Home building/living suggestions wanted.

Re: Home building/living suggestions wanted.

I live in your average raised ranch style house, cornering a busy main road and with the states main airport almost in my back yard (main runway is about 1/2 mile away)
Needless to say my house sits in the direct approach for 90% of ALL incoming flights, I can almost see how white peoples teeth are in the planes when sitting on my deck.
I have no complaints about anything concerning my house or location. I wanted to live close by to my mother,and all of my friends that I have grown up with.
I like being a stones throw away from shopping malls, super markets, and every major retal store you can imagine.

The one key thing that makes my house enjoyable to live in under these conditions.....it is sound proof.
When doors & windows are shut you can't hear a sound from outside, the only audible noise that you will notice is the siren from police/fire vehicles going by.
It doesn't stop the house from shaking when a big plane flies over, but you don't hear it.
Another added bonus of the sound proofing...much lower heating & air conditioning bills.
The house is so well insulated that the furnace & AC cycle much less.
The windows and sliding door take a few extra steps to open as their are (3) seperate panes of glass/door, but it's not a big deal.

So if you are in a busy neighborhood, and want a little more piece & quiet.....sound proofing is the way to go!
 
Re: Home building/living suggestions wanted.

Jack Arnott said:
Hi Andrew, I want to hear more about this.
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I have one in my apartment, Jack. It's really nice, plus adds a lot of nice mass. Fun to decorate around. Kind of hard to hang things on, but I can get it done... much better than whoever lived here before. Also acts as pretty good WiFi signal damper for the apartments on that side of us.
 
Re: Home building/living suggestions wanted.

Dave Barnett said:
Wouldn't a password be sufficient?
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Passwords are useful for preventing access, but do nothing about the SNR. 2.4Ghz Wifi has only 3 non-overlapping channels, which tends to lead to rather crowded spectrum in urban environments. Overlap and sharing the channel work, but lead to reduced network speed and reliability.
 
Re: Home building/living suggestions wanted.

One thing I really liked about one of my past appartments:

Instant/demand water heater at the kitchen sink feeding a seperate tap that gave very hot water (180 F+).

It's really nice when you need to boil water to cook something.

Philip
 
Re: Home building/living suggestions wanted.

Philip Roberts said:
One thing I really liked about one of my past appartments:

Instant/demand water heater at the kitchen sink feeding a seperate tap that gave very hot water (180 F+).

It's really nice when you need to boil water to cook something.

Philip
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This could be built into a refrigerator and the energy to heat the water could come from cooling the food.
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I used to keep a kettle on the stove over low heat (for making tea), now I have a cheap electric kettle that only takes minutes to boil water.

A friend has the instant hot water in his kitchen. I liked it but not enough to get one myself.

JR
 
Re: Home building/living suggestions wanted.

Well, we are moving forward with our project. When I posted this, we didn't have an architect yet. Had started looking, but ran into some family health issues that pushed us back at least a month. And finding an architect was a bit of a pain, but now we have one we really like, and are on our way.

We are tearing down our current home and building a new one.

So some of the things you like, Ivan, are out. We have a .25 acre lot, which is fairly big for where we are. And we really like the location, and the yard.
(We had a concert back there last year with 90 people in attendance.)

So the one thing that stands out here is the last thing. The cement walls on the home theater.
And I haven't heard the term diaphragmatic absorption in over ten years. (Not since the "bass is having a party outside the party tent without me" thread.)

My question is, how do I keep the ceiling from diaphragmatic absorptioning?
And what about the door getting in there?

Regards, Jack


Ivan Beaver said:
Personally I like being able to look out the window and see trees-and all the critters that dwell in them and on the ground.

Yes it is a hassle when they start to mess with the house-and deal with the leaves etc.

But they bring peace and comfort (and entertain our cats and dogs).

I kinda like doing yard work-it is MY time that nobody bothers me-allows me time to think and so forth.

I like being off the main road a good bit-again for the peace and quiet thing.

I do however like living in a neighborhood (as long as the houses are on large enough lots (ours are 1 acre plus) so they are not to close. This allows for my halloween and Christmas light hobbies.

I don't have (but would like) a bedroom on the main level for others when needed.

I need another storage building-but don't we all.

I like being up on a hill-so as not to have to worry about floods (that would be hard to take). But so would fire-and living at/near the woods kinda blows that fear.

Having a fire hydrant nearby is not a bad idea-and in some cases get you lower insurance rates.

