ᐅ Planning a single-family house (basement + ground floor + upper floor) on a 480 m² plot
Created on: 19 Jan 2022 17:37
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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
E
Elias_dee20 Jan 2022 09:22haydee schrieb:
Are you planning now for 2 people or for a family?
Why does the architect advise against a ventilation system? Of course, it costs money upfront, but it offers a lot of comfort and prevents your house from cooling down in winter. You can still open windows if you want. You have to manually exchange the entire air and therefore heat in the house at least 3 times a day.
In Bavaria, a budget with a basement seems tight. Not impossible, but it’s not generous.
Consider whether you’d rather plan the sauna above ground.We are planning for 2, why? Do you think it’s too much space? As described in the first post, there are two of us. We currently work, and hopefully will continue to work largely from home, so we need two offices.
The ventilation system issue feels a bit like a matter of belief... she says it costs money, requires maintenance, can break down, and you have to drill holes in the house for the individual units, which can also lead to energy losses. I think she’s not entirely wrong. I have lived in rental apartments without ventilation systems my whole life and have managed well with regular airing. But I definitely need to read up on it some more.
Oh, and check my previous post, the sauna has already been moved to the upper floor.
D
Deliverer20 Jan 2022 09:30Elias_dee schrieb:
However, some people in this forum have advised against it, and our architect also said yesterday that we should skip it and rely on traditional ventilation. There aren’t that many here advising against it. My impression is that the general consensus in the forum is clearly in favor of controlled residential ventilation. It’s not just about comfort, heating cost savings, and building protection. It’s also about CO2 levels in bedrooms and children’s rooms. It concerns pollutants from building materials and new furniture. It’s about dust and pollen entering through windows. A new building is almost airtight; there are no breathable walls. Don’t forget that, and make sure to read up on the topic a bit before trusting your architect, who probably just doesn’t feel like dealing with the extra planning effort.
Elias_dee schrieb:
I actually need to learn more about passive building. If you already have an architect on board, it probably won’t happen: passive building almost always means prefab houses. But of course, you can also build solid walls with insulation so good that your heating costs are very, very low. The better the insulation, the more you can cover yourself with (large) photovoltaic panels.
Elias_dee schrieb:
She recommended geothermal heating yesterday, For a new building not located high up in the mountains, that probably doesn’t pay off. New air-to-water heat pumps are hardly less efficient than ground-source heat pumps. But in principle, there’s nothing wrong with it, of course. Oh, and it’s often more space-saving as well.
Elias_dee schrieb:
I still need to crunch the numbers. Do that when you’re finalizing the roof design. Everything is still up in the air for now, and Habeck has to deliver first.
Good luck going forward.
I missed the part about the sauna on the upper floor.
No, I don’t think it’s too large. It’s hard to discuss without a floor plan. Wellness and fitness are important to you. The sauna is now upstairs, so I would also plan the fitness area upstairs. I find it more pleasant to look outside than at a wall. If possible, try to place the technical rooms on the ground floor and the fitness area upstairs. That could save you a few euros on the basement. Of course, it depends on how sloped the site is. Discuss this with your architect.
Modern houses are very airtight, even without a ventilation system. You can’t compare this to rental apartments, which are usually older. With a central ventilation system, you have two openings in the house: one for supply air and one for exhaust air. Maintenance is regular filter changes—about as easy as changing a light bulb. For major issues, yes, you will need a service technician eventually. Heat recovery is a big energy advantage; the luxury of constant air exchange means no fogged-up windows after showering, and no musty bedrooms in the morning. We have one because we built a passive house and don’t want to miss it. Windows are still opened, especially in spring when the air just smells nice. Just do some research. You’ll find plenty of information about this here in the forum.
No, I don’t think it’s too large. It’s hard to discuss without a floor plan. Wellness and fitness are important to you. The sauna is now upstairs, so I would also plan the fitness area upstairs. I find it more pleasant to look outside than at a wall. If possible, try to place the technical rooms on the ground floor and the fitness area upstairs. That could save you a few euros on the basement. Of course, it depends on how sloped the site is. Discuss this with your architect.
