ᐅ Planning a single-family house (basement + ground floor + upper floor) on a 480 m² plot
Created on: 19 Jan 2022 17:37
E
Elias_dee
Hello! In another thread, I was advised to present my project here. First of all, we are still at the very beginning of the planning process, have luckily secured a plot of land, and now need to study everything carefully. Tips, criticism, suggestions, etc., are always welcome.
Here are "our" key data:
- We are 2 adults, no children, and none planned for the time being
- Electricity consumption: about 3,000 - 3,500 kWh
- Hot water consumption: I don’t have exact data right now, but it’s rather high because we shower with warm water every day
- Fairly handy, so we would like to do at least the painting ourselves (interior + exterior), lay floor coverings (except tiles), and do the garden completely ourselves (we already have experience in all these areas)
Here are the key data for the plot:
- Plot size 480 m² (5,167 ft²)
- New development area
- 2 parking spaces required
- 2 full floors mandatory according to the development plan / zoning plan (building permit / planning permission)
- Ridge direction East-West, renewable energy preferred according to the development plan, photovoltaic as an independent roofing layer is possible
And here is what we want for the house:
- Ground floor with living room, kitchen, guest room, and bathroom with shower
- Upper floor with bedroom, walk-in closet, bathroom with shower, office 1, office 2
- Basement with technical room, utility room, possibly sauna and fitness area, but this might shift to just fitness + sauna in the garden
- Central long straight staircase as a design element
- About 80 m² (860 ft²) living space per floor
- Garage: We want an attached (prefabricated?) garage with direct access to the house plus a carport on the opposite side of the house (unfortunately required by the development/zoning plan)
According to the current plan (but I am still very uncertain here, so criticism is always welcome):
- Build according to KfW55 standard, even if there is no subsidy, or at least close to it—KfW40 does not seem worthwhile to me
- Natural gas connection is already laid to the plot, so my current preference is natural gas heating combined with solar thermal energy (for hot water and heating)
- Photovoltaics are currently not planned, as I don’t see the advantage given the low feed-in tariff
- A ventilation system, although I’m not sure yet if it should be central or decentralized
I can’t think of anything else at the moment—comments on anything are always welcome.
Thanks and best regards!
Elias_dee
Here are "our" key data:
- We are 2 adults, no children, and none planned for the time being
- Electricity consumption: about 3,000 - 3,500 kWh
- Hot water consumption: I don’t have exact data right now, but it’s rather high because we shower with warm water every day
- Fairly handy, so we would like to do at least the painting ourselves (interior + exterior), lay floor coverings (except tiles), and do the garden completely ourselves (we already have experience in all these areas)
Here are the key data for the plot:
- Plot size 480 m² (5,167 ft²)
- New development area
- 2 parking spaces required
- 2 full floors mandatory according to the development plan / zoning plan (building permit / planning permission)
- Ridge direction East-West, renewable energy preferred according to the development plan, photovoltaic as an independent roofing layer is possible
And here is what we want for the house:
- Ground floor with living room, kitchen, guest room, and bathroom with shower
- Upper floor with bedroom, walk-in closet, bathroom with shower, office 1, office 2
- Basement with technical room, utility room, possibly sauna and fitness area, but this might shift to just fitness + sauna in the garden
- Central long straight staircase as a design element
- About 80 m² (860 ft²) living space per floor
- Garage: We want an attached (prefabricated?) garage with direct access to the house plus a carport on the opposite side of the house (unfortunately required by the development/zoning plan)
According to the current plan (but I am still very uncertain here, so criticism is always welcome):
- Build according to KfW55 standard, even if there is no subsidy, or at least close to it—KfW40 does not seem worthwhile to me
- Natural gas connection is already laid to the plot, so my current preference is natural gas heating combined with solar thermal energy (for hot water and heating)
- Photovoltaics are currently not planned, as I don’t see the advantage given the low feed-in tariff
- A ventilation system, although I’m not sure yet if it should be central or decentralized
I can’t think of anything else at the moment—comments on anything are always welcome.
Thanks and best regards!
Elias_dee
soneva2012 schrieb:
that many people don’t feel like it.... or don’t have the time.Elias_dee schrieb:
Hello! In another thread, I was advised to introduce my project here.Actually, you don’t have a project yet. At most, just an idea. I hope this won’t turn into a controlled ventilation/40/55-point-worthless-or-not thread; we already have enough of those.
