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

You are starting to search at the wrong end.

Exactly!

Basically, the design of a house always depends on the available plot.

That's right!
Mistake No. 1: defining the floor plan, prioritizing things, and then wondering why (again) nothing fits on the newly found plot.

By the way, regarding the garage in the west, it turned out that it does not cause us any problems with the "Besonnung" (better word?) of the terrace. It is very hot there in summer and very sunny from about 2 p.m. onwards. Light also comes into the living space through the west window in the kitchen and the glazing of the front door (also on the west).

You didn’t understand that either! If you put the garage on the other side, you automatically put the garden side as well as the orientation of the house on a different side. Logical, right?

Multifunction rooms

What you have in your bedroom is _not_ a multifunction room. You can talk yourself into a lot of things.

to be created to scale as "paper snippets".

Honestly? Many things were not understood back then, many things are not understood now, pictures cannot be uploaded, and somehow a common thread runs through the red roof from then until now. I bet that paper snippets also belong to the inability.

with 3 children in a (fake) townhouse wrote a while ago a summary about his house construction 18 months after moving in, among other things that this house construction does not allow living space under the roof.

among other things he writes

- what I would actually do differently today: On the upper floor all walls with generous drywall.
1. because of sound insulation (11.5cm Poroton is almost like a sound amplifier)...
2. because of flexibility. Later moving/removing a wall would still be relatively easy. Especially electrical wiring would be even easier to expand afterwards.

I once made the floor plan of our house to illustrate which points we do not like there (plan left is north). Sorry it took so long, but with three little ones I didn’t get to it earlier, Yvonne: - I would design the open space in a next plan rather L-shaped or C-shaped (about like in the plan from ) to separate the living room a bit more. Our current one lacks coziness. - In the plan it looks like the entire north side and also the east side are full of windows. Back then, I thought that this would be the most cost-effective way to implement the panoramic window front I wanted. In everyday life, however, the hinged doors bother me (they always protrude 1 m into the room when opened; sliding doors would have been better) as well as the door frame. For example, I cannot push the serving trolley from the kitchen onto the terrace. I would have wanted that to be barrier-free. However, the home building architect advised us that this plan would be a good Pareto balance between our wish (lots of glass and barrier-free) and the costs. Unfortunately, that is not the case. With sliding doors we would have 2 m wide glass elements and not the bracing already after 1 m. - I stupidly adapted the open space to the width of the large kitchen unit. Next time, I would rather forego the large cooking island and not plan such a long tall cabinet and countertop line, with whose width the entire open space in our current house has grown. Maybe move the dining table closer to the kitchen and have a C-shaped kitchen with a small bar. 120x300 for the cooking island is too big. However, I do need the storage space; the cabinets would have to be integrated differently into the kitchen. But kitchen planning only comes up with the next house again. If it should be an architect, he/she should directly consider the kitchen planning as well. - In retrospect, we should have fully exploited the building envelope all the way to the north. Then the house would be more elongated and we would have more space in the west. Then we would have had space for the desired double garage, so that it could have been moved closer to the street and a parking space in length in front of the garage would have sufficed. As I now see in the plan, the building envelope towards the right neighbor does not even meet the 3 m wide distance requirement. That is because the plot was divided and originally the old demolition house stood in the middle between his and our current house. Therefore, we probably could have placed our house even closer to the eastern neighbor and had even more space in the west. Of course, none of this applies to a future plot, but it only now becomes clear to us with regard to our current plot. - I would design the hallway less elongated and rather wider or more like a room (again I like your suggestion, kbt09). As it is now, it works, but we also have many wardrobe cabinets inside for 5 people. I would like fixed glazing on the left and right of the front door. There was only room for one side due to the square floor plan. It is simply important to me to be able to see well in all directions. - The guest room (12 sqm) is okay, can stay as it is. - The two offices (each 8-10 sqm) would probably still go into the ground floor. - Last but not least the utility room: It is cramped, yes, but with built-in cabinets we use the space quite okay. In the next draft, I will store the laundry upstairs because that is where it arises, then the dimensions in the ground floor will suffice for the rest. - We preferred to have a straight staircase. We were always told it wouldn’t fit into the floor plan, hopefully it will in a future, more elongated floor plan. - The bathroom on the ground floor could be about 30 cm longer or arranged differently. When you sit on the toilet, it is very cramped. - I find the bathroom upstairs senselessly arranged, even I say that there is a lot of unused space in the middle. I would have liked a T-solution. But there was no bathroom consulting internally by the home building company and they strongly resisted us going to an external provider. - A children’s bathroom would definitely make sense with 4 kids. With 2 kids we said they get a washbasin in their bedrooms, which eases the mornings. - It would be nice to somehow connect an expanded gable roof with the children’s rooms. I mean that in the sense of a second floor within the children’s room as a retreat for reading. Roof slopes can be included, but only from a height of about 2 m to still have space for cabinets. We wanted two full floors, but also roof slopes above because they are simply cozy. I miss coziness a bit in our house. With four children’s rooms, one should be about 16 sqm. - A gallery was always my dream, but it probably won’t happen for cost reasons. - Consideration is whether a common room in the style of a second living room for the children makes sense. I can’t yet estimate where older children spend their time in the evening or when friends are there. - An expanded attic could house this children’s living room, would provide coziness and be a kind of gallery. Therefore I wish for a roof expansion. - There should still be room for a laundry room upstairs. - Much has already been said about the master bedroom. Please let’s not talk about that.

On the plan, it looks as if the entire north side and also the east are full of . At the time, I thought this would be the most cost-effective way to implement the panoramic window front I wanted. In everyday life, however, the hinged doors bother me (when open, they always protrude 1 meter into the room; sliding doors would have been better) [...] With sliding doors, we would also have 2-meter-wide glass elements and not the reinforcement already after 1 meter.

Sliding doors with a nominal width of 200 are nonsense precisely because of the clear passage width, and I would have refused to produce them for warranty reasons. They are drawn in the factory plan as the "Stulp" variant, that is, without a central post.

as well as the door frame. For example, I cannot push the serving trolley from the kitchen to the terrace. I would have wished for that to be barrier-free.

So you even got them as floor-to-ceiling windows? (see also my post: "Barrier-free patio doors thanks to flat thresholds").

I can tell you something about everyday life with 4 children (3, 7, 11, 16) The children aged 3-11 sleep in one room. The offer of a separate room for the 11-year-old is only sporadically used during the day. I think that will change with puberty. A large wardrobe, better a cloakroom, has proven to be practical. It takes a while for such a bunch to get ready and needs space. A separate living room is quite practical – especially when the parents have visitors. The teenager is either with the adults, with the little ones, out and about, or in his room. I don’t think a separate living room for the youth is necessary. They want their peace and quiet more often anyway. Bathrooms – 2 bathrooms accessible to everyone have proven to be practical. It is enough to get everyone ready on time. So, sinks in the children’s rooms have never been missed. I don’t even want to know what kind of mess that sometimes causes. What must not be underestimated are the amounts of food that go through the kitchen and thus the supplies needed. Large pans, large pots, everything XXL. 2 large bags of fries, 4 heads of cauliflower, etc. And not to forget the drinks. I don’t have 4 children, these are friends of ours and the children are often with us.

: Thank you for the experiences! I’m curious to see how everyday life develops with the kids. The oldest child is only four, and during this time many things change very quickly in practice. I can definitely confirm the many food supplies, especially when they are going through a growth spurt. There’s always one in the middle of it ;-) That’s why a second refrigerator was also allowed to move into the hallway.