Meeting number one million

After the bliss of yesterday morning's purchase started to settle in, we had an appointment with Mr. Builder and Mr. B (our architect and project manager.) It was the first meeting between Mr. B and Mr. Builder, and they had some items to clarify. Mostly, this part of the meeting could have been completed without us, because we didn't really have any clue what they were talking about. The first part of the meeting lasted about an hour, and started with Mr. Builder's news- the retaining wall running behind all the new properties pushed forward a bit. The positive is that our piece of the wall is minimal, so if we do need to chip in to replace it, it won't be very much. Not sure who is responsible for fixing the wall though, as it was built many, many years ago. It would be nice if we won't have to pay to fix it. Oh, the joys of homeownership!
Mr. B and Mr. Builder started off discussing the insulation for underneath the foundation. I remember Mr. B and Joern's cousin, the structural engineer, discussing in great detail this insulation. It is now popular to place a lot of insulation underneath houses, but this was a problem for us that we were building on a hill. Joern's cousin then planned a material called Misapor to be placed underneath the house. Misapor is a soft stone made with recycled glass fibers. Sounds great. Mr. Builder though said that because of the nature of our building site, there will be times when the crane needs to be placed directly onto our building lot, and may have to sit on the layer underneath the foundation for a few days. Evidently, while the stone can stand up to the weight of a house, as the weight is more evenly distributed, it will crush underneath the crane. So, we will have stones laid underneath our house.
We discussed making the cellar water-tight. A special paper will be applied around the entire cellar, as an extra insurance, to insure that it is water-tight.
We also have not had a geological test completed on our lot. We have not done this because there is a house that is being built one lot over. We can pretty much asume that our ground is the same as theirs, but you never know. It was discussed that once we start excavation, Mr. B and Mr. Builder will look at the ground to decide if we need to have a geological survey done on the property.
There was a bit of a discussion about using pre-fab pieces for the garage instead of having the walls for the garages built directly at the site. Mr. Builder countered though by explaining that especially Joern's garage is very high, and pre-fab concrete walls of that height would be almost impossible to move. Oh well.
They also both discussed pitching the garage floor. Huh. It turns out that if the floor is not pitched, and you drive into the garage with a wet or snowy car, the water just sits in the garage; whereas, if it is pitched, the water will drain off. I guess it is really expensive, but is standard in higher-end homes (yes, we found out today that our house lies on the high-end side of the scale.) I don't know what to do about this, Joern says we don't need it. Does it get moldy if you don't drain or dry it?
Mr. B brought up that we want a roof-light dome in the foyer. Joern wants to use a glass that you can walk on top of, so we don't lose any use of our front terrace. This is going to be a very expensive option, so we may just be looking at reduced use of this one terrace.
Lastly, we found out that the operator of the excavating machine will not be available till Wednesday next week, so, we'll probably be breaking ground next Wednesday! Wahoo! It actually works out well, because the surveyor cannot come out until Tuesday to mark out our lot, which means that they can't break ground until Wednesday anyway! Fab!
After Mr. Builder left, Joern and I spent another hour with Mr. B.
Here are some points we discussed:
1. We signed the paperwork that Mr. B needs to file with our town hall
for the Roter Punkt, the approved vendor list release (?) which
allows you to actually start building.
2. Windows. We still aren't there yet. I was almost in tears.
We know the material, and we know we'll have window grills,
but we don't know how to set up the windows in the front.
Joern changed the windows to the same size on the top and the bottom,
but now that they're the same size, I feel like they have too modern
a look to go with the grills. We changed from sliders to french doors,
that's fine by me. So, after 20 minutes, we came to an agreement that
we need to talk about it for a few more weeks. We have to decide
how we want to protect the upstairs windows. Our options are
to have the window split in half, the top half is able to open,
and the bottom half does not open, or we can use french balconies.
3. We discussed the chimney. Last time this was discussed, we decided
on a stainless pipe that goes up the outside. I HATED this option
because it is way to modern on my beautiful house. So, we asked
about cementing over the chimney on the outside, and painting it.
Mr. B explained that this is really expensive, and for some reason,
they don't hold up to the weather. After hemming-and-hawing, Mr. B
said, "How about putting the chimney back inside the house, and
running it up through the master bedroom?" We lose a few inches
in one corner of our bedroom, but this way we don't lose space in the
children's bath, plus, we get to keep the window in the children's
bath, and I don't have a stainless pipe running up the middle of my
house. Plus, I think the chimney will look nice on the roof.
4. We rearranged our bathroom again, and got rid of the bidet. I know
Joern really wants the bidet, so we are thinking of going to a
bathroom designer to see if they can reconfigure the bathroom.
Its a huge room, it should work.
5. We will have recessed lighting in the living areas of the home.
Turns out, they are NOT cheap!
6. We asked Mr. B about our recessed medicine cabinets and asked about
possibly making built-in shelves in the living room. No problem.
Those walls then will need to be built by a carpenter instead of
with stone. No problem!
That's about it. It was long, and a little stressful, but it was so nice that most everything worked out. I think once we make a final decision on the windows, we'll feel better.

