Planning passed at Council Meeting in Gaukönigshofen.

Good news, good news. We attended a council meeting last night where our planning application was presented to the honourable members - after they had discussed drains and sewers for nearly two hours... As everything was according to the building regulations there was no bother getting it passed unanimously. Well, almost. One member noticed that the maximum increase (or decrease) in the planned soil level in relation to the existing level had been exceeded by 46cm. 1.46m instead of 1.00 metres - you can see this on the second plan below (if you look extremely carefully). An oversight on the part of our architect after we had confused him with our to-ing and fro-ing with the plot. The Mayor, however, pointed out that there was no way the 1m limit could be applied here as the fall of the land was 5 metres from one corner to the next. This saved us having to go through the regional council - and 800€ in fees into the bargain. Think we'll vote for him next time round...

On the architect's plan 2. below, the grey areas are the paths and the patio in the S.E. side of the building. The garage is to the South of the house see plan 1. When we get a higher definition version of these later, I'll post them.

1. Click to enlarge.



2. Click to enlarge.



Stove

Today we bought our wood burning stove. Because the building is practically air-tight, the chimney has to transport the air to the stove, and at the same time get rid of the smoke. There are basically two pipes, one inside the other.The building has to be fitted with a monitor to shut off the ventilation system in the house in case of negative pressure. And everything has to be checked twice a year by a chimney sweep. The outer shell of the stove is made of soapstone (steatite) as in the picture and it holds the heat for about 4 hours after the fire has gone out.

Application for planning permission and dates for choosing fittings, décor etc.

Next week we hand in the application for planning/building permission. As the planning adheres 100% with the local building regulations, this is a simplified and abbreviated process, meaning that we can more or less get started straight away. This was the good news we received yesterday from the local council. The plot will be bought in the course of this month or next - you don't actually have to own the plot to put in for planning permission (strange, but true).

When Herr Flick (our Hanse Haus sales rep) was informed, he arranged dates for our visit to the factory: on 19th and 20th March we will be in Oberleichtersbach where we sit down and choose everything from door handles to floor tiles, from toilet seats to bathtubs, from roof tiles to the colour of the house, from window frames to the front door, from the wiring to the plumbing. And much more besides. Everything apart from the kitchen sink - we have to take care of that ourselves ;-). Oh, and the wood-burning stove for the living room - nothing to beat a good old-fashioned fire.

Oh, by the way: those of you who want to read about Hanse Haus and how these pre-fab houses are built can do so here on the British website in English: Hanse Haus And Herr Flick tells me the UK is the fastest growing market abroad.