Big first steps towards construction

[OkeeDon]

I really appreciate your comments; I believe you or someone in your family is an architect? It will be interesting to see what he comes up with. By the way, if anyone is interested, his name is John Ahern and he's located in Palm City, Florida, just across the river from Stuart, Florida.

I've had the rooms all over the place in my 6 iterations. We just flipped the master bath to the inside wall so we could get cross ventilation in the master bedroom., which also put it closer to the front bathroom and powder room, and directly underneath the loft bathroom (which I haven't shown, yet -- no time to convert the drawings to .jpg). The master bath was previously on the rear wall, but I've had it on the right side wall, as well. We'll get plenty of light because all 3 walls of the master shower, that jut out under the porch roof, will have large glass block "windows", and there is a door out of the bath onto a privacy porch that may end up being glass, like half a french door.

The primary thing we don't like about the current plans is that the door to our master bedroom is essentially in a corner of an area that is primarily kitchen. In other words, one has to walk throught the kitchen area to get to the master bedroom.

We reflected on this and decided; (a) no one generally goes to the MBR but us; (b) we don't generally go there when the kitchen is in use; (c) we don't generally go there when there are guests; so (d) it doesn't really matter. We could rearrange the entrance, but we'd have to add to the square footage, and it's already too big.

Any way I look at it, the plumbing is going to be a pain. There will be 2-1/2 baths downstairs, a full bath on the loft, and a full bathroom in the cabana by the pool. There will be a sink in the main kitchen, the cleanup sink in the utility kitchen, a bar sink in the outdoor kitchen, and a snack sink in the cabana. That's a lot of plumbing. Fortunately, both our county rules and my skill level say I can do my own plumbing; I may not have the stamina, but that's one of the reasons why I moved next to my son-in-law /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif.

The architect is currently working on his proposal. One of the things that attracted him to my project is that I'm willing to look at any type of construction. Currently, we're both talking about SIPs. He's never done a SIPs house, and is willing to put in the learning curve on his nickle, which is a significant contribution to the project.

I may start a separate thread on the advantages and disadvantages of a SIP roof versus a scissors truss design.

 

[Jagmandave]

Sips are a great way to build, they go up fast and are becoming more economical to use all the time as labor becomes a bigger factor in construction costs.

In my area, where we get winter cold as well as summer heat and humidity, I'm going with ICF's (insulated concrete forms), not only is it strong, since the walls are 8" or 6" of rebar'd concrete, they are well insulated, quiet, and fairly simple to build. Although very difficult to modify later! I'm trying to use Sips as my roof panels, but the architect and I are having a disagreement over their suitability in my design. We'll see.....

I can't find any benefits to building my house out of termite food, other than initial cost...............

I think in your location, Sips would be a great way to build........

 

[LarryRB]

"The primary thing we don't like about the current plans is that the door to our master bedroom is essentially in a corner of an area that is primarily kitchen. In other words, one has to walk throught the kitchen area to get to the master bedroom."
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I must think differently than you... this is an important step, epecially when considering the walking distance for a mid night snack /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[bmac]

Don,

We went through a similar thought process with our design. If you consider how you live, then you can question typical design principles and adjust them to suit your lifestyle.

For example, most plans we looked at had a staircase (grand or orherwise) just inside the front door. Some plans had an additional one in the back of the house. I had to convince my wife that the function of the staircase was to get upstairs, not to make an architectural statement. Afterall, what's upstairs? Bedrooms! Who needs to get to the bedrooms? The kids and an occasional overnight guest. Who comes through the front door? Usually visitors. What buisness do they have going up the stairs? Of course, overnight guests will already have access to the more private areas of the home and can use the stairs off the den, just like the kids. The benefit was a more open, wider foyer and one less staircase (read less $$$).

