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!
H
hanghaus202320 May 2023 09:48schmeissrein schrieb:
@hanghaus2023 Thanks for your input! We prefer not to have the toilet and the sink next to each other (I’d like to link a rather unpleasant article where researchers visualized the germ cloud stirred up during flushing, so we like to keep some distance from our toothbrushes 😀I’m wondering how the tens of millions of people have managed so far with their toilets close to the sink. Somehow, I get the impression you have some unusual planning requirements. Why don’t you mention them beforehand? That would save everyone some effort.What is the ceiling height on the ground floor? A cross-section could help. Have I missed one so far?
H
hanghaus202320 May 2023 09:57I have looked at it again, and your argument doesn’t hold up. Your toilet is 1.5 m (5 feet) away from the sink. If YOU place the toothbrush holder on the left side, it’s actually even a bit further away from me. :p
Of course, you can also fully separate the toilet, which is even possible in my design. If someone has such particular preferences, they should plan a separate WC.
You can also go downstairs, where you have a separate toilet. 😉
Of course, you can also fully separate the toilet, which is even possible in my design. If someone has such particular preferences, they should plan a separate WC.
You can also go downstairs, where you have a separate toilet. 😉
H
hanghaus202320 May 2023 10:13This is the most nonsensical thing I've seen here in a long time.

Access to the storage room? The door won’t open because there is a staircase in the way.
The strange niche next to the stairs is unusable. What is the layout for the ground floor toilet supposed to look like? Is there already a plan for it?
Why don’t you show us the plan from the draughtsman?
Access to the storage room? The door won’t open because there is a staircase in the way.
The strange niche next to the stairs is unusable. What is the layout for the ground floor toilet supposed to look like? Is there already a plan for it?
Why don’t you show us the plan from the draughtsman?
H
hanghaus202320 May 2023 10:22kbt09 schrieb:
Yes, this small snippet of the drawing isn’t helpful at all. An appropriate cross-sectional drawing would be useful.
To demonstrate what it’s about:

Even with 2 to 3 step overlaps, headroom becomes critical, especially when walking down the stairs.Referring to DIN 18065 doesn’t help here either. It states a minimum clearance height of 2 m (6 ft 7 in).Similar topics