Timber Frame Hybrid Home - Owner Builder

[MarkV]

Jeremy it looks like it will be a great place. I do hope you will give us regular updates as the process evolves. I do have a question already though. A see through fireplace from inside to outside strikes me as one heck of a heat loss source. Maybe I just don't understand what your plan is well enough.

MarkV

 

[jk96]

Jeremy it looks like it will be a great place. I do hope you will give us regular updates as the process evolves. I do have a question already though. A see through fireplace from inside to outside strikes me as one heck of a heat loss source. Maybe I just don't understand what your plan is well enough.

MarkV

Hi Mark,

the fireplace will have ceramic glass doors on both sides, inside and outside. They are going to modify the unit so that the vents on the outside are removed. It will vent only to the inside of the home for heat. Heat on the outside will be radiant heat off the glass only, no venting. With the doors closed it will be sealed to the outside and inside as well. I'm sure there will be some heat loss when not in use however with the doors sealed both inside and outside I wouldn't think it would be too significant. Attached is an inside and outside picture of the same unit built for another customer.

Jeremy

Inside view



Outside view

 

[J F]

Wow, those are beautiful. Betchya can't wait.

 

[Rustyiron]

Beautiful project. FWIW, I want to say I agree with your decision to frame & foam your exterior walls. SIPS are great if installed with all the precautions & techniques that they require. I took a 4 day "class" on SIPS const. from a guy that was a SIPS builder (several hundred under his belt) and highly involved with SIPA (a national sips assoc.) that promoted sips const. Their "focus" was on proper building techniques that are a MUST with sips. I believe that all, or most of sip failures are due to improper practices that result in BIG problems for a sips homeowner. They are a great product but in the hands of a well intentioned crew that has not been "schooled" on the criticle points to avoid (mostly moisture) problems, they (sips) can get a bad name or rep. not because of the product, but it's use.
To sum it up, that class scared me enough to not trust myself or any contr. that does not have years of experiance with sips. (I've been in home bldg. for 30+ yrs). And I like the "flash & batt" method that it sounds like you have settled on. One thing in this class that amazed me was the "air tight ness" of a sips house. The instructor told us that he had just come from a contest of some sort in Wash. DC where colleges are challenged to build energy efficient houses and even with extreme "air sealing" on a conventional built (framed) house, the sips house was something like 20X "tighter" than it and this was really where your energy savings came from rather than, what I had expected, the higher R value of the wall. Another lesson I learned, was that with a very "tight" house, you needed to manage your humidity levels. He had a list of normal household activities and the moisture that it put into the home, quite suprising to me! And that you needed to remind the HVAC contractor that he can not neglect the "V" in his title (ventilation) and that a heat recovery - ventalation system was in order. Check out GreenBuildingTalk - Green Building Forums on Insulating Concrete Forms (ICF), Structural Insulated Panels (SIP), Radiant Heating, Geothermal Heat Pumps, Solar Power, Green Construction Projects some interesting stuff there & good luck.
PS. I would like to note that that class was really based on homes that were "frame less" (the S in sips) and not so much on being the "skin" on a post frame structure, but I think the moisture concerns are the same. Repairs of panel failure would be much simpler to correct on a post & beam house.:drink:

 

[EddieWalker]

Nice floorplan. Looks like it's well thought out with a good flow to it. I'm looking forward to following your progress!!!

Eddie

 

[jk96]

Beautiful project. FWIW, I want to say I agree with your decision to frame & foam your exterior walls. SIPS are great if installed with all the precautions & techniques that they require????.

We originally planned to use SIPS. Our first choice was Thermacore. They are the mfg. and also do the install of their own SIPS. In the end it came down to cost. We were already trimming to get within budget. The cost difference of going with SIPS vs stick and foam was about $30K. Thanks for the additional info and links.

Wow, those are beautiful. Betchya can't wait.

We are very excited to break ground. It seems like it has taken a long time to get to the point we are at. We originally planned on standing the frame up in May but the timeline was just too tight. We pushed it back to the end of July and should make for a little less stress.

Nice floorplan. Looks like it's well thought out with a good flow to it. I'm looking forward to following your progress!!!

Eddie

Thanks Eddie. I'm glad we didn't rush the project. I made several attempts and revisions before we got to the current plans. Taking our time really helped.

