Avoid mistakes in the second house: Home construction company or architect?

Hello dear forum,

we built a single-family house new in 2020. However, for various reasons we are not completely satisfied and are considering possibly building again. But we want to take our time with that (time horizon 5-10 years), so that we are really sure about what exactly we want to change then. In addition, we can save more equity during that time and observe everyday life with the children. We have the experience that everyday life with 3-4 children simply requires a lot of flexibility in the house, because it feels like the needs of all family members change quickly. Hence this quite long time span.

When we started planning the house in 2019, from today's perspective we did not always make the right decisions. With the first and later the second child and also due to the lockdown, unfortunately we could not see or visit everything that was installed beforehand in person. Contact with the architect from the house building company was also too sparse. We often simply lacked advice there.

My question to you now is: How do we avoid making the same mistakes again when building next time? We always had to decide very quickly and often had no basis for decisions at all. We would have liked to simply be able to quickly view prices and services; but that was not available in that way. For example, if we planned an additional window or increased the living area, we received a new total price and could only guess how expensive the extra charge for something was.

We have experienced that the house building company only builds as they always do, i.e. when we asked for something unusual, the answer was that it was not possible at all. For example, we wanted a large panoramic glass window front that is barrier-free and slideable. That was not possible for structural reasons in our house. Our house building company probably simply did not have that in their program or the margin was too low for something like that.

What annoys me especially is our roof. It is not convertible. It is a low hipped roof made of nail plate trusses. There is not enough standing height for living space inside, and the structure is not designed for an expansion. At that time, we did not discuss the roof at all with the architect. The catalog house, on which our free planning was based, originally had a gable roof: exactly what we would wish for today. The architect always spoke of a city villa that we would be building. So we adopted that term at some point. As laypeople, we simply understood that as a house with two full floors. In the eyes of the architect of the house building company, however, a city villa also implied a hipped roof. That she switched from the gable roof from the first planning to this non-convertible hipped roof was not communicated at all and we only realized this far too late. Of course, one can always say that we should have noticed that. But at some point we simply wanted to finish the project. The two-year construction period with two small children was really exhausting.

For the second house building, we now want to do everything right or make as few mistakes as possible, which is why we are also taking so much time with the preliminary planning this time. Surely we will not build with the same house building company anymore.

BUT: Is this the experience you have with the relevant (prefabricated) house building companies? If you want something special like the panoramic window front, is it better to go to an architect? You pay them by the hour, after all. I have concerns that an architect overall would be the more expensive solution. If it should be a house building company, should we rather choose one that has specialized in our style? Huf-Haus comes to mind. Unfortunately also very expensive. Maybe someone of you has had similar experiences with poor communication and advice, especially in the Corona period?

Is there another solution besides house building company or architect that we do not even think of? We just want to be involved in all decisions and not be patronized like the first time building.

If it is something above average (in size and equipment) that we are looking for, is an architect then more worthwhile than changing so much on a catalog house that it ultimately only becomes more expensive?

Thanks for reading. I know the post is long.

From my point of view, you are making a fundamental mistake from the very beginning, namely building with a prefab house provider or a general contractor.

If you can actually afford to build a second time, then go to an architect and calmly plan your dream house with him. And not based on some standard houses from glossy brochures, but according to your needs and wishes. Architects are usually not paid by the hour, but according to the fee schedule.

You should undertake the construction itself, at least according to my feeling after reading your post, by individual contracts. This way, you inevitably engage intensively with the trades and may be able to make a better/more sensible decision. You won’t be sent to the window manufacturer two days before to make some color decisions, but you will get a good impression of what is available in detail, what it costs, and what you ultimately want to afford. If you are not under time pressure, you can also take more time with one or the other trade.

And in the end, you will realize that this way of building does not actually cost you more.
I know many who have apparently built cheaply with a GC in recent years. Statements like "we saved ourselves the architect" are often made, which is of course absolute nonsense. And at the same time, they talk jealously about the neighbor with the "architect house," wildly speculating about the supposed costs. And in the end, they are completely shocked when they find out that the neighbor actually didn’t pay more overall but received a significantly better value.

We want to do everything right or make as few mistakes as possible with our second house construction, so this time we are taking our time with the preliminary planning.

