Starting New House Finally!

[rox]

Alan,

Thanks for the info. Are you able to use any of the space above the garage? It looks like a nice tall roof on the garage. Once they get more of the roof done we'll see about that roofline you are talking about. It sounds interesting.

 

[Alan L.]

Is any part of the house brick veneer? I can't tell in all of the photo's, but I don't see a brick ledge. I'm assuming the back is probably siding, but I figured some of the front might be brick.

Yes, everything except for the back porches and balcony will be brick veneer. Acme Regal Oak with light mortar. There is a 5 1/2" brick ledge that doesn't show up in the pics.

We picked out the cedar for the back porch this morning. It will be 1 x 8 lap and gap vertical rough sawn on the walls and the reverse side which has a "V" groove and a smooth surface will be used on the porch ceilings.

 

[Alan L.]

Having trouble, here is another try:

More results today! Most of the roof framing is done, except for the shed roofs over the front and back porches, plus a dormer on the front.

There is about 1700 square feet downstairs and 450 upstairs. Mrs. Alan L. wanted most of the every day living to be downstairs, but did want a loft, bedroom, and bath upstairs. The balcony was a big part of that. I climbed up there today and loved it.

 

[Alan L.]

Alan,

Thanks for the info. Are you able to use any of the space above the garage? It looks like a nice tall roof on the garage. Once they get more of the roof done we'll see about that roofline you are talking about. It sounds interesting.

Yes, there is considerable usable space in the attic above the garage. Ideally I would foam the envelope and make all of that conditioned space, but as you can see relative to the actual size of the living area there is a tremendous amount of roof surface (6300 square feet vs 2163 living area due to porches and 12 pitch roof) and that much foam is cost prohibitive.

This makes it less usable because it will be very hot in the summer. There is also a large attic area above the master suite on the other end of the house, but with 18" of insulation on the floor of the attic there won't be any place to walk around.

The framer commented there would be lots of room to add upstairs rooms later if necessary.

I might lose my internet connection soon because when the foil backed cool ply decking goes on the roof, my wireless internet connection might be blocked. My antenna is on the roof of the metal building I live in, and it points directly into the house toward a water tower 6 miles away.

 

[Alan L.]

Another picture from further away. My poor pond is VERY low, and we are praying for rain. According to the weather it looks like it might come too soon to get it in the dry.

 

[Alan L.]

Just started on second floor. Other than the rafters over the garage, the ones showing are just the front part of the cathedral ceiling for the living room. The rafters will go about 5' higher.

On the rear view, you can see the large porch and balcony with access from the loft and bedroom upstairs. The back of the garage is on the right.

We had a couple of crises today with the plan. Turns out the 13' of loft railing visible from below would only actually be 4' because of the slope of the ceiling. We decided to add a 4.5 foot knee wall at the back and raise the back of the cathedral ceiling to it. This opens up the view of the loft from below. The pitch of the back half of the ceiling will be much less than the front pitch, but there is about 6' of the front ceiling that will have a large dormer window so the slope to the top of the window will be more gentle also.

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We are very pleased with the look inside with the knee wall. We have full view of and from the loft. I need to tell the framer tomorrow to OSB the back side of the knee wall because it will need to be foamed.

 

[rox]

Alan,
i see now with the new pics what you are saying about the roof being sloped on one side and gabled on the other. form this initial stage I would say it looks nice. I think your house is going to have some nice curb appeal.

If possible I would consider putting in a door from the second floor over to the upper garage, since they attach. Even if you can't get a full tall door, any kind of an opening which allows you access over to the top fo the garage would be very handy. If you don't decide to do it, they could at least frame in a header etc. so that if you ever wanted to cut out the drywall and put in a door you could. Even though it is very hot, things like suitcases could still be stored up there, well pehaps not I never did live in texas so I don't know about the heat.

I had access to the top of my garage from the second floor and I LOVED it.
I am sure this is on the plan but there would have to be a light up there. We ahd the opposit of you, we had Wisconsin winters with humidity etc. it is amazing what I stuffed up there in snap lid containers etc. that is where the Christmas ornaments went etc. It is jsut so darned convenient to have that access right form the house, even if it is not "perfect" wil a full sized door. Mine was a full sized extra wide door and I put old furniture in ther etc. Baby furniture that I didn't want to throw out etc. You use the storage space a lot moe if you can get to it easily.

 

[Alan L.]

Alan,
i see now with the new pics what you are saying about the roof being sloped on one side and gabled on the other. form this initial stage I would say it looks nice. I think your house is going to have some nice curb appeal.

If possible I would consider putting in a door from the second floor over to the upper garage, since they attach. Even if you can't get a full tall door, any kind of an opening which allows you access over to the top fo the garage would be very handy. If you don't decide to do it, they could at least frame in a header etc. so that if you ever wanted to cut out the drywall and put in a door you could. Even though it is very hot, things like suitcases could still be stored up there, well pehaps not I never did live in texas so I don't know about the heat.

I had access to the top of my garage from the second floor and I LOVED it.
I am sure this is on the plan but there would have to be a light up there. We ahd the opposit of you, we had Wisconsin winters with humidity etc. it is amazing what I stuffed up there in snap lid containers etc. that is where the Christmas ornaments went etc. It is jsut so darned convenient to have that access right form the house, even if it is not "perfect" wil a full sized door. Mine was a full sized extra wide door and I put old furniture in ther etc. Baby furniture that I didn't want to throw out etc. You use the storage space a lot moe if you can get to it easily.

Rox, there is a full size door leading from the upstairs bedroom to the attic area on the front. This attic area will be completely sealed and foamed and will be conditioned space. Then from this space there will be an exterior door leading to the unconditoned (hot) garage attic.

Keep the ideas coming!

 

[EddieWalker]

Hi Alan,

The house is sure comeing along nicely and it seems you've ony had a few small hic ups that you've fixed easily. No plan is ever perfect, but when you have a good builder, it's allot less painful.

You mentioned earlier that you can't move the drain for the tub. It's done all the time,but it does mean cutting the concrete and digging it out. Most plumbers don't even charge extra for this as they are the ones who put the drain in the wrong place. I've had to do it once to move a drain just a few inches in a home I was flipping. It's a pain, but usually only a few hours of work.

Are you happy with the roof line?

It looks odd to me with the garage giveing you a sort of hip and a gable on the other end. If you have any doubts about it, take care of it now. No matter what it costs, it's cheaper to change it now and get it exactly as you want it, than to have it fester on you for the rest of the time you live there. It's a major design element and probably the first thing you'll notice when you see your home. If you like it, awesome. If it bothers you now in the slightest, it will just get worse over time.

I'm not trying to be rude or insult you, but it looks out of place to me. It has the look of an afterthought that was added in at the last minute. I'm sorry, but maybe you feel the same way and are just not sure what to do to fix it.

If it was me, and I'm hoping you'll realize I'm not trying to be rude, just offering a suggestion, I'd carry your peak out to the end of the garage and gable it to match the other side. It's wasted space and more lumber, but it will balance off the house and add character to your garage.

With the lower roof peak on the garage, it will look like a giant dormer.

Again, I don't mean to insult you and apologize if I did so.

Eddie

 

[dooleysm]

We built our house from Feb-Nov a couple years back. I prayed for the rain to stay away every day for the first 5 months. It was miserably wet. Then in August when we had it under roof and were hanging drywall we had a stretch of over 45 days with no precipitation. Set a few records I think.