Complete renovation of a 60s house - is KFW85 possible?

Do yourself a favor and don’t overestimate yourself and your helpers.

We are currently doing a major renovation ourselves. The contrast with and without a child is really extreme, our daughter was born during the renovation phase. Before the birth, everything was much more relaxed and there was more time. You don’t want to leave the mom alone all the time and also want to be there for the child yourself or have some time with them.

Regarding helpers, in my experience, you mainly need them at the beginning when you can quickly cover large areas with simple tasks (gutting, removing wallpaper, etc.)

After that, it usually becomes more difficult because you need people who know what they are doing. Otherwise, you’re just watching and explaining, so you might as well do it yourself. And the people who know what they’re doing are usually motivated and present at the beginning – but motivation often decreases significantly as the construction phase progresses. The brother-in-law, brother, or best friend doesn't want to be on the construction site three times a week anymore. My most important helper is my brother-in-law – but after about 9 months he understandably didn’t have much desire or time left either. Then you’re kind of left there and have to manage more or less on your own.

On top of that is of course self-motivation. At the beginning, everything is great, exciting and fun. After six months, it slowly takes a toll both physically and mentally. Added to that is time pressure, etc.

I don’t want to make you worry, but just give you a realistic assessment. Better to budget a few euros more for professional services. Only calculating material costs is completely unrealistic. I am seeing it firsthand myself: in the end, the carpenter is going to renovate the stairs, and someone is suddenly coming to plaster and lay tiles, even though we could theoretically do it ourselves. Simply to finally get it done ;)

"Profit lies in purchasing" – I will definitely try to exploit all possibilities there, as we would also have sufficient storage space with about 130sqm of cellar and 60sqm of carport.

In purchasing – not in capital commitment!

However, I still have one month of parental leave and 43 vacation days available for next year (if I continue to be frugal this year).

That's not much. The two of us have already spent a month in a new building for painting and flooring on the upper floor. Nothing to do with renovation. After that, we were groggy for 3 days of wellness on the Baltic Sea :rolleyes:

Then you have the underfloor heating along with the heat pump for €10,000. Of course, the screed needs to be redone. The craftsman’s price for cement screed is around €3,000-4,000. I can’t estimate the floor insulation. In doubt, just 2cm PUR for little money and tack it directly on. Then properly insulate the basement ceiling.

This is roughly estimated based on my own sources.

Many thanks, I will calculate that when we get the contract for the house. Can you recommend a manufacturer for the heat pump?

I don’t want to worry you, just give a realistic assessment. Better plan a few euros more for craftsman services. Calculating only material costs is completely unrealistic. I am seeing it myself right now: The stairs are ultimately renovated by the carpenter, then someone comes for plastering and laying tiles, even though theoretically we could do it ourselves. Simply to finally get finished ;)

Thanks for your experience. We have lowered our bid so that we have more buffer to pay for some craftsman hours here and there.

In purchase - not in capital tie-up!

Alright, we certainly won’t buy everything immediately, but having space is definitely not a bad thing :)

That is not much. As two people, we already spent a month in a new build for the painting and flooring on the upper floor. Nothing to do with renovation. After that, we were groggy for 3 days wellness at the Baltic Sea :rolleyes:

My experience is different. We fully wallpapered our current semi-detached half with 120 sqm with help from family on a Saturday, except hallway and bathroom, and painted everything on the next Saturday. But still, thanks for your experience :)

Can you recommend another manufacturer for the heat pump?

Take the widely popular Geisha/Jeisha = Panasonic Monobloc among DIY enthusiasts. Buy from rjtec - there you also get qualified advice and support. WW storage tanks are often taken from SHWT. Pipes and fittings from Pipetec - they have all necessary approvals and can even be pressed with a hand press. The monobloc has the advantage that you don’t need a technician because no refrigerant lines need to be connected. I have no experience yet with the brand new monobloc (L series) (r290 refrigerant is absolutely future-proof for this). Also don’t know if and where you can buy them properly. Oh yes, if you want to have the heating load and heating design calculated and are still looking for an engineering office, I recommend Mr. Heckmann. He is also very popular among many Pana DIYers. You can also get the necessary statement from him for waiving ERR (actually works). Then you were also told PUR from a second-choice dealer. Those would be dämmstoffkönig and/or smartbau from Nettetal. There you can basically buy ALL insulation materials at outrageous prices. The Dutch sometimes pick up entire trucks of second choice.

Thank you very much so far for the hints and tips.

We have now agreed on a price with the seller, so the question arises: what is the best way to finance?

What happens if we plan a KFW component but then do not meet the required energy standard?

What is the usual process to set up financing? From my understanding, I would need to work out a roadmap with the energy consultant before the financing is granted in order to know which KFW target is achievable with the planned modernization costs. But that would mean that I would have to pay the energy consultant in advance without having a purchase contract for the house. Am I on the wrong track with this way of thinking, or is there another way?