Our Biggest Mistakes Building a House in Germany

[@TypeAshton]

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[@asmodon]

When our electrician showed us the plan for the outlets I said „ok, now triple the number and we‘re good.“ Everybody said „Why would you need 24 outlets in the living room and 15 in the kitchen?“ Never regretted this decision and I don’t use a single extension cord in the hole house.

[@manuelaherms8792]

I live in an older house and there are ONLY 4 outlets in our living room!!! Back in 1970 when the house was built and there weren't that many electrical appliances, this may have been sufficient; today each has a multiple socket strip connected to it. A cable salad!

[@svenwaibel7007]

You can't have too few outlets ;) My wife said, are you crazy with so many outlets. Now she is satisfied, but sometimes it could be two or three more.

[@carstenlechte]

I have 8x power strips in my 3 outlets in the living room, and another one on an extension cord from a different circuit. It is enough (so far)

[@asmodon]

@@carstenlechte It might be enough. But I advise you to rethink that approach. Daisychaining power strips is a fire hazard.

[@carstenlechte]

@@asmodon No worries, I am not daisychaining. 1 strip per outlet and staying well below the max power rating.

[@MarkusWitthaut]

"You can never have too much storage" = First law of logistics: Every warehouse gets full. So if you would have more storage you'd still run out of space ;)

[@j.a.1721]

I know what you mean, but when I moved some years ago into a bigger apartment with a pantry and a kind of walk in closet, it really become much easier. And if I fill up the space, it is much easier to get rid of some things, because I don't have to get rid of things I actually want to keep, usually I just get rid of junk I don't use anyway. Your theory is absolutely true when it comes to my closet though, lol, I definitely have an issue there....

[@steemlenn8797]

I sort of have the opposite problem. I can't imagine how people end up with so much stuff.

[@theresabu3000]

I think you need to have an overview over your things. So to see what you own, can stop you from buying anything new. Things in a cellar or attic, even seldom used stuff - get forgotten a lot of times.

[@MyR12S]

Hallo Ashton, hallo Jonathan, ihr könnt beide sehr stolz sein, auf das, was ihr hier erreicht habt. In schwierigen Zeiten ein Haus zu bauen, ihr beide in Vollzeit berufstätig, mit Kleinkind, schwanger - das ist schon echt eine tolle Leistung. Für viele Deutsche wäre das schon eine enorme Herausforderung, um so mehr für euch! Ist das Haus perfekt geworden? Mit Sicherheit nicht, aber das gibt es so gut wie nie. Ich würde heute auch viele Dinge an unserem Haus anders machen, aber es ist nun mal so, wie es ist, wie der Kölner so sagt. Ich finde die "Mängel" nicht wirklich von Bedeutung, ist so ein bisschen "meckern" auf sehr hohen Niveau. Vielleicht seid ihr hier schon ein bisschen zu deutsch geworden. :) Was ihr nicht berichtet habt, sind all die vielen unzähligen guten Entscheidungen, die ihr getroffen habt. Well done!

[@RustyDust101]

The first house you build from scratch definitely won't be anywhere close to perfect. Even with a person with a PhD on interior design and architecture on hand. Even full time architects screw up on their first few houses in some shape or form (literally). Outlets may be placed behind doors which won't allow them to be plugged in unless you are a member of the Cirque de Soleil gymnastics team. Or a shower stall with no floor grate outside the stall to allow spilled water to flow off. Or other such details. It's just too common. Humans simply aren't perfect.

[@clairebinder166]

I had a meeting with the electrician yesterday. He asked 3X why do you need 50 network plugs in the house and fiber down to the cellar 😂This is the 2nd home we build and never regreted any network plug or electrical outlet

[@cobba42]

There's that saying: "Das erste Haus baust du für deinen Feind, das zweite für deinen Freund und das dritte für dich selbst." As you found out there's a certain learning curve. Edit: seems my dad wasn't the only one to impart that particular bit of wisdom.

[@philw6056]

Especially the first two topics are soo underestimated. Many build the features(storage, water, electricity, ...) they need and add here and there some extra stuff. You should take every possible opportunity to integrate those things into every area of your house. Connecting new areas of a house with water, electricity or Starkstrom is just insane. It's almost impossible to have too much of these things.

[@jarnar08]

Regarding the water outlet in the front of the house: how about running a water hose from your utility(Technik) room through the garage or installing a spigot inside the garage (making the connection to the existing water lines inside the utility room, that's "just" one hole and very few pipes needed) and run the hose from your garage outside?

[@JakobFischer60]

What I have learned after buying an old house and renovationg it: you cannot decide beforehand where outlets are needed and you want to have your furniture. We had a clear opinion how everything should be arranged but half a year later we decided to move the TV and the couch and so on. Same in the kids rooms. The only thing you can do is to place outlets in a way that you can place furniture in different ways. And yes, there are always not enough outlets outside. But if you need more outlets there are some solutions where you can put cables in on the wall. And after living more then 10 years in that house my advice is: there is no eternal solution and you are changing (kids grow up) , the world is changing (no more phone lines, no more cable TV, all LAN now, no more gas heating? EVs out of a sudden?), the only thing you can do: prepare for the change. Or how my electrician said when we were planning the new power system 12 years ago: I will give you a 50Amp main fuse, perhaps there will be electric cars in the future. I thought that will never happen. But now we have two of them. And a PV. Battery is planned.

[@peterkoller3761]

renovating is a whole different story in itself - well, actually not a story, a sequel of many stories... and seasons... IN Austria, we say: Hast zu viel Geld und bist auch dumm, kaufst du dir ein Häusl und baust es um! (just like I did...)

