Hi,
a quick question for the experts: we might want to rent out our hobby room later as a self-contained apartment.
The room is in the exposed basement level, with floor-to-ceiling windows. We are planning all the necessary connections for electricity, bathroom, etc. What concerns me now are two things: the apartment itself and the wall thickness. The exterior wall is 24cm (9.5 inches) concrete plus 12cm (5 inches) of perimeter insulation. The interior walls, which separate the apartment from our main entrance and the utility room, are currently planned as 24cm (9.5 inches) brick. That seems a bit thick to me. We would lose several square meters of living space because of that. How thick do these walls really need to be? Would 17.5cm (7 inches), for example, be sufficient?
We don’t even know if we will ever rent out the apartment. Given its size (about 30m² (320 square feet)), it would only be suitable for students anyway. We just want to be prepared, either for our own children or to rent to family members or students. We might also spend a few years abroad and thought it would be beneficial to have rental income during that time.
I’m wondering whether the effort is even worth it considering the room size. The room will be very bright, but just the separate entrance door with certain security features has already cost us €2500. The connections will cost another €5500, including the construction of the bathroom, etc. We are easily looking at €10,000 in total.
Only if we don’t do it, we might regret it later. We definitely don’t want to rent to strangers while living in the house. At most, as mentioned, to students or family members, or when we are abroad for a few years. In old age, it could supplement the pension if needed. But currently, renting to strangers while living here is not an option—only family.
The connections are currently being installed anyway, so that’s fine. Even for the hobby room, having a small kitchen corner and a toilet will be very useful.
Still, I’m interested in your opinion. And how thick do the interior walls really need to be for renting out? 24cm (9.5 inches) or would 17.5cm (7 inches) be enough? Or even less?
a quick question for the experts: we might want to rent out our hobby room later as a self-contained apartment.
The room is in the exposed basement level, with floor-to-ceiling windows. We are planning all the necessary connections for electricity, bathroom, etc. What concerns me now are two things: the apartment itself and the wall thickness. The exterior wall is 24cm (9.5 inches) concrete plus 12cm (5 inches) of perimeter insulation. The interior walls, which separate the apartment from our main entrance and the utility room, are currently planned as 24cm (9.5 inches) brick. That seems a bit thick to me. We would lose several square meters of living space because of that. How thick do these walls really need to be? Would 17.5cm (7 inches), for example, be sufficient?
We don’t even know if we will ever rent out the apartment. Given its size (about 30m² (320 square feet)), it would only be suitable for students anyway. We just want to be prepared, either for our own children or to rent to family members or students. We might also spend a few years abroad and thought it would be beneficial to have rental income during that time.
I’m wondering whether the effort is even worth it considering the room size. The room will be very bright, but just the separate entrance door with certain security features has already cost us €2500. The connections will cost another €5500, including the construction of the bathroom, etc. We are easily looking at €10,000 in total.
Only if we don’t do it, we might regret it later. We definitely don’t want to rent to strangers while living in the house. At most, as mentioned, to students or family members, or when we are abroad for a few years. In old age, it could supplement the pension if needed. But currently, renting to strangers while living here is not an option—only family.
The connections are currently being installed anyway, so that’s fine. Even for the hobby room, having a small kitchen corner and a toilet will be very useful.
Still, I’m interested in your opinion. And how thick do the interior walls really need to be for renting out? 24cm (9.5 inches) or would 17.5cm (7 inches) be enough? Or even less?
T
toxicmolotof22 Jun 2016 12:10Does losing 6.5cm (2.6 inches) really mean several square meters of living space are sacrificed in the basement? Hardly, in a room of 30sqm (323 sq ft).
Even if it’s a narrow 2m (6.6 ft) wide corridor with 15m (49 ft) of wall, it’s not even one square meter (about 11 sq ft).
Even if it’s a narrow 2m (6.6 ft) wide corridor with 15m (49 ft) of wall, it’s not even one square meter (about 11 sq ft).
S
Sebastian7922 Jun 2016 12:19And then you have rooms with connections that are left unused? You do realize that dead pipes must not be connected to the system?
At first, we had the great idea to only prepare the bathroom in the basement... now it’s a fully functional bathroom. We didn’t want a costly room sitting there for years or even decades without any purpose. Especially with a "forbidden" installation – do you really want to bring that mess back in later?
At first, we had the great idea to only prepare the bathroom in the basement... now it’s a fully functional bathroom. We didn’t want a costly room sitting there for years or even decades without any purpose. Especially with a "forbidden" installation – do you really want to bring that mess back in later?
Sebastian79 schrieb:
And then you have rooms with connections that just lie unused? You do realize you’re not allowed to connect dead pipes to the system, right? That’s true and something you should keep in mind.
Sebastian79 schrieb:
At first, we also had the great idea to only prepare the bathroom in the basement... now it’s a fully functional bathroom. We didn’t want to have a costly built space sitting there for years or even decades without purpose. Plus, with a “forbidden” installation – do you really want to bring all that dirt back in later? We felt the same way about our “kids’ bathroom.” Now it’s completely finished, only the shower cabin is still missing 🙄
However, a granny flat (or secondary suite) also has some advantages. We lived for years at a relatively low cost in my father-in-law’s granny flat and were able to save a significantly better capital reserve for our house. 😀
C
Caspar202022 Jun 2016 12:48Sebastian79 schrieb:
And so you have rooms with connections that are left unused? You do know that you’re not allowed to connect dead pipes to the system, right?That is probably the least of the problems. The dead pipes most likely run all the way to the utility room anyway and are not branch lines for separate meters or similar. So, they just won’t be connected (only if they’re really needed later).
S
Sebastian7922 Jun 2016 12:50If it’s done like that, then it’s fine – but there’s not even certainty about the secondary unit/apartment 😉.
The bathroom expansion will only be considered if my brother, who is studying, moves in. Otherwise, the connections simply won’t be hooked up. That’s not a problem, is it?!
In this area, 30m² (320 sq ft) is rented out for 300-400€ (Euros). I don’t think that’s bad at all. Much of it is irreversible anyway. We probably could have done without the separate entrance door. Well, maybe we’ll use the room as an office for freelance work someday, so it will have served a purpose 🙂
In this area, 30m² (320 sq ft) is rented out for 300-400€ (Euros). I don’t think that’s bad at all. Much of it is irreversible anyway. We probably could have done without the separate entrance door. Well, maybe we’ll use the room as an office for freelance work someday, so it will have served a purpose 🙂
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