Floor plan review single-family house with basement on a slight slope

We drew a lot ourselves, leafed through all kinds of catalogs.... we thought it would be cheaper if we pressed it into a formula, but quickly realized that it doesn't fit. (That's why we also withdrew from Viebrockhaus - great houses, but they didn't invent flexibility.)

Maybe you should also withdraw from other big names. You won't find your house in their catalogs not because your wishes are special - but precisely because you are apparently rather classically oriented and they mainly want to offer Milanese chic besides two or three "standard models". For Mettbrötchen you are in a fine restaurant wrongly, if you know what I mean. You'd have to reorder for much more money. Better look around the corner, Willi Kasulke also builds houses - and not so badly at all. I will never understand why people with normal taste - which is after all no shame - only read the bold entries in the directory :)

I find your commitment to the local builder commendable (also the above explanation in simple language), but I believe we have moved beyond this point by now. Ultimately, because we feel well taken care of by Kern, and have only heard positive feedback from the network and from other Kern homeowners in the area – especially about our construction manager/salesperson, the designated construction supervisor (whom we have already met and who has already been on site), and the building crew usually working in this region.

So far, I have not found anything truly bad that would fundamentally call our (pending) decision into question. I also find the interesting, but only partially transferable, as the starting conditions are sometimes quite different, and in general, I do not find any devastating critiques about the Lego variant. If people, semi- or uninformed, say "I'll just quickly build it myself with the Legos without much planning" (which is not what we want), then surely a lot can go wrong... as with other variants as well.

I have slight doubts that Willi Kasulke will build us the "honest and simple" house with everything included for significantly less $$$. As far as coordinating the trades and all that is concerned, it seems quite coherent to me at Kern – and if I have to pay a tolerable surcharge for this previously very good feeling, so be it. Or is it realistic that he will come to a price per square meter below €2000 for 176 m² of living space / 220 m² of usable space (in the extended commuter belt between Cologne and Düsseldorf)?

So far, I haven't been able to find anything really bad that would fundamentally call our (emerging) decision into question. I also find the interesting, although only partly transferable, since the starting conditions are sometimes quite different, and regarding the Lego version in general, I don't find any devastating critiques there either.

If you want to build your house with Kern, I don't see a fundamental reason for you to be warned; everyone is entitled to like any kind of construction method. You just have to be clear about this: for every craftsman who later wants to install anything in there, the rule is: "directly behind the 'Styrofoam' comes reinforced concrete" – you can only chase in as deep as the plaster and foam allow. And as far as I know, if you opt for controlled residential ventilation (I don’t know if they do it differently for an extra charge, but in that case my stone mantra would apply accordingly), you have to share their preference for "decentralized". And I recommend you to have an expert accompany the construction as a consultant since you have deviated extensively from the catalog design and every "different from Immerso" represents a potential problem area. I don't know of any horror stories about Kern-DuoTherm buildings in worrying numbers, and even the few I have seen I have not verified. If the reports are correct, they seem to occur at least within a statistically not alarming range. To my knowledge, I don't know any Kern customers, although I live less than 40 km away from them. But that also applies to most competitors represented in the Mülheim-Kärlich model house center. Here in the province, the market share of the big brands is manageable.

Yes, regarding the wall construction I was also initially skeptical, but by now I think: It will work out! (I don't (yet) own a Hilti, but the heavy Metabo rotary hammer has always served us faithfully so far.) The kitchen will be installed by a professional, which will already be taken into account at the wall construction at that point (wooden structure to mount the kitchen cabinets).

As written in the other thread, we have recently become members of the Bauherren-Schutzbund and have already had a first conversation with a very nice (and competent looking to me as a layman) building expert.

Don't let anyone convince you otherwise.

Ultimately, because we feel well taken care of at Kern,

That's already one of the most important things...
... and the draft is very nicely livable.
There are much worse ones. And the better ones probably cost more money. Your requirements come together in this draft. But pay attention to the position of the sun! - especially in winter, very little sunlight enters the house. I would rotate all rooms 90 degrees counterclockwise.

Regarding the Lego version in general, I don’t find any devastating criticisms here either.

Such criticisms do not exist with the vehemence with which our elephant expresses them here.

Regarding the 90° rotation, : Just move the rooms, then I would enter the house directly next to the kitchen? Or do you mean rotating the whole house? But then I would have the front door hanging free in the air on the slope?!