Wouldn't it be smartest to plan the basement entrance so that one of the rooms on this stairwell is basically supplied with a light well at the same time? For that, maybe plan the basement stairwell a bit wider right away, so that you can comfortably get things down into the basement?
Yes, I had already thought about that after your suggestions, or with the staircase in another location.
You need rooms for people – and definitely not in the basement. There are five of you and you still want to regularly host guests. Plan a table for six in your floor plan! One person needs about 60 cm at the table and for moving the chair backwards there should be at least 1 m. Normal table depth is 90 cm. Do you all want to squeeze into the kitchen – for a lifetime?
That's true, Katja, but as I wrote, we find the living room too small in the BU’s floor plan, we would like a small kitchen and in return a more generous living/dining area (currently 32 sqm and that fits very well). Therefore, I did not find Yvonne’s proposal of a narrower and longer house bad at all; that would make the living area significantly bigger. Alternatively, an extension... I also think that with some replanning, e.g. the laundry issue as mentioned, something can be done with the given conditions. We are only in the first draft planning phase, so nothing is fixed yet (no, also the floor area is definitely not carved in stone 1000%).
Upper floor with 3 bedrooms, small office, bathroom, and utility room.
Attic will be used as a 4th bedroom if needed and as storage for baby clothes until all children have grown out of them.
Usually, the attic floors cannot be developed so that you can stand there easily, especially not with 2 full stories, right? If you want to use it as a 4th bedroom (which hopefully will be the case according to our plan), you would need a "comfortable" additional staircase to the attic and not just a pull-down ladder… or am I mistaken here? Or then a small staircase retrofitted in the office going upstairs?
I completely overlooked that 2 full floors are possible. But with 340k (including furniture and stuff!) that won't be 3 developed floors – no matter whether downstairs or upstairs.
With that budget, only 2 kids fit. Maybe that’s where you should start.
I'm pretty sure I wrote excluding furniture (also kitchen), as we already have everything we need (currently 127 sqm living space) and that we can bear the additional costs for furniture ourselves. Presumably also the flooring of the living areas and the paint for the walls. Honestly, I don't find it very nice to write that the budget only fits 2 children and that we should reconsider. Everyone should still be able to decide on their own how many children they want.
Better to write: rather don't build, the budget is not sufficient instead of the other way around. Just saying…
There are only two height marks on the site plan.
So economically this would be fully in the area of "slab foundation instead of basement" here – no slope, no unobstructed window, living not seriously desirable, home office not feasible every day either. With all due respect or in dubio pro basement: here I would leave it out.
The height leveling was done by the BU; we don’t have that information yet. As I wrote before, the plot has not been surveyed yet either. At the end of the month, the city council meets for the final adoption of the development plan; after that, I think there will be a final plan of the plot including these marks. Generally, you are right, the difference is not that big, so economically this basement certainly will not pay off during construction, but we are aware of that.
I think I did not say home office every day (possible several times per week from the employer’s side, currently rather 1-2 times per month, realistically about once a week, not that much more often). We actually don't want to live in the basement, as said, it should be the home office including a guest bed in the basement; as soon as 3 children really need their own space (earliest in 10-15 years), I think...?
Look carefully at the construction service description. Especially in the basement.
What about the earthworks?
Budget and basement are incompatible.
Earthworks excluding disposal (yes, I know that can still cost another 10,000) were calculated in the incidental construction costs. According to initial assessments by the BU, I thought the budget would be sufficient, but if everyone here is convinced that it does not fit, we will have to take another close look at it (and yes, we have studied the construction service description and know quite well where additional costs may be lurking (electricity, basement finishing, basement sealing, etc.)). So far, however, there is no final cost estimate for the design, as I mentioned at the beginning, so unfortunately I cannot say anything precise about it yet.
Please don’t misunderstand me, I think it’s great that there are unsparing critiques here, which are definitely needed in such a planning phase, because many things are simply not considered in the heat of the moment, but some assumptions made do not correspond to what I wrote at the beginning, and I find it a pity when things are simply assumed or read into that are not true.
Still, it’s great that you point out to us that the budget does not match what we imagine. Then we just have to think about compromises or give up the garden and build without a basement but larger instead. Personally, I would find that unfortunate, but of course it is worth considering (it’s not as if we hadn’t thought about that, especially since no basement with a larger floor area does become cheaper...). Maybe we should take another look whether a little more would be possible; currently, we are calculating with slightly bearable costs for financing...
Best regards