[@kreativuntermdach7351]

About the wooden bannister: use different kinds of wood in your interior and/or decorations. This way you are free to add whatever in wooden form and it just looks intentionally chaotic. We did that with our house because we could not possibly pay for the good stuff all throughout. And we had to incorporate a lot of used furniture because new was out of the question. Everything is now wooden or white and it makes for a good warm mix although everything is different.

[@peterkoller3761]

and if you favour an eclectic style with antiques, you´ll have different woods for sure, anyway! just like the classy centuries old mansions...

[@V100-e5q]

Sometimes one gets clinging to certain ideas which appeasr logical. Like have the same wood for floor and countertop, or bannister in this case. But if you had really achieved doing it you might have felt it being wrong. Like: who would walk on the bannister because it is the same would put in to walk on? So different purpose, different location might be a better choice. And because you cannot experience the looks of your thought-to-be-better match it is hard to judge whether it would really look nicer. Just as thinking about an ex-bf or ex-gf and what would it have been like to marry them instead of your current spouse.

[@faultier1158]

A little chaos when it comes to types of wood and colours feels quite good to me. Homes where the colours all perfectly matched always felt too sterile to me.😅

[@Bobrogers99]

When I built my retirement home, I gave my builder my hand-drawn floor plan, and when he showed me the computerized version I made little footprints of all the pieces of furniture that I was bringing from the old house to make sure that they would fit. This changed the dimensions of one bedroom and the location of a couple of doors and windows - and yes, the location of outlets!

[@johnclements6614]

Yes get a couple of plans printed and make scale card outlines of all your furniture. car, etc. Then spend a week playing with them in different locations. ask friends around to do their locations. Then you will end up with locations for electrical sockets, pantry doors etc that could suit a number of uses.

[@fionafiona1146]

My dad just built in dozens of additional outlets (as an electrician)

[@o21211671]

My advice: replace the garage door. Now! If you hate it, imagine how happy you'll be every time you see the new one - at least for quite a while. Life is too short to be constantly annoyed about something like that. The problem with the different wood might be solved best, by adding more different wood. My house was bought by my parents when I was a kid. This is where i grew up. The house was built with literally hundreds of almost identical ones in 1964 and by today's standards it has a lot of imperfections. Nevertheless, I like it, it's my home. I think your house will change a lot over time and little by little you will adapt it and it will fit you more and more. As all these cloned houses in my neighborhood from the mid 60's, that now look pretty individual. Unless ... if your American roots break through. Americans have less problems parting with "their" home and move to another place than, e.g. we Germans do.

[@V100-e5q]

I would second that. Replace the door now! If you do it later you will lose the benefits for a long time only to spend the money anyway. And the second hand door to be sold will not increase in value if it had been used for several years. And with your particular installation it is not sustainable to have the door infringe on the little space there is in the driveway. But as the engineer Jonathan might consider to alter the attachment of the existing door: Just put the rollers at the lower edge of the doorblade. Kind of installing the whole contraption reversed. The now horizontal track will be installed vertically in the door opening. And the arm guiding the edge gets mounted under the ceiling. All being possible only given the space is there. But with CAD you can check out the needed clearance.

[@zorrothebug]

Yes, replace the garage door now. The used one can be sold, you won't get all the money back, but better selling it now that it is barely used, than replacing it 5 years later and not getting almost anything back.

[@theresabu3000]

You could also install a remote that can open it from a distance. Would at least solve the car parking problem. We usually have a longer driveway, if we have a garage door opening this way.

[@sergeleon1163]

While I'm from the Netherlands we have much similarities with building here. For me I wanted to change and add like 12 electric outlets and while it being my first home I was on budget and per outlet it would cost me like €150 if it was done by the builder, I ended up doing the Labour etc. myself afterward cutting in the concrete and putting in new pvc ducts, new cables etc. and in the end besides my own time it did cost me like €150 in materials. I did more projects myself on my home and learned many things, I also would do some different if building a second time. If you want to change the garage door, you could also offset the costs for a new one by selling your current door 2nd hand to someone else and this way it also won't be wasteful.

[@V100-e5q]

Doing it yourself is also a very good excuse to buy expensive power tools.

[@Al69BfR]

Perhaps pantries aren‘t that common anymore in Germany. But I remember that almost every house build in the fifties in the neighborhood where I lived had at least a small pantry. We had a freezer in it and sometimes sausages were hanging from the ceiling. To be fair, the house of my grandparents that was also built in the fifties didn‘t have a pantry. They had their storage mainly in the basement.

[@Herzschreiber]

I agree, back in those days most houses and even apartements had small pantries. The house where I grew up had one, my grandparents also had one in their 4 rooms appartement and most of my parents friends did. That was in the 60ies. In Rhineland Palatinate we called them "Steuzchen". Then, in the middle of the 70ies those "Haushaltsschränke" became fashionable. Mostly sort of "inbuilt cabinets" in the hallway, big enough to put the vacuum cleaner or cleaning kits in, and add some canned food, treats or beverages. I'd still prefer the pantries but..... well.... seems they are gone forever.

[@gargoyle7863]

My grandmother had a pantry, and we have one as well.

[@manuel0578]

Back then people also had a lot less stuff.

[@theresabu3000]

we had one in a flat (old house maybe from ~1930) - in the kitchen next to a balcony. On the outside wall - I think with thinner walls then normal so it's cooler. Not big - same size as a fridge.

