Detailed questions on floor plan design renovation with extension

thank you very much for your sketch. I have understood the plans for the ground floor. We really like the idea with the cloakroom and the stairs. Whether the existing stairs to the attic work in detail still needs to be checked. We did not quite understand the sketches of the basement. Did you try to transfer the layout from the ground floor to the basement? I don’t quite understand which walls on the left would actually remain. Are you leaving the right room as an extra room? Maybe you can sketch the basement again more clearly so that I understand your idea better. Thanks.

We discussed the various options over the weekend. Currently, we are at the point where a conversion of the basement into a family-friendly kitchen and a large living room, and also the ground floor similarly to the plans of the upper floor, seems quite elaborate to us. Even more walls would have to be removed or moved. But maybe we are thinking in too old patterns. If anyone has input regarding the redesign of basement and ground floor, feel free to share.

My husband is very attached to the idea of an extension as soon as we do the roof. Also because a relative who is a mason has repeatedly offered to build it cost-effectively and we should use the potential through the extension. My husband is also attached to the idea of renting out part, among other things because of higher subsidies and depreciation options. So we discussed the option of a tenant upstairs. But in my opinion, it is hardly possible to separate the stairs inside so that we can move between ground floor and basement without encountering the tenant. An additional outside staircase would remain, which causes further costs. If there are any ideas about this, please share them.

Whether the existing staircase to the attic works in detail still needs to be checked

? I thought you wanted a new staircase anyway..

Have you tried to transfer the layout from the ground floor to the basement?

Actually not. Here again neatly with marking of the load-bearing elements.

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Ultimately, of course, what counts is that you and not we should feel comfortable. If you see more positives with "your" version for yourselves, then so be it. However, I do not understand your dilemma with the granny flat. You also do not address this. On the one hand, it is supposed to be rented out, then the tenant is kicked out as needed because the grandparents need a guest room. Then the argument with justified unwanted contact with the tenant is made, but the fact is he will also park in your yard and, as already mentioned, can watch you in the garden.

that we can move between the ground floor and basement without encountering the tenant.

Because you have that on the driveway and in the back garden with your planning. And as others have said and mentioned here repeatedly: owning a garden is more than just having a placeholder for the gas grill, as many apartment tenants think. This "I do what I want with a tenant" or choosing an "invisible tenant who acts the way I want" does not work.

My husband is really attached to the extension as soon as we do the roof. Also because a relative who is a bricklayer has repeatedly offered to do the masonry inexpensively and we should use the potential through the extension. My husband is also attached to the idea of renting out a part, among other things because of higher subsidies and depreciation possibilities.

Reality will cure him, and depending on the marital property regime, you will be affected as well. The bricklayer sees his little masonry work and ignores the roof elevation. That results in a negative return; no reasonable businessman undertakes such effort for the dream of landlord wealth (which will never ever ever ever materialize with a single residential unit). "Depreciation" has no place in the vocabulary of people with an annual income under 200k (at most half of it from work!) or is a case for the psychiatrist. Usually, such fever dreams concern people who are legally insured and who are far from the top of the income tax scale.

Thank you very much for the new sketch. This way I understand it better.

Regarding the stairs, we have not yet made a final decision on whether a complete renovation justifies the costs within a cost-benefit analysis.

Concerning the granny flat: If it comes to that, we want to rent it out to strangers for 5-10 years and then reassess. Only then will we finally see how many children we have, how often and for how long the parents and other relatives visit, and whether we will need the additional space.

An encounter in the courtyard or a view of the garden does not bother us much; the neighbors look there too. My concern with the granny flat on the upper floor was whether it is even possible to implement the access with the internal staircase, since both residential units must be separately accessible.

Even if it may not seem that way so far, we both grew up in single-family houses and currently have an apartment with a small garden. If I want a garden where I have complete privacy, I need an appropriate hedge or better yet, a secluded property.


Yesterday I also mentioned again whether it is even profitable. In acquaintances, some offset a lot of the costs through taxes after renovation and rental or get a lot back. But even they will need years to decades to recoup the costs.

Thank you anyway for the input.

If I want a garden where I have complete privacy, I need an appropriate hedge

Exactly. That is the optimum for almost everyone who has a garden. Hedges are planted for that purpose. We live in a new development area, and almost everyone has arranged their plants so that very few can look inside. In our case, not even the neighbors from the upper floor can see into larger parts of the garden. This is ensured by the occasional tree in addition to a hedge.

I was talking about a granny flat on the upper floor

Honestly, I don't know anyone who would voluntarily want someone else living above their head, so I didn't address that at all,

after renovation and renting out, you can deduct a lot from taxes or get a lot back.

It’s actually the opposite: you have to pay tax on the rental income and, in the end, you lose money.

I also wondered yesterday whether this is even profitable. In my circle of acquaintances, some people deduct a lot from taxes after renovation and rental or get a lot back. But even they will need years to decades to recoup the costs.

The roof must be completely stripped and dismantled. Even if you wanted to build up linearly, it would be like that and apart from the rafters, purlins, and roof tiles (about 20% renewed), nothing would be reused. You also want to put on a steeper roof, so at most the purlins will be reused; for the roof tiles, so many more are needed that it makes more sense to just take new ones. In every wall affected by the extension, all cables etc. will be "extended." Even if the friend does rough masonry work for God's wages, it costs a fortune. Just to bring someone into the house without whom you could have avoided all this nonsense. Assume the rental yield is around four percent; then, even in the simplistic calculation, you'll theoretically break even only after 25 years (in reality, the kitchen and bathroom have already been renewed again). This race is unwinnable. Build this apartment only if you are making too much profit with your other >20 apartments. Don't forget: I am not expressing my "opinion" here (or experience as a fellow sufferer of new builds or renovations) but as a construction consultant (and voluntarily also a debt counselor). So, in a way, with a seal that you would rather become my clients on a voluntary basis.