ᐅ Realistic Cost Estimate: Single-Family Home with Challenging Site Access
Created on: 20 Jan 2023 10:50
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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!
X
xMisterDx23 May 2023 09:27Then insulate your intermediate ceiling. Technically it doesn’t make sense, but that hasn’t mattered in house construction for a long time now 😉
And yet another reason why construction costs are skyrocketing...
PS:
And also the topic of "using resources wisely and efficiently"...
And yet another reason why construction costs are skyrocketing...
PS:
And also the topic of "using resources wisely and efficiently"...
schmeissrein23 May 2023 09:47Memo to myself: do not upload anything about insulation from our building description here 😀 Although I’m really glad to see how actively this topic is being discussed!
@ypg
Thank you very much for your constructive contributions! The lighting issue has also given us a lot of headaches, and we share similar concerns. In the utility room, we hope to alleviate the problem somewhat by using a door with a large frosted glass panel, but ultimately, spotlights will definitely be needed there. We struggled for a long time over whether to have windows facing the east side in the kitchen. However, there is the garden of the apartment building next door, where we would lose our privacy screen (and that area is where people often walk their dogs, among other things), and we would also lose space for wall cabinets. Due to the apartment buildings and a large tree, there is only limited light coming from the east side anyway. Instead, we wanted to install two double floor-to-ceiling units, but then there is hardly any room left for the kitchen island. That’s why we settled on the current solution. The good thing for us is that we now have a very similar window arrangement, but facing northeast, so it can only get better 😀
@ypg
Thank you very much for your constructive contributions! The lighting issue has also given us a lot of headaches, and we share similar concerns. In the utility room, we hope to alleviate the problem somewhat by using a door with a large frosted glass panel, but ultimately, spotlights will definitely be needed there. We struggled for a long time over whether to have windows facing the east side in the kitchen. However, there is the garden of the apartment building next door, where we would lose our privacy screen (and that area is where people often walk their dogs, among other things), and we would also lose space for wall cabinets. Due to the apartment buildings and a large tree, there is only limited light coming from the east side anyway. Instead, we wanted to install two double floor-to-ceiling units, but then there is hardly any room left for the kitchen island. That’s why we settled on the current solution. The good thing for us is that we now have a very similar window arrangement, but facing northeast, so it can only get better 😀
X
xMisterDx23 May 2023 11:21The misunderstanding probably comes from the belief that insulation completely prevents heat loss. No, insulation only slows it down.
If you heat a well-insulated house to 20°C (68°F) and then turn off the heating, without any heat source, it will eventually cool down to the outside temperature.
It’s similar with a ceiling between two rooms. The two rooms, connected only through that ceiling, will reach a temperature equilibrium. With insulation, this happens more slowly (although air exchange also plays a role here); without insulation, it happens faster. Even concrete provides some thermal resistance.
If you heat a well-insulated house to 20°C (68°F) and then turn off the heating, without any heat source, it will eventually cool down to the outside temperature.
It’s similar with a ceiling between two rooms. The two rooms, connected only through that ceiling, will reach a temperature equilibrium. With insulation, this happens more slowly (although air exchange also plays a role here); without insulation, it happens faster. Even concrete provides some thermal resistance.
C
chand198624 May 2023 06:58xMisterDx schrieb:
The misunderstanding probably comes from the fact that many believe insulation completely prevents heat loss. No, insulation only slows it down.
If you heat a well-insulated house to 20°C (68°F) and then turn off the heating, without any heat source, it will eventually cool down to the outside temperature.
It’s similar with a ceiling cavity. Two rooms connected only through the ceiling cavity will reach a temperature equilibrium. With insulation, this happens more slowly (although air exchange also plays a role here), without insulation faster. Concrete also has a certain thermal resistance. That is correct.
But IF heating is applied, the better the insulation, the less heating power is needed to reach the same temperature, or with the same heating power it will be warmer.
And absorption of sunlight by floors, furniture, and walls is essentially another form of heating.
In der Ruine24 May 2023 07:13xMisterDx schrieb:
A few degrees difference in temperature matters much less than you think.
Insulation works best with a large temperature difference. Indoors at 22°C (72°F), outdoors at -10°C (14°F). That makes sense... but not with 21°C (70°F) in the living room and 18°C (64°F) in the bedroom... For us, the difference in winter isn't just 3 degrees. The living room is kept cozy at 23–24°C (73–75°F), and the bedroom can get as cold as 12°C (54°F) during harsh winters. Since warm air rises, insulation definitely makes sense, right? Especially since it will be a wooden beam ceiling, not an "insulating" concrete slab.
W
WilderSueden24 May 2023 08:07There is only one person here who actually believes something. If there is no insulation beneath the underfloor heating, the ground floor will be heated both from above and below. However, the upper floor will only be heated from below at about half the intensity. Good luck trying to balance the hydraulics in this situation.
And yes, warm air rises. But a modern low-temperature underfloor heating system mainly works through radiant heat and only slightly by convection. Radiant heat doesn’t travel around five corners through the stairwell.
Now, let’s get back to the topic 😉
And yes, warm air rises. But a modern low-temperature underfloor heating system mainly works through radiant heat and only slightly by convection. Radiant heat doesn’t travel around five corners through the stairwell.
Now, let’s get back to the topic 😉
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