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.
J
Jurassic13513 Jun 2023 17:51We live in the north, but my mother-in-law still always wears shoes inside and thinks it’s “stingy” that she should take them off here. But I’m strict about it too—why should I have dirt from the street (dog urine, chewing gum, cigarette butts, dust) spread around my house... I find that really disgusting.
I’m totally with you on that. I also keep a dry cloth under the sink and wipe the faucet every time to make it shine. 😀
I’m totally with you on that. I also keep a dry cloth under the sink and wipe the faucet every time to make it shine. 😀
X
xMisterDx13 Jun 2023 18:05kati1337 schrieb:
Yes, I agree, I love that country-style look, so I would have really missed it. We also had it in our old house. The price was about 300€ (around $320) for the whole house, which wasn’t that expensive. The problem is that you end up spending 300–500€ (around $320–$540) here and there, and it adds up. That’s what I find risky with upgrades. You really have to advise every new builder to budget a little extra for things like that. Or maybe some people have better self-control, that might be the case too. Or you do it yourself...
I paid 350 EUR (around $375) for my baseboards including mounting adhesive and a large number of corner pieces.
And what the two glass doors for the kitchen and living room would have cost through the general contractor including installation—I’d rather not even think about that... I installed them myself with the help of one person (just for alignment) in just under 3 hours.
X
xMisterDx13 Jun 2023 18:28Oh, sorry. It was actually 500 euros. The 350 was just for the trim itself.
Jurassic135 schrieb:
But I'm also strict about this—why would I want to spread dirt from outside (dog urine, chewing gum, cigarette butts, dust) inside my house... I really find that disgusting. So I’m not the only one? I’ve also tried to explain that I don’t like it. Even if the shoes aren’t muddy, you still walk through dirt, animal waste, etc. outside—and I don’t want to spread that on the floor where I also walk barefoot.
I can also argue that we have hardwood flooring, which you don’t want to mop wet too often.
C
Costruttrice13 Jun 2023 23:23kati1337 schrieb:
So I’m not the only one?No, you’re not! I really dislike it too, especially in the bathroom or bedroom areas. I said back then that I didn’t like it because of crawling babies, and then came the “playing on the floor” phase. Everyone agreed, and shoes were taken off. We’ve long passed the crawling stage, but we’ve kept the no-shoes rule.