ᐅ Questions About Building a House – Tips from Experienced Homeowners
Created on: 12 May 2016 14:43
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Canca42
Hello everyone,
I’m new to the forum and hoping for some helpful tips. We are currently planning a single-family house and have already purchased the plot. At the moment, we have several offers from prefabricated house suppliers as well as one from a solid construction company (in this case, the prices don’t differ much). The crucial question is that the listed price usually isn’t the final price.
So my question is: how much additional cost can one expect for the house alone? Our current budget looks like this: house 230,000 € (approximately $250,000), land 70,000 € (fully serviced), incidental building costs 30,000 € — is this calculation sufficient?
Single-family house, 150 m² (1,615 sq ft), 1.5 stories with knee walls 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in), footprint 9 x 10 m (29.5 x 32.8 ft) — does this even make sense on a plot measuring 22 x 22 m (72 x 72 ft)? We want to build without a basement, so we need storage space. Ground floor: living room, dining room, kitchen, utility room, guest room, WC/shower. Upper floor: 2-bedroom layout, children’s room, master bedroom, bathroom with quarter-turn staircase (any alternative ideas here?). How large should a utility room be? The system will be gas with a heat water tank, ventilation system, and solar heating support... (I’ve read the various opinions on heating systems; for us, it’s also a financial decision. Please no fundamental debates on this topic). The subsidies for heat pumps are really overrated; we are building in Bavaria, where there is the “10,000 houses program,” which was already scaled back a week after the new kfW subsidies came into effect because of overlapping programs... (facepalm)
What else needs to be considered already in the planning phase, aside from surveyors, soil reports, and house connections?
I would appreciate some suggestions on what to think about or what is often overlooked early on but still comes up later.
Thanks in advance. Charly
I’m new to the forum and hoping for some helpful tips. We are currently planning a single-family house and have already purchased the plot. At the moment, we have several offers from prefabricated house suppliers as well as one from a solid construction company (in this case, the prices don’t differ much). The crucial question is that the listed price usually isn’t the final price.
So my question is: how much additional cost can one expect for the house alone? Our current budget looks like this: house 230,000 € (approximately $250,000), land 70,000 € (fully serviced), incidental building costs 30,000 € — is this calculation sufficient?
Single-family house, 150 m² (1,615 sq ft), 1.5 stories with knee walls 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in), footprint 9 x 10 m (29.5 x 32.8 ft) — does this even make sense on a plot measuring 22 x 22 m (72 x 72 ft)? We want to build without a basement, so we need storage space. Ground floor: living room, dining room, kitchen, utility room, guest room, WC/shower. Upper floor: 2-bedroom layout, children’s room, master bedroom, bathroom with quarter-turn staircase (any alternative ideas here?). How large should a utility room be? The system will be gas with a heat water tank, ventilation system, and solar heating support... (I’ve read the various opinions on heating systems; for us, it’s also a financial decision. Please no fundamental debates on this topic). The subsidies for heat pumps are really overrated; we are building in Bavaria, where there is the “10,000 houses program,” which was already scaled back a week after the new kfW subsidies came into effect because of overlapping programs... (facepalm)
What else needs to be considered already in the planning phase, aside from surveyors, soil reports, and house connections?
I would appreciate some suggestions on what to think about or what is often overlooked early on but still comes up later.
Thanks in advance. Charly
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Bauexperte13 May 2016 00:07Tommes78 schrieb:
But there are different ways to calculate area.They aren’t actually that different 😉For you, 154 m² (1660 sq ft) matches the floor area, while for the original poster it should be around 138 m² (1485 sq ft).
Regards, Bauexperte
@oleda & Caspar, thank you for your replies.
By the way, my question was not about whether 9x10 m (30x33 ft) exactly equals 150 m² (1,615 sq ft), but rather whether it might appear too massive on the plot. We don’t want a huge garden, but also not a huge house; this size simply came from our desired floor plan.
I’m uploading the floor plan now and hope for helpful and constructive suggestions, including on the staircase.
The plot is in a newly developed residential area of the municipality, it is relatively flat, and building is allowed up to two stories with SD, vPD, and ? .... I don’t have the building envelope in mind, the setback distances are 3 m (10 ft) according to BayBO. The street and driveway are located to the south, which is why the entrance is on the gable side.
It’s still undecided whether to have a garage or carport; the guest room is intended as an alternative basement room and for overnight stays. Is the utility room adequately sized for all the equipment (gas condensing boiler with solar and ventilation)?
Thanks in advance. Charly
By the way, my question was not about whether 9x10 m (30x33 ft) exactly equals 150 m² (1,615 sq ft), but rather whether it might appear too massive on the plot. We don’t want a huge garden, but also not a huge house; this size simply came from our desired floor plan.
I’m uploading the floor plan now and hope for helpful and constructive suggestions, including on the staircase.
The plot is in a newly developed residential area of the municipality, it is relatively flat, and building is allowed up to two stories with SD, vPD, and ? .... I don’t have the building envelope in mind, the setback distances are 3 m (10 ft) according to BayBO. The street and driveway are located to the south, which is why the entrance is on the gable side.