Modern houses are very airtight, even without a ventilation system. You can’t compare this to rental apartments, which are usually older. With a central ventilation system, you have two openings in the house: one for supply air and one for exhaust air. Maintenance is regular filter changes—about as easy as changing a light bulb. For major issues, yes, you will need a service technician eventually. Heat recovery is a big energy advantage; the luxury of constant air exchange means no fogged-up windows after showering, and no musty bedrooms in the morning. We have one because we built a passive house and don’t want to miss it. Windows are still opened, especially in spring when the air just smells nice. Just do some research. You’ll find plenty of information about this here in the forum.
First of all, I think it’s great that you are approaching this so constructively.
Before you get too caught up in individual details, start from the beginning.
Plot of land:
Slight slope. Define that a bit more. You wouldn’t be the first to imagine just filling in a bit and thinking everything will be fine. A (slight) slope could, on the other hand, argue for having a basement and, with clever planning, also provide a good opportunity to bring light into the basement… a light well, for example, which with retaining walls, etc., costs a lot of money. Also, some filling of the land. Our plot dimensions are very similar—slightly smaller—and the retaining/filling plus wall are not free.
Budget:
In Bavaria (BY), prices are very high. Around €330 per square meter (not in the super-expensive areas, but also quite different from structurally weak rural regions in the northeast or similar).
Your calculation with your requirements will be very tight!
A quick rough estimate.
Plot (including purchase-related costs) approx. 165,000€
House 160m² (1722 sq ft) x €2,500 approx. 400,000€
Here in the forum, people like to calculate €2,500 per m² as a baseline. Normal standard, usually plus floors and painting. No special extras. Bavaria usually even more expensive.
Basement approx. 120,000€ (especially if not just a utility basement)
Additional construction costs 50,000€ (earthworks, connections, etc.)
Garage 20,000€
Carport 15,000€
Kitchen, furniture, lighting, etc. 30,000€
Outdoor facilities (slope???) 30,000€
Subtotal: 830,000€
So we are already 30,000€ over your budget. And in some cases, I have even calculated on the lower side for Bavaria. You still have the question mark regarding the slope, no sauna yet, no fitness room, no extras in electrics or plumbing, no electric blinds/smart home or anything else... Edit: Also missing are passive house standards and geothermal heating.
By the way, no ventilation system either—which, by the way, I would consider a much higher priority than a sauna.
Yes, mainly comfort. But don’t compare your usage habits from a rented apartment (old building?) to your detached house.
New houses are really airtight. You would have to run two or rather three times a day across three floors opening everything up and then closing it again later. Do you really want to do that every day? Or the bedroom. In a new build with closed windows, you’ll wake up feeling like you’re in a puma cage the next morning. Of course, you can sleep with tilted windows, but whether that makes sense energetically in winter… just read up on it. You can add a garden sauna later. With your budget, I don’t see it happening in the bathroom anyway.
Therefore, it’s good that you’re starting to get involved early here. My advice remains… start at the beginning. Budget and plot of land.
Before you get too caught up in individual details, start from the beginning.
Plot of land:
Slight slope. Define that a bit more. You wouldn’t be the first to imagine just filling in a bit and thinking everything will be fine. A (slight) slope could, on the other hand, argue for having a basement and, with clever planning, also provide a good opportunity to bring light into the basement… a light well, for example, which with retaining walls, etc., costs a lot of money. Also, some filling of the land. Our plot dimensions are very similar—slightly smaller—and the retaining/filling plus wall are not free.
Budget:
In Bavaria (BY), prices are very high. Around €330 per square meter (not in the super-expensive areas, but also quite different from structurally weak rural regions in the northeast or similar).
Your calculation with your requirements will be very tight!
A quick rough estimate.