[@Bladel1965]

The garage door you got is the cheap option. Upgrading to a segmented door would not only solve the annoyances but could also save on heating in winter because they are insulated instead of this large piece of thin metal that puts your indoor garage in direct contact with the elements outside.

[@andresjustus160]

I guess, I told you in an earlier video: Remember that you build your first house for your enemy, the second house for your friend and the third house will be for yourself...😂

[@henrischutte1968]

In the past decades more and more household appliances got electrified but the building codes didn't really keep up with this trend resulting in a shortage of electrical outlets, not only in existing but also in new homes. But now most of these appliances are moving towards wireless (battery operated) so this problem will solve itself. And regarding the missing water outlet on the front I would probably opt for a small sink in the garage. Then you would not only be able to connect a small hose from there but also have water available while tinkering in the garage and to wash your hands afterwards. It looks like your utilities room is next to your garage, so making an extra connection there doesn't seem that complicated.

[@geneviere199]

In German houses the cellars are often used as storage rooms or extra pantries. Even if my grandparents put in a pantry into their kitchen, too. But we had a room in the cellar in which we had a shelf with all the glasses of fruits and jellies my Granny cooked in to preserve for the winter and the big freezer. And how somebody else pointed out in the commentaries - the more storage possibility you have the more things you put in that you might not ever use again - there is never enough storage... What I would change first would be to alter the electrical system around your garage. Working with different extension cord and multiple sockets actually can be dangerous, too - as people tend to "overload" that. And maybe put gummi bumpers outside onto your garage door. Might prevent some damage.

[@essmene]

It is naturally cold there. My grand dad had to pantry cellars. One for potatoes and the other for pickled vegetables and conserved fruit and a few sausages. He lived through two wars and two inflation. After his wife died and he came over to eat for lunch his first question afterwards was: "what is on the menu tomorrow?" Even though things were well, he needed reassurance for the food.

[@foobar9220]

As someone who has been building a home and moved in half a year ago, I can definitely second to plan everything with furniture in mind. And at the same time being flexible to change things later. Regarding the project management, as you bought from a Bauträger, the communication should run through your general contractor. However, it seems that many are saving on project management, resulting in bad communication. I had similar issues. If I was to build again, I would probably avoid going with a general contractor in the first place and hire an architect to both design and manage the project. While this is actually adding more communication going through the owner, it ensures that one is in the loop at all times. But overall, it seems you nailed to pretty good for the first try. As they say here...das erste Haus für den Feind, das zweite für den Freund, das dritte für einen selbst (the first one for your enemy, the second for your friend, the third for yourself) Regarding the garage door, you can do a very German thing and put up a sign "Tor öffnet automatisch. Nicht im Schwenkbereich aufhalten!"

[@wjhann4836]

I'm afraid that doesn't work. - there is always a project management. BUT they are part of the developer team and in the project triangle they always tend to time and price rarely quality. - IMHO it would be better to hire an engineer separate that is on your site. - as I wrote on top, building your home "yourself" result in higher prices.

[@foobar9220]

Sure that works. The concept is called "Einzelvergabe" (individual order). In Germany, is very common that the town will develop the land and then sell it directly to families, who are then free to choose whatever general contractor they want or do individual orders. That model is also more tax efficient as the family will pay the land buyers tax only on the value of the land but not the home on it. The other model is called "Bauträger" which is a general contractor that also owns the land. That is common for row houses and duplexes in urban areas and of course apartments. But that model is very uncommon for detached single family homes

[@wjhann4836]

@@foobar9220 On one side you are right on the other side: this will be significant more expensive than buying a house from a development.

[@dnocturn84]

When you build a new house in Germany, you'll have to monitor what the guys on the construction site are doing almost every single day. Unless you hire someone who does this for you. Sometimes they make mistakes and don't tell you. And often they even try to hide it from you.

[@lindacollins1501]

Congratulations on building and furnishing a beautiful home for your American family in Germany. As an American also living in Germany, I have a sense of just how huge an undertaking this was! Gut gemacht!! I enjoy your channel and look forward to following your Black Forest family adventures. May you and your boys have years of happiness and good health in your new home.

[@comsartoo1722]

This video was very timely and helpful. We are building a house in The Netherlands (2 km from German border) We're about 1/2 way through construction. We are about to meet with general contractor and electrician to discuss placement of light switches and fixtures. We specified water connection in back of house --- but didn't think about the front - but now we will ask about it. Thanks you guys! Update: as result of your video…we asked builder of our house to add water to front of house AND add more electric outlets in the garage. Thanks

[@comsartoo1722]

just about to have our new home in NL delivered. When I saw the water connection on the front of the house --- I thought of you guys. It would have otherwise been a miss. Not to mention the electrical outlet we added in the garage. Thanks again!🙂

[@MADHIKER777]

Congratulations on your home that you truly can call your own! No one has enough closets or electrical outlets. When I built our retirement home 4 years ago, I drew the plans with the furniture shown which greatly helped with placement of electrical fixtures, lighting & outlets. I have one hose bib in the back because there are no bathrooms or kitchens in the front. Running another line didn't make sense when I could just buy a longer hose, BUT I forgot that I have to run around the house to turn the water on & off. Next to our kitchen is a small room with boiler, well pump, utility sink & electrical panel. I oversized it enough to add shelving to double as a pantry. But, my wife constantly leaves that door open, LOL. I hired a construction manager, not a general contractor, and I recommend that path. Full disclosure, I am an engineer and comfortable with all the moving parts of building. Go ahead and change that garage door, but hire a professional. Those springs required for that type can kill. And, if it really bothers you, change the stair railing. There isn't that much of it, but I don't think I would notice.