Proper planning without time pressure is essential.

It does not matter whether it is with a project house manufacturer (who are rather inflexible), a local construction company, or a classic architect house with individual trade contracts. Planning mistakes happen at the beginning, not during construction. Communicating needs (which actually has nothing to do with house construction itself – it’s the same everywhere).

If you can actually afford to build a second time, then go to an architect and calmly plan your dream house with them. And not based on any standard houses from glossy brochures, but according to your needs and wishes.

Summarized in just two sentences.

You should do the construction yourself, at least that’s my feeling after reading your post, by individually awarding contracts. This way, you inevitably engage intensively with the trades and can possibly make a better/more sensible decision. You won’t be sent to the window manufacturer two days before to make some color decisions, but you will get a good impression of the details, what it costs, and what you ultimately want to afford. If you are not under time pressure, you can also take more time with one or the other trade.

I don’t see that as mandatory. A general contractor can also build the same house – in either case, a 97%-finished plan before the first groundbreaking should exist. And with the general contractor I TELL the GC which windows should be installed. Not the other way around. I am the boss who pays for everything. That must always be clear.

And in the end, you will realize that this way of building does not actually cost you more.

Yep. Although architect houses often do become more expensive, mainly because the builders come up with increasingly new (costlier) ideas during the construction phase. But comparable houses also cost a very comparable price in the end.

The only point against an architect: a ready-made house fits exactly to your wishes. Then it’s just a matter of whether the windows will be white or gray and whether the floor will be tiles or parquet (etc.).

If I were to build again, then definitely with an architect who also takes over the tendering and construction management. I would no longer accept conflicts of interest that consist of the planner or construction manager being paid by the general contractor or – in small companies – the boss doing his own construction management. In the end, you pay these people anyway, but you don’t get the best for it.

Whether you then do the tendering for individual trades or to a general contractor is another question.

I think it also strongly depends on the general contractor. I wouldn’t claim that you fundamentally build more inflexibly with the general contractor than with the architect...

You just need the RIGHT GC.

We alone took an incredibly long time to find the right general contractor for us. The research and planning definitely paid off... I would never do it any other way again.

Ultimately, it is also clear that no matter who you build with – in the end you yourself are responsible for what is to be created!

In my opinion, the most important thing to avoid mistakes is:

- Choosing the right architect/GC
- Reading a lot about EVERYTHING concerning house building in order to be able to participate in discussions and to know what possibilities you have

The thing is: Many cannot do this due to their family situation (children, for example) because they don’t have the time.

My wife and I spent a whole year fully engaged with this topic and put everything else aside (at that time we didn’t have children yet). Because of that, I would say that our house (for our demands) is almost flawless, or exactly how we always imagined it. But you can only achieve that if you invest a lot of time yourself into building the house.

In your situation (probably no time to deal with everything that intensively):

Choosing the right architect/GC. If you invest a lot of time here and find the right company or the right person who can implement your wishes and understands you, you will certainly have a better chance to make fewer mistakes.

Thank you for your answers.
It's interesting that many here are in favor of the architect. One almost wonders why there are still so many [Typenhaushersteller] (I had to google the term first). Well, probably not when it comes to 4 children's rooms...

What is annoying in our case is the hindsight realization that building in 2019 was still considerably cheaper than today – and I already thought back then, man, if only we had built five years earlier.
At that time, we built our nearly 200 sqm for 400k, where today we will be well above that, especially if we want to expand due to the children's rooms. 1% interest rates have unfortunately also quadrupled.
Besides, the building plot we have is exactly what we wanted in terms of micro and macro location. It would be a shame to give all that up.
Therefore, I am also considering whether the old house "can still be saved." I am thinking about an attic conversion to gain more living space.
However, my husband thinks this would be a waste of money because the roof structure would have to be removed and replaced with a new one (gable roof, higher, more stable) – after such a short time. He basically doesn’t want to put any more money into the current house. The roof is neither old nor in need of replacement. Of course, I see that point as well. Damn.

And you don’t just replace 4-year-old windows with new panoramic windows either.

So I am currently struggling with replacing something new and functional, which emotionally really seems like nonsense. But at least it’s cheaper than starting completely from scratch. Versus a new build, which would involve significant additional costs compared to a new roof.