Solid house-single family house 142 m² living space, questions about floor plans/building costs

Hello everyone,

after having browsed the forum a bit here and only read along so far, I would like to introduce our construction project to you and ask for your opinions on our floor plan idea and the roughly calculated costs so far. The house is supposed to have the following key data:

[*]Solid construction single-family house with approx. 142 sqm living space and gable roof
[*]no bay windows/balconies etc.
[*]construction site Saxony/Chemnitz
[*]"normal single-family house" for 4 people + a guest/workroom
[*]slightly sloping plot from north to south - size just under 700 sqm

We have put together the following floor plan, which best meets our previous ideas:



What do you think about it? I have already read from one or another user that it is not optimal if the staircase is right next to the front door. Basically, I can understand the argument about dirt. However, this variant seems the best to us in terms of the least space consumption of the hallway/staircase. A house enlarged by external dimensions also immediately increases the costs to a considerable extent.

Regarding the guest room, we find it better to have this on the ground floor. We are also thinking about old age and would then have a possible bedroom on the ground floor right away. Hence also the additional shower in the guest bathroom on the ground floor.

We have not yet given much thought to the topic of windows. The windows included in the floor plan are therefore of course not set in stone and we would also be happy to receive ideas/suggestions on this.

Regarding the total costs, we would like to know how realistic you consider the following breakdown:

205 K€ house price (=1,450 €/sqm - offer is available)
30 K€ incidental construction costs
15 K€ sample buffer + extras
10 K€ materials for outdoor facilities, mostly done by ourselves
-------
260 K€ total costs without land costs

Do you see any potential for reduction here, as this overall seems a bit high to us? Of course, we are also grateful for further suggestions.

Regarding the floor plan:
Ground floor: I find the solution with the staircase in the hallway area optimal, the dirt tracked in is not an argument for me, maybe also because we have planned a small vestibule and do not walk around the house with shoes (a no-go for us).
If you don’t have a basement, I would perhaps arrange the utility room adjacent to the kitchen with access from outside via the garage/carport. We thought of using the utility room partly as a pantry as well. For the dining/living area, you should be careful not to have too much of a narrow, elongated floor plan, because in my opinion, 1. a lot of dead space threatens and 2. the spatial separation of living and dining becomes difficult, I find an offset (e.g. with a bay window) nice, but of course, that is just MY opinion.

Upper floor: There is not much against it, but I think, and this is how I have understood it so far, that a wall angled diagonally over its length should be avoided as much as possible. I cannot assess the influence on the statics. It also doesn’t look nice.

Costs: I think the house price is realistic, only the question is what is included: KfW70? Brick or plaster façade? Shutters? Manual or electric? What kind of windows (e.g., floor-to-ceiling yes or no, foil-coated yes/no)? Solar for hot water? Sanitary ware Villeroy & Boch or no-name? Wooden stairs/concrete stairs? Everything else standard? I would say for €1,450/sqm you should be able to expect a bit of quality in the equipment.

Construction ancillary costs are realistic, we have budgeted €22,000 and are currently on target or even below in parts. For outdoor facilities, I would rather aim for €20,000 including carport and garden fence. These are my experiences.

The staircase is probably too short. 15 steps x 26cm = 3.90m The orientation does not fit at all. On the beautiful south side are the bathroom, guest toilet, and utility room. The slanted wall is also not possible. 45° walls should be avoided, but a 70° wall is absolutely not acceptable. I also doubt whether a single load-bearing wall like that is sufficient.

You should include the windows and also the living space design/furnishing directly in the planning. Only in this way can you see whether the floor plans fit both inside and in the exterior views.

In your cost estimate, at least the materials for flooring and painting work are still missing.

Self-drawn ... do you have an architect? What kind of offer is this?

I also think that the space for the stairs is too small. The guest room will probably be too small for a bedroom for two later on.

I also find the slanted wall on the upper floor terrible and the bathroom is not optimal either. When you enter, you walk directly towards the shower, which you don't necessarily know if it even fits there (sloping roof?!) and otherwise there is a lot of wasted space.

I believe Baumann was concerned with fundamental things, meaning the general layout. It should be clear that the staircase does not fit and that lengths and widths may possibly need to be adjusted. However, this does not require changing the basic layout. That's how I understood it. The floor plan seems to have been made with MySweetHome or another freeware. That is also how we approached the matter.

@Baumann: do you have a fixed price per sqm with free floor plan design or is that how the 1450€/sqm come about??

Thank you for your opinions. I'll put the quote from aytex right at the beginning:

I believe baumann was referring to fundamental things, meaning the general layout. It should be clear that the staircase does not fit and that lengths and widths might have to be adjusted. However, this does not mean the basic layout has to be changed. That's how I understood it. The floor plan seems to have been made with MySweetHome or some other freeware. That's how we approached it too.

That's exactly right. We are still at the very beginning of the planning. The floor plans were created with the program SweetHome3D and are of course not yet accurate down to the last centimeter. Rather, it should first serve as a basis for the general room arrangement. And the layout of the rooms, especially if you also want to have a guest room, is not so simple.

I think the house price is realistic, only the question is what is included: KfW70? Brick or plaster facade? Shutters? Manual or electric? What kind of windows (e.g. floor-to-ceiling yes or no, tinted yes/no)? Solar for hot water? Sanitary fixtures Villeroy & Boch or no-name? Wooden stairs/concrete stairs? Everything else standard? I would say for €1,450/sqm you can certainly expect some equipment

KfW70 is not included, plaster facade, manual shutters, windows not yet discussed, air-source heat pump, although we want gas with solar thermal (which slightly reduces the price), built-in wooden stringer staircase, brands for sanitary fixtures not yet discussed, painting and flooring work including materials included, rest standard, although "standard" is always relative. I think something can still be done with the €1,450 or additional equipment can be obtained for it.

The staircase is probably too short. 15 steps x 26 cm = 3.90 m The orientation does not fit at all. On the beautiful south side are the bathroom, guest WC, and utility room. The slanted wall is also not acceptable. 45° walls should already be avoided, but a 70° wall is not acceptable at all. I also doubt if a single load-bearing wall like that is enough.

You should incorporate the windows and also the living room design/furnishing into the planning right away. Only then will you see whether the floor plans fit both inside and the views from the outside.

Your cost breakdown is missing at least the materials for flooring and painting work.

The staircase is supposed to be quarter-turned. I thought you could manage with 3 m length. We once measured this on an example staircase at a show house.

Hmm and you are right about the orientation of the rooms; I actually wanted to mirror the rooms on the ground floor (along the east-west line). However, we want to add a double carport on the south side of the building (otherwise it won't really work anywhere else). And that would take away the southern sun anyway.

The slanted wall can gladly go away if it is beneficial for the statics. We would still discuss that with the architect. I would upload floor plans with furniture sometime (I'm just not at the PC right now). Regarding painting/flooring see above in the post.

The guest room is probably too small for a later double bedroom.

I also find the slanted wall on the upper floor terrible and the bathroom is not optimal either. When you enter, you walk directly towards the shower, from which you don't really know whether it fits there at all (roof slope?!), and otherwise a lot of space is wasted.

You are right; the guest room would not be a large bedroom in old age. We are also still not quite happy with the bathroom. Do you have an alternative suggestion? Basically, finding the floor plan is not easy. Changing something in one room immediately affects neighboring rooms, which in turn affects the next room, and so on.

@Baumann: do you have a fixed price per sqm with free floor plan planning or how does the €1,450/sqm come about??

We originally requested the construction company with 130 sqm before we decided on a guest room. And the offer was "broken down" to almost exactly €1,450/sqm.