Floor plan design single-family house approx. 250 sqm with granny flat

I find it somewhat ambitious to renovate 250 sqm interior space myself and try to reduce the construction cost with it. Especially with the demands on appearance and style.

I quickly took a detailed look at the floor plan. Without measurements, however, a lot can only be guessed. (I’ll leave the windows aside)

The windows are dimensioned, but unfortunately no longer legible – a victim of the plans not uploading as expected as vectorized PDFs (I had seen PDFs uploaded in other, older threads, but that doesn’t seem possible anymore). I’m happy to provide some measurements later.

Well, there are requirements for what a rental apartment must have.
But I’m not really legally certain here.

I am quite sure that the absence of a dedicated space for drying laundry in the apartment or a bathroom of the currently planned size should not be problematic. Ultimately, the apartment would not have to appeal to every theoretically conceivable tenant. Here (commutable distance to Munich) there is an extreme housing shortage and very high rents. What is sometimes offered here for a considerable amount of money is by far worse than the planned granny flat, so its lettability should first of all not be an issue.

What is important to us, of course, is that the apartment works for my mother. We have of course looked up how an apartment should be designed barrier-free. However, elsewhere one reads again that the dimensions to be observed according to the corresponding DIN standard are calculated very generously for 95% of usage cases. This certainly has its justification in public buildings or explicitly marketed barrier-free apartments, but in private settings most people, even if requiring care, probably manage well with somewhat smaller dimensions. The question is, of course, where the limit lies. I have a person in the family needing care (overweight, very immobile, needs assistance with showering and washing, incontinence products also a big issue) who manages well with a relatively small bathroom that according to DIN would certainly not be senior-friendly. I will ask for the distances in this bathroom to be measured, maybe we can still learn something from it.

You have a lot of own work planned. Don’t forget that you also have a full-time job. Managing a lot of own work on the side is only doable to a limited extent.

That’s true. However, we already live just a few minutes on foot from the property, so one can regularly work on the house for a few hours after work. We also do not have the claim to have to move in within a very short time.

I basically like the concept as well.

What caught my eye immediately again is the staircase. What floor height is planned? I think the staircase looks very tight.

There is also some uncertainty on our part, even though we have already spent quite a bit of time on the staircase. The floor height is 305 cm. The software used for the design makes nice straight staircases and staircases with landings but quickly reaches its limits with winding steps. We have calculated the staircase manually as well as used several staircase calculation tools and also compared the staircase floor plans mentioned here in the reference post on floor plan design. According to all these calculations, the staircase should fit. The tread width is 1 m (or 95 cm if you subtract the railing), tread depth, stride length, step height, rise, Blondel’s formula and headroom are all well within the green area. The staircase is thus definitely DIN-compliant, but whether it is reasonably comfortable to walk on, we can only hardly assess. I think we need a staircase builder to take a look. I will look up the numbers for the staircase later, maybe then someone can say more about it here as well.

And just two or three more keywords:
- Bedroom, bed head next to passage area
- Route from kitchen to terrace always passes by the table – right? Could be a bit tight.
- Living area is rather no quiet area, but actually a passage area

And, a note, I would always plan Pax closets with 65/66 cm depth because of the doors and rough construction dimensions.

We discussed the bed head next to the passage area and came to the conclusion that it doesn’t really bother us (we had that in our old apartment and didn’t find it problematic). In an earlier version of the design, we had the bed on the wall to the bathroom and arranged the bathroom access differently, but that was less to our liking for other reasons. We will think it over once more.

The route to the terrace should be okay. At the narrowest point, with the chair fully pushed in at the table, there is about 90 cm of passage. Between passage and table corner >1 m. We might enlarge the dining area slightly to gain a bit more space.

Regarding the living area, we have the conflicting goals of open/spacious versus a closed-off quiet area. Currently, there would be just the two of us in the house and not more than three people altogether. I’m not sure whether the disturbance caused by a passage would actually be a big issue. Since our entrance situation is also fairly private (too private in the opinion of other posters), I don’t see much “public traffic” at the door. Possibly the issue could be solved with a sliding door, although for us doors are never closed anyway (or cannot be closed… cat owners know what I mean).

For the Pax closets, we will provide some extra space everywhere. At most places we have already calculated somewhat generously, but we will adjust this consistently. Good hint.

That's true. However, we now live only a few minutes' walk from the property, so you can easily work on the house regularly for a few hours after work. We also do not have the expectation to move in within a very short time.

Then I would be interested in your definition of own work. Regularly "a few hours" can easily take half a year just for walls and floors, which are classics for a house of this size.

The original post mentions "a lot of own work."

I find it somewhat ambitious to renovate 250 sqm interior by yourself and want to push down the construction costs that way. Especially with the demands on appearance and style.

It certainly is, and it definitely won’t be a quick story. However, we’re not really worried that we won’t meet our own demands on appearance and style. For example, we have already quite extensively renovated a listed old apartment in the rather upscale segment by ourselves, and in my opinion, we did not do a bad job. At least the quality of the renovation was highly praised by all potential buyers, so apparently third parties found the result pretty decent as well. My husband is skilled in many crafts and has a very perfectionistic nature. It will certainly be a lot of work, but we are also enthusiastic about it and enjoy this kind of thing.

Then I would be interested in your definition of self-performed work. Regularly “a few hours” can already take half a year by itself just for walls and floors as a classic for the house size.

In the opening post, “a lot of self-performed work” is mentioned.

Among other things, we plan to do the following ourselves: install insulation and close walls, plaster, paint, lay parquet and tiles, install doors, prepare electrical work, plan and purchase photovoltaics ourselves and only have them connected (my husband is a mechanical engineer with a lot of knowledge in electrical engineering), built-in closets, and exterior facilities. Of course, we do not only plan “a few hours regularly,” but also every weekend and vacation days. The comment only referred to the fact that we can really do something every day and, unlike many other builders, do not only come to work on weekends due to long travel times. If it should become too much for us, we can always still commission a craftsman or buy in more help.

We are of course planning not only "a few hours regularly" but also all weekends and holidays.

OK. We have some people doing self-labor here who think it's "done quickly." For the mentioned work, you just have to know that it is more like 60 man-days than 60 hours.

When we built, there was the rule of thumb that 100 euros saved on a craftsman equals 3 hours of work for laypeople. You really have to think it through carefully.

Visually, the house is stylish - something different.

Draw all existing and desired furniture into the floor plan to scale. Especially in the granny flat, books, shoe collections, etc., should be taken into account.
Regarding your area - big, long walking distances, impractical were my first thoughts.
The second kitchen - I can really understand the reason, but it is so unergonomic. I can't imagine it being practical for everyday use.
The kitchen and living area are quite dark.
Entrance very hidden - seriously, how often do people take out the trash in pajamas?

The upper floor somehow feels convoluted and partly dark.