ᐅ New Single-Family Home Construction – Join Us on Our Journey!
Created on: 4 Aug 2022 16:13
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gregman22
Dear community,
We are finally getting a step closer to realizing our dream of building a single-family home.
The plot has been purchased, building plans have been reviewed, construction method decided, and so on. We have now commissioned the architect of the general contractor (GC) of our choice with the planning task and are currently fine-tuning the house design. I would love to take you along on this journey and incorporate your valuable feedback.
At this stage, the focus is on the house design.
Basic data:
Plot: 1062m2 (11,433 sq ft); approx. 25.5m x 41.64m (84 ft x 137 ft)
Orientation: Northwest -> The arrow in the screenshot of the 3D view points south
Desired room layout:
Ground floor:
First floor:
Attic:
Note: I am still discussing this with the architect. Due to the hipped roof shape, the actual living area has shrunk too much. Therefore, further discussion is needed to accommodate the other rooms. I had underestimated the ratio of gross floor area to usable living space.
Basement:
Additional plans:
Now to my first questions for you:
My biggest construction challenge at the moment is the layout of the attic. There are two alternatives:
- Change the roof type, which would increase costs but provide more usable living space in the attic
- Give up the playroom on the first floor, convert it into a guest room, and build only the two offices in the attic (no guest room or bathroom)
Thank you in advance for your comments.
We are finally getting a step closer to realizing our dream of building a single-family home.
The plot has been purchased, building plans have been reviewed, construction method decided, and so on. We have now commissioned the architect of the general contractor (GC) of our choice with the planning task and are currently fine-tuning the house design. I would love to take you along on this journey and incorporate your valuable feedback.
At this stage, the focus is on the house design.
Basic data:
Plot: 1062m2 (11,433 sq ft); approx. 25.5m x 41.64m (84 ft x 137 ft)
Orientation: Northwest -> The arrow in the screenshot of the 3D view points south
Desired room layout:
Ground floor:
- Large living/dining area with adjacent (but separable) kitchen at the bottom left, plus a gallery overlooking the first floor
- Utility room
- Guest toilet
- Garage
- Separate apartment at the top right with its own entrance for parents-in-law
First floor:
- Gallery overlooking the ground floor
- 2 children’s bedrooms with a shared bathroom
- 1 playroom (initially a home cinema room, later to be repurposed) above the garage
- Master wing with main bedroom, dressing room, and bathroom
Attic:
Note: I am still discussing this with the architect. Due to the hipped roof shape, the actual living area has shrunk too much. Therefore, further discussion is needed to accommodate the other rooms. I had underestimated the ratio of gross floor area to usable living space.
- 2 separate offices
- 1 guest bedroom
- 1 small guest bathroom
Basement:
- 1 technical room
- 1 laundry room
- 1 storage room
- Large fitness room
- Wellness room with sauna
Additional plans:
- Air-to-air heat pump or air-to-water heat pump
- Photovoltaic system with/without battery storage
- Possible pool (3.5/4m x 8m or 3.5/4m x 12m) with heat pump (and countercurrent system)
- Sauna in the basement room
- Air conditioning for various rooms
- Smart home system – most likely via KNX
- Garden: Currently planning 2 terraces – one to the left, slightly more to the south, and one facing the main part of the plot further north
Now to my first questions for you:
- How do the floor plans strike you? Do they make sense in terms of the dynamics of family life?
- The location of the separate apartment was chosen based on our wish. We wanted a strict, clearly defined spatial separation with a separate entrance. Do you have any comments on this?
- Do you consider the utility rooms in the basement to be adequately sized (considering KNX, heat pump, etc.)?
My biggest construction challenge at the moment is the layout of the attic. There are two alternatives:
- Change the roof type, which would increase costs but provide more usable living space in the attic
- Give up the playroom on the first floor, convert it into a guest room, and build only the two offices in the attic (no guest room or bathroom)
Thank you in advance for your comments.
gregman22 schrieb:
It is important for me to verify each cost item – based on your experience, am I overestimating, underestimating, or roughly on target? I think all the cost items are well estimated, at least for a "standard" to "upscale" single-family house. But there is no upper limit, depending on the level of quality desired. €90,000 (about $97,000) just for new furniture seems quite high to me.
Don’t underestimate the garden. If your expectations there are also upscale, I would recommend early detailed planning. Landscape gardening can become incredibly expensive 🙁 It was a slight slope, right?
