ᐅ Questions About Building a House – Tips from Experienced Homeowners
Created on: 12 May 2016 14:43
C
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
Regarding your questions in #1:
A technical room of 9 m² (approximately 97 sq ft) is completely sufficient (6 m² (65 sq ft) for technical equipment plus 3 m² (32 sq ft) for storage of drinks and supplies). However, a storage room in the garage or carport would be useful to keep the lawnmower and all that stuff. A storage or utility room on the upper floor would be valuable for seasonal storage, laundry, and cleaning supplies.
For a wardrobe, a small room or large built-in closet would be ideal. Additionally, a storage space can be planned under the stairs.
A technical room of 9 m² (approximately 97 sq ft) is completely sufficient (6 m² (65 sq ft) for technical equipment plus 3 m² (32 sq ft) for storage of drinks and supplies). However, a storage room in the garage or carport would be useful to keep the lawnmower and all that stuff. A storage or utility room on the upper floor would be valuable for seasonal storage, laundry, and cleaning supplies.
For a wardrobe, a small room or large built-in closet would be ideal. Additionally, a storage space can be planned under the stairs.
BeHaElJa schrieb:
Really? But nothing fits in there either... the kitchen is even more awkward, the cloakroom and the toilet are just as unusable... the bedroom door is less than 60 cm (24 inches) from the wall, and so on.Potential for improvement due to a much better staircase location 🙂
For example like this, but many other options are also possible
Hello Yvonne, hello BeHaElj,
thank you for the feedback. I was a bit surprised that the criticism of the floor plan turned out to be so "harsh." Until now, the floor plan seemed logical to us.
@ypg you are right, I will have to redraw a site plan based on your suggestions. It seems a complete restart/redesign is unavoidable. I would like to involve an external planner, but the problem is the costs – our budget is very limited.
Thanks also for the sketch, that is a good idea – we were also unsure about the overall shape (square versus rectangle). Should we really move away from considering the south side as the main facade and rather plan to focus on the west? What is the most practical way to arrange the rooms? Should the north side not be neglected entirely? In our case, the neighboring properties have their south sides facing north.
Thanks again for the assessments, it’s great that forums like this exist….
Best regards, Charly
thank you for the feedback. I was a bit surprised that the criticism of the floor plan turned out to be so "harsh." Until now, the floor plan seemed logical to us.
@ypg you are right, I will have to redraw a site plan based on your suggestions. It seems a complete restart/redesign is unavoidable. I would like to involve an external planner, but the problem is the costs – our budget is very limited.
Thanks also for the sketch, that is a good idea – we were also unsure about the overall shape (square versus rectangle). Should we really move away from considering the south side as the main facade and rather plan to focus on the west? What is the most practical way to arrange the rooms? Should the north side not be neglected entirely? In our case, the neighboring properties have their south sides facing north.
Thanks again for the assessments, it’s great that forums like this exist….
Best regards, Charly
My sketch is a standard floor plan that you can get inexpensively from many home builders.
A west-facing garden gets enough sunlight. The north side will also receive sunlight, but natural light will be somewhat reduced in those rooms. An office and a west-facing living room can still work well in such locations.
Draw your plot including neighboring buildings and consider where you want natural light inside as well as quiet or social areas in the garden.
A west-facing garden gets enough sunlight. The north side will also receive sunlight, but natural light will be somewhat reduced in those rooms. An office and a west-facing living room can still work well in such locations.
Draw your plot including neighboring buildings and consider where you want natural light inside as well as quiet or social areas in the garden.
Similar topics