A Jack n Jill bathroom for the kids is a GREAT idea (we don't have that-they had to share).

And of course a home theater that has 6' think concrete walls and ceiling so as not to bother others and allow for real room gain without difragmatic absorbtion.
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Re: Home building/living suggestions wanted.

Light and use of it for openness and heat will be key.

What are your suggestions for an ergonomically superior kitchen?

We have a shade tree, southwest corner, black walnut. And will be working on air flow.

Regards, Jack

Dick Rees said:
Since I'm the cook, I'll vote for an ergonomically superior kitchen design. Natural air-conditioning from shade trees and convection air-flow. Lots of natural light upt to and including "Light pipes" to bring sunlight to the middle of the house. An overly large garage.
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Re: Home building/living suggestions wanted.

Not sure about the ceilings yet. We have 9'6" (3M) now, and like that.

My wife suggested the brick wall. I love that. I really like the sound of older brick (solid, kind of sandy, not as hard as newer brick, and no texture on the outside or holes in the middle.)
Rooms with these sound so good. We will have it down the middle of the house, inside. And full bricks, not shaved, and attached to a facade.

We can't do much with water capture. Most of our rainfall/snow is at times when we don't need it. We are fine into June, and it does not make sense to store it that long.

Also, I am not sure yet if we will be allowed to do grey water.

I'm sure picking door frames, casings, etc, etc. will get to be a drag.

REgards, Jack

andrew gissing said:
High ceilings. In the extension we built most rooms are 1 or 2 courses of brick higher than normal; and in our open plan living area - 4.5m peak on a raked ceiling.

Conduit pops up strategically in the middle of the floor into a stainless steel box with powercon & speakon output (power con feeds a 4-way board for light etc.
Using the roof cavity as storage space - done properly with a floor you can stand on without fear of falling through; a pull down ladder to get there.

Recycled brick feature wall.

Rainwater captured to a tank for drinking/gardens
normal sized garage doors but spaced wider apart and garage wider than normal so you can open car door fully without hitting other car or wall
I wish I went with timber door frames all round instead of metal pre-fab for some, timber for others.
Andrew
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Re: Home building/living suggestions wanted.

Completely different situation, but we like our location. A lot.
In a city, but the country boy in me gets to go to a lot of outdoors. Best part of our state.

Eric Cagle said:
Location location location. I am listed as Atlanta because that is where I work most and have lived in the metro area all of my life but I actually live on a horse farm in the country about 45 minutes or so north of there. The most important things to me are great neighbors and almost nonexistent crime. Since I am part redneck and part nerd, living in the country but being close enough to work in the city works for me. With a little (or a lot) of time and money you can make the house part anything you want but you can't change your proximity without physically moving.
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Re: Home building/living suggestions wanted.

We will have a basement, and a girl cave upstairs. Everything else is main floor.

Lots of good stuff here. I was telling my wife about the lights/zones last night. I'm sure we will go over this a lot with the architect/contractor.
Our hot water is going to be key. Solar heating. Yes on large shower, walk in.

And we have requested extra conduit to key areas, for xyz.

No garage. (le Gasp)

Doors are at least that to code.

And yes on the openness. Kitchen to sun room, to yard. Kitchen to living area other direction.
And I like having room in the kitchen. Its where everyone starts out when they are over.

Please go on and on some more.

Steve Hurt said:
We over complicated the lighting. Too many zones of lights.
Putting in a LOT of ceiling cans was a very good idea. Just too many zones/switches.


We put in Velux skylights with electric openers. AWESOME feature. Manually opened shylights rarely get opened. We open ours every day (and they have rain sensors and shut on their own if it rains)

Large shower in master bath
Grab bar in that shower
Seat in that shower

Circulator pump looped pipe on hot water line - makes hot water instant everywhere in the house.


Conduit in the walls for AV, both for speaker lined and lines to the central AV processor in the basement.
Cable types change. Put in Cat 6 and you'll need HDMI, or XYZABC whatever is next.
Make it so you can do it over. Make the conduit large.


BIG garage. They cannot be too big. It is not possible.


Make doors handicap width. Nothing under 32"


My next house will be 1 level. I think stairs should be illegal.


Open concept floor plan. Kitchen open into living area.
Being able to work in the kitchen and interact with others who are not in the kitchen is a big deal to me.


I could go on and on...
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Re: Home building/living suggestions wanted.

