Hello everyone!
My wife and I have been searching for a home for quite some time. Since we haven’t found anything suitable yet, we are currently considering building a new house more seriously. The plot of land is not an issue, and we have an architect friend who would design the house (according to his information, we should budget around €1250 per m² (about $116 per sq ft) of living space plus 12% additional building costs).
Our "dream house" should have a living area of 150-170 m² (about 1,615-1,830 sq ft), 4 rooms (bedroom, 2 children’s rooms, and an office), a small conservatory, a pitched roof, and meet KfW 80 or 70 energy standards — these are the main points.
Since we currently earn around €2900 net (about $3,190) per month and don’t want to work only to pay off the house for 30 years, we are considering building a large part of it ourselves.
We could either build a solid masonry house or a timber frame construction. With a masonry house, we could save around €20,000 (about $22,000) by laying the tiles and laminate flooring ourselves and doing the painting. For the timber frame house, there would be an additional saving of €10,000 (about $11,000) if we install the insulation ourselves.
My father is confident that we could also build the shell by ourselves. He is a very skilled craftsman and has already built two extensions and a garage (so far, nothing has collapsed). I’m just concerned that many regulations and requirements have changed over the past few years.
Is it really possible to build the foundation and shell by ourselves, and how much could we realistically save? I would leave the roof, windows, and doors to the professionals—mainly because of the warranty. The electrical work could be done by my father-in-law, who is an electrical engineer.
Is it feasible to skip insulation if we use thicker building blocks?
I still have so many questions, but I’ll stop here for now.
I hope you can help me.
Thanks!
Best regards
My wife and I have been searching for a home for quite some time. Since we haven’t found anything suitable yet, we are currently considering building a new house more seriously. The plot of land is not an issue, and we have an architect friend who would design the house (according to his information, we should budget around €1250 per m² (about $116 per sq ft) of living space plus 12% additional building costs).
Our "dream house" should have a living area of 150-170 m² (about 1,615-1,830 sq ft), 4 rooms (bedroom, 2 children’s rooms, and an office), a small conservatory, a pitched roof, and meet KfW 80 or 70 energy standards — these are the main points.
Since we currently earn around €2900 net (about $3,190) per month and don’t want to work only to pay off the house for 30 years, we are considering building a large part of it ourselves.
We could either build a solid masonry house or a timber frame construction. With a masonry house, we could save around €20,000 (about $22,000) by laying the tiles and laminate flooring ourselves and doing the painting. For the timber frame house, there would be an additional saving of €10,000 (about $11,000) if we install the insulation ourselves.
My father is confident that we could also build the shell by ourselves. He is a very skilled craftsman and has already built two extensions and a garage (so far, nothing has collapsed). I’m just concerned that many regulations and requirements have changed over the past few years.
Is it really possible to build the foundation and shell by ourselves, and how much could we realistically save? I would leave the roof, windows, and doors to the professionals—mainly because of the warranty. The electrical work could be done by my father-in-law, who is an electrical engineer.
Is it feasible to skip insulation if we use thicker building blocks?
I still have so many questions, but I’ll stop here for now.
I hope you can help me.
Thanks!
Best regards
M
MelixFagath8 Oct 2014 12:17We will be building in Wiehl.
I am already aware that it will take at least a year. It’s not like we want to do everything ourselves. Maybe only the tasks where labor costs are higher than material costs. We would have the roof, doors, and windows professionally installed.
Outside work we have always done ourselves. We created a pond (with a bridge and a "small" waterfall), and the area in front of the house as well as all the paths were paved by my father and me. As I mentioned, the work itself won’t be the problem, but the time will be. Maybe it will be a prefabricated shell house, in which case I would leave it alone and maybe only do the insulation. From there on, only the interior finishing.
I am already aware that it will take at least a year. It’s not like we want to do everything ourselves. Maybe only the tasks where labor costs are higher than material costs. We would have the roof, doors, and windows professionally installed.
Outside work we have always done ourselves. We created a pond (with a bridge and a "small" waterfall), and the area in front of the house as well as all the paths were paved by my father and me. As I mentioned, the work itself won’t be the problem, but the time will be. Maybe it will be a prefabricated shell house, in which case I would leave it alone and maybe only do the insulation. From there on, only the interior finishing.
M
MelixFagath8 Oct 2014 12:22I recently used an online calculator to estimate the cost per square meter. It gave me an even lower price per square meter. The average value is supposedly around €1200 per square meter. Where do you get your costs from? Of course, it depends on the quality of all components, but can you tell me what is included in these €1600 per square meter?
Which calculator did you use for that? Prices have also changed quite a bit over the past few years.
The building expert does this professionally on a daily basis.
I mentioned 1600 as a figure from the BKI. However, I’m not sure if that is accurate. It’s around 1600, though. Maybe someone here can confirm that.
The building expert does this professionally on a daily basis.
I mentioned 1600 as a figure from the BKI. However, I’m not sure if that is accurate. It’s around 1600, though. Maybe someone here can confirm that.
M
MelixFagath8 Oct 2014 13:32I don’t remember which calculator I used. Where can I find this information on the BKI website, or are these just reference values?
I
One year will not be nearly enough. It will take you much, much longer than that. Unless you have many friends willing to help you.
MelixFagath schrieb:
I know it will take at least a year. It’s not like we want to do everything ourselves. Maybe only the tasks where labor costs are higher than material costs. We would have the roof, doors, and windows professionally installed..
One year will not be nearly enough. It will take you much, much longer than that. Unless you have many friends willing to help you.
T
toxicmolotof8 Oct 2014 14:50We are currently building, and I have to say: Never ever! The building expert’s assessment is pretty accurate.
We don’t use any extras and are at about 2,000 euros per square meter (approximately 185 dollars per square foot) in Kaarst.
If, of course, your architect doesn’t charge a fee, you can save nearly 10%.
I don’t believe the prices quoted by the architect even include flooring and painting work. That is simply unrealistic.
We don’t use any extras and are at about 2,000 euros per square meter (approximately 185 dollars per square foot) in Kaarst.
If, of course, your architect doesn’t charge a fee, you can save nearly 10%.
I don’t believe the prices quoted by the architect even include flooring and painting work. That is simply unrealistic.