Regarding standard versus customizations at Danwood: most changes at Danwood are relatively reasonably priced – as long as no profound interventions in the house’s structural stability are necessary. One consideration might be to raise your knee wall to 150 cm (from about €5k additional cost, also depending on roof pitch) and make better use of the gained space in the bathroom (especially reducing the bulky boxing).
Otherwise, at Danwood, you can also build with a room height in the ground floor up to max. 2.67 m instead of 2.52 m (additional cost about €5k including window adjustments), but whether this is worth it just to cover an extra stair step, I would doubt.
As a somewhat more advanced Danwood builder, I can tell you that your budget for building with Danwood is realistic, but you will not have huge leeway.
Your sales department can tell you everything quite precisely, but if you want to get a first impression (since we’re building a similar Danwood house), you have to reckon with the following additional costs:
- Roof insulation package for KfW40 (about €3k)
- Underfloor heating (about €5k)
- Roller shutters / Venetian blinds (about €7k)
- Air-water heat pump and central ventilation system (about €8k)
- Small stuff (photovoltaic conduit about €370, water connection €580, etc. → about €1k)
- Transport costs depending on postal code (€1k+) and further adjustments for snow load and wind zone
- Architect (between €3k and €10k, depending on Danwood representative)
- Additional electrician services (about €3k to €5k)
- Base slab including perimeter insulation (about €15k to €20k)
- Earthworks (from about €10k)
- Construction site setup (toilet, construction power, container, street closures – about €1k to €3k)
Unless you classify them as incidental construction costs, of course, building permit, surveyor, and utility connection fees are added. Earthworks can quickly become more expensive if you need special foundations or soil replacement.
Also plan firmly for a price increase during construction – the only relevant price lock at Danwood currently is 9 months, and you have to manage everything (from architectural planning to finished factory planning, sample selection, and signed financing confirmation) very quickly to make it – usually it doesn’t fail because of you but because of the overwhelmed counterparties (architect, Danwood technical planning). Since lead times of about 18 to 24 months are usually required to put up your house, you can firmly plan on swallowing at least a 5% price increase.
That means you have to reckon more with house costs of around €225k to €240k instead of the €157k base price – and that doesn’t yet include a sampling buffer for electrical, sanitary, and (especially important at Danwood) flooring (in case, for example, you don’t agree with the standard carpet upstairs). It should still be doable, but extravagant wishes are then out of the question.
Thanks already for these rough guideline prices.
Some of it was already known to me or I have read it elsewhere. I am aware that quite a bit is added on top of the catalog price.
I also have to check what the surcharge would be for raising the knee wall from 1.00 m to 1.25 m or 1.4 m. Also, what the somewhat larger roof overhangs would cost, since they are required by the development plan and I find them quite nice too. I think I would not change the room height on the ground floor. At a room size of about 38 sqm for living-dining and kitchen, the room is not yet so large that it looks too low. I almost dare not to say it, but I don’t like the high ceilings in old buildings that much. Maybe that’s because size-wise I’m more of a Hobbit.
I have my first consultation appointment at Danwood on Thursday. Maybe there’s something nice in the "Family" series. The selection is a bit limited, but that could still fit my budget.
I will do walls and floors myself, possibly all tiles too. So basically ready for technical installation.