Here’s a tip: be flexible and, for example, don’t plan around this connecting door between the prefabricated garage and the house at some point.
It hardly provides any benefit, is barely used with tight garages, and is overrated...
As for the basement: it’s a matter of cost. It’s not free!
I’m surprised about the idea of a sauna when not a single brushstroke has been made and no site plan has been shared here yet.
soneva2012 schrieb:
A straight staircase in an 80m2 (860 sq ft) living area on the ground floor will be difficult and will probably ruin the floor plan. Ours is over 4m (13 ft) long – it takes up a lot of space, and if it is intended as a design element, it needs even more space to make an impact. A straight flight of stairs uses just under 30m2 (320 sq ft) for the viewing distance of impressed admirers and the circulation space from the landing to the next floor’s stair starting point. This does not even include the additional space demands from rooms awkwardly relocated out of respect.
Deliverer schrieb:
Currently, gas is being phased out so that heat pumps can be installed instead. This is even subsidized. I don’t want to say outright that all subsidies are pointless – but strangely enough ;-) two types of things receive the most or most generous subsidies:
1. Things that thoughtful users would never have preferred over other options anyway – almost like a bribe;
2. Things that wealthy people would have bought even without financial incentives – so that they can then spend the money in other ways, since investing is only half of (economic) life.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Better to go for photovoltaic than solar thermal.
Using gas is an option. It will soon become "green," and electricity prices are also rising. Above all, you always have full power and efficiency at any temperature.
In the garden, plan for a large cistern, electricity for the pump and robotic mower, control lines for irrigation, cistern refilling, LAN cable for Wi-Fi, etc. Make sure to allow enough penetrations for these.
You will never get it as easy as with a new installation.
Using gas is an option. It will soon become "green," and electricity prices are also rising. Above all, you always have full power and efficiency at any temperature.
In the garden, plan for a large cistern, electricity for the pump and robotic mower, control lines for irrigation, cistern refilling, LAN cable for Wi-Fi, etc. Make sure to allow enough penetrations for these.
You will never get it as easy as with a new installation.
E
Elias_dee20 Jan 2022 09:07Good morning and thank you all for the responses and the many great ideas! Just based on your posts, I have already changed my plan and discussed it with a friend who is an architect last night. There are really a lot of good tips.
@11ant: Yes, two full stories are indeed mandatory. But that’s fine and that’s what we want anyway. No, the building permit / planning permission does not require a door between the garage and the house, only the two parking spaces. However, my architect advised me against the door yesterday. She said I should rather plan a door from the back of the garage to the garden.
@soneva2012: You’re right, the straight staircase might actually be a bit inconvenient. I might have to rework that. The question about the ventilation system is a good one—why do we want it? Because it was recommended to us by friends. However, some here in the forum warned against it, and our architect also said yesterday that we should skip it and rely on good old ventilation by opening windows. We will probably do that. Regarding the sauna, you’re right: we’ve already given up on the basement. The sauna will most likely go into the bathroom on the upper floor. As you also suggested, we are planning a somewhat larger “wellness” bathroom upstairs, and since the living room will have a bay window anyway, we will add a balcony with direct access from the bathroom (according to the current plan).
@Deliverer: Thanks for the tip. The issue with gas is correct; the architect also talked me out of it yesterday. I really have to look into the topic of passive construction first. She recommended geothermal energy yesterday, but I first need to find out if that even works at this location. Since you mentioned photovoltaics: I still need to run the numbers again. I thought the ever-decreasing feed-in tariff means the system does NOT pay for itself?
@face26: The plot is 480 m² (about 18.5 by 26 meters), a slight slope that can be leveled, located near a small town, €330 / m². Our approach: architect, solid construction, as turnkey as possible (simply because we cannot be on site every day and want everything from a single source). Budget is about €150,000 for the land and €650,000 for the house (but including everything like kitchen, sauna, etc.). Thanks also for the tip regarding gas.