I have a warehouse/shop two blocks from us. Its nice to have the separation.
Darkroom. I used to have one. I did color and B&W. But I really like the convenience of a printer. Don't see going back right now.

Our current place is so not comfortable. And getting less so. Because we now have a glimpse of what we will have.

Chris Hindle said:
My neice just moved into a new construction. 1 level, with basement. Unfinished roof/semifinished walls in the basement. I am there next weekend running CAT6, Phone, and Cable to 3 spots in each room of the house, and mainlining it all to a punch panel I am installing beside the breaker box. Splitting all kitchen edisons to their own breakers, and adding a fresh run to where the living room TV "center" is located.
Should take all of a day and a half by the time I screw on the wallplates.

If it were my house, I would need 3 times the floorspace !
Gotta have a workshop with access to the outside by level or ramp. NO STAIRS
Gotta have a decently (natural) lit library, and I wouldn't say no to a small darkroom. Photoshop is great, but sometimes I just feel like splashing around.
My current place is "comfortable", I guess that's all that really matters.
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Re: Home building/living suggestions wanted.

Thanks Frank, I have not read "A Pattern Language". I have been reading other things about construction, but need to get into this.

Make mine margaritas, and we can talk. Thanks for the food prep idea. It seems there are more than several cooks here.
I am the cook in our house.

I know the cook top will not be on the island. I like that for prep, snacks, and drinks. And the cook top off to the side, with prep on both sides.

Frank Koenig said:
Hello Jack,

As you know, this is a huge subject, suitable for volumes of literature and a lifetime of Martinis, but but I'll throw in two short comments.

If you haven't already, read "A Pattern Language" by Christopher Alexander, et al. I found it fascinating and inspiring when thinking about designing my house, which is not to say I agree with everything in it.

From a functional standpoint, what worked out very well in my place (and lots of things didn't) was to separate food preparation from dish washing in the kitchen. Most dwellings mix these functions, in part for a lack of space. I say burn the square feet so that the dishes have their counter, sink, and cabinets, and the food has its own.

Good luck, have fun. Getting to design your own dwelling is a great privilege.

--Frank
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Re: Home building/living suggestions wanted.

Location is already set, we like our routine in that regard. And we have good friends who are all close, but not so much the near neighbors.

Heat will be radiant, in floors. I doubt we will have central air. I really like the idea of SIP, and ICFs. But it seems impractical, and not to live up to either its speed or cost boasts.
We will be going with standard frame, and some kind of blown insulation, but probably not spray foam. Then we will wrap the house with foam, and seal it.

Sunlight is key, and one thing I like about our lot is the relationship with the sun, and how we are oriented. (When we first got married, the first house we lived in was a rental. And it was great how it was situated. Then we started seeing the same house all over the place, only it was always facing the street, no matter the direction. So 75% of the time, it did not make sense to me.) And the overhang calculation is always interesting to me.

Love the carport to kitchen idea. Ours will be mud room to kitchen, but much closer than now. And again the flow will center on the kitchen, for the public part of the house.

Daily patterns were part of the forms we filled out for our first architect interview, but we did not get a great vibe from her. Mostly esoteric material ideas, but nothing exciting look or feel wise.

Regards, Jack

John Roberts said:
Wow... interesting question.

I dislike that I have a 10 miles in one direction, 15 miles in other direction to reach cost effective shopping (15 miles to a good basketball game). When I bough this house it was 7 miles from my day job without even a stop sign in the commute. OTOH, I kind of like the extremely small town vibe where neighbors not only know who I am, but genuinely care about my well being (and I care about theirs). My home here has never been broken into, but a neighbor's has so perhaps that is just luck (and fact I am home a lot). When I lived in New England, in more populous areas, I was not as lucky.
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I do not like the in-wall radiant heat with rising electricity costs, but my analysis has determined that the real issue is heat (or cooling) loss to poorly insulated roof/windows. So any new build should not scrimp on insulation IMO, while dealing with clean air turnover (look to nordic countries for research/solutions for tight-house syndrome).
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After Katrina I rearranged my rain ditches (with a bulldozer), and since them my neighbor's home has not flooded once, mine never did before, but now no more standing water in ditches after rain storms (less mosquitos too).
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There is a lot known about general house design to take advantage of sunlight (windows location, roof overhang, etc). Many books on that subject and more about floor plans etc.
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My carport entry door opens into my kitchen, so less footsteps to carry groceries in after shopping (a good thing).

Look at your daily and regular patterns and try to make them efficient and effective.

