ᐅ Single-family house floor plan, 240 m², two full stories without basement, solid construction

Another update,

The screed is finally expected to dry this week, and we will start with the interior finishing. The exterior plaster is now complete as well. The tiler will begin with the utility room first, so the building services can be installed. Our goal is to move in by December. The biggest challenge I currently see is coordinating all deliveries on time. I think the hardest part is behind us. Oh, and the electrician still occasionally causes some issues.

A few comments about the trades:

Screed:

After the shell construction, we applied the vapor barrier ourselves. I found this step quite easy and quick. The two of us only needed two days after work, and the work was pleasant.

The screed company laid the insulation within two days after all other trades had finished. The building services and I then installed the underfloor heating together in one day.

Afterwards, the anhydrite self-leveling screed was applied. After about four weeks, we sanded the screed.

I can generally recommend this approach to anyone, as it saves a lot of money and keeps the workload manageable. However, I seriously underestimated the drying time. After sanding, we turned on the drying device, and I expected two weeks. Unfortunately, it has now been four to five weeks.

Exterior plaster:

I can’t say much about this, as I outsourced all the work. But it looks quite good.

Tiles:

We had to choose our tiles ourselves, which I personally always find difficult because it’s hard to imagine the final result. Fortunately, we quickly agreed on which tiles and what size we wanted. What annoyed me the most was the price: 60 € per m² (about $65 per sq. ft.)! So, I researched the manufacturer and the collection. It was an Italian manufacturer. After further research and a few phone calls, I found a seller at Lake Garda who ships the tiles for 30 € per m² (about $32 per sq. ft.) including shipping. The delivery is expected this week, and I’m curious to see them. The tiler will be paid hourly, by the way.

Flooring:

We plan to install floating vinyl flooring ourselves and are currently looking for a good supplier. Somehow, the vinyl flooring is just as expensive as the Italian tiles. Does anyone have suggestions or ideas on where to source affordable vinyl flooring of good quality?

Finally, a small picture:

Hello everyone,

I would like to give my final update. The house is finished, and the interior work is complete. The garden and paving areas are still missing, but this will not delay the project any further.

Here is our current financial overview. No more costs will be added. I have highlighted in orange the items where we either contributed labor or completed the work ourselves.

Overall, we are very satisfied. The house feels high quality. Since we selected everything ourselves, we were often able to choose better quality options. Of course, there are things we would do differently in hindsight, but that is always the case. Many well-known builders offer somewhat lower quality, but it would go beyond the scope to discuss every detail.

I hope the financial plan can be helpful to someone, and I would appreciate any comments.

Thank you for your table. I find the costs quite reasonable and can confirm them from my own experience.
The shell construction including earthworks seems relatively cheap but is marked orange and thus with subcontracted labor. What did you do yourselves here?
The roof frame looks good for house plus garage as well. What did you handle yourselves there?

I find the screed rather expensive, also marked orange. In January, I paid about 6.5k gross for approximately 340 m² (3656 sq ft). However, this was really just the delivery and application of the flow screed; all preparatory work was done with subcontracted labor.

Overall, I would say you show well what can be achieved with subcontracted labor and own effort.

Shell construction including earthworks:
We completed the garage ourselves, except for the foundation: walls, gable, and concrete ceiling. We sourced the required materials through the main contractor.

Roof frame & roof covering:
We handled the wood staining of the roof frame ourselves. For the roof covering, one person from the carpentry company and four of us worked together to complete everything.

Screed:
We installed the waterproof membrane independently. The insulation, roll-on heating system, and anhydrite flowing screed were carried out by specialized companies. I calculated only the cost for the anhydrite screed – the quote was €6,400 gross for 240 m² (2,584 ft²). So your price for 340 m² (3,661 ft²) is really good.
Back then, I requested quotes from five companies, all of which had quite similar prices. The location might also have an impact since a lot of material is needed. We had to pay an additional €500 because the screed installer on-site decided to use loose fill in some rooms instead of Styrofoam. I tried to negotiate by phone, but since the workers were already on site, I reluctantly had to accept it.

Oh, and we insulated the top concrete ceiling of the roof structure ourselves. We installed polystyrene foam boards and OSB panels.

Still, I think you got really good prices for the shell construction and roof structure. For comparison, I paid nearly 30,000 euros for 180 m2 (1937 sq ft) of roof area last year (excluding roof windows from the price). We also did the roofing and painting ourselves. The exterior insulation above the rafters was done by the carpenter. Installing the insulation between the rafters, the vapor retarder, the furring battens for drywall, and the drywall itself were done by the electrical contractor.