In reply to mtn :
That pretty satisfies a lot of my hates. One more hate I have is having a front door that opens directly into my den.
In reply to mtn :
That pretty satisfies a lot of my hates. One more hate I have is having a front door that opens directly into my den.
In reply to Toyman! :
What you got there (the plan in the first post) is your basic old barndominium, a new popular term for houses with big garages and metal exterior surfaces. In some cases the living space in simply built inside a huge warehouse looking barn. The shell goes up quickly.
Ok, my 2 cents of your example: Linen closets in all bathrooms. I would agree that your master bathroom is too small. Replace the window in the master bedroom with a patio door. Good idea to separate the garage from the house with an 8' wide breezeway with it's own entry door and coat closet entering into the kitchen. 2x6 exterior walls with R-19 insulation, you can't feel heat infiltration the same way you feel cold, but it is still happening. Build an L shaped kitchen back against the bathroom wall and move the dining room up against the large front window. Never put appliances in an island. I would flip the bathroom and flip the laundry so that you have one common 2x6 plumbing wall with all plumbing inside it. You can't place the loft stairs in the garage, have to somehow put it in the house, I would make it an L shaped stairs starting along the left wall up to a landing and then turn right up to the middle of the loft. I would say your house is at least 8' too short, front to back. Where is the mechanical room or closet going? Enclose the front entry and make it big enough for a closet and an area for a seat to put on footwear. Build a tornado safe room in the garage out of steel or concrete. Insulate all interior walls as has already been mentioned. I don't believe in super insulating the exterior walls with extra wall thickness or spray foam or sips panels because of the cost and the biggest heat gain or loss is through the windows, but put lots of insulation in the roof. I would use parallel chord roof trusses for you house roof. Build the great room walls out of 12' walls since why would anyone cut 1 foot off a 12' stud to make it 11'? Your living space in the vaulted loft is measured at the location where the ceiling hits the 5'-0" elevation mark.
I can clean this up later tonight when the pills that make me drowsy wear off and the ones that give me insomnia kick in. 
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:SV reX said:In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :
I disagree about small bathrooms being easier to clean. It's much easier to push a mop in a big space.
My dream house would have a large bathroom with tiled walls and floor and a drain in the middle. Hose bib under the sink. Spray the whole place down with a quart of cleaner and hose it all in the drain.
That's just because you dream of being able to piss on the floor whenever you want! 
Quick note while we are waiting for VolvoHeritic's meds to wear off..:
That Great Room doesn't have 11' high walls. It has a pitched ceiling which is 11' high in the middle. The walls are 9', just like the adjacent BR walls.
In reply to SV reX :
Lol, maybe, but the exterior photo looks taller at the peak.
Plus, the roof pitch looks like it is a 10/12 or 12/12 pitch, and that would be a pretty short loft space, but I am just assuming there is a loft what with there being a stairway in the garage and all.
I don't see a loft. I think that is attic access.
The dotted lines in the great room indicate a cathedral ceiling. The exterior elevation on the left side shows the wall height equal to the BR behind it.
The gable wall IS taller. It's a gable. Scissor trusses in the great room- ceiling is a lower pitch than the roof. It clears the eyebrow window, then peaks at 11'.
Pretty sure no 11' walls.
In reply to SV reX :
Ok, you're probably right. We need an elevation view and maybe a section. Stairs are to the optional basement?
In reply to VolvoHeretic :
Haha!
I thought of that, but they are clearly labeled "Up"
Regardless of the wall height, I really like that facade elevation.
The proportions are good. I'd build it how the plan says.
In reply to VolvoHeretic :
The stairs are to a bonus room/loft over the bedrooms. I didn't provide that part of the plans. There is also a basement option for those that don't live where the water table is 24" down.
SV reX said:Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:SV reX said:In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :
I disagree about small bathrooms being easier to clean. It's much easier to push a mop in a big space.
My dream house would have a large bathroom with tiled walls and floor and a drain in the middle. Hose bib under the sink. Spray the whole place down with a quart of cleaner and hose it all in the drain.
That's just because you dream of being able to piss on the floor whenever you want!
You know me too well.
I feel late to the party, but....
My dad has built 3 houses. I have helped, extensively on 2 *I was 5 on the first*.
I have written up blueprints myself, if you havent, do the drawing if you have an idea and have someone who does it do it up for you. They will catch any issues *you forgot to put that extra 2 inches the wall takes up "here"*
Put in more switches than you think you need.
Walk through new home open houses. Honestly, take a tape and get a good idea of what you like. take pictures, take them in to the archetect.
Look through homes and kitchen magazines. Seriously, my step mom took in a binder of photos she cut out of these to the custom cabinet maker. It made the kitchen fit just amazing.
If you want small great, but try to get as much as you can for what you can afford. Space always gets used. This may apply more for the garage, I mean you are asking here.
Thought of another small, but awesome thing: A light switch right by the bed for the whole room.
mtn said:Thought of another small, but awesome thing: A light switch right by the bed for the whole room.
It's also nice to have a light switch by the bed that controls the exterior floodlights
SV reX said:mtn said:Thought of another small, but awesome thing: A light switch right by the bed for the whole room.
It's also nice to have a light switch by the bed that controls the exterior floodlights
My dad is an electrician, he would do all of this, plus put a switch from the side of the bed to the kitchen outlet. He would turn this on in the morning to have coffee ready when he got downstairs. This was on the first two homes, built in '85 and '90? So, its not as much of a need now adays.