@ypg: Thanks for the tip about the connecting door; that was just an extra I would have liked, but as I said, the architect already talked me out of that. Why do you think I shouldn’t plan a sauna in my house? We have been searching for a plot for a while and have already created MANY rough sketches and drafts on the computer, so we have definitely spent many hours on this subject. I just haven’t posted anything in the forum yet, but that will definitely come once the project is a bit more “mature.” I am aware that a basement nowadays costs €60,000 to €90,000, but still, I want it for several reasons.
@11ant: You wrote again about the staircase—I really need to think about that again. We can still push the building envelope a bit and make the house a little bigger; maybe that would be better for the straight staircase (or it might just be dropped, as it’s not mandatory).
@rick2018: Thanks to you as well. We had already considered many of those things, and according to the current plan, it looks like this: definitely a rainwater cistern, probably no robotic lawn mower, the network is already more or less planned since I’m familiar with it, irrigation: good point, I haven’t thought about that yet.
@11ant: Yes, two full stories are indeed mandatory. But that’s fine and that’s what we want anyway. No, the building permit / planning permission does not require a door between the garage and the house, only the two parking spaces. However, my architect advised me against the door yesterday. She said I should rather plan a door from the back of the garage to the garden.
@soneva2012: You’re right, the straight staircase might actually be a bit inconvenient. I might have to rework that. The question about the ventilation system is a good one—why do we want it? Because it was recommended to us by friends. However, some here in the forum warned against it, and our architect also said yesterday that we should skip it and rely on good old ventilation by opening windows. We will probably do that. Regarding the sauna, you’re right: we’ve already given up on the basement. The sauna will most likely go into the bathroom on the upper floor. As you also suggested, we are planning a somewhat larger “wellness” bathroom upstairs, and since the living room will have a bay window anyway, we will add a balcony with direct access from the bathroom (according to the current plan).
@Deliverer: Thanks for the tip. The issue with gas is correct; the architect also talked me out of it yesterday. I really have to look into the topic of passive construction first. She recommended geothermal energy yesterday, but I first need to find out if that even works at this location. Since you mentioned photovoltaics: I still need to run the numbers again. I thought the ever-decreasing feed-in tariff means the system does NOT pay for itself?
@face26: The plot is 480 m² (about 18.5 by 26 meters), a slight slope that can be leveled, located near a small town, €330 / m². Our approach: architect, solid construction, as turnkey as possible (simply because we cannot be on site every day and want everything from a single source). Budget is about €150,000 for the land and €650,000 for the house (but including everything like kitchen, sauna, etc.). Thanks also for the tip regarding gas.
@ypg: Thanks for the tip about the connecting door; that was just an extra I would have liked, but as I said, the architect already talked me out of that. Why do you think I shouldn’t plan a sauna in my house? We have been searching for a plot for a while and have already created MANY rough sketches and drafts on the computer, so we have definitely spent many hours on this subject. I just haven’t posted anything in the forum yet, but that will definitely come once the project is a bit more “mature.” I am aware that a basement nowadays costs €60,000 to €90,000, but still, I want it for several reasons.
@11ant: You wrote again about the staircase—I really need to think about that again. We can still push the building envelope a bit and make the house a little bigger; maybe that would be better for the straight staircase (or it might just be dropped, as it’s not mandatory).
@rick2018: Thanks to you as well. We had already considered many of those things, and according to the current plan, it looks like this: definitely a rainwater cistern, probably no robotic lawn mower, the network is already more or less planned since I’m familiar with it, irrigation: good point, I haven’t thought about that yet.
Are you planning for two people or for a whole family?
Why does the architect advise against an air ventilation system? Of course, it costs money upfront, but it provides a lot of comfort and prevents your house from cooling down during winter. You can still open the windows whenever you want. You need to manually exchange the entire air—and therefore heat—inside the house at least three times a day.
In Bavaria, a budget including a basement seems tight. Not impossible, but definitely not generous.
Consider whether you might want to plan the sauna above ground instead.
Why does the architect advise against an air ventilation system? Of course, it costs money upfront, but it provides a lot of comfort and prevents your house from cooling down during winter. You can still open the windows whenever you want. You need to manually exchange the entire air—and therefore heat—inside the house at least three times a day.
In Bavaria, a budget including a basement seems tight. Not impossible, but definitely not generous.
Consider whether you might want to plan the sauna above ground instead.
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