ᐅ Introduction to Building Project, Feedback Welcome, Mediterranean-Style Terrace
Created on: 10 Apr 2015 09:37
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DaGoodness
Hello,
after following the discussions here for a while and as our project is becoming more concrete, I would like to introduce our building project. Comments, suggestions, and advice are of course very welcome.
We are currently waiting for the purchase contract for our plot in the Rhineland.
The total size is 475 sqm (18m wide (59 feet) ... 28m or 23m deep (92 feet or 75 feet) ... the back of the plot slopes diagonally) at 110 €/sqm.
The cost of the land, including additional fees, is about 60,000 €.
The house will be built with an architect who will also manage the entire construction process.
Some information about the house:
- 1 ½ storeys
- pitched roof
- fully brick-clad
- 4 x 9 m (13 x 30 feet) garage
- air source heat pump including mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (combined unit)
- underfloor heating
- electric roller shutters
Total costs including all secondary construction costs are approximately 250,000 €.
Additionally, a new kitchen is planned, costing around 9,000 €–10,000 €.
What has not yet been included are the exterior works. These will be excluded for now.
The plan is to have a terrace in Mediterranean style, with a large paved area at the front and otherwise exclusively lawn.
Attached are the floor plans.
after following the discussions here for a while and as our project is becoming more concrete, I would like to introduce our building project. Comments, suggestions, and advice are of course very welcome.
We are currently waiting for the purchase contract for our plot in the Rhineland.
The total size is 475 sqm (18m wide (59 feet) ... 28m or 23m deep (92 feet or 75 feet) ... the back of the plot slopes diagonally) at 110 €/sqm.
The cost of the land, including additional fees, is about 60,000 €.
The house will be built with an architect who will also manage the entire construction process.
Some information about the house:
- 1 ½ storeys
- pitched roof
- fully brick-clad
- 4 x 9 m (13 x 30 feet) garage
- air source heat pump including mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (combined unit)
- underfloor heating
- electric roller shutters
Total costs including all secondary construction costs are approximately 250,000 €.
Additionally, a new kitchen is planned, costing around 9,000 €–10,000 €.
What has not yet been included are the exterior works. These will be excluded for now.
The plan is to have a terrace in Mediterranean style, with a large paved area at the front and otherwise exclusively lawn.
Attached are the floor plans.
You could, for example, move the staircase forward, which might also allow for a door from the hallway into the study. However, this would of course change all the rooms because the area around the staircase would need to be redesigned.
I find the concept of going from the hallway into the dressing room and then into the bedroom quite nice. We once saw this in a show home, where the bed was placed in the middle of the room against a drywall partition, and behind that wall were wardrobes—one along the drywall and another along the room wall. I thought that looked really good. In a dressing room, you usually have so much space that it never appears untidy.
Edit:
Something like this, for example:
I find the concept of going from the hallway into the dressing room and then into the bedroom quite nice. We once saw this in a show home, where the bed was placed in the middle of the room against a drywall partition, and behind that wall were wardrobes—one along the drywall and another along the room wall. I thought that looked really good. In a dressing room, you usually have so much space that it never appears untidy.
Edit:
Something like this, for example:
B
Bieber081522 Apr 2015 21:51marv45 schrieb:
The home office on the ground floor is probably meant to function as a guest room as well. So where do guests shower, upstairs? By the way, there are four of you and only one shower? We recently stumbled over this question as well. Our conclusions:1.) A home office is a home office, not a guest room. You have to make a clear choice. (If space allows, you can include a pull-out couch, a daybed, or simply leave room for an inflatable mattress in the office. Otherwise, it remains an office and guests sleep in the living room or at a hotel. Our resources are limited, not everything is possible.)
2.) We are planning two floors, with a toilet on each level (as is common in almost every floor plan nowadays). We do not need a second shower on the ground floor. We save the cost and space for this. A shower that does not exist does not need cleaning. Any visitors will use the (only full) bathroom upstairs.
3.) We are four people and plan only one bathroom with shower/washbasin/toilet, plus a guest toilet on the ground floor. We see absolutely no problem with this.
In our rental apartment, there is only one toilet and one bathtub. Incidentally, these are in separate rooms. We do not have a guest room there either, but a home office (no space for a sofa bed there).
This can, of course, be judged differently if guests are regularly accommodated. In my opinion, very few people actually do this consistently.
In about 20 years, one or two children's rooms will become available.
