ᐅ How many square meters can you get for a turnkey KfW40 house with a €150,000 budget?

The mentioned solid team house builder, as far as I know, does not build in NRW. And yes, it is affordable, yes, the price is fair, but it is also true that the standard is very low. No one comes away without upgrades, and not without extras like underfloor heating or similar either.

readytorumble schrieb:
I see the topic of self-performed work differently as well. You can't seriously calculate with 12 euros per hour. Maybe the subcontractor gets 12 euros from their boss, but you pay 40–50 euros net plus taxes.

We saved over 100,000 € through self-performance. The effort was about 1,000 hours from family/friends and around 2,500 hours from my partner and me.

However, you can't compare your labor to that of a skilled worker, so the wage should be considered accordingly. 3,500 hours are at least two full-time working years for one person. How long did your construction take? For trades totaling allegedly 100,000 euros plus materials, you have no warranty—does that make sense? Are there subsequent trades that have taken warranty responsibility for your preparatory work? I can imagine the final inspection (if you worked with a general contractor) would be “interesting” in this situation. Not every flawed analogy is a valid comparison.

winnetou78 schrieb:
That's right, the craftsman receives 12 euros, but the actual hourly wage for a typical construction company is around 35 euros per hour, which the company has to calculate with.

However, they build much faster than a DIY builder working on their own. Therefore, you have to calculate the hours a professional would need, not your own.

Knallkörper schrieb:
You can’t compare your work performance to that of a skilled tradesperson, so the same applies to the wage

In the end, it’s not the hours that matter (unless, of course, you are self-employed or a freelancer and could earn more during that time), but the difference between the total quote and the cost of materials and tools you have to buy or rent.

That difference is the unpaid labor for which no actual money needs to be paid. If it takes longer, it doesn’t hurt the budget.

For example, we sanded and oiled about 100 square meters (1,076 square feet) of parquet flooring. Materials and rental fees were around 850€ (about 900 USD). Quotes for having it done ranged between 25-30€ (about 27-32 USD) per square meter, so we would have had to pay 2,500-3,000€ (about 2,700-3,200 USD).

However, it took us 4.5 days (at 38°C (100°F) outside).

What I find nice about unpaid labor is that I get to do something visible and tangible.

It’s clear that a skilled tradesperson would have been faster. But that’s okay. I contributed the labor while also working my full-time 38 hours/week job, where I have no opportunity to do overtime or similar. So the time I invested doesn’t bother me.

We have been building for exactly 12 months so far. The outdoor landscaping is completely unfinished, and one child’s bedroom is not yet completed (wallpaper and painting are still missing).

The only follow-up work that would have needed to provide a warranty were the tilers and the exterior plastering, and they have done so. The rest was done by ourselves. For each phase of construction, we had a professional on site at times who either inspected or even supervised the work. Additionally, the architect (who is also family) visited weekly to check on progress.

And to be honest: unlike what is often described here in the forum (no personal labor because “I can’t,” “no time,” or “it’s not worth it”), in our rural area only 1 out of 100 houses is built without significant personal involvement. When talking to other homeowners here, everyone has only 1 to 3 companies working on their site, and the rest is done by themselves. People still help each other out around here.

Back to the 3,500 hours: on Saturdays, we sometimes had 8 unpaid workers (friends/family) plus ourselves on site. On the Saturday when the roof was installed, there were 19 people. The entire site catering is not included in the hours; that was fully provided by my mother and grandmother, who live right next door.

I can now say that we built the house ourselves. And that’s something I think about every day and am very proud of. The time was tough, no question. But it was also a very rewarding experience.

It’s the same for us. With our turnkey house, we are almost an exception. Many people only have a shell construction built, and not by a company, but by hiring 2-3 masons. Everyone in this village knows each other very well, so that doesn’t seem to be a problem. This also explains why there are so many large houses here with over 200 sqm (2150 sq ft).