[@buning_sensations5437]

Bicycle cleaning tip - I got a plastic garden pump pressure strayer, Tukan 5L Drunksprühgerät, that I put by the front door to spray my bike down before bringing inside. As I only have hose on otherside. Or, put in my car to spray off my MTB before putting it in back of car.

[@hansmolders1066]

Advice for the shelf underneath the staircase, drawers! The full extension kind! You will hate getting on your knees just to get to the thing you'll use all the time.

[@Aine197]

I can totally relate with the issue of the electricity sockets. I renovated a timber-framed house a few years ago and had them redo the whole electrical installation (it was a huge mess!) because the old one was no longer safe to use. The sockets were placed according to where I was planning to put my furniture. And then I realised that it made much more sense to put the TV in a different corner of the living room and the bed on the opposite side of the bedroom…

[@sphhyn]

I’ve lived in an apartments with pantries for the last 15 years and I love a pantry in my kitchen! I just moved and was so happy that my new apartment has a pantry as well 😍Old apartment buildings in Germany (pre WWII) often have them. With electric outlets I’ve heard so many people say : when you think you planned enough outlets , just double the number 😅 unfortunately I can’t do that in my apartment so I have to many extension cords.

[@frankfeistel5401]

For the garage, it’s recommend to have a sub distribution, e.g. a separate set of breaker switches , it’s always expanding

[@haukesattler446]

A little trick for the right placement of you car in the garage: Hang a tennis ball (or baseball?) on a string from the garage ceiling. Place the ball in such a way that it slightly taps your car's windscreen when your car is in the perfect position.

[@labschi]

I really envy you for your house. My girlfriend and I planned to build a house a few months ago and now dismissed the idea completely due to exploding building costs. The cheapest offer was about 480k euros for the house without a plot to build on. And we also had to calculate extras like an elevator for me and my wheelchair. An offer with all costs included was shoirt above a million euros... I'm still amazed how you managed to build your home :D

[@deltestu]

Hi, for the wood on the banister, why don't you make just a shell on top and side of it with the same wood used for the floor. It will become a little ticker but it will match the floor. Bye Marco

[@TypeAshton]

A good idea! That could be a great future house project.

[@jennyhammond9261]

I'm currently building in Mexico. Luckily, I caught the lack of electrical outlets early enough to be able to add more. I really suggest to anyone building to plan out the layout of the room/furniture. It will help you know how many and where you want the outlets. They were going to put my bathroom outlet at the door with the light switch instead of by the vanity. There wasn't going to be an outlet at all on the wall where I want my desk to go. It's super easy to overlook little things that make a big difference, like forgetting about outdoor lighting so you can have a porch light of some sort. Now I'm going to be watching them like a hawk to make sure my overhead lights are centered in the room and aligned with each other and that my tv outlet is in the middle of the wall. As always, solid content on this channel!

[@Muscles_McGee]

It's easy to run conduit on the ceiling or walls and put in more electric outlets. I prefer conduit over hidden in the wall utilities for safety and putting in more outlets.

[@niallmcdonagh1093]

Just went through a reno on our Toronto downtown condo...I would agree that when a contractor is in situ and likes you...and he suggests upgrades...as in..." I can do mouldings if you want while we're here but it will cost you X...or..."I've (builder guy) got some marble that might cost you a bit more but it's laying round our shop and we can give you a discount" ...do not hesitate...grab it...get him drunk...he will change your life...(note: our poor builder guy told us that 'I don't want to tell you how much I lost on your condo '... respect these guys...they are gold...some of the greatest people you will ever meet...

[@peterdoe2617]

I just sent this to a friend in Canada. They are building houses. I just pointed out to him, how the "cabinet", next to the kitchen could possibly be larger than the kitchen itself. To store all those utensils. Have them close. But: out of the fumes, that a kitchen always produces. Plus room to store things. I could have done this about a garage. That: thinking ahead is a massive point: the "what will the future bring?" thing can be sooo overwhelming! Great content, as always! Ther was a series on german german tv, decades ago: "Einmal im Leben" = once in a lifetime. About building a house. I was a kid, when it was on tv. Maybe you can find some of it. It surely was great! Gruß aus Tangstedt!

[@aspirin210]

Regarding a project manager: We built here in Germany this year too and 10 other families in our street with us and I have to say that there are grave differences between the different house building companies. Our building company has provided us with a project manager that took care of these little things and organized all contractors for us, so we had do literally nothing during the building phase. But other families in our street faced the same problems you described in your video. One Family even had to coordinate all sub-contractors by themselves - the house building company was not doing anything but providing the materials (i guess) after the initial planning phase. Even a window was built too low, so that the kitchen had to be replanned.

[@florisvansandwijk6908]

I can so relate to the electrical sockets missing in places where you need them...

[@TypeAshton]

You can never have enough... Especially outdoors.

[@ralfbauer9625]

Hello Ashton, hello Jonathan happy Sunday! Congratulations to your one year anniversiry! Now after you learned your lessons when building your home, when planning your next home everything should run really smooth! 😀 Best regards Ralf P.S. Really like the bloopers

[@TypeAshton]

Hi Ralf! Thank you and happy Sunday to you as well. This was certainly a fun video to make and I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@ralfbauer9625]

I always like your Videos and really appreciate the time and efforts you put in this contents. Best regards Ralf

[@Busfles984]

Maybe you could replace the single outlets - sockets in the garage with double or tripple outlets - sockets (Steckdose 2-fach oder 3-fach) that fit into the existing flush mount box (tiefe Schalterdose) in the wall. I am afraid the series of your light switches and sockets probably will not have double or tripple outlet - sockets in its collection. Your technical room is next to your front door that makes its easy to install a water pipe for a water connection on the front of your house to wash your bikes. You surely need a heavy duty power drill with and a long heavy duty stone drill.