It’s still undecided whether to have a garage or carport; the guest room is intended as an alternative basement room and for overnight stays. Is the utility room adequately sized for all the equipment (gas condensing boiler with solar and ventilation)?
Thanks in advance. Charly
Don’t worry too much about the bulkiness of the building mass—I might get criticized for this, but I believe concerns like that start at a different price level 😉
Regarding the floor plan:
Ground floor:
I would remove the wall in the cloakroom.
I would rotate the staircase by another quarter turn—the current stair entry isn’t very appealing; additionally, this change would give you more space in the restroom... as it stands, it doesn’t really work well.
The kitchen is quite far away... but okay—based on the dimensions, it clearly isn’t suited for an island -> remove the cloakroom wall and move the kitchen wall upwards to create more space for the kitchen.
I would remove the small protrusion at the utility room... better to have a bit more passage space; a staircase doesn’t have to be unattractive.
The door swing in the office is questionable.
Upper floor:
You certainly won’t fit a bed with two nightstands in a 3.24 m (10 ft 8 in) space—it will be rather cramped.
The walk-in closet is awkward (which is already obvious from the furnishing)—why is there a bush in the room?
The windows in the children’s rooms are poorly positioned, making furnishing difficult. Also, I’m a bit puzzled by the windows cutting through the 2 m (6 ft 7 in) height line...
Regarding the floor plan:
Ground floor:
I would remove the wall in the cloakroom.
I would rotate the staircase by another quarter turn—the current stair entry isn’t very appealing; additionally, this change would give you more space in the restroom... as it stands, it doesn’t really work well.
The kitchen is quite far away... but okay—based on the dimensions, it clearly isn’t suited for an island -> remove the cloakroom wall and move the kitchen wall upwards to create more space for the kitchen.
I would remove the small protrusion at the utility room... better to have a bit more passage space; a staircase doesn’t have to be unattractive.
The door swing in the office is questionable.
Upper floor:
You certainly won’t fit a bed with two nightstands in a 3.24 m (10 ft 8 in) space—it will be rather cramped.
The walk-in closet is awkward (which is already obvious from the furnishing)—why is there a bush in the room?
The windows in the children’s rooms are poorly positioned, making furnishing difficult. Also, I’m a bit puzzled by the windows cutting through the 2 m (6 ft 7 in) height line...
It’s outrageous what the planner was thinking! 🙁
First of all: the staircase takes up too much circulation space; a staircase with a landing is more comfortable and elegant.
Kitchen: for a layout with an island, you need at least 4.50 meters (15 feet) in width.
Here you have 3.12 meters (10 feet 3 inches), subtracting plaster and kitchen cabinets with a depth of 0.65 meters (2 feet 2 inches), leaves 2.42 meters (7 feet 11 inches).
2.42 meters (7 feet 11 inches) minus 2 times 1 meter (3 feet 3 inches) for walkway width leaves a narrow 0.42 meters (16.5 inches) for the island.
Bedroom: the wall next to the bed is 2.80 meters (9 feet 2 inches) up to the dormer.
For a bed about 2 meters (6 feet 7 inches) wide and a minimum of 60 cm (2 feet) clearance at the foot of the bed, there are only about 20 cm (8 inches) left at the head side. The drawn cabinets might actually be shelves; I don’t see space for closet depths of 65-70 cm (26–28 inches) here. Accordingly, the room won’t feel as spacious as it appears in the plan.
By the way, what was your question again?
First of all: the staircase takes up too much circulation space; a staircase with a landing is more comfortable and elegant.
Kitchen: for a layout with an island, you need at least 4.50 meters (15 feet) in width.
Here you have 3.12 meters (10 feet 3 inches), subtracting plaster and kitchen cabinets with a depth of 0.65 meters (2 feet 2 inches), leaves 2.42 meters (7 feet 11 inches).
2.42 meters (7 feet 11 inches) minus 2 times 1 meter (3 feet 3 inches) for walkway width leaves a narrow 0.42 meters (16.5 inches) for the island.
Bedroom: the wall next to the bed is 2.80 meters (9 feet 2 inches) up to the dormer.
For a bed about 2 meters (6 feet 7 inches) wide and a minimum of 60 cm (2 feet) clearance at the foot of the bed, there are only about 20 cm (8 inches) left at the head side. The drawn cabinets might actually be shelves; I don’t see space for closet depths of 65-70 cm (26–28 inches) here. Accordingly, the room won’t feel as spacious as it appears in the plan.
By the way, what was your question again?
The cloakroom with 1.18 meters (3 ft 10 in) is not walk-in if a wardrobe cabinet is placed inside: 1.18 meters minus 60 centimeters (24 inches) leaves less than 60 centimeters (24 inches).
The hallway is a small, arbitrary passage: in an existing house plan, the front door was simply relocated, the rooms arranged in open spaces, and connected by a winding corridor 🙁
The hallway is a small, arbitrary passage: in an existing house plan, the front door was simply relocated, the rooms arranged in open spaces, and connected by a winding corridor 🙁
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