Floor plan approx. 170 m² single-family house, without basement with carport

We find it quite promising. We could imagine making the storage room, which adjoins the garage, narrower at the front and moving the guest toilet, WC, and utility room forward so that it is flush with the front door. Would that make sense?

That’s the question! If you do without the storage room (so just a mini room that can just fit 4 bikes), the options become much better. Then you need a new plan that would probably be much better and above all cheaper. But the question is, can you do without the room? Because our garage is full and we don’t have a car in it and also have a shed just with garden tools. :eek:

Also, we wonder if it would be possible to narrow the passage to the kitchen, dining, and living room so that there is a bit more space for the kitchen cabinets. I think a single passage would be enough for us. I wouldn’t know in which situation we’d need to close the door. Or do you think the passage would then be too narrow?

Not too narrow, but you do want to close the door now and then. Double doors are only for aesthetics. ;)

For the two marked doors by the stairs, a passage might also be sufficient, or the door leading to the garden could simply be a floor-to-ceiling window. We have a large access from the living room anyway.

Those are minor details, you can do as you wish. Don’t forget, these are suggestions. If you want, you can remove ideas, change them, turn them around, or tear them apart in the air. Just thought experiments—nothing more.

How large would the pantry be in that case roughly? If I understand correctly it would be the room under the stairs plus the space to the right of it, right?

Well, about 3.5 sqm. The cabinet is 1.50 m x 60 cm deep. That can hold quite a bit and there can still be something standing next to it.

What is generally the advantage of a bay window compared to an indentation? Are these purely financial issues or also aesthetic?

Define what you mean by indentation?

We would like to install the photovoltaic system on the west and east sides in order to use as much electricity as possible ourselves. Do you see it as problematic if the gable side is approximately 13 meters long and the other is only about 8.4 meters?

Your roof faces south with the surface for photovoltaics. On the west and east sides is the gable—so no photovoltaics there at all.

That’s the question! If you do without the storage room (so just a small room where about 4 bikes can fit), the options get much better. Then you need a new plan that would probably be much better and above all cheaper. But the question is, can you do without the room? So our garage is full and we don’t have a car in it and we have a shed just with garden tools. :eek:

So a good floor plan is definitely more important to us than the optimally planned storage room. If there is enough space for bikes in the storage room, for example, that’s already great. We also have quite a bit of storage space in the attic and if push comes to shove and the space absolutely isn’t enough, you could always think about a garden shed or something similar. On the other hand, we can no longer adjust the floor plan.

Not too narrow, but you do want to be able to close the door now and then. Double doors are just for the looks. ;)

Okay, then rather a simple door and instead more space for the kitchen :). I think a glass door would make sense here so that even more light from the west comes into the hallway if the door is really closed at some point.

These are little details, you can keep them as you like. Don’t forget, these are suggestions. If you want, you can take ideas from them, change, turn around or tear apart in the air. These are just thought experiments – nothing more.

Well, as we saw from our first floor plan, we tend to underestimate things easily. That’s why we prefer to ask about the "easier" things too, in case we missed something in our thoughts ;).

Well, about 3.5 sqm. The closet is 1.50 m x 60 deep. You can fit something in there and something can still stand next to it.

Yes, I think we would manage with that.

Define what you mean by recess?

Recess is certainly not the correct term ;) What I mean is this:
A bay window is a projection that “only” enlarges the living space on the ground floor. By recess I mean that not only the ground floor has a projection but the whole house, so that the living space is enlarged on both floors.
Or would those technically simply be 2 bay windows and thus just double the cost?

Your roof faces south with the area for photovoltaics. On the west and east is the gable – so no photovoltaics at all.

I don’t understand that. In what way does the floor plan determine where the gable is in a two-story house?
Can’t I basically decide that freely?

A bay window is a bay window. It can span over one floor or several. I can't break down the costs for you, but the fact is, something like that is expensive. It primarily involves the roof construction, which becomes more complex. Or if several roofs are needed at once, you pay for each one individually. With a gable roof, it looks quite odd if the gable is on the long side. The greater the length difference, the weirder it becomes. Also, the ridge quickly gets very high if you place the gable on the long side.

Ah, okay. I thought "Erker" only means when it is on just one floor. Learned something new :)

Okay, I understood that as well. The optimal use of the property and the floor plan are more important to us than the perfect photovoltaics. Therefore, it would also be okay if the gable were on the east/west.

Having the photovoltaic system on the south side is not a bad idea. Especially in the winter months, this is advantageous and exactly then you need maximum yield.

Arranging the gable east/west also makes a lot of sense in terms of lighting. Assuming one full floor and a moderate knee wall of maybe 1m with perhaps 40 degrees roof pitch, the sun comes pretty much unobstructed into the north garden. Starting from March, the sun stands at 30 degrees in the sky, significantly higher in the summer months, and thus the light slides along the roof and falls, depending on the eaves visible height, 3-4m behind the house onto the ground. So if you step 2m in front of the house, it shines in your face (depending on your height).

Long story short… A north terrace and a north garden can be very beautiful if planned correctly. By the way, with many south-facing orientations, the windows are mercilessly shaded in summer. You don't have that on the north side; there you can nicely look into the garden.

The photovoltaic system on the south side is certainly not bad. But west/east orientation has advantages when it comes to self-consumption.

But true - I didn’t think about the shadow cast. It is certainly shorter with an east/west gable. However, we are currently planning with 2 full floors or a knee wall of 2.80 meters, but maybe it would be worth considering reducing this to, for example, 1.80 meters for the north garden. That would also save some money again;)