Hanging house in the Southwest Palatinate - Our House Construction 2.0

What did your general contractor quote for the carport?

Roundabout 35k were initially discussed, and about 8k more for the garage. Each for the two-story structure, since we are building into the slope. I can't say exactly in the end, as we signed a contract for the entire structure, so house + garage extension as one.

We also have to build our double garage into the hillside. The total price quoted by the general contractor was about 56,000 euros all inclusive. That was too expensive for us, so now we are doing it ourselves. Only the floor slab was poured for us by the general contractor along with the floor slab of the house.

We are currently making progress with the installation of the underfloor heating. The screed will be laid right after Easter. And the following Monday, the final push will begin. Expected completion is early August. We can hardly wait. =)

At the moment, we are pondering the outdoor areas. Our builder will come back with machines anyway to fill in. He recommended that since he’s already doing something there, he could make us an offer to excavate, compact, and gravel directly in front of the garage, so the subfloor is prepared in such a way that it can be left like that or paved directly afterwards. I don’t have any concrete offers yet, just rough estimates. That would be for the area in front of the garage including gravel, so that you can drive in there for the time being and leave it like that, roundabout €2k.

I’m a bit skeptical whether I will later find someone who wants to pave on the ground we prepared ourselves. That’s why I asked the builder if he would also pave for us directly. So both the garage + walkway, as well as the terrace. We roughly calculated this yesterday (so no real offer yet, just a rough estimate again), and he came up with roughly €6k for the terrace, with about 30m² of terrace paved with somewhat nicer concrete stones (material around €30/m²). For the area in front of the house, I assume the entire space from the garage to the walkway continuously, he came up roughly €10k. So together about €16k.

We are now considering whether/how to do it, and where we could pinch pennies to make it somewhat cheaper. It’s not about the offer itself; I assume our builder is probably rather inexpensive for the service offered. It’s more about wanting to scale down the outdoor area a bit in favor of a larger photovoltaic system. We would then make the outdoor area nicer again in a few years.



We are now considering how to do the terrace at all—whether to make it L-shaped as in the plans, or straight like it was at the old house. As it’s drawn, it actually seems too narrow to me. And how could it be arranged in front of the house? I like it when there’s some little flowerbed or two included somewhere. However, this is not so suitable for our house because we have created a kind of “natural bay window” between the garage and the residential building. Where could a flowerbed be accommodated in the paving so that it doesn’t look too barren when fully paved?

And last but not least: From where to where would you pave?

Savings potential we have considered so far:
- Leave out paving in front of the garage for the time being and just gravel—possibly some decorative gravel or something? Would that be cheaper than paving? The walkway to the house would still be paved.
- Use cheaper stones—so no concrete pavers around €30 but rather the simple rectangular concrete stones. However, these don’t cost €9-10 anymore; now rather €14-15 per m².

I would find it tempting to have everything done in one go. 16k is probably really quite cheap; our quotes from two years ago for a somewhat similar scope were only slightly cheaper (and since then, inflation has come into play). So, if it’s somehow possible, I would probably do it. That way, you won’t have another construction site soon and, above all, you and the kids can immediately enjoy a clean paved area in front of and behind the house.

Regarding the design: I like a southwest orientation for sitting, especially in the evening. We also have a corner layout, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. For that, we have rather shallow depth. In my opinion, it’s all a matter of design. On one side we have a lounge area, on the other a dining table, so we don’t need as much depth as with a single surface where you might want to accommodate both. On one side we have 4.5m depth, on the other 3.5m – that’s a bit narrow; I find 4.5m great. How deep would your terrace be?

I would design the area in front of the entrance as a green space with a loose (i.e., curved/rounded) path from the driveway over to the door and to the property boundary for the “pedestrian access.” Beds then next to it/along the house, depending on what you like and how much work you want to have later.

I wouldn’t gravel in front of the garage. It will grow over sooner or later, and is horrible to maintain. (After buying, heavily pregnant, I felt like pulling out 30 dandelions per square meter from the gravel area in midsummer – never again! We then didn’t try to save the area and paved it.) Whether you then find someone to pave it, I don’t know. But that would have to be planned in terms of height, otherwise you’d have a step at the transition to the garage, because the build-up for the stones would have to remain free, right?

Is there a slope between the garage entrance and the house access? Because my first thought was also to pave the garage entrance and then from the garage make a small path to the right to the front door. Then you can plant the rest in front of the house downhill according to the plan, and you save yourself an extra path.

I would do the terrace around the corner, but perhaps make it less long to the left according to the plan, and a bit deeper to the right after the corner so that you also have a pleasant area there.

I would find it tempting to have everything done in one go. 16k is probably really quite cheap, our offers from two years ago for a somewhat similar scope were only slightly cheaper (and since then inflation has also come into play). So, if somehow possible, I would probably do it. Then you won't soon have the next construction site again and can especially enjoy a neat paved area in front of and behind the house directly with the kids.

Yes, that is definitely tempting. Maybe we can manage a bit cheaper with less expensive stones.

Regarding the design: I like the southwest orientation for sitting, especially in the evening. We also have a corner layout and wouldn't want it any other way. For that, we have a rather shallow depth. In my opinion, it’s all a matter of design. On one side we have a lounge, on the other a dining table, so we don’t need as much depth as for a single area where you maybe want to fit both. On one side we have 4.5m depth, on the other 3.5 – that’s somewhat narrow, I find 4.5 perfect. How deep would your terrace be?

I’ve never had a corner layout, can’t quite imagine it yet. I wouldn’t even know where to put the table and chairs in our case? At the old house we had 6-7m width and I think 4m depth. I don’t really remember exactly. According to the invoice it was 34m² in any case. At the new house we are still flexible regarding the depth, but I found 4m quite nice.

I would design the area in front of the entrance as a green space with a loose (meaning curved/rounded) path from the driveway over to the door and to the property boundary for the “pedestrian access.” Then flower beds next to it/along the house, depending on what you like and how much work you want to have with it later.

I can’t quite imagine what you mean – where would you see the curve there?

Is there a slope between the garage driveway and the house entrance? Because my first thought was also to pave the garage driveway and then make a small path from the garage to the right to the front door. Then you can plant the rest below the plan in front of the door and save yourself an extra path.

I would make the terrace as a corner layout, but perhaps less long to the left on the plan, and then a bit deeper to the right after the corner, so you have a nice area there too.

Oh, so you would make the path to the front door only via the garage driveway? I think I find that not so nice visually. If you have visitors and there are cars, people coming on foot would always have to pass the cars to get to the door. I think a proper footpath from the street to the front door would be nicer. But it doesn’t have to be continuous with the driveway, that’s true.

Edit: There’s no slope, this is how it currently looks: