Well, the wife and I just got house sold in a terrible market, and are looking to build again. We will general and do much labor as we have on previous two houses. We have also decided on the style, craftsman, and 1 1/2 or two story, under 2000 sf.
While lurking, we found this plan that we both liked, and found it being built in our area so we did a walk through (altered to have a basement, as would ours).
My question is, is this an economical plan or are there areas that you all see that are not so cost effective because the budget will prevail. Our thoughts are that it is more expensive to build up than out and thus the house would cost the equivalent of the other option, approx. 1700 sf ranch.
Hope this made sense, and all input is appreciated.
http://www.mascord.com/plan_details.asp?PlanID=2164A&np=true
Edited 8/20/2007 1:55 pm ET by warcopa1
Replies
My apologies, I have no idea how I managed to post this three times, and cant figure out how to delete other two.
The plan is very functional. Not too much wasted space. Bedrooms are pretty small, but if you finish the bonus space upstairs, you could use that for a lot of things that take up space in a kid's bedroom. One thing I would for sure do is move the door from the garage to the back of the garage and enter into the kitchen. In conjuction with that, I would carve out a little space at the back of the extended part of the garage, and put in a wall about even with the end of the kitchen cabinets, and make that a mudroom. Mudroom would be accessed from the garage and outside.
If you're worried about cost to build and not so much with style, I'd move out the back wall of the great room even with the back wall of the dining nook, to cut down on corners. I'd also move the fireplace to the corner (or delete altogether), so that you have a good wall to put the TV/entertainment center or bookcases, etc.
After looking at the front exterior, it doesn't seem like you are gaining any design feature by setting the garage back a couple of feet. I'd probably bring that out to even with the front of the house and gain a couple of feet in front of the cars. 20'8" isn't very deep for a lot of today's cars, plus you're losing a couple of feet for the furnace and water heater. Speaking of which, if you moved their location to the right, even with the corner, you could put a pantry where the refridgerator is shown on the plan, and build in into the garage back to the depth where it would be flush with the front of the furnace and w/h. You would lose a couple of feet of counter space, but your pantry would be a great size. You could use the space for the pantry now to enlarge the powder room.
My only suggestion is to forget about buying house plans on the internet. They're generally lousy plans, IMHO.
I think you're better off to hire someone locally to design one that will work with your local codes and such.
I agree with your post, and will have a local draw my plans, has drawn the last two sets. He actually is a small (5 employees including his shop foreman that is his wife) truss manufacturer who draws plans for a certain set of builders. I am a fried of one of those builders, and have become a friend of his. You know that the truusses will work with the plan, or vice versa.
Well, I'd move the fireplace to the Study (and call it an Away Room <g>) and opt for some form of entertainment center instead. But, in all fairness, I'd opt for an insert and use b-flue and faux stone/brick instead of solid masonry right through the wall, too (but, I'm contrary that way, too).
I'd see if they'd let you have a "regular" tub instead of the "spa" tub for a healthy credit, too.
It's not a bad plan, it has elegant circulation for being so compact. The only irksome thing to my eye is the angled entry to the bonus room--but, that may wind up useful enough to keep--so that's likely a wash. I'd prefer two single doors to the one large garage door, to better give a 'craftsman' look; but given the dimensions, it's not too terrible.
The lot the house goes on will be more telling than the plan, though. The proportions of the lot, and the lot slope, and the orientation to the street will become middling critical. At least to life-cycle costs, which wind up lasting a lot longer than during-construction economies.
Have you talked to the local Builder about the quality of the plans?
Internet plans have a bad rap for being incomplete and unbuildable as furnished, requiring extensive $$$$$ to someone local to make it happen.
Listen to Bosshog, it's the voice of experience.
Joe H
Will you really use a dining room and study? Have you read "The Not So Big House" (http://www.amazon.com/Not-So-Big-House-Blueprint/dp/1561583766/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-6327155-2367650?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187642225&sr=8-1 ) ?
Thanks all for the responses so far. Keep them coming.We certainly will have the plans drawn locally based generally on the floor plan. Also, should have mentioned a few changes that I have in mind.1. The mud room and half bath will occupy what was the 3rd car garage.
2. The house will be on a basement, and the stairs down will be directly below the stairs up.
3. Actually thinking about eliminating the bump out on the rear of the house, as the breakfast area is not needed. Four stools at the counter, and the dining is actually very open to the family room (no walls, just post) and this would be our everyday dinner spot.
4. The utilities in the garage go to the basement.What are the thoughts on trying to locate a/c in the back area of bonus area?Do I save any money waiting to finish the bonus room until later?Thanks again, as I said, your input is very welcome.
DanH,I agree with your thoughts. The den will actually be an office for my wife and I. The dining area we envision as being the everyday meal location. We will propose to eliminate the nook, and will instead use the counter for our breakfast area.As a note, our last house had a eating bar, breakfast area, and dining area all side by side, that we actually insisted on. What in the world were we thinking. That is why we are seeking input like yours and really trying to think out the planning of this one.I will try to post pics of the house we toured tonight. Some very interesting photos.
We need to know something about you -- do you have kids, entertain formally, work at home, do crafts, etc?
