Many rooms on the ground floor

If there is a chance that your disabled child might one day be able to use the toilet, I would plan for a shower toilet or at least have electricity installed so that it can be retrofitted if needed.

If the upper apartment is to be rented out separately at some point, the house would have to be considered as a two-family house from the start. For example, an anteroom for the staircase; a lift could also be planned there – the 'home elevators' are slow but require no construction – so the upper apartment could also be rented to elderly or mobility-impaired people. However, the apartment would also need a parking space.

Thank you very much for your sketch! The changes often make the rooms significantly more usable. The only thing I am unsure about is enlarging the children's room at the expense of the bedroom. I want to turn the bed with the head side facing north. I can hardly imagine sleeping directly under a window. The north window could possibly also be removed.

A platform lift works with any staircase shape. As soon as any part of the lift rail has to be bent, it costs about €6000 more with all providers. Considering the total construction sum, that's not much, but if the staircase happens to be straight, I have no objections. If a spiral staircase would be better for the floor plan, we will do a spiral one.


Thanks! We want to make preparations for a shower toilet and grab bars. Not for our daughter, but if you're going to build wheelchair accessible anyway, it has to be done.

A lift/elevator is significantly more expensive than a platform lift. It also has to be serviced annually, unlike the maintenance-free stairlift. Actually, our daughter doesn't even really need to go upstairs. However, I would find it nicer if she could come up too.


Thanks to you as well. The only uncertainty in the room program is the technology/utility room. We need washing machine connections upstairs and downstairs. I would prefer to use the washing machine and dryer downstairs to be closer to my daughter while doing so. I think we have plenty of space for the technology upstairs, but I would find it "nicer" in the ground floor, probably because I am not familiar with it upstairs.

There is no plan for the elevation levels. The new development area is still farmland and will be fully developed this year. However, it should be possible for the house and garage to be at the same level. If we need a ramp to the house, I would do it differently than shown in the plan.

@all:
Does it make sense to accommodate controlled residential ventilation and gas heating with solar, etc. upstairs given the dimensions of a two-family house? I am skeptical because of the weight of the buffer tank during use but also regarding a necessary replacement...

What do you think about later separating off the staircase by moving the windbreak wall basically upwards on the plan? Light via a transom window in the living room and glass doors. Sensible or total nonsense? The entire floor plan stands or falls with the position of the staircase.

The entire floor plan stands or falls with the stair position.

Stairs generally have this dominance, whether with a lift or without.

If a spiral staircase would be better for the floor plan, we will make a spiral one.

I think the linear movement (also in terms of pace, without jerking around a curve) is most comfortable for the user.

Actually, our daughter doesn’t even have to go to the upper floor. However, I would find it nicer if she could come up too. [...] I prefer to use the washing machine and dryer downstairs in order to be closer to my daughter.

Exactly: regardless of how she evaluates participation in family life on the upper floor, you feel uncomfortable if you are "separated" structurally while you vacuum upstairs or do similar things. I wouldn’t leave out the possibility that she can come along. After three days you’ll order the thing anyway. Better do it right away.

The only uncertain part of the room program is the technology/utility room.

On the ground floor, a connection and heating room could also have an outside access and forgo an interior one. On the other hand, every room is to be welcomed that doesn’t care on which floor it gets its space.

There is no plan for the elevation levels. The new development area is still farmland and will be fully developed this year. However, it should be possible for the house and garage to be on the same level. If we need a ramp to the house, I would make it differently than shown in the plan.

In the floor plan there are two steps (i.e. about 35 +/- 3 cm) by which the ground floor lies higher than the plot in the area of the entrance/garage.

The access road will have a planned elevation profile; typically, reference heights are derived from this. At the surface of the plots, nothing will be changed on the development side. Heights you want therefore practically have to be made. You cannot influence part of it, but must adapt to it, such as the street/sidewalk height at the driveway side. If an elevation difference must be overcome, I would use a ramp for everyone (including the "pedestrians" in the family).

Think about how the family car will be parked in the garage (front/back; forwards/backwards; left/right), that will influence the most favorable position of a door.

You will have to get both yourself and your daughter used to her being alone for short periods; you can hear her upstairs through the baby monitor if she needs you. As the floor plan is currently designed, a later division will be very difficult to implement; you also won’t be able to clearly separate the staircase and the upper apartment acoustically, since a drywall partition just isn’t sufficient.

I also wouldn’t reduce the size of the master bedroom any further; it’s already quite small—especially if you plan to live only on the lower level at some point.

The upper apartment obviously needs to be prepared now for the kitchen connections & washing machine & dryer, as it is very complicated to retrofit these later. The lines must also be laid separately from the start so that individual meters can be installed for each apartment.

Thank you very much for your good advice. I have thought about it again. Yes, it’s true. The staircase in the middle across is great for the five of us, but if the upper apartment were ever separated, it would really be difficult. Especially also acoustically. Selling the house would certainly be easier with a slightly separable staircase. At the moment, since there are (no more) epilepsy problems, I have no problem leaving my daughter a bit alone even without a baby monitor. But the danger is always looming. I’m actually not such a helicopter mom as admittedly it seems. The family car (later bus) will probably be parked more on the left side and always parked forwards. I’m absolutely terrible at reversing parking. Whether the ramp will be on the side or at the back, I don’t know. The door from the garage into the house then actually makes more sense behind the car than in front. Thank you, 11ant.

Well, whether or not you're being overprotective – when you have a sick child, it's of course very easy to slip into being overprotective; that's understandable.

I think you need to set priorities: either you build a house that feels right for you NOW or a house that would also work as a two-family house; in about 1-2 years until you move in, the 'older kids' will also be correspondingly older and more independent.

We moved (when I was a teenager) into a real two-family house. With 2 equally sized apartments one above the other and an external staircase. However, in the concrete ceiling between the apartments there is a stairwell opening, so the apartments could also be easily connected internally. However, through the closed opening you can already hear the people in the upper apartment more than usual.