But, yes, think about laying in bed at night and you need to do something. What can make it easier for you? Are you going to have a large tablet to control the whole home, or need a swicth on the wall?
In reply to Thinkkker :
This is a long-term plan so there is no late to the party. I won't start construction for at least 2 years.
This is just an open conversation to gather ideas. No idea is too crazy or too expensive for this discussion and the more the better. Many brains are more diverse than one. After all the ideas are in, we will start trimming it down to something realistic and affordable.
The initial plan was posted just because it appealed to me. I may end up with something similar, I may not. I'm liking the idea of the shop being attached by a breezeway.
In reply to Thinkkker :
I can turn the outside lights at home off and on from my phone now. The next house will be more integrated.
Also, plan to have a hard wired camera setup in and out of the house. Yea bluetooth and such is there, but may as well have power to it so you dont have to replace batteries around. you can cap the outlets and putting in cameras later, but its ready.
Shop with a breezeway is nice as you can work and not wakeup those who want to sleep. Also, make sure you have a good ventilation system in the shop to allow for ducting out of smoke and such when you weld, grind, etc. at 2 am and dont want to open doors.
Toyman! said:In reply to Thinkkker :
I can turn the outside lights at home off and on from my phone now. The next house will be more integrated.
I would ensure "Hardwired" fallbacks exist. Like put in a Relay that controls all circuits of exterior lighting from a physical switch where you want it.
I work in building automation and I cannot imagine that the Liscensing and Subscription models being used for current commercial equipment won't work their way down to residential. If we don't pay our "faceless corporation services contract" 100s of thousands of square feet of space won't have functional heating/cooling anymore. We also run into needing to completely rewire lighting systems when equipment becomes obsolete or no longer supported.
Look anytime features become reliant on "smart technology" the rate at which they become obsolete and the ability to insert subscription charges increases.
That said smart building technology is incredible we save literal Millions of dollars a year and out occupants are happier and more comfortable because of it. I just would recommend ensuring that you have a robust technology less backbone to use if you need to change automation equipment out.
In reply to nocones :
Yeah. I am far from a luddite, I love automation and everything, but for something like my bedroom light and the outdoor floodlight, I want a hardwired backup. I'd actually prefer it in this case, I don't want to look at more blue light while I'm about to go to sleep.
If I were building new, and energy efficiency loomed pretty large on my radar, I'd really try to focus on location and orientation of the home on the lot, and then I'd be considering passive home design and building techniques. When a lot of thought is put into it, it can be pretty amazing how well a home can be heated and cooled with little or no HVAC
STM317 said:If I were building new, and energy efficiency loomed pretty large on my radar, I'd really try to focus on location and orientation of the home on the lot, and then I'd be considering passive home design and building techniques. When a lot of thought is put into it, it can be pretty amazing how well a home can be heated and cooled with little or no HVAC
Agreed. This is why south facing windows with proper overhang are key. Its also why the wrap around porch is key in the south as it can significantly reduce sun load. Thermosiphons and other energy capture are great as well. Why these are not standard on every house I will never understand. A whole-house fan is pretty awesome if you can make it work.
Of course, where Toyman is, physics are against you... short of digging to find cooler earth/water, there is no passive way to cool a home when the average low is >70deg.
Toyman! said:In reply to Thinkkker :
I can turn the outside lights at home off and on from my phone now. The next house will be more integrated.
My ex's father is an engineer. He built their weekend A-frame house in the Poconos over a period of about 22 years of weekends and vacations between roughly 1970 and 1992. The unique and off-the wall features of the house are many.
Example: typical of A-frame houses, one end is basically 24' of floor to peak windows. Since they would not be at the house for long stretches, he designed the deck to unfold and be winched up and cover the end of the house when they aren't there. He did a smaller version to cover the 4 large windows of the dining area.
Another feature he installed was a low voltage relay control system for all of the lights on the property (also includes the original barn and a power house). It was a system from either the 70's or 80's and had a large relay panel in the basement. Controlling these relays were switch panels and consoles all over the house. One of the switches was a "panic" button that would basically turn on every light on the property. One of the master panels has a "test" button that turns all of the lights on and off in sequence. I've only seen this control system one other time at a client office building that was built sometime in the 70's. While this sort of control isn't too hard to do today, it was cutting edge at the time.
Lights are an interesting subject. Were I building a house from a blank slate, I may look into using 12V lights, powered from a small battery bank. The one really tricky part is double checking the wire sizes since even at the low draw of LED lights, the voltage drop at 12V can be quite a bit.
When I wired my ex's house almost a decade ago, she got all of the lights for free from a lighting vendor who liked her. LEDs were still kinda new and she detests CFL lights, so most of the lights are MR16 bulb fixtures. Dozens of them... Everywhere. Most of them on dimmers. I ran so. much. wiring. I'm pretty sure I went through at least 4 250' rolls of 2/14 - and it was not a big house.
One thought about separating the shop and house with a breezeway - make it so you can park a car there. I can imagine it would be nice to be under cover during a thunderstorm while unloading a car full of groceries.
My folk's house built in 1955 had those 12 volt relays with a master control in the master bedroom and the kitchen. One or another of any of the 100-it seems- relays where always burned out. I thought about re-wiring new switches to 110 volts and bypassing the relays, but was told that the wire wasn't rated for it. I think that Bob Villa built a house for someone with that kind of system and was involved in a big lawsuit because it didn't work either. Just put Clapper controls on all of the lights.
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