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gregman2216 Aug 2022 17:38Tassimat schrieb:
But there is no upper limit, depending on the requirements. €90,000 just for new furniture seems quite a lot to me.Thanks! I’m quite in the dark about this. Admittedly, I also included some lighting fixtures here. This cost item will probably remain uncertain for a long time since we can’t get a fixed quote.Tassimat schrieb:
I think the cost estimates are all reasonable, at least for a "standard" to "upscale" single-family home. But there is no upper limit, depending on the requirements. €90,000 just for new furniture seems quite a lot to me.
Don’t underestimate the garden. If your expectations there are also upscale, I would plan properly early on. Landscape gardening can become insanely expensive 🙁 It was a slight slope, right?I see. I would describe our expectations here as "normal." Actually, we are more fans of a large, simple lawn and don’t want to create a botanical garden 🙂I wasn’t even referring to the botanical garden.
But maybe you want to level the plot with retaining walls around it so that the soccer ball doesn’t just roll downhill on the large lawn area. Illuminated paths to the pool, large garden shed, etc. How should the fence or privacy screen towards the neighbors look?
But maybe you want to level the plot with retaining walls around it so that the soccer ball doesn’t just roll downhill on the large lawn area. Illuminated paths to the pool, large garden shed, etc. How should the fence or privacy screen towards the neighbors look?
G
gregman2216 Aug 2022 17:45Tassimat schrieb:
I wasn’t even referring to the botanical garden.
But maybe you want to level the plot with retaining walls around it, so the ball doesn’t just roll downhill on the large lawn area. Illuminated paths to the pool, a large garden shed, etc. How should the fence or privacy screen towards the neighbors look? Yep – all good points. But right now, hiring a landscaper is one project too many for me. However, I am considering that an additional buffer might still need to be planned for the garden.
K
k-man202116 Aug 2022 18:22We are also estimating around 4k per square meter.
Your items correspond to the following estimates for us:
I can’t comment on the rest, as it looks different for us.
What might still be missing for you:
Lighting design and fixtures (I wouldn’t skip this; it’s more important to us than furniture)
Specialized HVAC planning
Electrical engineering planning
Structural engineering
Blower door test
Your items correspond to the following estimates for us:
- Soil survey 4k
- Thermal insulation certificate 3k
- Surveying: 6k
- Photovoltaics: 45k (just a rough budget, nothing planned)
- Pool of similar size, non-infinity, concrete 115k
- Fire protection report (if necessary) 6k
- Drainage planning 2.5k (quote available)
I can’t comment on the rest, as it looks different for us.
What might still be missing for you:
Lighting design and fixtures (I wouldn’t skip this; it’s more important to us than furniture)
Specialized HVAC planning
Electrical engineering planning
Structural engineering
Blower door test
gregman22 schrieb:
Furnishing: a tricky matterApparently!gregman22 schrieb:
We will be bringing furniture worth around €20,000.Strange explanation. In our case, it was always: we have everything. That moves with us, and if the wardrobe can’t be reassembled, a new one is bought. The gaps in the larger home are filled with enthusiasm and passion over months/years. Or does your "22" in your name refer to your age? ...that you don’t own much yet?
gregman22 schrieb:
In your experience, am I too high / too low / close enough?In that case, I would probably budget €10,000 for upscale gregman22 schrieb:
Are you talking about the price range in terms of a cost level of €4,000 / m2 for upscale standard, or the total volume (due to the size of the property)?And considering this involves two living units, I don’t see any ridiculous “I-can-spend-four-times-as-much-as-others-have-or-build” scenarios. Paving work including materials for a double garage doesn’t have to cost nearly four times as much as for a standard or budget house with a double garage—paving costs still depend on the driveway area and access. Or are you planning to have gilded mosaics incorporated? Sorry… I think you’re starting to lose touch with reality here. The current standard is roughly €3,000 / m2—you want to plan for €4,000 / m2. That’s 25% more 🙂
gregman22 schrieb:
We are actually more fans of a large “simple” lawn area and don’t want to create a botanical garden 🙂That would be something: ugly outside and beautiful inside 🙂 of course only in terms of values, not taste. Because that hardly requires any money.The calculation: Your reasonable list, but without furniture of €90,000 and instead €30,000, I roughly come to €1,400,000.
That leaves a decent €1 million.
At €4,000 / m2, you can build a 65 m2 (700 sq ft) granny flat and a main house of 285 m2 (3,070 sq ft).
Nice!!! 😀
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