ᐅ Hillside House in the Southwest Palatinate – Our Home Construction 2.0
Created on: 9 Sep 2022 18:13
K
kati1337
Good evening everyone
I’m starting a small collection thread here for photos and progress updates on our second building project.
We’ve already moved to the Palatinate region to be closer to the construction site. Now we’re watching eagerly and happily as our (hopefully final) dream home takes shape near family.
One big challenge still ahead of us is the facade design. I really love the Nordic style with brickwork and mullioned windows. That won’t be possible here for two reasons: firstly, no one here can do bricklaying, and secondly, it would stand out too much. We will be going with a rendered facade. How to design the colors of the facade and windows to still create some country house / cottage charm is currently still a work in progress mentally.
Otherwise, I’m sharing our plans here and how it will eventually be built.
The support pillar marked near the kitchen island could be removed for a small extra cost, so that will be gone.
The room for “garden equipment” under the garage will get a partition wall for structural reasons.
It won’t be fully finished living space like in the house, but underfloor heating will be installed, along with a lockable door and a window. It’s meant to store garden tools but also some of the building services equipment, since the utility room (HAR) is quite small, and maybe be used as a party room.
We had three construction companies in the final selection. In the end, we chose the “doer” – a builder recommended to us here by friends and family. No website, no smartphone, but he is on site every day himself working in overalls. He has a very good reputation in this area and now rarely builds single-family homes. We were a bit lucky through personal connections and a very friendly initial phone call to get our foot in the door. So far we are very satisfied with this choice.
I’m starting a small collection thread here for photos and progress updates on our second building project.
We’ve already moved to the Palatinate region to be closer to the construction site. Now we’re watching eagerly and happily as our (hopefully final) dream home takes shape near family.
One big challenge still ahead of us is the facade design. I really love the Nordic style with brickwork and mullioned windows. That won’t be possible here for two reasons: firstly, no one here can do bricklaying, and secondly, it would stand out too much. We will be going with a rendered facade. How to design the colors of the facade and windows to still create some country house / cottage charm is currently still a work in progress mentally.
Otherwise, I’m sharing our plans here and how it will eventually be built.
The support pillar marked near the kitchen island could be removed for a small extra cost, so that will be gone.
The room for “garden equipment” under the garage will get a partition wall for structural reasons.
It won’t be fully finished living space like in the house, but underfloor heating will be installed, along with a lockable door and a window. It’s meant to store garden tools but also some of the building services equipment, since the utility room (HAR) is quite small, and maybe be used as a party room.
We had three construction companies in the final selection. In the end, we chose the “doer” – a builder recommended to us here by friends and family. No website, no smartphone, but he is on site every day himself working in overalls. He has a very good reputation in this area and now rarely builds single-family homes. We were a bit lucky through personal connections and a very friendly initial phone call to get our foot in the door. So far we are very satisfied with this choice.
schubert7926 Sep 2022 17:22I have these rollers too. They’re simply amazing!
Dear all, it’s done.
We went again to the bathroom and tile planning and made our choices. A lot of choices.
I hope mostly right. Somehow, I always feel quite uncertain when leaving these kind of sample showrooms, wondering if everything was actually okay. 😀
So, for the bathroom, we’re sticking with the old wall and decorative tiles. The floor tiles will again be wood-look, but significantly lighter than the last ones.
They harmonize very nicely with the rest. The old, darker wood-look tiles had a much stronger contrast.
For the guest toilet, we chose the same floor and wall tiles (large format), but for an accent in the shower (shampoo niche inside) and for an accent wall behind the toilet and washbasin, we went for this:
I somehow instantly fell in love with these small, floral tiles included here. They’re definitely above standard price-wise, but we’ll see where they end up. They’re called Bärwolf Ambience Spatolato.
That way, the bathrooms would essentially be the same but differ in the accent and decorative tiles. I actually find that a nice compromise between everything matching and being completely different.
The above is intended to be the bathroom and guest toilet floor tile. The mosaics are parts from the picture above (accent wall in the guest toilet).
The very light wood plank tile below is planned for the office. 2mm (0.08 inch) grout, according to my husband. With that, I might be able to live with an office chair, but we haven’t made a final decision on the office flooring yet. If tiles, then maybe these + a carpet under the chairs. We’ll see.
For the tiled carpet pattern in the hallway, we chose these:
I’m usually quite a neutral type, plain and simple. But here we dared to do something on about 14 m² (150 sq ft) and hope it will be worth it. 🙂
We might frame it with matching, plain base-colored tiles or, if we find a nice and affordable wood floor and decide on that, maybe 1-2 wood planks around as a border. I can imagine both options nicely. I definitely think they’re really beautiful.
And then we have one for “all the rest.” I have to admit it wasn’t very important to us — these are for the utility rooms. Storage under the garage, laundry room, and the technical room. The top one is very plain and we could get it cheaply, around €26/m² (about $28/sq ft).
The one below is a clearance item currently in stock. Slightly larger format, has a strong surface texture and looks like natural stone. We could get it for €30/m² (about $32/sq ft). My husband immediately liked the latter very much, so we had it offered first. Tiles like the darker one above are common in this price range. The lower one is actually inexpensive for its quality and size. Both without surcharge for us. But of course, if we take the cheaper one, it would balance out the surcharges for others.
