House construction planning: timber frame house, log facade, shed roof

my girlfriend

What do you want to say with that? If anything, boyfriend.

What do you want to say with that? If then friend.

You asked

Who made the pictures?

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Your girlfriend does not observe the building boundary in the SE and SW. In my opinion, the terrace and entrance canopy must also not be outside the building boundary.

Phew... Painting the exterior facade (probably twice), all the painting work inside, and all the tiling work - wow. Who looks after the child while your girlfriend is doing all that and working on the side? Part-time teaching is also more of a full-time job... Are you doing any work yourself? 6,000 euros material costs for 140 sqm floors, adhesive, baseboards, everything that comes up?

How far is the building site from where you currently live?

I haven’t read anything about the interior doors either - are they also coming from the house builder?

Interior walls:
- 60x80mm KVH
- 12.5mm GKF
- 60mm soundproof mineral wool insulation
- for bathroom / WC GKFi

So you have walls 8.5 cm thick if I interpret that correctly? Fixing anything into them will be tough and the 60mm thick "sound insulation" won’t do much either – you’re aware of that? Especially on the walls adjacent to the bathroom...

Your girlfriend is not observing the building boundary in the SE and SW. In my opinion, the terrace and entrance roofing must also not be outside the building boundary.

Thanks , that was just a sketch on the iPad, the house builder will draw it correctly, also for the building application. We and the house builder will also check the terrace and entrance roofing, in our case the veranda, again according to the law!

Phew... painting the exterior facade (probably twice), all painting work inside, and all tiling work – wow. Who takes care of the child while your girlfriend does all this and works on the side? Being a part-time teacher is rather a full-time job... Are you doing any DIY work as well? €6,000 material costs for 140 sqm of floors, adhesives, skirting boards, everything that comes with it?

How far is the building plot from where you currently live?

I haven’t read anything about interior doors yet – are those coming from the house builder as well?

You will then have walls with 8.5 cm thickness if I interpret that correctly? Fixing anything in there will be challenging and the 60 mm thick “sound insulation” will not block much – you are aware of that, right? Especially on the walls adjacent to the bathroom...

The child is in the daycare :) The building plot is about 25 minutes away from where we live. The house builder also offers interior doors; they are included in the calculation, but maybe we will get them somewhere else. I tend not to do any DIY until my girlfriend has done the same amount. We know about the interior walls issue; we are still not quite sure whether to install OSB boards everywhere, which would cost about €2,600 extra plus installation. Installation by the house builder is €6,700; if the house builder also supplies the OSB, then OSB costs €4,300.
And currently the floors cost €6,000 with everything included. Since we still have a buffer, and want to spend it on good flooring, something will very likely still change :)

The child is therefore in daycare until around 3 p.m. Your girlfriend might work until 12 p.m., then spend two hours commuting (because each way takes 25 minutes) and then take care of the child because you work full-time. In the evening, do you go to the construction site with the child? Or just you? Or only on weekends?

How many hours are you estimating for painting the facade, doing the walls, laying floors, installing doors, possibly still adding the OSB, installing interior/exterior window sills, founding and assembling the carport with the family, creating the base sealing and drainage – did I forget anything?

The buffer is actually there to compensate for things you forgot or that became unexpectedly more expensive. What else have you mentally planned for? What about the kitchen and possibly new furniture? Lamps, curtains, fly screens, ...?

The most important thing is that you are honest about your numbers, planning, and above all your available time for everything you want to do yourselves. That your girlfriend wants to do most of it herself and you, if at all, can support her – how do you imagine this working in practice? Have you done anything like this before?

DIY work unfortunately is not a given... The child gets sick, care is limited during the holidays, vacation is limited and every small family needs rest. Keep this in mind if you don’t want to move in a whole year later (which costs significantly extra!)

Speaking of extra costs: How much double burden have you calculated? The home builder usually wants their money between the down payment and departure. The longer you take with the DIY work (and also charge material costs for it), the more expensive it already becomes. Can you buffer that?