Dear forum members,
We bought a plot of land last autumn and are currently deep into the floor plan design. We would like to share our current draft with you and welcome any comments and opinions.
[F]irst some preliminary information about the plot and its buildability:[/F]
Best regards
We bought a plot of land last autumn and are currently deep into the floor plan design. We would like to share our current draft with you and welcome any comments and opinions.
[F]irst some preliminary information about the plot and its buildability:[/F]
- 1000 m² (10,764 sq ft) rear plot, southwest facing (so southwest is on the left side of the site plan)
- Building boundary up to approx. 16 m (52 ft) behind the property line (up to the dashed line on the site plan)
- No zoning plan (construction according to § 34 of the Building Code)
- Groundwater at surface level and peaty soil (exact geotechnical report pending), so piled foundation required and no basement
- Affordable! (Our maximum budget for the house including foundation slab is €230,000)
- Country house style
- Bright, large windows facing south/garden
- Open living/dining/kitchen area
- Family of four, 1 bedroom and 2 children’s rooms
- Not oversized, max 150 m² (1,615 sq ft), preferably less
- Solid construction using Ytong blocks (for us the most cost-effective option, although we would have liked to build with wood as well).
- Developed ourselves after studying various floor plans (including from the book "Affordable Building with a Small Budget" by Achim Linhardt) with support from architect friends and our planner (an independent civil engineer).
- Dimensions 12.50 x 7.50 m (41 x 25 ft) (the measurements shown on the site plan are from an earlier draft).
- What we like: open living area, all main rooms have large windows facing the garden, efficient size, although the children’s and bedroom could be smaller, sewing/work nook behind the stairs upstairs, plenty of wall space for large wardrobes in the upstairs bedroom and hallway on the ground floor, light shaft in the stairwell, staircase (we originally wanted a straight run staircase but it would have taken too much space; the one with three quarter turns is also fine with us).
- What we don’t like 100% yet: the height of the house from the outside. It is currently planned as a two-story house with an eaves height of 6.2 m (20 ft), with the ground floor 2.84 m (9 ft 4 in) high and the upper floor 2.60 m (8 ft 6 in) high. The gable roof will be an uninsulated, unfinished cold roof, mainly because of the economical prefabricated truss construction method. This is a bit disappointing because I really like sloped ceilings and did not want the character of a townhouse. Lowering the roof with a knee wall of about 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) and an insulated roof with open sloped ceilings would probably be more expensive due to the rafter/beam construction. We would also lose the garden view through the floor-to-ceiling bedroom windows.
- Simple: What do you think about the floor plan?
- Can you still imagine the relatively tall two-story house having a country house character? Maybe it depends on the facade design and choice of materials? Do you think it looks too “blocky,” especially from the front entrance side? Or would a lower eaves height with an attic conversion including a knee wall be preferable?
- We are still unsure how to arrange the windows on the garden side. The drawing with the elevations shows two possible versions. We actually prefer it when the upper floor window is centered over the lower window front. However, this does not align the interior line of sight from the entrance door to the garden/patio door (see ground floor plan). This represents version two; for version one, the window front would have to be shifted about one window width to the right, so that the patio door is behind the dining table. With the window front shifted left, the interior looks better to us, but from the outside it looks strange if it is offset from the upper floor window, right? What do you think?
Best regards
Osnabruecker schrieb:
High window ratioI don’t really see that. I don’t see any window that costs more than €1,000. The patio door appears to have fixed panels on the left and right, with a double-leaf door in the middle. From a cost perspective, that also makes the most sense. With white frames and no major energy efficiency requirements like KfW standards, the original poster is probably looking at around €12,000 including installation.
But I don’t see a lift-and-slide door fitting into that budget. Ours alone cost €4,700 from Gealan without installation.
I prefer option 1. The symmetrical view from the inside looking out counts more to me than how it looks from the outside.
Sparfuchs_ schrieb:
Well, you can’t really generalize, although this probably applies to more than 90% of current projects. It’s still possible to build very cheaply today, but several conditions have to be right, otherwise it turns into a mess.
150 sqm (1600 sq ft) usually end up with additional costs around 320,000–350,000 EUR. This can be reduced by:
- location advantage (for example, building in Saxony is cheaper than in Hamburg)
- a lot of self-performed work
- having helpful personal connections
- direct contracting of trades
I assume that pile foundation is not included in the budget; otherwise, I don’t see how it’s possible.
To squeeze 150 sqm (1600 sq ft) into 230,000 EUR, everything must be perfect, and you need to keep all fittings and fixtures to an absolute minimum. You also have to organize the trades yourselves, do as much self-work as possible, and hopefully leverage any existing contacts. Then it MIGHT be enough. Whether you can implement it that way and if it’s worth it to you, you have to decide. With such a tight budget, even I would feel nervous.
We are currently building as well and will end up below 1,500 EUR per sqm (140 USD per sq ft). But we are doing a lot ourselves and have good contacts:
- External thermal insulation composite system (ETICS) as self-work
- Flooring as self-work
- Complete electrical installations as self-work
- Plumbing through friends
- Internal insulation (ceilings and roof) as self-work
- Drywall as self-work
- Windows ordered from Poland and installed as self-work
- Organize the trades ourselves (only reasonably possible with local companies)
- Materials paid from equity
etc.
With 120 sqm (1290 sq ft), the situation would look somewhat better.That’s quite a bit of self-work involved, respect! You can indeed get around 1,500 EUR per sqm (140 USD per sq ft) that way.But the original poster didn’t say anything about that.
N
nordanney4 Mar 2020 08:19la.schnute schrieb:
Affordable! (Our maximum budget for the house including the foundation slab is €230,000)... but without pile foundations and with minimal features and/or a huge amount of DIY work. Can you handle the upcoming increases in construction costs? If you have such a small budget but want a large house, then you have an income problem – with the current interest rates, almost anyone can manage a higher budget.
la.schnute schrieb:
Can you still imagine a rather tall two-story house with a country house style?No, it looks like a boring box from the outside. la.schnute schrieb:
Do you think it looks too "boxy," especially from the entrance side, too massive?What do you want? A great house or a cheap house? Both won’t work with your requirements. Conclusion (without knowing the details): This won’t work out, and if there are no special reasons to build a house, then don’t do it. You will only invite stress (construction stress if you hire the cheapest unlicensed workers and/or have to do a lot yourself, as well as financial stress because the budget almost certainly won’t be enough).
Zaba12 schrieb:
It has already been mentioned that the interior dimensions are missing. If they were provided, the original poster would realize that with a depth of 6.77m (22 feet 3 inches), the desired living concept cannot be implemented. Certainly not as spacious as the PC floor plan illustration might suggest.
144 sqm (1,550 sq ft) for a maximum of 230,000€. That’s not 1,600€ per sqm. Did the architect say this is feasible? You have probably been quietly reading here for a while, so you know the answer whether it’s doable or not.I took the time to calculate the interior dimensions of the kitchen and dining room. The kitchen has a depth of 2.85m (9 feet 4 inches), measured where the sink is. From the stairwell wall to the terrace window, it’s 4m (13 feet 1 inch). That means a 1m (3 feet 3 inches) table, chairs pulled out about 80cm (31 inches) each (twice), and if someone is sitting there, that’s 1m (3 feet 3 inches). So when the table is fully occupied, you basically have a 1m (3 feet 3 inches) walkway on each side. Is that really what the floor plan gives the impression of?If a tall cabinet, like the one shown on the floor plan against the stairwell wall (about 40cm (16 inches) deep), is going to be there, then that passage is practically only passable by turning sideways!
Things always look great on floor plans until reality hits.
S
Sparfuchs774 Mar 2020 08:42Zaba12 schrieb:
You’ve got some EL blocks in there, respect! You can actually end up at 1500€/m² (140$/ft²).
But the original poster didn’t mention that. But he also didn’t say that he doesn’t do it. I just wanted to point out under which circumstances it could work. The original poster can then weigh that for themselves.
nordanney schrieb:
What do you want? A great house or a cheap house? Both don’t go together with your wishes. Well, great doesn’t necessarily mean expensive. 1.5 floors with a dormer instead of 2 full floors is similarly priced (at least it was for us), but it looks (to me) much more appealing.
nordanney schrieb:
No, from the outside it looks like a boring box.I don’t find the interior boring at all. However, I am missing the information mentioned to engage in a discussion.
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