After the meeting, we headed over to our new neighbor's house. The other couple, not Joern's friend, were in their house doing some electrical work. We chatted for a while, and it turns out the husband was just in Farmington, CT two weeks ago. Funny :) They also invited us to their "Richtfest" tomorrow night. Mr. Builder evidently set up their Richtfest, so I'd like to see one before having to hold one by myself. The new neighbors seem so nice, it seems really good.

How the architect did it!

Here are the plans so far: (the explanations are underneath the picture)

This is the north side of the house, facing my in-law's house. This side has the fewest windows, for obvious reasons.

This is the east view of the house. It is the side with the best view, of the Swabian Alb and the Hohenneuffen:
Castle Ruins

You can also see the kitchen addition here. We're adding a meter of width to the kitchen to allow for our island. The dining room is in the front corner (on the left side)

This is the west view of the house. You can see our front door, it is on the cellar level, we are going to have a lot of glass here to let light into the cellar. Our living room is on this side of the house, as well as Joern's office.

Here is the view from the south, the view from the street. Since the house is being built into a hill, it looks like it is 3 levels from the street view- of course, that bottom floor is actually our cellar. The garages are strategically planned because you are allowed to build garages right along the border, so one garage borders Joern's aunt's property, and the other borders the property of the new build.

Cross-section of the house. Yes, we have 3 steps up from the garage, but it is necessary to allow a terrace to be built on top of the garage.


This is the floor plan for the cellar. If you enter from our front door and are facing the house, the media room will be on your left, on the right is a room without a purpose right now, a bathroom (I would like a rinse-off area here, for the dog, muddy kids, muddy shoes, etc.),a storage room, and the boiler room. I know it seems strange, but you have to walk to the far end of the house to walk up the stairs. I've learned that unless you have an unlimited amount of money, somehow even your dream house does have to fit in the confines of the property. This is why our staris are a bit odd.


At the top of the stairs, you will be facing the front (street.) On your right is the living room, which leads into Joern's office. On your left is the dining room, moving back to the kitchen. The kitchen is 215 sq. ft, which I am pretty sure is huge, but is necessary for an island. No, Mr. Builder does not think our kitchen is efficient, but the work triangle is on the side of the addition. The other side of the kitchen (along the stairs) will be used for storage, a wine refrigerator and a breakfast making bar. Since we do not have a breakfast nook the island itself will be used for seating- which means that the island needs to be large and flat. I am thinking of putting the sink and dishwasher in the island too.
Moving towards the back of the house, the pantry is immediately behind the kitchen. The back door is near the staircase, and then there is a bathroom with a shower stall (in case we have 2 kids, this will become our guest bath.)
You have to walk up the stairs again from the back of the house, because this design allows for a large shower in the master bath.

Once you reach the top of the stairs on the top floor, you will be facing the children's bathroom. We will be building a closet into this bathroom for our washer and dryer. I know some people have strong feelings against a washer and dryer on the bedroom level, but because of my arthritis, I feel strongly about putting the laundry close to the bedrooms. Also, because the house is made of stone, and the floors are all concrete-slab (yes, even the living floors,) it will be much more resistant to noise and vibration from the washing machine than a traditional wooden home.
On the right side of the children's bath is the master suite. Our bedroom is not very large, but because we have a large walk-in closet, the bedroom doesn't need to fit much more than the bed. We have a large master bath, with a double sink, a soaking tub, and a separate walk-in shower.
On the left side of the house are the two children's rooms. I am considering putting the guest room in the large room in the back, because there will be a nice view, and have access to the balcony. The room in the front is smaller, which might be better for a future nursery. But my opinion on the guest rooom flip-flops daily.

Well, that's our house. We're waiting for Mr. Architect to print out all the paperwork for the application for the building permit. In total, we'll recieve 6 copies of the application. 4 copies go to various town and county offices, and all have slightly different information inside. 2 copies are for us, and I'm sure one of those two copies will go to Mr. Builder. As soon as Mr. Architect has completed the paperwork, we'll go to him, sign everything, and deliver the application to the town hall.