ᐅ Garage not built by the house construction company – Appearance
Created on: 28 Feb 2024 11:21
M
MaulwurfbauM
Maulwurfbau28 Feb 2024 11:21Hello forum,
We are currently in the process of, or just about to, hire a construction company. Single-family house, timber frame construction with a garage. Nothing too complicated.
Now, our preferred company for the house itself is by far the most expensive when it comes to the garage. I’m not comfortable with that personally, especially since they won’t budge on the price.
The plan would be to commission the house without the garage and possibly purchase the garage as a prefabricated unit. I’m leaning towards Hoffmann prefabricated garages and have already obtained a quote that would fit our budget.
Now for my question. I’m a bit concerned that the garage might end up looking different from the house — meaning in terms of color and the texture of the plaster finish. I’ve also seen many problematic cases when it comes to the connection between the garage and the house.
When I walk through our new development, you can immediately tell who had their garage built together with the house by the same company and who, to put it bluntly, just "added it on." Sometimes the way the garage is connected to the house is such a dreadful sight, and it’s obvious how different and incompatible the exterior façade looks, that I wanted to ask for your experiences with these situations.
Is it possible to integrate a garage like this (for example from Hoffmann) visually in a clean and tidy way with the house, or is it hopeless? And will it always look mismatched unless everything is done by the same company or from a single source, if you want it to look seamless?
We are currently in the process of, or just about to, hire a construction company. Single-family house, timber frame construction with a garage. Nothing too complicated.
Now, our preferred company for the house itself is by far the most expensive when it comes to the garage. I’m not comfortable with that personally, especially since they won’t budge on the price.
The plan would be to commission the house without the garage and possibly purchase the garage as a prefabricated unit. I’m leaning towards Hoffmann prefabricated garages and have already obtained a quote that would fit our budget.
Now for my question. I’m a bit concerned that the garage might end up looking different from the house — meaning in terms of color and the texture of the plaster finish. I’ve also seen many problematic cases when it comes to the connection between the garage and the house.
When I walk through our new development, you can immediately tell who had their garage built together with the house by the same company and who, to put it bluntly, just "added it on." Sometimes the way the garage is connected to the house is such a dreadful sight, and it’s obvious how different and incompatible the exterior façade looks, that I wanted to ask for your experiences with these situations.
Is it possible to integrate a garage like this (for example from Hoffmann) visually in a clean and tidy way with the house, or is it hopeless? And will it always look mismatched unless everything is done by the same company or from a single source, if you want it to look seamless?
You can simply ask your construction company in advance what kind of plaster and paint they plan to use, and then order the garage accordingly. Moderately experienced painters can easily match the plaster texture and paint so that they look identical. We did this between our basement and garage and the prefabricated house’s ground and upper floors, in my opinion without any visible difference (except for the technically necessary drip edge).
What becomes significantly more complicated is the installation. Timber frame construction is usually delivered as wall modules, and I cannot imagine that they would agree to less than 2 meters (6.5 feet) of clearance around the installation site. In other words: the garage will probably have to be installed later, and in that case it is very likely that a joint will be necessary (both from an assembly perspective and to allow for expansion/movement joints between structures). This can be hidden more or less elegantly but will always be visible.
What becomes significantly more complicated is the installation. Timber frame construction is usually delivered as wall modules, and I cannot imagine that they would agree to less than 2 meters (6.5 feet) of clearance around the installation site. In other words: the garage will probably have to be installed later, and in that case it is very likely that a joint will be necessary (both from an assembly perspective and to allow for expansion/movement joints between structures). This can be hidden more or less elegantly but will always be visible.
Is the placement from https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/grundrissentwurf-einfamilienhaus-165qm-ohne-keller-auf-400qm-grundstueck.45915/ still current? That is, the garage would be positioned within the building setback area, directly attached to the house, meaning also under the roof overhang?
Then you not only have to ...
... take that into account, but for a site-built garage you hardly have any alternative, and from a technical standpoint, a garage like the one in the Bimsfertigbau Hoffmann building system is also the best choice.
I live close enough to their location, where they have a large market share, to know countless of their products (and to recommend them because I know how long they stay fresh).
Wait to build the garage until the house is completed and everything can be precisely measured. That way, you will get the best result.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Then you not only have to ...
Harakiri schrieb:
The garage probably has to be built later,
... take that into account, but for a site-built garage you hardly have any alternative, and from a technical standpoint, a garage like the one in the Bimsfertigbau Hoffmann building system is also the best choice.
