Hanging house in the Southwest Palatinate - Our House Construction 2.0

Kati has, unlike most of us, the privilege of already building the second house she lives in at such a young age. The house, the kitchen, the shower are certainly perfect for Kati and her family. I envy her for that. I would also like to build again, but at the moment I lack the money.

Thanks, the money thing was really a matter of luck. I have great sympathy for all young people today looking at the real estate market and wondering "how?". We are also lucky in two ways: On the one hand, we could no longer afford our own house at the current interest rate level – or we wouldn’t because it would be very uncomfortable with the installment. And on the other hand, we have a contractor who is fair and committed. We made the contract with him at the beginning of 2022, and he literally says, “with me a fixed price is a fixed price.” We all know what happened with the construction price index, especially between 2022 and 2023, and if he wanted to, he could make life much more difficult for us. If he were to pass that on to us, we would have to refinance at a horrendous price.

Actually, I almost find it a bit of a shame that the house construction by is coming to an end. I found the discussions from the plot decision, overall plan to individual aspects of this construction project always really pleasant, very transparent, very constructive but also very confident and there was always some kind of friendly tone in these discussions. I never had the impression that Kati simply ignores or rejects criticism or recommendations out of principle. But she also always very consciously took on board the points that were understandable and important to her and discarded other points or defined them as not decision-relevant. She also always clarified the detailed questions that were important to her exactly and took on board other things well handled than by the general contractor. That’s why it will be HER house or that of HER family. , I wish you lots of fun living in the new house.

That’s very kind of you. I also find the thread very pleasant and we will certainly not stop posting updates anytime soon. Especially during the planning phase, I find it valuable to take in all kinds of feedback. Also the things you might then consciously decide against – it’s still important to have heard them to come to a well-founded, own decision. Examples are, for instance, our large hallways / the foyer etc. We already thought about that when it was mentioned more often. We then came to a different conclusion for ourselves but were still grateful for the feedback. Some things were incorporated too.

And especially the outdoor areas offer plenty of material for discussion with that slope! It remains exciting.

That’s true. We do that – like most neighbors – gradually. Our money pot was also finally empty at some point. But the slope is currently in a condition that it doesn’t end up at the neighbor’s property during heavy rain. You have to look at things prospectively. My sister also has a steep slope around her house. They built over 20 years ago and you can see on the terrace now that the entire outdoor area has settled about 10 cm over the course of 20 years. What to do against that apart from compacting, I don’t know either. They also have slopes that they secured with planting stones (which unfortunately have become expensive in the quantity we would need), and slopes they simply planted with vegetation. She also showed us how that has eroded over the years. Nothing serious, especially since it happened over more than two decades, but you have to keep it in mind.

If you have two dishwashers, you might even consider using the upper cabinets normally needed for dishes for something else. You just take a clean plate from the dishwasher when needed, not from the cabinet.

Though I also find it hard to understand the need. There are four of us, the dishwasher is full in the evening and done in the morning, and both adults mostly work from home and cook daily. I haven’t missed anything so far.

About raising the height… as a desk worker, your back sometimes hurts or your fitness suffers. I’m no longer a fan of making everything as comfortable as possible. Whether letting robots wander around the house or putting away the dishes for 10 minutes. If that tires you, it’s more of a signal that you should put away more dishes, not less. In the end, we all look like in the movie Wall-E.

Well, personally, I don’t find having my dishwasher under the countertop bad and planned it the same way for the new kitchen because some leftover cocoa in the cup is often overlooked here and mostly just ends up on the floor instead of all down the cabinet... But I would never put the oven lower again. Carrying a heavy roasting pan down and then burning your hands when letting go – no way... Oven placed higher with full extension, retractable door, and pyrolysis is my kitchen luxury :)

We are four people and the dishwasher is full in the evening and done in the morning

Well ... with photovoltaic on the roof, you prefer to run the dishwashers during the day, even if they are full in the evening. Still, more dishes accumulate. I have been doing this since my balcony photovoltaic system, and even in my normal single life, I sometimes have quite a few items standing in my (not visible from the living area) sink corner, waiting for the dishwasher to be free again. And whenever I have 3 or 4 guests, cook well, and a lot of stuff accumulates, it gets particularly extreme, since for me EVERYTHING except the good knives goes into the dishwasher, so on such days there is often more in that corner. And I don’t want to miss my elevated dishwasher anymore, but I would also like to use the oven, which I use much less often than the dishwasher, at a raised level, especially when I look at the operating concepts of newer ovens. My appliance series is now 17 years old :cool:

With photovoltaic on the roof, you prefer to run the dishwashers during the day, even if they are full in the evening. Still, more dishes accumulate.

Well, then it’s just full at noon and done by mid-afternoon. That doesn’t matter. In the meantime, you do something else.

And I don't want to miss my elevated dishwasher either, but I would also like to use the oven, which I use much less often than the dishwasher, at an elevated height, especially when I look at the operating concepts of newer ovens. My appliance series is now 17 years old

Would you first have to confirm the updated terms and conditions with a newer oven before you are allowed to program it? My microwave is still from the Demark era, does not warn about no longer available updates, and simply goes "pling!" in mono without Dolby Surround, Nokia Tune, or that kind of nonsense when it finishes.