like about the property is the large living area, the possibility to renovate the floor plan to a relatively modern standard (ground floor), the huge plot with good distance from neighbors, and the existing old trees. What we don’t like is the current layout on the upper floor (little hallway, extension only accessible through room 7).
What we want to change (structurally possible according to the initial impression of our expert):
- Ground floor: Dining area will become the kitchen, the door between dining (which will be kitchen) and living room should be widened, possibly with a sliding door, the old kitchen will become a pantry.
- Bathroom on the upper floor, either room 5 or 7 would be suitable.
- Door breakthrough in the hallway upstairs next to the stairs leading to the extension.
- Old bathroom in the basement: This will be my husband’s home gym. The bathroom will be removed completely except for the shower so that one can shower downstairs after working out (or after coming in dirty from the garden).
We would probably use the attic for “less frequently used” rooms because of the low ceiling height. Maybe for storage and a nice guest room.
On the upper floor, there should be space for a bathroom, bedroom, two children’s rooms, and a utility room for washing and drying.
On the ground floor, living, dining, kitchen + pantry, office, and possibly a shower-gym area should fit.
Heating should go in the basement (energy consultant recommends pellet heating). I’m not sure how good that is; we currently have the THZ504 air-to-water heat pump with ventilation and really like it. I would like to have the same again but don’t know if it is suitable to heat a house that probably won’t get better than KfW 85 standard.
kati1337 schrieb:
It has become less interesting, however, due to the (for now) complete elimination of KFW funding. Who knows what might come back, in what amount, or if at all. By the time you get to that point, funding will probably be available again. Definitely for renovation, so I wouldn’t worry about that at all. It would more likely affect any potential new construction.
JuliaMünchen schrieb:
If you mean why we didn’t gut the house: it was only 76m2 (818 sq ft) in total, and I don’t like extensions on old houses, they always look haphazard to me. I suspected as much; nowadays many architects no longer want to integrate old building parts (and draftsmen rarely ever do).
JuliaMünchen schrieb:
I’m not exactly sure what you mean— you can hardly fit an old staircase into a new floor plan, keep a glass entrance and attach it to a new building, or integrate some old clay tiles into a new roof made of corrugated tiles because that is simply unaffordable nowadays, right? You don’t have to reuse old materials for the same purpose. But that also has its charm. One of my favorite architects, Rudolf Olgiati, often did this—sometimes only reusing a single old front door as a standalone feature.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
J
JuliaMünchen27 Jan 2022 10:3411ant schrieb:
I had already suspected that; many architects nowadays are no longer interested in integrating old building parts (and draftsmen never are).
You don’t have to reuse old materials in the same function. But that also has its charm. One of my favorite architects, Rudolf Olgiati, often did this – sometimes as simple as reusing an old front door as a standalone element. Integrating parts was never really an option for us, mainly because it wouldn’t have worked with the energy concept if parts of the house had remained in the condition of the 1950s (the old house had a coal cellar and gas connection; now we have a groundwater heat pump and underfloor heating). In the end, it probably would have been more expensive than demolition.
We did consider reusing the materials for the plank flooring. That might have been possible in a rural area, but we currently live in a two-room apartment in the city and have no way to store materials here (and it wasn’t possible on the property either, as it was completely prepared and leveled).
Ysop*** schrieb:
By the time you’re ready, there will be funding available again. Definitely for renovation, so I wouldn’t worry about that at all. That would more likely affect a potential new build.I tend to agree, but I find it too risky to “secure” the house now (especially since it’s financially challenging at the moment) without knowing what kind of funding will be available later, and at what level.