House Pictures Chat Corner - Show off your house pictures!

Great, we also want a cabinet like that under the stairs. If there is any money left over

The development plan states roof covering red or light gray. The mayor's interpretation - red ranges from light red to chestnut, light gray goes up to light gray.

Yeah, the dear mayors and municipal councils. I would check whether your dear Mr. Mayor is pursuing a planning purpose with the specification, and by that I don’t mean enforcing his personal taste. If he is not, the clause in the development plan is likely invalid. We have that here in the municipality as well. The builder wanted anthracite, the development plan and the floor plan said it had to be red. The builder didn’t care at all and covered it in anthracite. The floor plan saw it, angrily contacted the district office and asked them to issue a removal order. The district office then said, “No, dear floor plan, apart from your personal taste you are not pursuing any planning objective with this specification. That contradicts building freedom. We won’t do anything and recommend granting retroactive approval or tolerating it.” The floor plan didn’t like that, and in the next meeting decided with 11 to 2 votes to reject the municipal building authority’s (!) request to grant retroactive approval or tolerate it. That was five years ago, nothing happened since then. Meanwhile, the head of the building authority unofficially advises builders in inquiries simply to cover it in anthracite if that is their wish. The floor plan has zero means of enforcement. They would have to sue, which would hardly have any chance of success since the district office, as the approving authority, has already taken a stance in favor of the builder. You don’t have to accept every arbitrary nonsense. And arbitrariness seems to me a widespread bad habit in the (Bavarian, Franconian) countryside...

Yes, that's true. Our house, where it is being built and the fact that the ridge runs north-south and not west-east, did not suit the mayor and the building department at all. We have never had that, don’t know it, don’t want it. Coupled with an almost unbelievable inability to read plans, this constellation ultimately cost us two years and ended with a clear statement from the district administration office that the building must be approved as is.
This letter from the district administration office is ultimately a verbal slap for the mayor and the building department; we read it with great pleasure and joy.

My advice: I would still try to get the municipality on board, because it is simply better to reach an agreement with them. If that is not possible, always clarify with the higher building authority what is allowed and what is not, and if necessary, also challenge the municipal decision. If you adhere to the usual building regulations, you have a good chance.

In the municipal council, decisions are usually made according to the will of the mayor. We witnessed this live: here is a building application that cannot be approved like this! (direct quote from the mayor)
What was not true, but since the mayor had already indicated how the decision should be made, the obedient building department gave the willing votes.

In the end, we found a capable architect whom we knew could work well with the district administration office. This proved true. We even got approval for an overlap of setback areas and were able to set the house back a bit. The reason was that all affected parties benefited from this, especially the neighbors, from whom we thus "steal" significantly less evening sun.

The next instance for us would have been the administrative court; after the building department rejected the application already approved by the district administration office again (for which a special building department meeting was even convened!), the district administration office wrote the aforementioned "slap letter" and as the superior building authority approved the building application. Now the building department could only have filed a lawsuit at the administrative court. They usually don’t do this because the administrative court mostly follows the directives of the higher building authority.

So my advice: grow a thick skin and fight back!

A little more respect for my former industry, please
Why does the roof structure end far before the outer edges of the gable walls?

As Müllerin already wrote, it was by no means meant disrespectfully. In our area, this term is simply used colloquially. I apologize if it came across wrongly.

The outer edges were intentionally left open to better accommodate any material movements. Some pallets with tiles or construction machines are still located on the upper floor.

Next week, after all the other small tasks are completed, the roof structure will then be finished completely.

A lot happened this week on our construction site, but you just can't see it.

Sewer works (the sewer from the old building had to be relocated because otherwise it would run under our house, our sewer had to be done):


Insulation for the ground slab was delivered:


Drainage was installed:


and we now also have the house connection (the black nipple sticking out of the ground) and everything else was covered up again:


Next, the pipes for the geothermal system with soil activation will be laid (they go under our ground slab) and then the ground slab will be installed.

Delivery of the parts for the wooden basement is planned for 21.9.; by 22.9. it should be standing (they will also work on Saturday morning).

Living room facing south with glass front, kitchen facing north. How does your heat pump manage without ERR so that it doesn't get boiling hot in the living room or too cold in the kitchen?

A properly adjusted underfloor heating system in a current Energy Saving Ordinance house has such low supply temperatures that in this scenario a heating system without ERR tends to cool the living room and transfers the "gained" energy to the cooler kitchen.