Design Critique- constructive or not
My wife & I bought a 1/2 acre lot about 3 months ago and I’m getting closer to applying for the building permit (civil engineers are working on a grading plan now). I’ve been toying with a design that my wife & I have been looking at for a while and I want to put it out here to the brain trust to see where I’m awry.
The plan is a work in progress, so if some dimensions or notes are missing hopefully it won’t be a source of confusion. Our plan is to live in the house ≥2 years and sell (if I can convince DW to leave). The market conditions will dictate when we actually sell and do it again. I would like to do this 7-10 times in the next 20 years and hopefully be mortgage free ahead of schedule.
There will be four of us by the time the house is finished. We have a 21 month old and one due in about three months. We are currently living in an 1,800 ft² split foyer (my office is in a basement bedroom) and the amount space is fine. This new house is really bigger than what we would probably want, but since we’re building primarily to sell I think the size is good. I would like to do a basement if we have the funds, but I refuse to do one unless it has 9′ walls, a walkout, and at least two decent size windows.
So, what should I change? Are there any land-mines that I’m not seeing? The biggest thing I’m concerned with is the roof. I would like to use trusses but we’ll see how the cost is. I am going to email these plans to my truss guy and will know by the end of the week how it looks. Other than that, I *think* I’ve gone over everything enough to avoid any problems.
If you cannot open the file, you may have to download the Adobe Reader:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
*edit* see revised attachment in post 4 for the plans.
Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com
Fredericksburg, VA
Edited 8/22/2007 10:44 am ET by JonBlakemore
Replies
I like the toilet in a seperate room, butttttttttt, I really prefer a basin in the same room.
Jon,
I'm only looking at the floorplan -- I don't have enough framing experience to give you any meaningful input on the roof design.
It would probably be helpful to label the rooms on the floor plan for purposes of discussion here.
Here are some comments in no particular order:
(1) Good idea to have the coat closet at the entry. If you decide to make a basement, it seems your stairs will most likely go right where the current coat closet is, so you may want to find a back-up location that will not be affected by the inclusion of a basement.
(2) I like the location of the main floor lavatory -- it is somewhat secluded through the small hall.
(3) I'm assuming that's the master bedroom on the main floor. The attached master bath has everything you'd want. Is that a walk-in closet accessed via the master bath? It's sometimes possible to locate the closet between the bath and the bedroom, which makes sense from a usage point of view. I'm not sure if it would be possible to do that within the footprint you're working with, but you might want to play with the idea.
(4) Is that a pantry/ mudroom next to the kitchen? I think pantries are great.
(5) What's that room adjacent to the kitchen space (possibly with an island)? And what's the intended use of that next space through the double-doors?
(6) There's a lot of wasted space in the upper hallway. Running the stairs the other way would bring the top of the stairs much closer to the central hall. Running the stairs the other way would also give you the opportunity to create a grander entry hall with a nice-looking open ballustrade, etc.
(7) The closet on the upstairs bedroom with the attached bath seems pretty small.
Hope those comments help a bit.
By the way, did you base this plan on something you've seen before, or did you come up with it all on your own?
Edited 8/22/2007 2:41 am ET by Ragnar17
(1) Good idea to have the coat closet at the entry. If you decide to make a basement, it seems your stairs will most likely go right where the current coat closet is, so you may want to find a back-up location that will not be affected by the inclusion of a basement.
The coat closet will get pushed in to the master closet if we can afford a basement. We will lose some SF in the master closet, but we gain a basement so it's worth it.
(3) I'm assuming that's the master bedroom on the main floor. The attached master bath has everything you'd want. Is that a walk-in closet accessed via the master bath? It's sometimes possible to locate the closet between the bath and the bedroom, which makes sense from a usage point of view. I'm not sure if it would be possible to do that within the footprint you're working with, but you might want to play with the idea.
We've never had a house with a closet that is accessed through the bathroom but it's something that DW and I have always thought was a good idea. For me, practically the only time I use my closet is in conjunction with other grooming activities using the bathroom so I hope it's a good idea. I will consider that one a little further.
(4) Is that a pantry/ mudroom next to the kitchen? I think pantries are great.
Yes
(5) What's that room adjacent to the kitchen space (possibly with an island)? And what's the intended use of that next space through the double-doors?
That is the dining room. The two rectangles represent our dining room table & hutch. The hutch is located in the niche and the dining room table is shown at normal size (smaller rectangle) and fully extended with two leaves (larger rectangle). The long room at the front of the house will likely be a play room for the next several years.
(6) There's a lot of wasted space in the upper hallway. Running the stairs the other way would bring the top of the stairs much closer to the central hall. Running the stairs the other way would also give you the opportunity to create a grander entry hall with a nice-looking open ballustrade, etc.
I will play around with that.
