Today was sampling, smile

We have not received a construction service description. Instead, we have an offer that breaks down each item. Additionally, there is an Excel file that allows us to calculate ourselves what 10 more sockets would cost and also encourages rethinking about another sanitary brand, roof tiles, etc.

Last year, there was a small sampling session of about 2 hours or so. They explained to us the different quality levels for windows, insulation, etc., or for tiles whether we want 80x20 in size. Laminate or real wood parquet or carpet.

Sometime in April, we have appointments with various craftsmen – some of whom we have chosen ourselves – and decide on the tile color and co.

Not quite the free choice at 5 specialty stores, but also not as limited as in the classic sampling center: 5 colors without extra charge, 3 colors with.

But you also build very specifically in the village and with the demolition of old houses and such, and certainly not with a company that partly standardizes its services, right? By the way, I don’t like sample centers either. At first, everything looks great, all chic presented. but you are at the mercy of the operator. He determines the offer and price or surcharge. Better to have the freedom to search yourself through various dealers where the builder has customer numbers. Karsten

Well, a slope is nothing special for us, the demolition is. It will become more common in the coming years. Many municipalities no longer announce new development areas because the town centers are dying out. I think the town center is no different in terms of logistics than a new development area where the neighborhood is already established.

Indeed, only the smaller companies can handle slopes, regardless of whether they use solid construction, timber frame, or solid wood. The big ones then come up with constructions like a basement plus an individually designed house by them or the architect on top, or a concrete retaining wall with a house placed a meter in front of it. We currently have some classic prefabricated house companies in the region. They should at least be able to handle slopes.

I think we have found a pretty good partner. He only does individual work – at least there are no model houses and no built house looks like another. Even though he does not work as a freelance architect.

We were planning to build with a larger timber frame manufacturer (about 600-700 houses per year).

The "pre-selection" alone took about 3 hours. Many of these were directly included in the contract; that was already nearly €25,000. We were also able to find many surcharges in the corresponding forums of this provider.

For the actual selection, 2 days are normally scheduled with them (including a nice overnight stay near the company headquarters) (with FastFertig); so without wallpaper and not tiled floors. We set an additional limit of €15,000 there.

We looked at several selection centers. Basically, it was always very clear and transparent what is possible as standard and what costs extra. We collected many ideas and dislikes there. Also in the show homes.

Some providers have the selection corner directly in the show home. We personally always found that a bit peculiar. They were also quickly out of the running.

yeah well you don't have to talk it down. We also had a humane sampling. Sanitary then again with the sanitary in the bathroom studio.

During the construction phase, a few more ideas came up from problems, considerations. ( Decken abhängen ,Spots)

everything was within limits

@TE. It all seems a bit strange to me, even though I find your post very entertaining.

We significantly upgraded the electrical system; our contractor did not charge extra for it (exact quote, "I don’t make any money from one more outlet"). We have at least 6 additional outlets in every room on all walls. Power strips with cables just look ugly.

The staircase was also the damn beech staircase. We didn’t want that at all. Is there an even worse one? So we hired a stair builder and our friend (a carpenter) to do the stair treads and handrail. So now we have steel with treads and handrail in locust wood. The price was right.

It’s nice when you can save money. I was frugal with the tiles as well. The selection is large, but we visited a tiler to see samples and really got a good impression. The tiler also gave us advice. In the end, there were quite a few more things that were within the budget.

During the sampling, we noticed several things that didn’t suit us. Of course, you can agree, but we had put so much thought into the design beforehand that some things simply didn’t fit. That took time and led to some discussions, but I didn’t want to live in a house where the contractor designs it for me. You usually make compromises, but letting the contractor plan everything—I find that a bit odd, even if it works for you.

I hope you feel comfortable in your house.

Best regards