Construction costs are currently skyrocketing

So in my opinion, the house is finished on the outside except for the plaster... You can also move in without exterior plaster (many people do that here during the cold months)

I would ask what the timeframe is until they are finished. At our place, they taped off all the windows more than 3-4 weeks ago. Then it started at some point, but the plastering team only comes sporadically. Since we can’t move the shutters anymore (otherwise the film might get damaged), it’s getting kind of annoying. According to the builder, the timeframe is now the end of October until everything is finished. They haven’t even finished the base plaster.

In the long run, it gets a bit depressing when you can’t look out of any window in the house anymore. Light does come through, but that’s it. Besides, our older kid has been sitting in the dark in the afternoons all this time because his shutter is also down (necessary for the night). It’s not so bad in our bedroom, but the little one not only sleeps in his room but also likes to play there in the afternoons. I had hoped that all this taping stuff would be done faster. I also asked if I could remove individual windows again, but they said it would be too much work to tape everything again...
:rolleyes:

Edit: What I’m trying to say is—I would strongly try to avoid the situation where they start at your place now and tape everything off, but then possibly don’t finish because of the temperatures, and you end up sitting in the taped-off cave all winter. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

The problem is not that it is too cold during the day but the night frosts. So I would not want fresh plaster on my facade if the weather forecast reports -2 at night. To me, the risk of damage would be too high here. If plastering then has to be postponed to the coming spring because the forecast does not bode well either, I would first remove all the foil. If a general contractor loses the gamble against the weather, I do not allow it to be at my expense. They know exactly when to schedule what and with what buffer, they do this multiple times a year and mostly have been doing it for decades. My understanding is really limited here regarding the "the client will just have to swallow it" mentality of many general contractors.

Broom stroke look plaster +1000€... Is there a lot of extra effort behind it?

Yep. That is absolute handcrafted work. It requires extremely careful work and multiple people working simultaneously. Even though the look turns out "rustic" (I totally like that, but it was way too difficult for me as a DIY), the smallest mistake shows up extremely clearly.

I think plastering should only be done at +10°C and with little wind, not below that, not in strong sunlight, not in strong wind, not above 25°C... then exterior plasterers would be unemployed for 6-7 months a year. In December I could understand it... at my place they plastered and then frost came. So far nothing has fallen off, if it happens, you just have to make repairs. You have a certain warranty period on your new building. If I had prevented that, I probably would have ended up at the very end and would still be waiting for the plastering crew. But to prohibit the plasterer from working already? Now is actually the best time for that kind of work?

Currently, no frost is forecasted on any day... mostly over 10°, but often rain... He leaves the decision to me or, if after the 14-20 days of the base plaster it should no longer be possible, the rest will be done in spring.

Of course, we could remove the foil in this case...

I still have a small "problem" in the window thread... maybe one or the other could take a look at it :/

I didn’t catch in which configuration you are building... but with a general contractor, such a waiting time for your request will definitely mean that you cannot claim a delay for this period in the end.

Night frost can still occur sporadically until the end of May, only June is guaranteed free of night frost... That is in 9 months...

Maybe the GC won’t even exist anymore by then. And then?