[@pigoff123]

I had a pantry in my apartment in Hanau. I loved it. They are rare because it is taxed per room so it added a tax expense

[@Voronochka262]

One thing I hadn't thought about before with the wiring for fans, is that if you are putting in the wiring, you can put in a switch for the light part of the fan, and another switch for the fan part, which is very nice, so you can turn the light off and on at the switch and keep the fan on without the pull chain on the fan

[@peterdonecker6924]

Great video again and just funny some high level "mimimiii" when it comes to the bannisters😂. But seriously, I can't almost wait for your videos coming out each 2nd Sunday. Wish you a wonderful Sunday in the beautiful Black Forest🤗

[@deirdrevergados971]

Our house is also built into a hill and the back is partially underground. When we moved in there was only one outdoor tap but fortunately it was in the front of the house. It also helped that we had a bathroom and laundryroom in the basement so retro-fitting watering systems and a tap in the garage was not difficult. We did not do everything at once and the fact that the yard has very little paving made installation easier. We now have four hoses, an automatic system for the garden, a fountain and a fishpond.

[@richard--s]

There are Garage doors that don't move out but still tilt up to the ceiling in one piece. But of course it takes up more space in the garage... Well, they could have asked you. You might have chosen a segmented one like you said. That takes up the least amount of space.

[@feuerwehrmanngrisu9094]

Ihr könnt mit recht sehr stolz sein auf das was ihr erreicht habt. Ein super schönes Haus und ihr seit eine mega sympathische Familie. Deutschland kann froh sein, Einwanderer wie euch zu haben. You can be very proud of what you made! A very beautiful house and you were such a nice family. Germany can be very happy that immigrants like you came here.

[@joergnitschke5641]

Congrats on building your house 🙂 As you were talking about cleaning your car (at home) ... I think you would also need an Ölabscheider (Oil Separator) in order to be allowed to do so. Also with regards to storage space ... I totally agree, you can never have enough of this 😁

[@AGWittmann]

Moin Black Forest Family, maybe get a brightly colored curtain for your pantry? It doesn't have to reach all the way down to the floor, so Saugi can still do his job. Wish you a nice sunday and have a nice week.

[@TheFreaker86]

Wera and Knipex. A man appreciates good quality tools 😉👍

[@wolfgang8418]

Always remember: it is not so important how many sockets a house has, but what spirit prevails in this house!

[@gloofisearch]

Usually, German houses have a basement. I guess due to the landscape of yours, there was no option for a basement for storage. Also, use the mechanical room for a water outlet so you only have to walk out the garage with that hose. For electrical outlets in the garage, use tubes low to the ground to get cables through to create more outlets around. Hope that helps. Best, Martin

[@kingofshit303]

You can set a marker, maybe a plant, to show the angle (how much it comes out) of the garage door. Perhaps a soft or foam line placed on the bottom of the garage door itself would be very good. So it would not do scratches on the surface of a car, when opening.

[@FrankenSpielt]

Building a house is like preparing green tea: The first is for the foe, the second is for friends and the third is for family. In Germany we have a saying: The first house is to learn, the second for practising and the third is for living.

[@DerCrafter]

I'd personally recommend just taping a warning onto the garage door, that it swings outwards when it opens, that way you're covered when it happens.

[@christianstein6644]

When we built our house a friend told me to plan as many plugs I can think of and than double it. That's what I nearly did and they are just enough now.

[@june4976]

There are adapters for a outside water tap that split the tap into two. You could take one of these, take another hose (put locks on both hoses), and just lower one of the hoses down to the driveway. This way, you'd have accessible water down there.

[@simonbe]

Nice video! Also it's good to look forward and change things to the better. Storage is really one of the biggest things needed. Sometimes I use cad for building furniture or other stuff myself.

[@mlem6951]

For the pantry, i would Put a curtain in Front. So it's closed of whitout being closed. So the toddler can get in and Out :).

[@manuelaherms8792]

Afterwards you always find out where you could have done something better. You're always smarter afterwards, as the saying goes.

[@hazelmeldrum5860]

I have lived in a british flat for 30 years so have internal plaster board walls but cement walks i had to get an electrician to update an electricial box ,while checking he pointed out places where he could put in a new outlet. what a difference it has made ,no swapping out appliances. A fresh eye made such a change

[@beyondEV]

Working in Facility Management, i often notice, that people calculate the costs rather as the up front costs, than the total costs over time. and that often designs are used, which look great, inccure little costs up front, but later turn out to be a major headache. I always tell people, to ask carefully about amortisation, but mainly also about service requirements of anything that goes into a house (later part is often neglected). Even if you end up being able to do it yourself, it's still time you have to sacrifice and time is money. You can't really tell, if you got a good home, unless you spent at least 10 years in living in it. The one other thing you have to take into account these days: double any drainage capacity for rainwater. Having to deal all the time with facilities getting flooded by ever stronger thunderstorms, i would recommend to have significant reserves in this area (having to upgrade later is really expensive).

[@ICHRA11]

And here another gernan lesson for advanced students: In germany you say "Das erste Haus baust du für deinen Feind, das zweite für deinen Freund und das dritte für dich selbst."

[@TypeAshton]

An important life lesson, for sure.