Lexmaul79 schrieb:
If not the bathroom, then what is an intimate area for you? Bedroom, obviously.D
DaGoodness23 Apr 2015 09:09We have now decided against having the walk-in closet. So, the two roof windows will be removed, and instead, like in the children's rooms, a large window will be installed on the side.
Yes, the study is also intended to occasionally serve as a guest room, but only for relatives and quite rarely. Otherwise, I agree completely with Bieber0815. As long as there is only one child, the room would mainly be used as a playroom, and I would set up my workspace in one of the children’s rooms. Once the second child moves into their bedroom, I will set up my work area downstairs. We don’t see the room as a pure “office” but rather as an additional space for a work area, a sleeping option for guests, and storage for toys (since playing will initially mostly happen in the living area and later, when the children are older, in their own rooms).
And I really don’t see having “only” one shower for the four of us as a problem. As I mentioned before, we had two showers at home, but the one on the ground floor was hardly ever used.
But this just shows what “problems” we have here. In other countries, there are people who are grateful just to be able to wash themselves, and here we complain about having to share one shower with guests *shaking head*
Yes, the study is also intended to occasionally serve as a guest room, but only for relatives and quite rarely. Otherwise, I agree completely with Bieber0815. As long as there is only one child, the room would mainly be used as a playroom, and I would set up my workspace in one of the children’s rooms. Once the second child moves into their bedroom, I will set up my work area downstairs. We don’t see the room as a pure “office” but rather as an additional space for a work area, a sleeping option for guests, and storage for toys (since playing will initially mostly happen in the living area and later, when the children are older, in their own rooms).
And I really don’t see having “only” one shower for the four of us as a problem. As I mentioned before, we had two showers at home, but the one on the ground floor was hardly ever used.
But this just shows what “problems” we have here. In other countries, there are people who are grateful just to be able to wash themselves, and here we complain about having to share one shower with guests *shaking head*
D
DaGoodness19 Mar 2016 19:52So... since my last post in this forum, I have mostly been a silent reader, but I wanted to give a brief update on the costs before moving into our house. It was already predicted that we wouldn’t meet our budget, and I promised Yvonne in a post on the previous page that I would provide some feedback.
We will move in three weeks, and the final work is currently being completed. A few invoices are still expected, but their amounts are already known.
Overall, we ended up just under our budget with about 245,000€ (approximately $260,000) for the house including ancillary construction costs.
This even includes the painting work we did ourselves (paint and other materials), which was not planned for at the beginning. Also, some extras were added during the construction phase, causing some trades to become more expensive than initially calculated. Luckily, other trades turned out to be cheaper than expected.
Including the plot of land (60,000€ (about $63,000)) and a new kitchen costing 9,500€ (around $10,000), we will now move into our new home with a total of approximately 315,000€ (roughly $335,000).
What still remains is the landscaping, for which we are budgeting an additional 15,000€ (around $16,000).
We are really looking forward to moving in!
We will move in three weeks, and the final work is currently being completed. A few invoices are still expected, but their amounts are already known.
Overall, we ended up just under our budget with about 245,000€ (approximately $260,000) for the house including ancillary construction costs.
This even includes the painting work we did ourselves (paint and other materials), which was not planned for at the beginning. Also, some extras were added during the construction phase, causing some trades to become more expensive than initially calculated. Luckily, other trades turned out to be cheaper than expected.
Including the plot of land (60,000€ (about $63,000)) and a new kitchen costing 9,500€ (around $10,000), we will now move into our new home with a total of approximately 315,000€ (roughly $335,000).
What still remains is the landscaping, for which we are budgeting an additional 15,000€ (around $16,000).
We are really looking forward to moving in!
Thank you for your feedback regarding the construction costs. I think it’s good to see such positive results overall. I hope the quality hasn’t suffered as a result.
You will surely be happy in your new home—you were quite practical with your wishes. By the way, I sometimes wish we had a door from the office to the living room. Due to space constraints, that wasn’t possible. But I do appreciate being close to the rest of the family when sitting at the computer. The few guests we have each year can also be guided through the living room and into the upstairs bathroom.
I still don’t like the sloped walls, though.
Good luck in your new home!
You will surely be happy in your new home—you were quite practical with your wishes. By the way, I sometimes wish we had a door from the office to the living room. Due to space constraints, that wasn’t possible. But I do appreciate being close to the rest of the family when sitting at the computer. The few guests we have each year can also be guided through the living room and into the upstairs bathroom.
I still don’t like the sloped walls, though.
Good luck in your new home!
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