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
Sorry Dan, wife and I approaching 40 (I can see it closer that she can) and two daughters, 3 & 6. Hobbies are, well, I dont know, raising kids and driving them to soccer. I do some wood working, and also lay some hardwood on the side for extra $$$. Also, we both like to cook, and like the openness of the kitchen, family room in this plan. I am a criminal investigator and she is a social worker completing her masters in counseling. We are hard working people who like to have a nice home to relax in. We definitely do not do a lot of formal entertaining, but do like to have family and friends over. The house will be located in a subdivision on 3.6 acres. Nice sub with houses ranging from 1000 sf to 3500 sf, new construction to 40 years old. The anchor of the subdivision is a 48 acre lake for fishing (no gas motors on lake).
But have you read Susanka's book?
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
One thing you might rethink is the diagonal placement of the kitchen island. You end up with a lot of dead space between the sink and the stove. We just did a new kitchen recently and my wife was eager to do a similar diagonal island. Once the space was framed, we used some sawhorses and cardboard sheets to locate the island and it was quickly apparent that we'd waste a lot of space putting the island on a diagonal and end up with less usable space on the island itself. The other thing we did was locate the sink on the outside wall about where the stove is on the plan and move the cooktop to the left. The oven is in the island. The counter on the outside wall is about 12 feet long and the island is 84 by 38 or so.
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I keyed in on just a part of your topic - up vs out. It is cheaper to go up than out. If you go out, you're not only adding the walls, you're adding the foundation and the roof.
If it were actually possible to make an apples to apples comparison between two houses which were identical or nearly so in amenities, space, options, and one was a ranch and the other a 2 sty, the ranch would be more expensive. Every time.
Real trucks dont have sparkplugs
thanks RW, and I know that I am comparing apples and kumquats (sorry, dont get to use that word often but it is funny) but tried to explain to
DW that more for your money goin up, not out. Thnks for the reinforcement
OK, about the house. It's really a sort of a shotgun design, more suited for a narrow lot. You're losing a lot of space in the long hallways.
The three bathrooms (and kitchen sink) are located about as far apart as possible, increasing the cost/complexity of plumbing. Sink in an island looks neat, and may (or may not) be convenient, but complicates plumbing vent issues.
The highly exposed front room is likely to be a problem. It may work out OK for a office on a large lot with a decent setback (if you both tend to be neat), but is unsuitable for many other purposes. The formal entrance runs right past it -- will you be quickly closing the doors when company arrives?
The door to the garage is not very conveniently located.
Cute house, has character.
1. Add a door from garage direct to kitchen. It makes bringing in groceries alot easier and it gives you a place to put muddy boots, etc (in the garage).
2. 2nd floor laundry is great but if there is a flood your in trouble. You would have to make sure there is a catch basin with drain for the washer to sit in.
Otherwise, I like it.
Dave
Nice design! Thanks for posting it. I think it would be excellent with a walk-out basement, as shown in the 4th or 5th photo.
Some good suggestions so far, a couple questionable ones too.
You asked about economy so I'll address that. If you're not in love with the MB's vaulted ceiling idea, you could cancel that and save some annual energy dollars. Same goes for the tall windows in the study. They're a nice design feature but not energy efficient. Low level glass can be uncomfortable to be near during winter too.
These are some of the photos that we took when we toured the home for sale in our area. It has several modivications, including a basement, which we will also do.
Try this again, for some reason did not post pics. This is first attempt to do this, sooo.....
Finally, here is a link to the house being built down the road. Our architect got us prelim. floor plans today, and with a few changes, will move forward soon. Happy viewing
http://www.cbgundaker.com/search/advanced/images.jsp?map_type=1&lat=38.575923&lon=-90.423828&mls_num=759699
i like the basic plan as well. as to the island on an angle, brother in law has similar layout, but the island is diamond shape, with bottom cut off and has the cooktop instead of sink with a double oven in the cabinet run, works great for them. if it were me, I would use the study as media room, and use the dining room as a study (buffer between loud movies and rest of family, dining rooms almost always wasted space). the suggestion on mudroom and kitchen entry are dead-on. we have 6 in the family, so breakfast nook is a must. love the look, it has character that is sorely lacking on almost everything new i see built around here. good luck!
Gas or electric? Nice to keep gas lines simple. Cold climate? Water tank in a cold garage loses energy. Lot siting? N S E W? Which way does the front face? Prevailing winds?http://www.etherhuffer.typepad.com
The home will be all electric except for vent free gas fireplace. Home will be sited on a nearly flat 3.6 acre lot (250 ft wide x 670 deep) House will be north facing in the middle of the lot, which is completely bordered by dense cedar and pine trees. Any other thoughts, ideas on this are welcome
Generally speaking, I would want my kitchen and family room on the south side to get sunshine in the winter, kitchen preferably on the SE side. I would want bedrooms on the NE to N side so as to be cooler in the summer. I would site the home so that the S and SW exposure have enough room for large deciduous trees for summer shade. I would look at prevailing winds, which would be better hitting the side of the garage in a snow area, not the garage door. If the garage faces W it also sucks up afternoon heat instead of the living areas. I would also site the house to minimize the driveway length if you are in snow country.
Those are pretty general statements but they can make the difference in livability in the long haul. http://www.etherhuffer.typepad.com