[@alis49281]

We use curtains to separate rooms and areas. They help with heating and temperature as well.

[@philipptielmann]

building / planning a house right now! great tip! but I know a lot of people that say you need to build like 3 houses until you get it right. apparently a polish saying goes like this: first house for your enemy, second for your friend, third for yourself. something like that :-).

[@uschil228]

We live in a rented house. But I would totally change the position of the TV and Internet Outlets. They just aren't were you would need them. Also our bathroom is very big, but you don't have one wall to put a cupboard in front of. All the things (sink, shower, bathtub, ...) are splattered all over the wall with not enough space for a cupboard in beetween. We are thinking of putting one in the middle of the room, because there is enough space too walk around still.

[@cleancoder3838]

When I bought my 4-room apartment, the first thing I did was to add another 80+ more power outlets as the apartment had the minimum amount installed.

[@BrandonLeeBrown]

The US certainly has both types of garage doors too. Our garage door in America is one piece, because it is insulated and because it is more secure when locked, than the other type. I recall there are places in Germany where it is not allowed to wash your car at home and that it must be done at a designated car washing place.

[@docugraf]

you have the heating system nearby the garage so there should be a cold water pipe which could be used to be layed thru the wall to the garage ending in a water tap. Also the electrical distribution is in the technicroom so it's a hours work to expand it to some more outlets build onto the wall in the garage with calbe ducts

[@dominikrak72]

In the garage, you can put cables and socket on the wall, surface mounted. In other parts of home it's hidden, but this is technical room.

[@eljanrimsa5843]

You are so clean and organized with everything that a glimpse of an untidy pantry adds a charming little detail

[@realulli]

Long(ish?) comment... 1:16 I agree. You can never have enough storage space. "Stuff" behaves like an ideal gas, it fills all the available space. However, having enough storage allows you to buy things only once, since you don't have to give anything away just to free up space. 5:33 my rule of thumb is, on average, one outlet for every 25 cm of wall. Also, cabling for high speed network, with multiple ports to every room that end in various parts of each room (important if you want to avoid having to run a network cable from the back corner of the living room to the entertainment center or from the entertainment center to something else). Outside: multiple outlets obviously, plus a CEE red 16A. Same for the garage, plus lots of space around the car, since you're going to want to "park" other things than the car there, bikes, tools, lawnmower, ... I learned, in software development, the earlier you catch something, the cheaper it is. Each stage add about an order of magnitude in the costs. Catch something in the conception? (almost) free (10 Euros?). Catch something in specification? A couple of euros (100). Catch something in development? A bit more expensive, e.g. 1000 Euros. Catch something in unit testing? Say, 10.000 euros. Catch something in integration testing? 100k, etc... until you find some critical flaw after e.g. you made 100k cars with your software and you need to recall them and fix it by replacing a component. That can quickly get into dozens of millions. Building a house is not far off that, a change in the conception phase only incurs the cost of actually building it. A large change (e.g. you find you'd prefer to have a basement after all) after the house is built is impossible (or just not worth it). 18:26 I'll mention that to a buddy of mine - I think that's a business opportunity. Someone who speaks English but is also trained in German construction project management to help you navigate all the different parts of the construction, avoid the pitfalls, etc. The main question is, how to put him in contact with people who need (and are willing to pay for) his services...

[@brockreynolds870]

With MY house, which I designed myself... I would have added an office nook for a desk and computer. I designed the house in 1993, and built it in 1995, right when the internet was just in it's infancy, and I didn't design any place for a desktop computer to reside. I didn't think I would ever own a computer (Actaully didn't own one until 2001) I ended up running cable under the house, and putting on one side of the great room with a recliner as the chair for it, where the electric piano used to be.

[@janbarriault4494]

put a decorative post at side of driveway to mark you cars location... or run small bump across width of driveway... or hook up an audible alarm that is tripped by motion sensor.. lol wow.. there's some options..... or just buy new one ( you can sell the one you take out) ,, you know you want to!

[@jensschroder8214]

where there is 1 socket, it can easily be expanded to up to 5 sockets. The larger plate with 5 sockets hides the necessary work. But ask the electrician so you don't drill into any wires.

[@kucnimajstor2901]

Congrats on hitting 80 K subscribers. Great work.

[@TypeAshton]

Thank you!! ❤️

[@wjhann4836]

Advice: Before you discuss extras with the contractor - try to get information what is the regular scope of work / material is and what your addition is worth; I expect you will not able to estimate that. In development builds all the subcontractors are squeezed to get the job. So if the customer asks for individual they try very high prices to spice up their formally very small profit. As I saw in one of the former videos when Ashton asked for the black faucets they made a high price - simply omitting to reduce the offer by the omitted "simple" faucets.

[@nikomangelmann6054]

as an electrician and house owner i have surprisingly only very few outlets. the thing is to know where to put outlets and not randomly as many as possible in every corner. the good thing is, with the modular system for electrical outlets (european style outlets) you can "easily" extend your outlets up to 5 (the maximum frame size is for 5 outlets). the downside is the concrete wall. drilling the holes for the outlets without messing up the wall so that the frame can cover everything is not that easy as a dry wall or brick wall.