(7) The closet on the upstairs bedroom with the attached bath seems pretty small.
That closet is serving what we plan will primarily be a guest room. So I'm not too concerned about it's size, although if I could figure out a way to make it larger I probably would.
I've attached a second version of the drawing with room names on the two floor plans.
This plan is loosely based on a plan my wife saw in one of those plan books.
Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
jon... if you are in a high wind area.. the new bracing & tie-down requirements make trusses quite a PITA
you may want to reconsider stick framing that roof.. i think you will be better off
you will also gain considerable additional useable spaceMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Mike,We're far enough away from the coast that wind is not an issue at this point (who know what future codes may bring). We use a 90mph design and the only thing we have to do for trusses is install a Simpson H2.5 from plate to truss chord.
Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
Oh my God - You're gonna STICK FRAME it? How could you ???.O.K. - Just kidding. Make sure whomever is drawing the house figures out how the 2nd floor and roof will be supported. I get a lot of houses like that in here where no one has given it a thought. Often they have the foundation in before I ever see the plans. That makse coming up with a framing system a lot more difficult.
Her kisses left something to be desired............The rest of her.
Like I said, I will truss if it's cost effective. The extra space from a stick frame would be nice, but overall I would prefer to use trusses.Do you see any issues with using trusses? The second floor has a bearing wall between the nursery and the family room that I can use for midspan support. I can use a header to support the joists over the stairwell/foyer area.I am a bit concerned about how I can support the second floor bearing wall over the kitchen area. I have 14" I joists spanning 18'11". I'm not sure if a 3-1/2"x14" LVL will carry this load- I may have to integrate a midspan load bearing post in to the island.
Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
I was just picking on you about the trusses. I assumed that since there was a "framing plan" that it was to be stick framed. There's no way I can take a serious look at it this afternoon. I'll try to do so soon and see what I can come up with.
Q: Why do cowboys want to die with their boots on?
A: So they don't stub their toes when they kick the bucket
Thanks for the clarifications, Jon.
I've noticed that another good location for a lavatory would be in the nook section of the mud room. It's conveniently located for people coming in from outside, and it's secluded from the rest of the floor plan (kitchen, etc.).
A lavatory/bath in that location would also allow direct access to the playroom (if the closet were removed).
The benefit to this approach would be that the playroom could also serve as a guest room. I know that for your family, the playroom is more critical at this point in time, but the flexibility of having it as a potential guest room might help in the future.
Relocating the lavatory from near the master bedroom would free up some space to possibly rework the master closet layout, etc.
Not bad at all.
The master closet might benefit from two doors--or it might not.
Now, where that "turn" is next to the shower--I'd reserve that for a towel rack (you can decide if plumbing/cable for towel heater worthwhile).
I might then "break" that diagonal wall with an inset bit of cabinetry for bath towels & such, just to not have to go all the way in the closet. The casework would then balance the door along that elevation.
Probably would not be a bad use of your time to download one of the spiffy closet programs and play with that master closet layout. Don't have to go with elfa, or closetmaid or the like--but avoiding pitfalls found on paper saves effort later.
Thanks for the kind words.I had planned on keeping that wall next to the shower for exactly the reason you mention. I don't think we have the $$ for the heated rack, but I haven't priced those in a while.I really like the suggestion for usage of that space on the diagonal wall in the MBath. I love finding uses for space that is just "there". One can clutter up a design with too much, but I think an empty 6' wall that is not in a travel path is just asking for *something* more.
Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
I don't think we have the $$ for the heated rack, but I haven't priced those in a while.
Almost all the more reason to get an empty conduit in--in case someone along the way can afford it.
I can't take full credit for being smart about towel racks--more experience learned the hard way, than successful prior planning.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
download one of the spiffy closet programs and play with that master closet layout.
I'd be interested in seeing one of those downloadable programs. Do you have a favorite to recommend?
I'd be interested in seeing one of those downloadable programs. Do you have a favorite to recommend?
Not really, I think I've down loaded about one of all of them at least once.
My problem is in two plus decades of CAD experience--at some point all of the freeware frustrates me. But, that's me.
The Ikea is pretty neat, and it's not limited to just closets (but, it is limited to the in-stock products when downloaded, and it's not friendly to outside-the-box uses of the stock, either).
Closetmaid may not be available anymore--but is was spiffy in that it would nag at you if you had out-of-spec closet conditions (like only 10" from door to inside wall). Now, since it would dump your closet as out-of-spec, you could not model up stopping the shelves short (which can be done easily IRL).
Elfa (ContainerStore) was pretty slick, last time I had a copy. Probably nicest for combining part A and Part 47 and Part XXii to make an 'answer." Of course, for what elfa costs, you reall ought not put it behind a closet door <g>Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Thanks, I'll check a few of those out.