Plot (including purchase-related costs) approx. 165,000€
House 160m² (1722 sq ft) x €2,500 approx. 400,000€
Here in the forum, people like to calculate €2,500 per m² as a baseline. Normal standard, usually plus floors and painting. No special extras. Bavaria usually even more expensive.
Basement approx. 120,000€ (especially if not just a utility basement)
Additional construction costs 50,000€ (earthworks, connections, etc.)
Garage 20,000€
Carport 15,000€
Kitchen, furniture, lighting, etc. 30,000€
Outdoor facilities (slope???) 30,000€
Subtotal: 830,000€
So we are already 30,000€ over your budget. And in some cases, I have even calculated on the lower side for Bavaria. You still have the question mark regarding the slope, no sauna yet, no fitness room, no extras in electrics or plumbing, no electric blinds/smart home or anything else... Edit: Also missing are passive house standards and geothermal heating.
By the way, no ventilation system either—which, by the way, I would consider a much higher priority than a sauna.
Yes, mainly comfort. But don’t compare your usage habits from a rented apartment (old building?) to your detached house.
New houses are really airtight. You would have to run two or rather three times a day across three floors opening everything up and then closing it again later. Do you really want to do that every day? Or the bedroom. In a new build with closed windows, you’ll wake up feeling like you’re in a puma cage the next morning. Of course, you can sleep with tilted windows, but whether that makes sense energetically in winter… just read up on it. You can add a garden sauna later. With your budget, I don’t see it happening in the bathroom anyway.
Therefore, it’s good that you’re starting to get involved early here. My advice remains… start at the beginning. Budget and plot of land.
In my old house, I had a sauna plus a bathroom in the basement, and it was really beautifully done. It felt very comfortable, and of course, there was plenty of space, including for lounge chairs, a fountain, and more. There was also a staircase leading to the garden.
In the new house, we had enough space in the upstairs bathroom, so we installed the sauna there. Lounge chairs still don’t fit, but we have a small balcony off the bathroom, and then we just relax on the bed or the sofa in the guest room upstairs. These rooms are right next to each other. This decision saved us from adding an extra bathroom in the basement and from the complex design work of creating a nice wellness area. A sauna without a bathroom just doesn’t work! The garden needs to be well screened if you’re going to walk around in a bathrobe. Also, the shower shouldn’t be a whole floor away, so you don’t have to walk dripping with sweat up the stairs.
We have our fitness area in the basement, which is great, especially in summer. It’s always nice and cool down there, making it perfect for working out. I just turn on the light and that’s it... Upstairs would be too warm for me in summer.
In the new house, we had enough space in the upstairs bathroom, so we installed the sauna there. Lounge chairs still don’t fit, but we have a small balcony off the bathroom, and then we just relax on the bed or the sofa in the guest room upstairs. These rooms are right next to each other. This decision saved us from adding an extra bathroom in the basement and from the complex design work of creating a nice wellness area. A sauna without a bathroom just doesn’t work! The garden needs to be well screened if you’re going to walk around in a bathrobe. Also, the shower shouldn’t be a whole floor away, so you don’t have to walk dripping with sweat up the stairs.
We have our fitness area in the basement, which is great, especially in summer. It’s always nice and cool down there, making it perfect for working out. I just turn on the light and that’s it... Upstairs would be too warm for me in summer.
Elias_dee schrieb:
The ventilation system issue feels a bit like a matter of belief... she says it costs money, requires maintenance, can break down, and you have to drill holes into the house for the individual components, where energy can also escape. There are no holes where energy could escape.
A clear advantage: always fresh air without bringing cold air into the house by opening windows.
Elias_dee schrieb:
I have always lived in rental apartments without ventilation systems and managed just fine by airing out the rooms. New buildings are very airtight and not comparable to older existing houses.
For a slope, a basement is naturally very suitable and also provides some nice usable space, for example with a wellness room.
However, I understood that you are still very early in the process and have not yet put any ideas on paper. If there is a plan, please share it here 🙂
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