JR
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Re: Home building/living suggestions wanted.

Yes, efficiency. Most important on the build, no matter where the heating.cooling come from later. Passive and active, no PV at least to start. No wind. No fireplace. Not very practical here.

Noted on the laundry, no garage.

See my earlier note on Kitchen being the center.

And yes on the girl cave.

John Halliburton said:
Very interesting indeed. Something I've pondered more than once over the years.

First, efficiency. Well insulated, along with as much passive design benefits as your planned location warrants.
Large porches with overhanging eaves.
I tend to lean towards a central great room(it doesn't necessarily have to be huge), with a well designed fireplace(a Rumford perhaps, or a Masonry Heater-see link at bottom of post) or stove that can really contribute to the heating in cold weather.

One floor if possible.

An attached garage, heated, just a basic two car size. Through double doors at the back of the garage, a large shop space, also heated. With an office space. And a WC.
I prefer a large walk in shower too, with a seat if at all possible. I would have a hot tub out on the back deck/patio space.
A large kitchen that opens to a large dining room, that possibly just opens to the great room area. Lets you set up easily for holiday gatherings and entertaining of varying size.
Laundry room by the bedrooms. I mean really, why are they always by the garage? We have a ranch that had a second story added years ago, and the best thing the builder did was put the laundry room upstairs by the bedrooms.

My wife would insist, and rightly so, for her own "Girl Cave"-a craft room of some sort.
Wind generator if the area is suitable. There are some cool ones out there. Since most produce DC voltage, there might have to be a 12v lighting system to take advantage of this-perhaps LED.

Masonry Heater fireplace:
The Masonry Heater Association (MHA) WebsiteMasonry Heater Association | A Better Way to Heat Your Home

Wintronics/Honeywell wind turbine:
http://www.windtronics.com/honeywell-wind-turbine

Best regards,
John
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Re: Home building/living suggestions wanted.

1) We might not have AC. We will have some kind of forced air for night time cooling, and possibly still a swamp cooler.
2) Code
3) lighting both natural and electrical will be key.
4) My greatest fear is that I will end up on my own "Shower Complaint Series" thread.
5) High R, and sealed. Possibly the foam blocks that fill with cement for the street side for added sound barrier.
6) check, and planned for most efficient use of sunshine, while not looking at the neighbors kitchen, etc.
7) check 8) gas and solar heat 9) !! 10) no garage, but again I have a warehouse withing two blocks. 13) is that a non switched outlet in the goddamn bathroom, or a goddamn non-switched outlet in the bathroom?

Not sure what size tanks we will have yet. Prolly no genset.

Bennett Prescott said:
Hmm, interesting one, Jack, and one that I've given much thought to the past few years having owned a town home, and now renting again in Boston.

The best model I have is my parents' house, which they built in 1989. It may not be different architecturally, or particularly expensive, but it has a few things right that I have come to consider critical. This house is in relatively rural NH on about 7 hilly acres, so assume that my most important requirements have already been fulfilled (a yard, lots of trees, can't see your neighbors). Here's what I like about that house, listed roughly in order of how much not having it pissed me off in other locations:

1) The single zone forced air HVAC system can maintain a very low temperature differential between the top two floors (the basement is allowed to stay cooler).
2) Every room has an electrical outlet every 6' on every wall. No room shares a breaker with any other room for electric.
3) Every room has a ceiling light, the majority of which are indirect via fluorescent tubes.
4) There are two showers, both are reasonably large, and both have a shower head at least 6' 6" off the floor.
5) Exterior walls are 16" thick for R factor, and important interior walls are double braced for sound isolation. Windows are also high R. My parents used to pay the same to heat their house in NH as I did my 1970s "build a hundred" townhouse in CT, and their house is twice the size and has many times the windows.
6) Lots of windows.
7) Two large fans that allow the entire house to be cooled without A/C for 10-11 months out of the year.
8) Two sources of heat: Oil fired, and wood burning.
9) A kitchen that two people can work in comfortably, with lots of counter space, co-located and open to the living/dining areas.
10) Three car garage. Read that as a car, a truck, a tractor, and lots of stuff that needed to go somewhere.
11) Small college town 5 miles away, "city" (has Home Depot, WalMart, McDonalds, etc) 12 miles away.
12) Excellent public schools.
13) A non-switched outlet in the goddamn bathroom.

I would really like recirc hot water and an enormous tank, which they don't have, and a standby genset, but that's me.
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