We went out a couple of weeks ago and put flags in the ground to find the corners of the house and a few of the rooms. My wife thought I was crazy when telling her how big the home was. I think she was a little concerned. Everything looks so much smaller staked out on open ground.

 

[J F]

Have the termites already surrendered?

 

[jk96]

Have the termites already surrendered?

I sure hope so Jay.

Got some great news on the hardwood floors today. I have been looking for hickory flooring that is mostly heartwood without a large amount of white sapwood. We loved the rich color of the heartwood and varied grain pattern in hickory but just wasn't a big fan of so much sapwood. We also didn't want to stain it. Most of the stained hickory just didn't have a rich natural feel to it. Every supplier I've contacted has said that it's not available and that a large amount of sapwood is acceptable even in select grades. After an exhaustive search and almost giving up I finally found a supplier that was willing to contact the mills and supply us with heartwood hickory flooring. Planks will be 6" width. Should look similar to the samples in the pic below with very little white sapwood.

Heartwood Hickory

 

[forgeblast]

That is real nice!!

 

[jk96]

We received the first set of detailed plans today. Everything overall looked great. Only a few minor things that we may want to change. Plans also show SIPS for the center portion of the house. They will be removed and updated to 2x4 walls in the next update.

1. 1st floor laundry room - looks like a shower is included in the bathroom. Not really a need for a shower here. Would replace with single vanity.
2. 2nd floor (bath #2) - move the attic access door in the bathroom to the office if headroom allows.
3. 2nd floor (bath #2) - rearrange to make room for a stand up shower or turn bath into a bath/shower combo and move so that it doesn't block the window.
4. 2nd floor (bedroom #3) - rearrange vanity and closet to create a larger closet. This room is for our daughter so a larger closet is needed.

Pics of the floor plans below. Our stone veneer for the house and fireplace arrived this morning as well. I'll upload pics of the stone tonight or tomorrow.

Here's the original PDF file as well if anyone needs a better image of anything.
View attachment Architectural.pdf

Jeremy

 

[jk96]

Here are some pics of the stone veneer that arrived yesterday. We got a great price on this. It's real stone, not manufactured stone and was able to buy it for $3.30 sq/ft for flats and $7.50 linear foot for corners. I think we ended up paying less than $5 sq/ft after shipping. We did a lot of shopping around locally and most places wanted $7 sq/ft for mfg stone and $11+ for real stone. We ordered enough to do the lower part of the front of the house, columns for all of the post supports on the outside of the house, the fireplace, as well as enough extra to do a garage and breezeway if we every add one in the future.







The pallets were tagged for weight. Most of the pallets were between 1700 and 1900 lbs. They were supposed to keep them at a max of 1,600 but were consolidated to save space. I had to use the forks of the tractor and tilt the pallets back quite a bit to shift the center of gravity back toward the tractor. Even then I was barely able to lift a few of the pallets to get them off the truck.





Had a little bit of extra help.





First load moved to the trailer and ready to go to storage for a few months.





Here's a pic of the stone palletized.





And one more after I cleaned it up a bit and laid out a random sample. The base color of the stone is almost a grey slate color and has a lot of gold overtones. The gold overtone is the dominant color but also has variations of brown to reddish brown, black and solid grey.





Pallet or stone corners

 

[EddieWalker]

Really nice looking plan!!!!

Couple of things that jump out at me is the stove in the corner. I really like a stove to have counter space on either side of it. I'm not sure what that bump out is next to the stove, but changing it into more counter space for the other side of the stove might be a simple way to change that.

I like the look of French Doors, but hate having them. I've had quite a few clients have me remove them because of how much air leaks through them. Brand new, they are just alright, but once they get used a little bit, they become a problem. Price isn't going to fix the problem, they are just a very bad type of door for energy efficiency. Sliders are just as bad. A single exterior door with sidelights gives a similar look without all the built in problems.

Corner showers are also something I would avoid. That upstairs bathroom to the right seems king of slaped together without a good plan. What is that thing behind the door? Could you put the shower on that wall and move the toilet to the wall where the shower is? Maybe put in a tub/shower?

Office door should slide over as close to the wall as possible to eliminate wasted space.

Bedroom #3 door is just weird. If you put the bed somewhere else, you could put the door in the corner and not have it in the way like it is.

Congrats on the rock, that's a heck of a price!!!!

