Semi-detached house feasibility assessment ideas notes

Virtually and digitally, much is possible that, in reality, is not impossible but should simply be avoidable.

Yes, more space would be nice, but I already have experience with such passage dimensions and less (40 cm to the sofa) in my current apartment. So it is not just virtual, but practically experienceable with this example.

I can imagine that the semi-detached house is sufficient for 2-3 people, but I don’t see more family members there. That everyone has their own room to protect and live out their personal needs would be guaranteed, so a retreat would be there, but that is not everything. Even the common room might be overcrowded with 5 people, with kitchen noise and a stubborn child or running TV, so in a normal daily routine everyone would probably rather run away if they could.

Yes, it is definitely not optimal, but we live in Berlin, where real estate prices have risen by 30-40% in the last three years. There is no end in sight here either. With the planned Tesla factory east of Berlin, it will likely get even worse in the medium term. Currently, three of us live on 84 m² (with two balconies counted half). With the semi-detached house fully occupied, it would be no less, rather more (somewhat difficult to calculate the net area here). So we are more or less used to it. The biggest problem at the moment is that I don’t have a separate study, which would be available in the semi-detached house.

That’s why I would, in your place, take distance from the house or plan a more relaxed floor plan (for fewer people) and later, when more offspring comes, look out for bigger homes. The house can be a good starter property if you ensure a good design and contemporary equipment right away.

So rather first one room less and without a shower in the guest WC? Or can the shower somehow be accommodated more space-savingly? The living area downstairs will not get bigger, however, if I plan one room less upstairs...

Doesn’t anyone have tricks on how to relax something like that? Technology in the roof, for example?

You said it yourself: your idea is not feasible if the cold storage room has to be at least 5 sqm.

Well, that’s what the salesperson from the builder said. That first doesn’t have to be true, I would appreciate your input, and second, the staircase can still be made smaller (the builder’s guy already checked in his catalog), the gained 50 cm would be added to the utility room.

Shower bath where you don’t need it, double bed almost not “walkable,” bad bedroom layout, rather cramped common room, no storage space, too small cold storage room, where to do laundry?, ....

Yes, that’s why I’m trying to get tips here for alternatives etc. The alternative of another house is significantly more difficult to achieve... By the way, I don’t find a shower bath in the entrance area useless at all. How often will it happen that you come into the house dirty and wet with rubber boots or something else and then be glad not to have to carry everything upstairs to the 1st floor but just go inside, open the door on the left and shower off... I also have practical experience here in my current apartment, I wouldn’t want to miss my shower in the entrance WC. You can do laundry in the utility room, I’ve already marked it. Currently, there is a washing machine and dryer tower in my shower bath with less than 1 m space in front of it. So this would be an improvement.

Regarding the first upper floor, as I said, I would be grateful for tips on how to divide it better so that the bedroom layout is not so bad.

The data irritates me a bit, especially the floor area ratio, but that shouldn’t be your problem.

To be honest, I copied the data from other listings in the area. I assume that the builder knows what he’s doing. So it could be that the floor area ratio is 0.4.

If at some point the shower bath has to be used as an alternative, it can become unsafe on narrow or cramped stairs.

That is an argument. Then it might make sense to also put the shower bath in the attic. With the consequence that standing space there will be lost again and the layout would be difficult. Still better?

What kind of technology has to go into the utility room? Do you have district heating or something? Regarding storage rooms in the attic: if at all, then box in the knee walls, but don’t take standing space away from the rooms.

No district heating, I would like to have an air-to-water heat pump, the builder also offers a gas boiler, but I thought the gas boiler with water storage is definitely bigger.

It is more than tight. We have a little more than 7 m and that is already tight. Try to replicate that in your apartment.

The house is too small for 5 people. Take the building services/utility room WA/dryer/laundry collector/sink/ironing board/clothes dryer House connections, fuse box, heat pump also need space. Which one is planned?

The bedroom does not work.

It’s also tight in the attic. Beds partly below the 1 m line.

I would not take the house or plan it for a maximum of 4 people. If it should be 5, another property is needed.

Do not plan the staircase too small/steep. You live on 3 levels. You often go up and down with full hands.

What does the gable-side entrance look like
Smaller living room facing the street and dining kitchen facing the terrace.

Upstairs bathroom, 3 smaller rooms that can be used as an office or children's rooms
Possibly washer/dryer behind a door as is more common in the USA.

Attic parents with their own bathroom and storage room

That’s about all the space there is. Only at the moment there is dead space in the eating/cooking area and a "relatively" large hallway

I wouldn’t plan with 3 children’s rooms + office. It is also possible now without and between the eldest and the 3rd, if there is one, there are more than 10 years. How long do 3 children live in the house

Can a windbreak be installed in front?
Hanse Haus installed a windbreak at a show house in Oberleichtersbach. It really brought storage space.

With that you could close off the stairs and the walking area of the kitchen-living room. Like for example in the Fingerhut show house in Langenhagen.

So I adjusted the stairs to the dimension mentioned by the BT and added the gained space to the utility room.

I then inserted the air-to-water heat pump mentioned by the BT (Vitocal 200 S from Viessmann) (It is actually an oven in the graphic model, but I adapted the dimensions to the air-to-water heat pump). Then I moved everything forward by 10 cm to possibly accommodate connections and pipes.
I also added a cabinet for storage (50x100x235). Basically, I think it fits.

In the attic, as you suggested, I placed the storage space only along the slope. That way, the entire high room remains for the rooms.

Have you already signed? If not, I wouldn't do it. The house is too small for 5 people.

What is the roof pitch?
Kniestock in the attic is 0?
Do you know the exact story height? (not room height!)

List exactly what technical equipment needs to go into the house. Where should it be? Water boiler for 5 people - where is it located? Heating, electrical panel, water connection - you don’t really want to squeeze the washing machine in there too, do you? Where is the dirty laundry kept? That is absurd.

I can't see anything in your pictures. White on white - make them colored.