One less projectile but larger base area cost

Hello dear home builders,

We are currently planning the house. We already have a plot with a development plan. However, this now limits the possible knee wall height for each respective roof pitch to: 25° knee wall height = 0.80 m 30° knee wall height = 0.82 m 35° knee wall height = 0.85 m Only a gable roof is allowed. The plot is on a slope and the basement is at garden level and the ground floor at street level. This means that we intend to use the basement rooms as living spaces with natural light.

Originally, we planned with a basement + one and a half floors. However, this restriction now makes us consider whether instead of the attic floor we should rather increase the footprint and omit the attic altogether. Because with the low knee wall in the attic so much space would be lost. Does that make sense? The footprint is fixed at 120 m² in the development plan. The plot has 536 m².

So far, we have planned for our single-family house with a living area of 155 m² and 44 m² accessory area (basement + 1.5 floors). Can we also accommodate that in the basement and ground floor?

Of course, it would also be very interesting if you could say something about the cost factor. Which of the two variants would be more expensive in terms of costs?

Regards readmi

Well, you need a gable roof anyway. Possibly, the attic could be used as a "non-developed" large loft. However, I would already consider the pre-installation for a possible later development here.

Is it possible to install dormers in the attic? With them, you can really gain a lot of space. If you install them right away when the roof is being built, the additional costs are not too high. It is certainly also interesting whether one might want to use this option later and then build like Aotearoa suggested. So keep a reassuring reserve for later.

Yes, that’s how we thought about it, with the new variant. Because there is definitely a price difference whether we have a knee wall at 80 or at 0 for a storage room. But then we need a larger floor area downstairs for the living space.
Yes, dormers are allowed. We have already considered that. I’ve attached an excerpt from the development plan. It’s not that simple..

Readmi: I would have that calculated to see what the actual price difference is. We increased our knee wall to 120, but did not pay significantly more (compared to the total sum).

That should be calculated precisely what exactly is more expensive now. But a house is, of course, an investment that will keep you tied up well into old age. Therefore, one should think very carefully about whether the plot should really be larger. I saw it with my former neighbors, who had about 3000 sqm of land and constantly had to pay a gardener in the summer.

Best regards, Mayer