ᐅ What features did you include in your house, and what did you decide to leave out?

The logic still seems strange.

As if the general contractor (GC) would necessarily cut costs elsewhere just because they install triple-glazed windows. If you only look at the lowest price, that can of course happen, but if you work with a GC who generally does not use low-quality materials...

What matters is what is stated in the scope of work, and if the overall package is right...

And no, cost-cutting only “has” to happen if the provider is solely focused on offering the lowest price. If the provider generally emphasizes quality, then cost-cutting is simply not necessary.

So, people can say what they want. Double glazing is nowadays only offered by suppliers who want to keep their house price low. Often, roller shutters are missing, and the staircase is only made of pine or spruce, and so on. Everything that is good and actually standard for many comes with an additional cost, and the initially lower house price quickly balances out, making it more expensive than with a supplier where these features are already standard. Whoever saves on the windows in the base price also saves on many, many other things.

Alright, here’s my turn.

What we decided to skip:
- Basement (due to high groundwater level)

What we treated ourselves to:
- Large plot of approximately 8 ares (800 m² or 8611 sq ft) in a very good location with good infrastructure and transport connections
- Double garage with a cellar substitute room
- Expandable attic, already fully insulated, paneled, and finished with plaster, currently serving as a “warm” cellar substitute that can also be used and approved as additional living space if needed. All necessary wiring is already installed upstairs.
- Urban villa with just under 200 m² (2150 sq ft) of living space, plus an additional floor extension on both levels, resulting in a finished ceiling height of 2.60 m (8.5 ft)
- No DIY work at all (we preferred to have even the painting done by professional contractors)
- Two level-access showers
- High-quality bathroom fixtures (washbasins mounted on console slabs, furniture, fittings, etc.)
- Oak parquet flooring in all living areas
- Stainless steel strips in the bathrooms
- High-end kitchen with Bora ventilation system
- Sliding door built into the wall between kitchen and dining room
- Interior and exterior window sills made of granite (Nero Impala)
- Completely new furniture and lighting
- Sufficient power outlets in every room
- Central mechanical ventilation system
- Gray window frames (white on the inside), front door, garage door (with electric sectional opener)
- Oak staircase with a glass balustrade
- Electric blinds
- Video intercom system
- Room-air-independent fireplace
- Motorized lock
- LAN/SAT connections in living and control rooms
- Large utility room
- Walk-in closet
- Three equal-sized children’s rooms, each with 15 m² (160 sq ft) of living space

Features like underfloor heating throughout, triple glazing, etc. are included as well, but as I mentioned above, I consider these standard nowadays.

@willWohnen

willWohnen schrieb:
@Bauexperte Regarding drying laundry: We will have a mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery, and the main concern is supposed to be the dry air. The room is also planned as an exhaust air zone.

Then I don’t understand the logic behind the ceiling-mounted dryer at all. And yes, mechanical ventilation tends to cause dry air; however, a bit of moisture in a room—especially a utility room—doesn’t really make much difference.

In my opinion, laundry should either be dried outside or in a dryer. Nowadays a lot of money is invested in airtight houses and mechanical ventilation, so having wet laundry drying indoors is counterproductive.

@Mycraft

Mycraft schrieb:

Triple glazing and all that other stuff is definitely not standard... and if it is offered upfront at no extra cost, it usually means the house just barely meets energy standards like KfW-70... in other words, compromises were made on wall construction or other aspects.

This statement is only true if referring to so-called budget builders!

Mycraft schrieb:

Also, especially the construction companies want to make a profit and don’t give you anything for free...

Primarily, construction companies aim to deliver good quality to secure satisfied customers and thus positive references. Of course, they think and act economically; otherwise, they would not be able to survive on the market long-term.

Mycraft schrieb:

Yeah, architects lovingly call bay windows “wall warts”...
Yes, the lower third of the window is fixed glazing… since we don’t open those windows anyway, the exterior look was more important to us...

I have been in this business for many years, and I have never heard that term. An architect’s main duty is to reconcile the client’s wishes for a floor plan with the building codes and zoning regulations. Whether a bay window—which by the way you don’t have in the classic sense, but rather a turret—is included depends on many factors, not necessarily on practical considerations such as usable space. Sometimes the deciding factor is purely the architectural appeal.

I honestly wonder who you talked to before construction to come up with such a negative scenario—both about architects and general contractors...

Friendly regards

You can quickly come across such an image from architects—with terms like "chicken head" and other condescending expressions—if you spend some time reading in the green forum.

What adds to this is often a very arrogant and condescending tone from certain individuals.

Yes, I know we have a tower... if we hadn’t extended it to the upper floor, it would have been a traditional bay window.

Before construction, we spoke with several different companies, each with their own pros and cons, but in the end, it all came down to the final amount in the bottom right corner... and quality often only came with an extra charge. As I’ve mentioned somewhere here in the forum, there is plenty of evidence in the media—including the internet—where homeowners either during or after construction wonder why something was done one way or another. See the current thread about insulation, for example.

I’m also aware that there are many “good” GU’s out there... and we would gladly build again with ours at any time... but most companies operate differently, at least that’s the impression I get when reading homeowners’ diaries and similar accounts. But I’m digressing...

Are you not familiar with the term wall nib? You can also search for “fresswarze” in a search engine and find quite a bit of information on the topic...