Tips before starting construction - What should you urgently pay attention to?

These are just a few "snippets" of our thoughts.. :)

I think you should simply write your concerns/questions concretely here. I might know what you mean, but hitting that precisely is unlikely. What you somewhat mention here will, in my opinion, always be seen completely differently. White grout hardly exists anyway; otherwise, I would choose what I like. Niches in the shower are currently trendy; for example, I don't like them—I prefer "normal" shelves or a half-wall, etc.… all of that probably won't help you much since these are very individual things and can be done either way... so better to post every question here. Plan the floor plan carefully, especially WITH REAL furniture. A good tip from me: Always keep a box of Valium ready on the nightstand!

Take vacation when the shell construction is being erected and during other important steps ...

If something goes wrong there, the tiles won't matter later either ..

I find what you mentioned now also somewhat individual and partly things that should already be considered in the floor plan. How far along are you with the planning? Otherwise: I didn’t want niches, we have two outdoor water taps, silver-gray grout that darkens on its own, a wardrobe under the stairs where the door opens outward... 3x possibility to place a 3-meter standard cabinet... what are "Simsen"? 90 or 120 cm aisle in the kitchen: which aisle? Left by the fridge? Right by the oven door? By the property? There is no general answer for that. Everything looks different when finished anyway than on the plan or in the shell construction... and "there is rarely a right or wrong," said the fat Minna and slammed the drawer shut with her backside.

Since we are people who like to be outside and also like to do things ourselves and get a little dirty sometimes, we took a back door that leads to the utility room, where besides the obligatory equipment the shoes are located, the washing machine is, and an enamel basin with cold and hot water. There is water anyway because of the washing machine, so you can also use such a basin to wash, for example, potatoes or to scrub very dirty paws or whatever. Furthermore, since we did not want to afford a basement, we made the attic part of the living space. So it was completely laid out with tongue and groove boards, insulated with glass wool, accessible via a real staircase, not some folding ladder. Up there there is, of course, electricity, light, an openable Velux, shelves. A very sensible investment. Now, during the lockdown winter, the attic also became our very own private Pilates studio with a mat, bench, small dumbbells, and a Pezzi ball.

very important if the principle of finality from is not consistently followed: ask for the "price tag" attached to every change / order!

It’s easy to make a statement like: Oh yes, please do this or that. Afterwards comes an invoice of 5K. In my experience, there are no invoices of 50 or 100€. The steps start at 500€ & 1000€ (small things), over 2-5K for "larger" small things (e.g. cistern 5m³ = approx. 5K including house water system and installation) up to financial disaster...

Best afterward to send a short email to the BT with a summary of the agreement and a request for confirmation. Verbal agreements get lost or are not remembered and are often not correctly communicated within a company.

One more tip: If something in your opinion is not right / going wrong, don’t immediately start shooting with cannons. First, calmly talk to the people on site to find out what it’s about and have it explained. Laypeople like us as clients tend to imagine horror scenarios. Check (or have checked) statements calmly and then only, if necessary, react with appropriate means.

Be on site often, but don’t give the impression that you want to check everything meticulously in real time. Rather show interest in the matter. Also sometimes praise when something from your point of view is going well and has been done properly (even if the correct execution seems obvious).