OP
CurlyDave
Elite Member
I said envelope, not footprint, because that is what the town regulates. Their advice before I tear it down was to get a surveyor to place it exactly on the property, and to measure existing height. I am going to follow that advice.
The only place there is any wiggle room is that on one side I have probably 3-4 feet more than the required setback, so there might be a few extra square feet available. I am drawing new plans which take advantage of the extra feet.
They are really tough. There is a place where I have a second floor balcony (with roof and railing) cantilevered from the house, which goes to about 4' from the property line. I asked if I could enclose the balcony and bring it back to 6.5' from the line, a clear improvement. I wanted to use it for a closet. The answer: "This isn't 'Lets Make a Deal', you can rebuild the balcony or eliminate it, but you can't reduce its size and enclose it.
The only thing available is floor plan changes.
Eddie probably appreciates this, but if you want to get the most living space out of a smaller house, it is like a giant 3-D jigsaw puzzle. Everything interacts with everything else.
The way it was before the fire, I had 1845 sq ft, and the only "wasted" space was the stairwell, and 40 sq ft of hallway upstairs. The RE agent and I looked at a new 2200 sq ft house and we both agreed it felt smaller than mine. The reason was that the floor plan must have had 300 sq ft of hallway, which is just plain old wasted space.
I even cantilevered the floor joists out 3' for the furnace and hot water tank. Right at the spot where the view from the house was the worst. Inside the house those items take up space don't add anything.
The only place there is any wiggle room is that on one side I have probably 3-4 feet more than the required setback, so there might be a few extra square feet available. I am drawing new plans which take advantage of the extra feet.
They are really tough. There is a place where I have a second floor balcony (with roof and railing) cantilevered from the house, which goes to about 4' from the property line. I asked if I could enclose the balcony and bring it back to 6.5' from the line, a clear improvement. I wanted to use it for a closet. The answer: "This isn't 'Lets Make a Deal', you can rebuild the balcony or eliminate it, but you can't reduce its size and enclose it.
The only thing available is floor plan changes.
Eddie probably appreciates this, but if you want to get the most living space out of a smaller house, it is like a giant 3-D jigsaw puzzle. Everything interacts with everything else.
The way it was before the fire, I had 1845 sq ft, and the only "wasted" space was the stairwell, and 40 sq ft of hallway upstairs. The RE agent and I looked at a new 2200 sq ft house and we both agreed it felt smaller than mine. The reason was that the floor plan must have had 300 sq ft of hallway, which is just plain old wasted space.
I even cantilevered the floor joists out 3' for the furnace and hot water tank. Right at the spot where the view from the house was the worst. Inside the house those items take up space don't add anything.
