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Kensington30 Aug 2021 14:59Hello, dear forum community,
I have been reading along for some time and have already learned a lot, so thank you very much for that!
My husband and I have been searching for a home for ourselves and our two young children for 10 months. Currently, I am interested in a semi-detached house listed as having 4 rooms. However, these are not fully separate rooms. I have two questions about this:
1) One of the four rooms is a converted attic that is open to the stairwell (with a small gallery overlooking the staircase) — so it is not a fully enclosed room. How much would it typically cost to replace the gallery on the top floor with a drywall partition to create a fully separated room from the rest of the house?
2) According to the listing, one of the two fully enclosed rooms on the first floor can be "easily divided." In my opinion, it would only be possible to add a drywall partition through the room (which has two windows), but this would inevitably make one half a walkthrough room since it wouldn’t be possible to fit a second door. Additionally, there is only one radiator in this room. Is it feasible to install a second radiator "with minimal effort"?
Otherwise, the semi-detached house meets our requirements quite well: built in 2017, gas condensing boiler, and photovoltaic system, with no renovation backlog. The location and number of rooms represent a compromise we are willing to accept for financial reasons (yes, I know there are forum members who advise against any compromise, but after extensive searching and many disappointments, I no longer share that view. Therefore, it makes little sense to advise us to simply keep looking for five fully separate rooms in the desired area, as these cost more than 750,000 euros and such offers are very rare at our current place of residence).
Thank you in advance for your answers! Warm regards!
I have been reading along for some time and have already learned a lot, so thank you very much for that!
My husband and I have been searching for a home for ourselves and our two young children for 10 months. Currently, I am interested in a semi-detached house listed as having 4 rooms. However, these are not fully separate rooms. I have two questions about this:
1) One of the four rooms is a converted attic that is open to the stairwell (with a small gallery overlooking the staircase) — so it is not a fully enclosed room. How much would it typically cost to replace the gallery on the top floor with a drywall partition to create a fully separated room from the rest of the house?
2) According to the listing, one of the two fully enclosed rooms on the first floor can be "easily divided." In my opinion, it would only be possible to add a drywall partition through the room (which has two windows), but this would inevitably make one half a walkthrough room since it wouldn’t be possible to fit a second door. Additionally, there is only one radiator in this room. Is it feasible to install a second radiator "with minimal effort"?
Otherwise, the semi-detached house meets our requirements quite well: built in 2017, gas condensing boiler, and photovoltaic system, with no renovation backlog. The location and number of rooms represent a compromise we are willing to accept for financial reasons (yes, I know there are forum members who advise against any compromise, but after extensive searching and many disappointments, I no longer share that view. Therefore, it makes little sense to advise us to simply keep looking for five fully separate rooms in the desired area, as these cost more than 750,000 euros and such offers are very rare at our current place of residence).
Thank you in advance for your answers! Warm regards!
Kensington schrieb:
The location and number of rooms represent a compromise that we would accept for financial reasons (yes, I know there are forum members who advise against any compromises, but after extensive searching and many disappointments, I no longer share that view).No, elsewhere (linking not allowed here) in "The Mid-Terrace House: a Stepping Stone," I recommend embracing the mid-terrace house positively and then continuing the search more calmly (and in the meantime, arranging yourself with discipline instead of trying to force an ideal situation).https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
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Kensington30 Aug 2021 16:16Hello, dear Elephant,
Building the dream house is a good idea! You’re probably right about that. I also know what you mean by “trying to improve something but making it worse”... However, if I leave everything in this house as it is and we don’t use the attic room as a bedroom because it’s open, we don’t really gain any advantage compared to our current living situation—except that we own the property instead of renting.
Often, these things are decided anyway because as a buyer you don’t even get a chance. But I don’t want to sound fatalistic.
Best regards!
Building the dream house is a good idea! You’re probably right about that. I also know what you mean by “trying to improve something but making it worse”... However, if I leave everything in this house as it is and we don’t use the attic room as a bedroom because it’s open, we don’t really gain any advantage compared to our current living situation—except that we own the property instead of renting.
Often, these things are decided anyway because as a buyer you don’t even get a chance. But I don’t want to sound fatalistic.
Best regards!
Winniefred30 Aug 2021 16:43Question: You have 2 children and the house has 4 rooms. Why do you need more rooms? We had an attic like the one you described, and we built the drywall partition ourselves. It’s not rocket science. It might have cost around 300€ (about 320 USD) or so, but in any case, it’s definitely affordable even for a professional.
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Hausbautraum2030 Aug 2021 17:11Friends of ours had the attic conversion done, and including the door and everything (plastering, adjusting the floor...), it cost around 4000-5000€ (about 4400-5500 USD). So, far from 300€, but with house prices around 1,000,000€ (about 1,100,000 USD), it's not a deal breaker.
The room that can be divided with one heating system sounds more complicated. However, there are even electric heaters available.
The room that can be divided with one heating system sounds more complicated. However, there are even electric heaters available.
Winniefred30 Aug 2021 17:21Well, it depends. We did it ourselves, the door at the bottom of the stairs was already there, and there was nothing else to adjust or plaster since it was the attic and everything was drywall anyway. We only needed drywall sheets, joint compound, screws, and a bit of cable and a light switch for the wall. Of course, you can spend money on everything… or not^^.
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