[@essmene]

I remember the time when it was time to redo my Granddads apartment and the question by the electricaion was: "how many sockets and where? I won´t do that for you. You tell me." I think he had had enough people that later told him there were not enough sockets where they needed. So I tried my best to split them and had though I had surplus on my computer desk, but to no avail. If I would built a new house I would try to make it modular. Like a central access shaft for water, sewage, data, electricity. So things can be altered on a level basis and things can be added later more easily. I would add a junction box per floor level. So If there is need for more power, again less work. And for a cellar the lines can be put outside for a quick and dirty DIY Shop. For general planning it is more like planing a work place - imagine your tasks and try to accommodate them. e.g. if you have a long corridor, one light switch will work for the light, but it will be convenient to have a light switch on each exit. Same for water, but we do have a local well for garden water. That could be a cheaper solution on the long run. Drilling a well and hooking up front and backyard with a ground dug water system that is either deep enough in winter or can be properly drained in the cold season.

[@JohnMckeown-dl2cl]

In my house in Germany I experienced the same problem with electrical outlets. They were always too few and awkwardly placed. I especially disliked the placement on many of them one meter off the floor and co-located with the light switches near the doors. This was esthetically not pleasing when you plugged things in and awkward when you had to plug something in having the cord go down the wall and over to the item. Also European outlets tend to be single not "duplex" like in the US. Altogether this means that you end up with a lot of extension cords with big multi outlet boxes on the end that are difficult to keep out of the way. My outside water access was also like yours with one faucet in the back of the house. I was more fortunate because my driveway was at the side of the house (between the houses) and went all the way to the back yard, but like you I had to run a long hose to the front when I needed water there. One reason for this is that the "frost-proof" faucets, common in the US, like you have were not available in Germany. This required a separate valve in the heated spaces to shut off the water in the winter to prevent a frozen, and possibly a burst, pipe in the winter. This was not good to have in a living room/bedroom wall. One thing you did not mention is how the electrical cables are installed in German or most European homes with masonry walls. It is through a plastic tube that is channeled into the masonry that provides a channel for the wires. Most times these do not run in a straight line and are only a centimeter or two below the surface. This can make hanging a picture, shelf or TV a real adventure (don't ask how I know). Closets, or your pantry, are very uncommon because of taxes. Closets were considered a room, no matter how small. So, your three bedroom house (with a closet in each) suddenly was taxed as a six bedroom. Putting in closets at the time of construction was inexpensive initially, but paying an additional DM100 per year per closet was not. Good video and food for though no matter where you are building a house. Keep up the good work!

[@zatarstar5590]

There's actually a DIN regulation where wires can be placed in the walls. It's in the corners of a room, below light switches and in the lower 20cm of a wall. Unfortunately older houses have just wires running somewhere, before the electeicians have agreed on this standard

[@maxbarko8717]

You are truly a Black Forest family because you have Tannenzäpfle! 👍

[@TypeAshton]

They have a lot of good drinks, but their alcohol free Radler is our FAVORITE.

[@maxbarko8717]

My favorite is the original all the others came out after I left Germany, so I don’t really know them. Prost!

[@TypeAshton]

Cheers 🍻🍻🍻

[@arnodobler1096]

​@@TypeAshtonWaldhaus 🍻 ist auch lecker

[@cinnamoon1455]

Some very good advice in here. About the missing faucet in front of your house. Iirc your utility room is right in the front next to your entrance and also houses the boiler? If that's the case, have you thought of asking a plumber to get a citation on how much it would cost to add a faucet outside, or even better, inside the garage? Better, imho, because then you can use it all year round and don't have to worry about frozen pipes and you can just run your hose out through the garage door. Even if you decide it's too expensive right now, then at least you have an option for when it annoys you too much or you have some extra funds available.

[@paulrobinson9355]

Just love you two! Awesome stuff!!!!

[@tjb62]

We live in Berlin and own a flat here... After selling our old flat, we bought a new one, had it gutted and remodeled - one of the first things we told the contractor was "more sockets!" -- so we literally have more sockets now - also for cable and internet in every room...

[@aw9221]

Being a cabinetmaker I just had to point out that both the bannister and the floor is made of oak as I’m sure you know. The floor is of a quality normally considered inadequate for furniture unless the grain, twigs and cracks is what’s asked for. Many times a matter of fashion just as the opposite. Check with your local Tischler or Schreiner, I’m sure they’d be happy to sell you some of that lumber they may have standing in a corner. Planed to dimensions and without asked to install I’m sure the price should be reasonable.

[@Laserfrankie]

When my house was built, I literally drove there every day before I went to work to check if everything is as I wanted it to be. Nevertheless, there will always be something you hadn't thought about. It's unavoidable in my opinion. For example, I regret not having installed floor heating in the whole house but only in the living room and the bathroom.

[@TypeAshton]

I can completely understand. We kept trying to find "excuses" to go "visit the house" each weekend. Problem was, we didn't own a car then and the new house is about 20-25 km away. So we tried to make use of every nice weekend we had and bike out to the construction site.

[@NormanF62]

You guys couldn’t see what your home looked like before you moved in and furnished it and now that you know what changes need to be made, you can make them happen. Mistakes are correctable and given all that in hindsight, the truth is you have a beautiful home you will enjoy living in for a long time. Sure, you wish you could have done certain things differently if you could’ve done them all over again but knowing those shortcomings - niggles really in the long run of things - you have the opportunity to improve upon them down the road. Having said all that, I would be remiss if I didn’t congratulate you on being the proud owners of s new family home in Germany’s Black Forest. Congratulations! 😊

[@rebeccarendle3706]

Guys put a marker (eg garden decor) where the garage door extends to.. then don't reverse or park beyond that point. I have a marker in my car port so i don't reverse back to far which would stop me from being able to open the boot without hiting the back wall of the car port. (We have those garage doors in the UK. I have never heard of anyone hiting their car with the door). Ps. You are not allowed to wash your car in Germany because the dirty water would go into the ground water. You have to go to a designated car wash facility.