We looked at laundry the same way. The kids generate more than my wife and I (admittedly, most of my stuff goes to the cleaners). So why have only one laundry room? Our plan has one upstairs (which I plan to teach my kids how to operate) and one on the main floor where the master bedroom is. No hauling laundry up and down the stairs. I think it will be a real worksaver.

Finally, almost every home we have owned had a separate tub and shower in the master bath. Both my wife and I prefer showers. So, why not make a nice, ample sized shower and forget the tub? We really had to work hard to convince our architect that we did not want a tub . I guess she has been programed to believe that we had to have one. Interestingly, on one version, she left space for a tub in case we wanted to add one later. "And, how, might I ask, do you propose we get a tub in there after construction?" Her reply was that we'd just have to open a hole in the exterior wall. I said I'd rather have more closet space. I finally won that battle.

 

[_RaT_]

<font color="blue"> Can we use a hoosier cabinet </font>

OK, so I had to go look up what a hoosier cabinet was. Very cool. Hoosier cabinet

 

[OkeeDon]

Neat link for plans to build my own. But, when I told Betsy that materials would be about $1,000, she said we'd be better off paying $2,000 for a really classy original -- it will only go up in value, while my reproduction would be essentially valueless. Darn. I keep looking for excuses to get a joiner. EBay always has several authentic ones.
hoosier cabinet
another hoosier cabinet
yet another hoosier cabinet -- this one is prime!

 

[OkeeDon]

Good thinking on the staircases. It makes a lot of sense. Ours is primarily to the loft library/reading area; we may not even finish the 2 bedrooms and bath that are planned up there, so guests will be using the staircase.

The dual laundries make sense too, especially if the kids really do lern to do their own. We'll have a washer and dryer, like we do now, but just like now, the dryer will rarely get used. Betsy likes the smell and crispness from drying on a line, so our w/d will be positioned in the utility kitchen right next to the door outside. There's a spot back there that can't be seen from anywhere else that's perfect for a drying area.

We also never use a tub. We don't have a tub in the master bath in our current house, and we weren't planning on one in the new house. In fact, we weren't planning on a tub anywhere in the house. But, a couple of things came together so that now we will have a tub in the master bath (but nowhere else). First, one of our oldest friend's daughter's husband has gone into the porcelain repair business. He refinished a claws foot tub for his own house, and it's gorgeous. He has several more in storage and will refinish one for us at a good rate. Next, when we saw the shower we liked, it had a jacuzzi tub on the bathroom side of the shower wall. We would never use it, but the space is begging for a tub. So, we decided to put in the refinished antique tub just because it looks good. If we had to spend real money for it, it wouldn't happen.

 

[gordon]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( his name is John Ahern and he's located in Palm City, Florida )</font>

Next time you talk with him if you think of it ask him if he ever lived in Chesapeake Va.. If he is the same John Ahern I did the plumbing in his house in the mid 80's. He was always trying cutting edge stuff. It was the first tankless hot water heater that I installed in a house.

Nice looking plan good luck with it.
Gordon

 

[sodamo]

Don
Thanks for starting this great thread. We too are at the early stages of building our retirement home. Just to make it more interesting, it will be in Hawaii. We've designed a number of different concepts over the last 4+ years, finally settling on the current one about 3 years ago. In Jan, we passed it off to a designer/draftsman and last week got our first set of check plans. It was definitely exciting to see my 2 pages of simple line drawings translated into 13 pages of views. The process is not without frustration however. Like you, we made some very personal decisions and some of those didn't make the transition, but we think he now understands that we hired him to draw the plans of the house we want to build, not the plans he wants us to build. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
We will be owner/builders. We will be using a SIP called ProTEC and another roofing panel called Galvumet This is all new to me as I've only stick built before, but we're excited.
I look forward to future readings of your progress. I hope to start my own thread also.
Best of luck
David

 

[Jagmandave]

You'll like using SIPs for construction, they go up so easily and fast too. But, in Hawaii, I wonder why you're going to the trouble, since the weather's so balmy...........