Eddie

 

[Dr Dave]

The stone looks good, I would relocate the stove also ,ours is like that and we hate it.

Dave

 

[J F]

Great pics jk. :thumbsup:

 

[Samandothers]

Great looking plan! How many square feet on the two main floors? I love the look of timber frame! You have some great plans with hickory and stone. I look forward to your future posts.

 

[jk96]

Really nice looking plan!!!!

Couple of things that jump out at me is the stove in the corner. I really like a stove to have counter space on either side of it. I'm not sure what that bump out is next to the stove, but changing it into more counter space for the other side of the stove might be a simple way to change that.

I like the look of French Doors, but hate having them. I've had quite a few clients have me remove them because of how much air leaks through them. Brand new, they are just alright, but once they get used a little bit, they become a problem. Price isn't going to fix the problem, they are just a very bad type of door for energy efficiency. Sliders are just as bad. A single exterior door with sidelights gives a similar look without all the built in problems.

Corner showers are also something I would avoid. That upstairs bathroom to the right seems king of slaped together without a good plan. What is that thing behind the door? Could you put the shower on that wall and move the toilet to the wall where the shower is? Maybe put in a tub/shower?

Office door should slide over as close to the wall as possible to eliminate wasted space.

Bedroom #3 door is just weird. If you put the bed somewhere else, you could put the door in the corner and not have it in the way like it is.

Congrats on the rock, that's a heck of a price!!!!

Eddie

Hi Eddie,

Thanks for the suggestions. Great feedback and one of the reasons I wanted to post the build on TBN. Here's a list of changes I've made, some based on your suggestions including the double entry doors. I originally planned on a single entry but my wife really wanted double doors. We still have french doors off of the dining room. I'm not sure I can get her to give up both.

1st Floor
1. 1/2 bath in laundry room - removed corner shower and replaced with vanity. Moved bathroom door to hallway.
2. Kitchen - removed doors to pantry next to stove and replaced with counter space.
3. Front Entry Door - remove double entry door and replace with single entry door with sidelights.
4. 1/2 bath next to entry - moved toilet to the same wall the door is on. Toilet will be hidden behind the door when the door is opened up. This frees up the back wall for a larger vanity.

2nd Floor
1. Bedroom #3 - redesigned layout and door location.
2. Bathroom #2 - need to add shower.
3. Bathroom #2 - add laundry chute.
4. Unfinished attic space - Removed small access door out of bathroom#2 and moved to office.
5. Bathroom #1 - moved toilet and vanity and replaced corner shower with tub/shower combo if room permits.
6. Moved office door closer to the wall as suggested.

I'll post updated plans after the changes are made.

Great looking plan! How many square feet on the two main floors? I love the look of timber frame! You have some great plans with hickory and stone. I look forward to your future posts.

First and second floor combined is about 3,350 sq/ft.

Great pics jk. :thumbsup:

Thanks Jay,
Jeremy

 

[jk96]

Eddie,

I played with bedroom #3 a bit on your suggestion. Here's what I've came up with. The dotted lines coming off of the wall with the window are low overhangs. The wall height on the overhang starts at 4' and goes to 6'8". I left the door where it is to line up with the door opposite of the hallway. This leaves a small void behind the door when open but may be a place to hide a trash can or fan. Let me know what you or anyone else thinks or any suggestions. I'll start numbering pictures from here out as well for easier reference later on.

Jeremy

Picture 24

 

[jk96]

Here's another version that may make more sense than the first.

Picture 25

 

[EddieWalker]

Both versions work. Which one does your daughter like? Did you already say why you're putting a sink in her room?

Eddie

 

[jk96]

Both versions work. Which one does your daughter like? Did you already say why you're putting a sink in her room?

Eddie

She only 7 and doesn't seem to care. The only thing she is excited about is the fact that her room is at the opposite end of her two brothers. She says the further away the better, lol. My wife likes the 2nd version better as do I. The sink doesn't stand out in the middle of the room in version 2.

With two boys and a girl ages 4-8 I thought having her own private vanity in her room would be something she would really like, especially as a teenager. After a shower she can get ready, do makeup, etc in her room without tying up one of the bathrooms and no one telling her to hurry up. Growing up my sister had her own vanity in her room and really liked it. I'll re-post the plans after the changes are made. My wife has agreed on changing the entry door. Still working on the french doors in the dining room but don't think it's going to happen.

Jeremy