Maulwurfbau schrieb:
Is it possible to visually integrate such a garage (e.g., from Hoffmann) properly with the house, or is that hopeless? Does it always end up looking segmented, leaving you only the option to have it done by the same company if you want it to look seamless?
I live close enough to their location, where they have a large market share, to know countless of their products (and to recommend them because I know how long they stay fresh).
Wait to build the garage until the house is completed and everything can be precisely measured. That way, you will get the best result.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
M
Maulwurfbau28 Feb 2024 12:55Okay, thanks first of all for the feedback.
The layout is a bit different. The garage was built flush with the house on the garden side.
As I said, whether the garage comes later doesn’t bother me. It just shouldn’t look like a foreign object attached to the house. When I see that, it almost hurts my eyes. Yes, the joint and also the thick trim on the garage roof towards the house wall have stood out negatively to me so far. Also, on many houses, the plaster and paint are different—the white color of the house is not matched. If it has to look like that in the end, it wouldn’t be very nice.
The Hoffmann garage itself is certainly a good solution. Compared to the construction company, it is about 40% more cost-effective and technically apparently very suitable.
The layout is a bit different. The garage was built flush with the house on the garden side.
As I said, whether the garage comes later doesn’t bother me. It just shouldn’t look like a foreign object attached to the house. When I see that, it almost hurts my eyes. Yes, the joint and also the thick trim on the garage roof towards the house wall have stood out negatively to me so far. Also, on many houses, the plaster and paint are different—the white color of the house is not matched. If it has to look like that in the end, it wouldn’t be very nice.
The Hoffmann garage itself is certainly a good solution. Compared to the construction company, it is about 40% more cost-effective and technically apparently very suitable.
It was only given as an example regarding color/plaster matching.
In our case, the garage was built together with the basement using precast concrete elements, which made it possible to align everything with millimeter precision. However, it is also thermally separated from the underside of the house’s slab (insulation), so in that sense, it is not unlike a prefabricated garage. You will always need a joint between two structures made of different materials and with different foundations—you can cover it with plaster, but cracks are inevitable over time.
You could certainly build your garage without a parapet flashing, but I would never recommend it—especially if it is greened, like ours, because you need to connect and then protect the waterproof membrane somewhere.
You can only achieve a completely seamless connection if the garage is within the thermal envelope of the house, built with the same construction method, and on the same foundation slab. Even then, you will still have a garage roof to consider (see the topic of parapet/sealing above).
In our case, the garage was built together with the basement using precast concrete elements, which made it possible to align everything with millimeter precision. However, it is also thermally separated from the underside of the house’s slab (insulation), so in that sense, it is not unlike a prefabricated garage. You will always need a joint between two structures made of different materials and with different foundations—you can cover it with plaster, but cracks are inevitable over time.
You could certainly build your garage without a parapet flashing, but I would never recommend it—especially if it is greened, like ours, because you need to connect and then protect the waterproof membrane somewhere.
You can only achieve a completely seamless connection if the garage is within the thermal envelope of the house, built with the same construction method, and on the same foundation slab. Even then, you will still have a garage roof to consider (see the topic of parapet/sealing above).
Maulwurfbau schrieb:
The Hoffmann garage itself is definitely a good solution. Compared to a construction company, about 40% more cost-effective and technically apparently very suitable. From my own observation, I know that after fifty years they are still as good as new. Hoffmann is affordable, but not cheap. In this respect, if your house provider’s offer is much more expensive, it’s probably an initial defensive offer.
Maulwurfbau schrieb:
Now, our preferred company for building the house is by far the most expensive one when it comes to the garage. I’m not happy about that personally, especially since they don’t budge on the price at all. “They make their profit on the drinks.”
Maulwurfbau schrieb:
We are currently in the process of, or just about to, hire a construction company. Single-family house, timber frame construction with garage. Nothing complicated. From a logistics perspective alone, it’s unattractive for a prefabricated house builder to arrange a garage builder. Do I understand correctly that you originally looked for the lowest total price for house and garage together, and now you are separating them because the package doesn’t convince you anywhere on price? – Are you familiar with my consulting services?
Harakiri schrieb:
You could certainly build your garage without a parapet flashing, but I would never do that – especially if it’s greened, like ours, because you should connect and then protect the waterproofing membrane properly. Hoffmann garages don’t have a sheet metal parapet like the Chiara-Ohoven edge, but a plastered parapet with an aluminum drip edge. Just enough so that it looks discreet next to any “architect-designed house” and stays neat technically and visually for a very long time with minimal maintenance.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
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