Cost planning - core renovation of farmhouse / country house

And new windows? Two years ago we paid about 10,000 euros for 12 wooden windows with double glazing - small formats - without installation and without fittings. All custom-made, as it is an old building. :eek:

I do not see a little witch’s castle of the Counts of Krumm and Schief here.

A hundred-year-old beam ceiling is never straight. Our Berlin old building had an 8 cm slope over 6 m in the living room. You could only tell because the baby toys always rolled towards the kitchen and all the dust and lint accumulated there. And as the beams settle, so do the walls. Strip foundations are also susceptible to settlement, which does not damage the building but causes nothing to remain plumb, horizontal, or square. If you like that, you can live well with it. But if air conditioning systems and underfloor heating are installed, then it is leveled, and doors very quickly no longer fit.

No, no sarcasm. I always have to cry when philistines in municipal councils recklessly misuse something essentially innocent like a roof eaves height restriction to exterminate the architectural heritage of the mansard roof. The bureaucratic red tape of the German average Joe will suffocate on its reduction of diversity to a maximum of four and a half different apple varieties. Gables pose no problem for those willing to renovate, and hipped roofs are always somewhat more complex – but then also done as a saddle roof.

I don’t see a little witch’s castle of the Counts of Krumm and Schief here.

I don’t know them, but I expect from them only mediocre expert knowledge, more on the level of a boulevard-style special issue – so filled with platitudes about mold cultivation with insulation stuff, more like a pharmacy magazine, if you know what I mean.

Oh wow – I had taken that for full sarcasm. I was about to be internally offended because I find the little house so visually beautiful. Especially with its round bay window and the special roof. Inside, thanks to the annex at the back, it’s also surprisingly spacious for such an old house. You can tell it belonged to a carpenter; it’s also nicely fitted with wood inside, at least I would love to save the staircase if somehow possible. But it’s definitely not perfectly straight, at least compared to the new build. But it has charm. That’s something I almost miss in the new build. Everything there is so straight and clean, it doesn’t really feel “country house-ish.” And it has exposed beams in the living room, the dream of my sleepless nights with the Loberon catalogue. ;)

If the book leans more toward the pharmacy magazine style, can you recommend another one? I really need to start from zero to educate myself technically.

For such a complex topic, there are no manuals.
Such houses are for craftsmen or people with deep pockets.
I took a photo of a section of the table of contents for you. I think I got the book as a "joke" from my husband years ago. 5 pages on the topic of insulation – that's pretty funny.

Thanks to you!

I still have one question: If I buy a very old building with the intention of completely renovating it, meaning I want to redo everything anyway – what should I pay special attention to during the viewing?
For example, I noticed water stains in the area of the bay window in the photos. Does that matter if I have to insulate the entire building envelope anyway?
What about the basement? What if it is damp?
Are there identifiable defects in old buildings that make them "unsellable," or can you buy it "as is" if you plan to invest 300k€ in it anyway?

Moisture can indicate significant structural damage to load-bearing parts. Therefore: Inspection with a real estate expert. And once again, even if you don't want to hear it: €300,000 is NOT enough for the complete renovation of a >200 sqm pre-war building without a heating system, with a mansard roof. You have to expect costs higher than new construction if you do not contribute a considerable amount of your own work.