Home building/living suggestions wanted.

J

Jack Arnott

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Jan 29, 2011
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Hello All,
I would like to hear what features about your house/dwelling that you really enjoy.

And conversely, what are detractions, that if you were doing things over again, or looking for a new place, that you would avoid.

Regards, Jack
 
Re: Home building/living suggestions wanted.

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.
 
Re: Home building/living suggestions wanted.

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.
 
Re: Home building/living suggestions wanted.

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
 
Re: Home building/living suggestions wanted.

Jordan Wolf said:
Radiator heat :)

I'd prefer a wood stove or fireplace, but that's not always viable in every area of the country.
Click to expand...

Radiant heat is awesome, but if you need central air, it's not worth it.
I do miss my radiators. We had thick oak boards on top of them all. Cat's loved them.
I was able to sit on the radiator in the bedroom when I dressed in the winter mornings and it was awesome.
The heat is so comfortable. Warm without blowing on you.

Tore them all out and went with forced air. Central air is really important.
 
Re: Home building/living suggestions wanted.

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.
 
Re: Home building/living suggestions wanted.

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

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.
 
Re: Home building/living suggestions wanted.

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
 
Re: Home building/living suggestions wanted.

Jack Arnott said:
Hello All,
I would like to hear what features about your house/dwelling that you really enjoy.

And conversely, what are detractions, that if you were doing things over again, or looking for a new place, that you would avoid.

Regards, Jack
Click to expand...

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
 
Re: Home building/living suggestions wanted.

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:
http://www.mha-net.org/

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



Best regards,

John
 
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Re: Home building/living suggestions wanted.

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.
 
Re: Home building/living suggestions wanted.

i can walk to any supermarket i need, and several large parks. i can also feasibly walk to some of my gigs, but am generally anywhere i usually need ot be within a half hour of biking.

10ft ceilings.

im an apartment renter in an urban area. I'd rather live a few floors higher. A friend of mine owns his, and I'd say something he enjoys is the view from his living room balcony, as he can see a nice variety of architecture. His interior concerns mirror other replies, but his studio walls are not as thick as Ivan's!
 
Re: Home building/living suggestions wanted.

Kemper Watson said:
If I'm not mistaken that is pretty much code and has been since the mid 80's. I'm sure the 6ft spacing is
Click to expand...

From memory, Code is an outlet within 6' of any point along a wall, and circuiting calculated at 3W/sq ft. So it's likely that what Bennet is describing exceeds Code by some margin.

And these days, don't forget the low voltage wiring (I'd go Cat 6 everywhere, even for phone).
 
Re: Home building/living suggestions wanted.

After living in an "old" house (not by New England standards, but post WWII construction boom) for 8 years and almost done with a full remodel, there's some things I'd like to see/have in the next house.

- Geothermal (if climate/terrain can support), or Ultra-high efficiency boiler with in-floor radiant heat and indirect DHW system. Going from an ancient oil-fired boiler to NG with indirect DHW, my energy cost dropped dramatically.
- Great air circulation and filtration.
- LARGE kitchen with stained/sealed polished concrete floors, a floor drain, and a floor level hot/cold hose bib.
- Structurally separate garage.
- Connectivity everywhere, and as many "smart home" features as possible.
- Wide doorways, high ceilings
- As much green construction/energy as possible.
- Lots of natural light
- If there's a basement, high ceilings as well - at least 8'6".
 
Re: Home building/living suggestions wanted.

One part of a house that really needs good planning and some thought is the HVAC system. Make sure your contractor has done a Manual D, J, and S properly. A lot of older HVAC companies in the northeast are actually just guys that installed oil and coal burners hot water systems. In my area, it's tougher to find people that know air-sourced and ground-sourced heat pumps well, or even ones that know how to properly design ducting for forced air systems. There are some resources online and you can spot check their work if you are curious. I bought a 5 year old house that has an air-sourced heat pump and not only was it hooked up incorrectly, it was over-sized and the ducting was just too small for it. The air handler is a 1900-2200 CFM unit and the heat pump is a 5 ton. I have a 3800 square foot home (including 1900 which is 60% below grade) and most calculations I do and experts I talk to say a 3.5 ton would have been plenty. My return air ducts were only sized for about 800-1000 CFM. Because of this, and the undersized ducts, my system wastes a lot of energy and uses more than it should in the first place if were ducted properly. I've had some of the issues remedied and my electric bill fell by about $40 this past November (compared to the previous November which was actually warmer on average).

If you are buying used, pay attention to the type of system it has, and the quality of insulation in the house. If either of these is messed up, it can be an expensive thing to fix, and it can cost you for the duration of your ownership if you don't fix it. When oil/gas/energy was cheap no one cared. Now that it's more expensive, people are learning the hard way.

Another thing to think about is your electrical supply. One thing I really want to do with my house is install a backup battery bank, wind mill, and solar panels. If your battery bank is big enough, you could potentially use very little from the grid - and you get the added benefit of fewer power outages. I figured out that based on my electrical draw (which includes heating and A/C) I average about 45 kWh per day. That works out to a average constant draw of 7.8 A @ 240 V. A 3000 Watt generator running 24/7 and a properly sized battery bank could easily supply power for my whole house. The batteries do require some care and feeding. Bring your hydrometer.
 
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