ᐅ Realistic Cost Estimate: Single-Family Home with Challenging Site Access
Created on: 20 Jan 2023 10:50
S
schmeissrein
Hello everyone,
I have been following this forum for a while and first of all, a big thank you to everyone who shares their advice here and sometimes also speaks hard truths. I didn’t originally want to create a new thread but intended to form an opinion based on other discussions. However, you convinced me that this building project is too individual for that. So here is our plan:
- Building a new single-family house in the far north of Germany (Schleswig-Flensburg region).
- Plot size is over 1000sqm (10,764 sq ft).
- Total square meters are not so important as long as the layout works.
- Basement is not planned.
What we would like:
- Open-plan kitchen-living area of at least 36m² (388 sq ft).
- Guest room (at least 10m² / 108 sq ft) and small guest bathroom with shower on the ground floor, so that in old age, with disability, or a broken leg, the ground floor can be used independently and possibly serve as a bedroom.
- Utility room / storage room / pantry with heat pump of at least 8m² (86 sq ft) (KfW 40 standard would be great, of course).
- Upper floor with three rooms (1 office, 1 master bedroom, 1 child’s room) each at least 14m² (151 sq ft) and one bathroom. Our dream would be a “walk-in” (what a silly word – aren’t all showers walk-in?) shower to avoid having to clean those limescale-rusty, annoying shower enclosures.
- We could contribute labor for garden landscaping and painting/wallpapering; otherwise, we would prefer a turnkey build.
As for the house style, regionally typical Frisian houses or captain’s houses (with all the “cute” features like small gables, etc.) are in consideration, or also not completely unimaginative “normal” single-family houses. We are not afraid of Bauhaus-style concrete marvels either, but those tend to be more expensive. In terms of fittings, no “gold-plated faucets” and no smart home – but decent and presentable.
The big BUT: the plot is not connected to utilities, and the distance to the street is about 65m (213 ft), of which 50m (164 ft) is a paved driveway and paved parking area that would have to be dug up (across another property). The connection costs and incidental construction costs worry us quite a bit. Does anyone have experience with such a “mammoth connection” for a relatively small building project? What realistic costs should we expect for both?
We would greatly appreciate any thoughts on this project, thank you very much in advance!
I have been following this forum for a while and first of all, a big thank you to everyone who shares their advice here and sometimes also speaks hard truths. I didn’t originally want to create a new thread but intended to form an opinion based on other discussions. However, you convinced me that this building project is too individual for that. So here is our plan:
- Building a new single-family house in the far north of Germany (Schleswig-Flensburg region).
- Plot size is over 1000sqm (10,764 sq ft).
- Total square meters are not so important as long as the layout works.
- Basement is not planned.
What we would like:
- Open-plan kitchen-living area of at least 36m² (388 sq ft).
- Guest room (at least 10m² / 108 sq ft) and small guest bathroom with shower on the ground floor, so that in old age, with disability, or a broken leg, the ground floor can be used independently and possibly serve as a bedroom.
- Utility room / storage room / pantry with heat pump of at least 8m² (86 sq ft) (KfW 40 standard would be great, of course).
- Upper floor with three rooms (1 office, 1 master bedroom, 1 child’s room) each at least 14m² (151 sq ft) and one bathroom. Our dream would be a “walk-in” (what a silly word – aren’t all showers walk-in?) shower to avoid having to clean those limescale-rusty, annoying shower enclosures.
- We could contribute labor for garden landscaping and painting/wallpapering; otherwise, we would prefer a turnkey build.
As for the house style, regionally typical Frisian houses or captain’s houses (with all the “cute” features like small gables, etc.) are in consideration, or also not completely unimaginative “normal” single-family houses. We are not afraid of Bauhaus-style concrete marvels either, but those tend to be more expensive. In terms of fittings, no “gold-plated faucets” and no smart home – but decent and presentable.
The big BUT: the plot is not connected to utilities, and the distance to the street is about 65m (213 ft), of which 50m (164 ft) is a paved driveway and paved parking area that would have to be dug up (across another property). The connection costs and incidental construction costs worry us quite a bit. Does anyone have experience with such a “mammoth connection” for a relatively small building project? What realistic costs should we expect for both?
We would greatly appreciate any thoughts on this project, thank you very much in advance!
This is one of the finished drafts from the general contractor; the adjustments for us will follow. Thanks in advance for your feedback! We find having the utility room next to the kitchen quite practical because groceries can be distributed quickly and easily from the main entrance directly to the utility room (storage shelves) and the kitchen.
@SoL
Exactly, we also think the master bedroom is very large; we would probably use it as a children’s room or slightly redistribute the room sizes. We really don’t need that much space. The room around the guest toilet will be extended, precisely for the reason you mentioned. 😀
@WilderSueden
We will definitely follow through with the dining area; I’m also very curious whether it fits comfortably. The freestanding stove in the middle of the room would be removed in our case.
@SoL
Exactly, we also think the master bedroom is very large; we would probably use it as a children’s room or slightly redistribute the room sizes. We really don’t need that much space. The room around the guest toilet will be extended, precisely for the reason you mentioned. 😀
@WilderSueden
We will definitely follow through with the dining area; I’m also very curious whether it fits comfortably. The freestanding stove in the middle of the room would be removed in our case.
WilderSueden schrieb:
Does the utility room have a window?No, it has a secondary entrance door, but no window.W
WilderSueden27 Jan 2023 11:53Don’t underestimate how much space all the building services equipment requires. The walls can fill up quickly, plus you have the washing machine and so on. When in doubt, I’d rather plan for more space in the kitchen than squeeze myself between the wall and the washing machine.
schmeissrein schrieb:Then just remove it right away, if needed by yourself with Paint or a pen on the printed plan. Discussions about floor plans are pointless if the actual build turns out completely different.
That would be removed in our case.
SoL schrieb:True, I had overlooked the NET.
No, it has a side entrance door but no window.
H
hanghaus202327 Jan 2023 12:33No drama, ladies! Of course, you can integrate a window into a secondary entrance door, not just use it as a casual conversation door.
But please, not with this general contractor—I never thought they were this incompetent. This is such a disaster; you don’t need a production home for this kind of apprentice-level joke. The highlight of a production home should be the level of refinement, which is clearly missing here—I’ll give a few examples (without claiming completeness): the difference between 9.20 meters (30 feet 2 inches) and 10.60 meters (34 feet 9 inches) is 1.40 meters (4 feet 7 inches)—not divisible by typical module sizes, so we’re looking at hack jobs with filler spaces. In the bathrooms, it seems that stud walls were not consistently planned, which leads to drywall bulges like those seen by @chrisw81. Both children’s rooms have unclear ventilation ducts (?) without coordination with the ground floor…
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
schmeissrein schrieb:
This is one of the finalized designs from the general contractor, the adjustments for us would still follow.
But please, not with this general contractor—I never thought they were this incompetent. This is such a disaster; you don’t need a production home for this kind of apprentice-level joke. The highlight of a production home should be the level of refinement, which is clearly missing here—I’ll give a few examples (without claiming completeness): the difference between 9.20 meters (30 feet 2 inches) and 10.60 meters (34 feet 9 inches) is 1.40 meters (4 feet 7 inches)—not divisible by typical module sizes, so we’re looking at hack jobs with filler spaces. In the bathrooms, it seems that stud walls were not consistently planned, which leads to drywall bulges like those seen by @chrisw81. Both children’s rooms have unclear ventilation ducts (?) without coordination with the ground floor…
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
H
hanghaus202327 Jan 2023 13:09Similar topics