SimKu
2018-12-17 20:29:55
- #1
Hello dear readers,
we are a soon-to-be family of five planning to convert a former horse stable on a small old farm into a residential house. The floor area is approximately 145sqm; except for the four outer walls and the cantilevered concrete intermediate ceiling, everything will be redone, which we have already had checked. Building law-wise, everything is also clarified; we are allowed to carry out an outskirt area development once when giving up agriculture.
Now to my question: We would like to hand over the preliminary planning to professional hands and then allocate the trades ourselves and also supervise the construction ourselves. On the one hand, because we have many craftsmen in the family and among friends who do not all work with the same contractor, and we would like to have the free choice there; on the other hand, of course, to save costs that we would rather invest in the construction than in an architect for construction supervision. Our architect also works only with a small circle of craftsmen, which would greatly limit our selection. My father could take over construction supervision; he is retired, lives next door, and has basically done nothing else in his life but renovate houses. However, he is too old for pure self-performance, and we are too inexperienced and not able time-wise with three small children. Our budget is around 350,000, and the timeframe for the conversion is flexible up to two years, by which time it must be habitable. Since the farm belongs to the family, all house acquisition costs are eliminated, and the budget can be fully planned for the conversion. What would experienced homeowners recommend, is the plan realistic, or is it better to award a large part/individual sections to a general contractor or architect? Perhaps people here have done similar projects and would like to share their experiences.
Thank you very much and best regards from the Rhineland!
we are a soon-to-be family of five planning to convert a former horse stable on a small old farm into a residential house. The floor area is approximately 145sqm; except for the four outer walls and the cantilevered concrete intermediate ceiling, everything will be redone, which we have already had checked. Building law-wise, everything is also clarified; we are allowed to carry out an outskirt area development once when giving up agriculture.
Now to my question: We would like to hand over the preliminary planning to professional hands and then allocate the trades ourselves and also supervise the construction ourselves. On the one hand, because we have many craftsmen in the family and among friends who do not all work with the same contractor, and we would like to have the free choice there; on the other hand, of course, to save costs that we would rather invest in the construction than in an architect for construction supervision. Our architect also works only with a small circle of craftsmen, which would greatly limit our selection. My father could take over construction supervision; he is retired, lives next door, and has basically done nothing else in his life but renovate houses. However, he is too old for pure self-performance, and we are too inexperienced and not able time-wise with three small children. Our budget is around 350,000, and the timeframe for the conversion is flexible up to two years, by which time it must be habitable. Since the farm belongs to the family, all house acquisition costs are eliminated, and the budget can be fully planned for the conversion. What would experienced homeowners recommend, is the plan realistic, or is it better to award a large part/individual sections to a general contractor or architect? Perhaps people here have done similar projects and would like to share their experiences.
Thank you very much and best regards from the Rhineland!