The primary wall tile for the bathroom and guest toilet is slightly more expensive (1€/m² ($1.10/sq ft) more than standard), the decorative tiles/mosaics in the bathroom and guest toilet are surcharged. In the bathroom, the surcharge is €65/m² (about $70/sq ft), for the guest toilet we don’t know yet, we’re the first to have it offered in that mix. 😀
And of course the patterned tile in the hallway. That is also €65/m² ($70/sq ft), which is well above standard, but still not so high that we have to say “that’s out of our reach.”
I think overall the surcharges should stay in the three-digit range, which I can live with.
We went again to the bathroom and tile planning and made our choices. A lot of choices.
I hope mostly right. Somehow, I always feel quite uncertain when leaving these kind of sample showrooms, wondering if everything was actually okay. 😀
So, for the bathroom, we’re sticking with the old wall and decorative tiles. The floor tiles will again be wood-look, but significantly lighter than the last ones.
They harmonize very nicely with the rest. The old, darker wood-look tiles had a much stronger contrast.
For the guest toilet, we chose the same floor and wall tiles (large format), but for an accent in the shower (shampoo niche inside) and for an accent wall behind the toilet and washbasin, we went for this:
I somehow instantly fell in love with these small, floral tiles included here. They’re definitely above standard price-wise, but we’ll see where they end up. They’re called Bärwolf Ambience Spatolato.
That way, the bathrooms would essentially be the same but differ in the accent and decorative tiles. I actually find that a nice compromise between everything matching and being completely different.
The above is intended to be the bathroom and guest toilet floor tile. The mosaics are parts from the picture above (accent wall in the guest toilet).
The very light wood plank tile below is planned for the office. 2mm (0.08 inch) grout, according to my husband. With that, I might be able to live with an office chair, but we haven’t made a final decision on the office flooring yet. If tiles, then maybe these + a carpet under the chairs. We’ll see.
For the tiled carpet pattern in the hallway, we chose these:
I’m usually quite a neutral type, plain and simple. But here we dared to do something on about 14 m² (150 sq ft) and hope it will be worth it. 🙂
We might frame it with matching, plain base-colored tiles or, if we find a nice and affordable wood floor and decide on that, maybe 1-2 wood planks around as a border. I can imagine both options nicely. I definitely think they’re really beautiful.
And then we have one for “all the rest.” I have to admit it wasn’t very important to us — these are for the utility rooms. Storage under the garage, laundry room, and the technical room. The top one is very plain and we could get it cheaply, around €26/m² (about $28/sq ft).
The one below is a clearance item currently in stock. Slightly larger format, has a strong surface texture and looks like natural stone. We could get it for €30/m² (about $32/sq ft). My husband immediately liked the latter very much, so we had it offered first. Tiles like the darker one above are common in this price range. The lower one is actually inexpensive for its quality and size. Both without surcharge for us. But of course, if we take the cheaper one, it would balance out the surcharges for others.
The primary wall tile for the bathroom and guest toilet is slightly more expensive (1€/m² ($1.10/sq ft) more than standard), the decorative tiles/mosaics in the bathroom and guest toilet are surcharged. In the bathroom, the surcharge is €65/m² (about $70/sq ft), for the guest toilet we don’t know yet, we’re the first to have it offered in that mix. 😀
And of course the patterned tile in the hallway. That is also €65/m² ($70/sq ft), which is well above standard, but still not so high that we have to say “that’s out of our reach.”
I think overall the surcharges should stay in the three-digit range, which I can live with.
W
WilderSueden26 Sep 2022 20:44netuser schrieb:
We have hardwood flooring throughout, and regarding the office chairs, my first step was actually to replace the casters with ones like these...
After one year, I haven’t noticed any damage or marks on the floor. Admittedly, it’s not a full-time office with two people like in your case. Are those Xelotec casters, or are there other manufacturers you would recommend? That’s exactly what I have been looking for.
Nice selection, congratulations!
Although our tastes are completely different when it comes to choices, overall it looks nice and harmonious.
However, I am convinced that you will like the bathroom floor tile much more than the one for the office!
You run the risk of moving the office desks into the bathrooms because the office floor will look so dull compared to the bathrooms 🙂
Although our tastes are completely different when it comes to choices, overall it looks nice and harmonious.
However, I am convinced that you will like the bathroom floor tile much more than the one for the office!
You run the risk of moving the office desks into the bathrooms because the office floor will look so dull compared to the bathrooms 🙂
netuser schrieb:
Nice selection, congratulations!
Although our tastes differ quite a bit, overall it looks nice and coherent.
However, I’m convinced you’ll like the bathroom floor tile much more than the one chosen for the office!
You might end up moving the office desks into the bathrooms because the office floor will look so dull compared to the bathrooms 🙂 Would you use the bathroom tile there again?
The idea to use the very light wood-look tile came from the fact that parquet flooring is planned for the adjacent hallway (and everywhere else). The bathroom tile has a rather yellowish wood tone, and we were looking for something more neutral so it wouldn't clash with the (still unknown) wood tone of the parquet.
On the other hand, the same applies upstairs where the bathroom is located. Tough question.
C
Costruttrice27 Sep 2022 12:55What type of parquet flooring are you considering? I would probably choose the parquet first since it covers a larger area, and then select the tiles afterward to ensure a harmonious look.
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