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!
xMisterDx schrieb:
What’s supposed to be unfavorable about that?It doesn’t have to be, but it’s not uncommon either: the client, involved more or less distractedly in decisions close to giving birth during the intense construction phase, subsequently experiences a postpartum depression regarding some construction details, see https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/grundriss-erweist-sich-waehrend-des-rohbaus-als-schlecht.44355/ and https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/frontansicht-fenster-sind-suboptimal-und-muessen-optimiert-werden.44437/https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
schmeissrein schrieb:
We’ve also considered Gussek Haus, of course, but their designs with an office/guest room on the ground floor always end up being really large. Well, it doesn’t have to be a huge open-plan area, but if you want a separate room on the ground floor, the square meters have to come from somewhere. Your remaining 37 sqm (398 sq ft), including the main route to the upper floor, creates serious circulation problems in both the dining and the lounge areas…
schmeissrein schrieb:
Put the dining table in the middle of the “bay window.” … means, for example, that the table and chairs end up right in front of the stairs.
11ant schrieb:
A staircase in the open-plan living area belongs in every good sitcom. xMisterDx schrieb:
…and then running through the whole house with a towel wrapped around your waist to the wardrobe. Exactly: it gets pretty amusing for everyone involved when the freshly showered person squeezes past others to get to the stairs.
You don’t need to build a shower for 10 guests per year.
Overall: the budget doesn’t fit. However, TM is quite affordable… very affordable, as far as I know.
Regarding the original floor plan: it’s already poor. Nobody wants to look under the stairs as they enter a house—it’s just not the best side. TM hasn’t earned much praise for any of their floor plans so far.
X
xMisterDx23 Jan 2023 19:56Nida35a schrieb:
We have a new build on a similar plot, with a driveway over 60m (197 feet) and the front house owned by the family. Here are my thoughts.
- Driveway can be on the north or south side. Advantage of north: there is already an existing path; disadvantages: construction traffic damages it, and no one can park there.
- Driveway on the south side would be newly constructed with a construction road; utility lines cause interference.
Family decision.
Water, telecommunications, sewage, and electricity all need to be newly installed for the new house (under the driveway).
We don’t have gas; the quote for 70m (230 feet) is 13,000 EUR.
Sewage for the new house is 80cm (31 inches) to 70cm (27.5 inches) lower, with a slope; the sewer must be at least 1.8m (6 feet) below the finished floor level, even deeper if there is a basement.
The construction road installation and the laying of sewage, electricity, and empty conduits underneath was done by the civil engineer contractor.
Sewage requires a maintenance opening every 20m (66 feet) for hose or high-pressure cleaning.
If you have any more questions, feel free to ask 😉 Lucky, I would say 😉
Here, the municipal utilities only work with their own civil engineering contractor. Although they are happy to use any trench you might have prepared, they still charge their full price for the civil engineering work 😉
That’s how you end up paying over 30,000 EUR for basic connection fees on 70m (230 feet), minus a generous discount of 750 EUR if two utilities are installed simultaneously.
In the end, it’s always about warranty. If you prepare the trench and fill it back yourself (or hire a company to do so), the utilities will hold you fully responsible for any damage.
I can only provide warranty for work that I or a colleague have completed from start to finish ourselves.
W
WilderSueden23 Jan 2023 20:07For me, it’s the exact opposite. Only the civil engineering work done by myself has early appointments available.
xMisterDx schrieb:
The municipal utilities are digging here with their house and yard excavation contractor, and only them.Our excavation contractor is certified to work for all utility and waste management providers in Berlin, that’s just standard practice in the industry.In my case (also Berlin, but a different supply district/area/whatever), the waterworks no longer allowed a direct connection. For distances over 15m (50 feet), a transfer chamber had to be installed. It had something to do with the transfer of liability.
Here, it might even help the original poster to coordinate everything with a skilled civil engineer. They install chambers and ducts, and the utility companies now only connect through those.
Here, it might even help the original poster to coordinate everything with a skilled civil engineer. They install chambers and ducts, and the utility companies now only connect through those.
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