[@alanskinner7031]

Two outlets WTF? I had contest with my buddy for garage outlets, I won with 27. I built the house myself. Lite Fix placement is very important. 😝

[@LovelyDoetje]

Just got a new Hörmann garagedoor last month. Segmented, basic isolation extra fast motor, bluetooth, 2 dooropeners and installed for €1850,-. Price may have gone up a bit. So just change the door. Put the old one up for sale. And done.

[@alexandregarden6260]

Gratuliere! Have really enjoyed your videos over the past 18 months or so, thinking especially of the family research ones. Not sure that you realise just how culturally Deutsch you have become? Fantastic over engineering of a storage possibility to store . . . Bier! Take care and continue to enjoy life. Mit freundlichen Grüßen aus Frankreich.

[@wjhann4836]

Outlets in the garage - you may add them cheap by installing ON the wall, a common way to install in cellars and garages and code compliant

[@mina_en_suiza]

OK. I never built a house, but we once bought one and refurbished it. We actually did avoid most of the typical mistakes, built in loads of electrical sockets and plenty of storage space, but what we totally underestimated, was the necessary budget. We had set aside 50,000 Swiss Francs for the works, and ended up spending way over 100K.

[@SharienGaming]

heh i think in your lessons learned from your pantry, i think you stumbled into the exact reason of why we dont usually have a pantry.... all that stuff usually is just...in the kitchen - right where it is needed basically we would likely skip the separated room and just make the kitchen a little bigger^^ also yes... more storage is always great^^ and i also agree - you cant have too many outlets... like you might think you dont need an outlet where you plan on putting the couch... but then you will end up needing one there a buncha times because you are sitting there with your laptop or tablet and are running out of battery or you end up getting some stuff later that needs power and the perfect place for putting it...has no power nearby also on that one little side comment on the water outlet... yeah dont wash your car in the driveway - im not 100% sure, but im fairly certain thats not legal to do, because you are likely to pollute groundwater with a load of washing chemicals - if you want to wash your car, bring it to a car wash

[@toniderdon]

12:00 That's the normal version in Germany too (at least here in Hessen)

[@sabrinakotrba3507]

Hi! Not to rub salt into your wound... Living in Germany now for a bit more than a year - I only now "Kipp-Garage-Doors" that don't sway outside. Not an engineer so can't explain how it works, but maybe look into how the mounting and rails are done and if it is really working as designed. Kipp-Garage doors do not have to move an inch "outside" if done correctly

[@PiereWoehl]

You could do a self closing sliding door on the storage room or a automatic door closer hinge,

[@JakobFischer60]

Oh, nobody told you we all are changing our old garage doors to the new segmented ones? We just recently changed our 60 year old wooden door and are super happy with the new one. But of course it was manual, so no surprises when you open. A new door should cost you not more than 3000 Euro.

[@TypeAshton]

I have a feeling that we will upgrade the door in the future....which is a shame because there is nothing wrong with it and I would hate for it to go to waste. But I am certain that with such a short driveway, an accident is bound to happen. Hopefully we can donate our current door to someone when the time comes to change.

[@lotharschepers2240]

​E bay Kleinanzeigen, I'm Sure someone in your Village would be glad to get your old door.

[@reinhard8053]

@@lotharschepers2240 Or you might find YOUR new door there. Some people change to a bigger door with a bigger car and need to get rid of the old one.

[@Tom-Lahaye]

Planning the amount and placement of electrical outlets and the lighting plan are actually the most difficult things, and they coincide very much with the furniture, kitchen design and other interior aspects. As I found out myself you can't start early enough with the planning of your interior, as you will change things multiple times. After you finished you would still have done things different but if you had such a thorough think over proces you probably will have less regrets about minor mistakes you made. As for a water hose at the front of the house I think the easiest fix is to place a tap and hose reel in the technics room, from there you can run the hose quickly out trough the garage. I'm surprised that your builder still used the tilting garage door, sectional doors are much more common these days and are much more practical. They don't need space to open and you can open them just a few inches to ventilate the garage while avoiding people getting in to take things away.

[@arnodobler1096]

Congrats to my lovely Black Forest Family 🥂🍻🍰☕️💐

[@TypeAshton]

Thank you Arno! ♥️♥️

[@ElinT13]

Hi you two! Don't worry about your imperfections. You have a lifetime to change most of them. ;-) As to the pantry: it's not that Germans don't want to have any, but usually, rented apartments don't have one, because the owners choose to save on that extra feature. As to the kitchen: my husband did the concrete channels to put in 16 outlets in our kitchen. At that time, everybody laughed at us, but they stopped laughing by now. And don't worry about the garage door. Everybody has one of these, and every German knows how to handle theses, and you will get used to, too. I park my car in front of ours, and I learned to space it, so there are only a few centimeters between the door path and my car. What both of you cannot know that here, you usually do not let people build your house without checking on them every day. That is what all house owners say here. Oh, and in Italy, it is the same. And I think if someone would have known that you did not have that on your radars, they would have told you. Thanks for yet another of your interesting and always honest videos! Have a lovely Sunday! 😃

[@imzadi76.2]

There is a German saying, in order to be able to build a house, you need to have build a house previously. Or something like that. True words.

[@apveening]

"Experience is something you acquire immediately after the moment you needed it the most" - Murphy

[@tonieigentor7893]

I actually thought yesterday, didn't u say u want tomake a second video bout your house, now it's here, hoped for that cause im very interested in this topic