Review of current house plan, please.

11 years ago

I'm looking forward to getting feedback from this group on our floor plan.

I've been reading this forum for about a year and working on our floor plan for almost 8 months.

A little background, the lot is a cul de sac lake view lot on Greensboro, North Carolina - a bit oddly shaped due to set backs. There's an existing fish pond that is on the property line and will be shared by both lots.

We're still wrestling with a deciding on a few things - spray foam insulation or not? Cased windows or not? Decking materials...

We are currently interviewing three builders and are just now getting the first round of pricing.

We would appreciate any help or input you might have!

Thanks!

Kat L.

This post was edited by kattle32 on Sun, May 12, 13 at 20:08

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Comments (5)

Lam Kam
Original Author
11 years ago
Second page

This post was edited by kattle32 on Sun, May 12, 13 at 20:07
Lam Kam
Original Author
11 years ago
First floor

This post was edited by kattle32 on Sun, May 12, 13 at 20:08
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A couple of reason I was asking.....First, never stop designing at the exterior walls. Think of the site and house as one. That's why it's important to have a drawing that connects the house to the site. It gives the complete picture. And second, while I can see the motives for a rear loading garage, it not only makes for a "tacked on" look to that part of the house, it creates that poor master bedroom entry. And interestingly, the back wall of the garage (which faces the front) doesn't look all that great!! Not to mention that the form of the "garage wing" looks entirely different than the house. If a side load hides all the doors anyway, what the point then for a rear load?? And you get a much better geometry to work with in the master bedroom. Finally, I generally don't like to come into a house and be looking at a wall. If the sight line goes clear through the house it not only connect the house to the site better, it makes it seem BIGGER. I while back I threw in some examples into an idea book for some one else to illustrate what I'm talking about. Look at how all those houses are drawn with the floor plan on the site. You need to do the same thing. Also, look at how in all of those houses we're looking through the house from the front door to site features beyond. And coincidentially, look at the modern farmhouse example there. That garage is detached but the roof forms play off of the house, it not something totally different like your house is. If it helps look at this thread http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3285825/what-makes-a-house-have-good-design?n=39 and read my post there 23 post down. Pay attention to #9, 28,44,52,61 and 62. But good luck with your project. Exciting times for sure!!!
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Are you planning on hiring a person of design talent? First this isn't a bubble diagram. Secondly, you have it measured out, but haven't accounted for the width of any walls. Why are you wanting angled rooms? They create odd spaces and you actually wind up with less space than squared off rooms. Yes an 8' x 8' bedroom is too small. Once you add a closet to the 8' x 8' bedroom, it is now only 6' x 8'. Add a bed to the room which could only go against the 8' wall and your 6' space to walk is only 33" wide. (A twin bed is 39" wide.) I would venture to say a 9' x 10' bedroom is also too small because once you add a closet to that 9' x 10' bedroom, the bedroom is only 7' x 10' or 9' x 8'. Try blocking that space off in a room with tape and then add in a twin bed which is 39" x 75". Your laundry room is too small. A washer/dryer will stick out from the wall a minimum of 27". This means your actual area to open the doors of the W/D and walking area if you put the W/D on the bathroom wall side will be 33". That's too narrow. If you put them along the outside wall, it can work, but if you're planning on putting a sink in the room, it won't for the same reason again. Your master you have as 12' x 18' which will create a very narrow almost tunnel like room. What do you plan to do with all the extra space at the foot of the bed? Additionally you have a very small master closet in such a large room. The upstairs open space opposite the stairs is wasted space. Your downstairs guest room is 9' x 9'. Sorry but that's too small for anything but a full size bed, maybe. And you have a downstairs guest room without a shower? Are your guests expected to walk upstairs to shower? Plus the room is too small. Your hallway from the mudroom is way too large and wastes space with its angles. It's larger than the guest room!!! Your mudroom is only allowing 30" between to walk? In the kitchen 3' between island and perimeter counters is not enough space. For a one person kitchen the minimum should be 42". For a kitchen where multiple people will be helping, you want 48" and that's counter edge to counter edge, not cabinet to cabinet. My suggestion to you would be to start creating idea books of what you like for a house. Make a list of must haves, nice to haves and if I had unlimited funds, I'd want to have. If rooms need to be next to one another, write that down. Then go find yourself a person of design talent who's been doing this for years and understands room sizes, etc.
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DH had already said he won't close in the storage area in the garage. His work bench and tools from his current garage will go there. In that case, I'd widen it so that it's useful. I described my uncle's similar long, narrow, have to squeeze-into-it storage ... this is the same thing, and it would not at all be suitable for a work bench and tools. Measure it out: Less than 5' wide ... you use 18"-24" for the bench and tool storage ... you have only about 3' of walking space. He'd knock his elbows against the back wall constantly. Opening it makes sense because then he can store tools against the wall and -- when necessary -- pull a car out, and he has all the working space in the world. If he won't open it, expanding it is essential. As it's drawn now, it's good only for storage ... and it's not really good for that. The breakfast nook will become a coffee/beverage bar area. I like that idea. Regarding the shower in the laundry room... that's the only thing DH has really asked for! It's not muddy feet that we deal with... he and DS get absolutely filthy from head to toe. I get that they're dirty all over ... but only their feet are touching the inside of your house before they reach their own bathroom /bedroom. They're not rubbing up against the walls as they walk, are they? The porch (hypothetically) will be a significant cost in the big picture. We tend to think about "the main house" and discount the costs of garages and porches ... but, yeah, they are expensive. Not as expensive as interior rooms, of course, but they aren't an insignificant cost. Regardless of cost, they are integral to "the look" of a house like the one we're describing. If you are unable to find a good architect, maybe have a look at the Moser Design Group website? I think their farmhouse plans tend to be simpler and less McMansion-like.That's a cute farmhouse (whereas the OP's original design isn't a farmhouse). I like the layout of the kitchen/dining and the living room's windows are great! I don't care for the bedrooms at all, though that back bedroom might be good for the office. North Carolina and the College of Architecture at NC State is full of experienced and talented architects. NC State is not known for architecture; their claim to fame is engineering (in all its many forms) and vet science ... and bricks. Seriously, that's all they have: bricks. It's UNC-Charlotte that's the NC powerhouse for that subject. However, I think the architects must move out of state because we are certainly not rife with them. I personally only know one person who works as an architect; well, I knew two, but one died.
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Thanks to all who weighed in!! Lots to think about. We did speak to 2 local architects. Sadly, both were way out of our price range for a similar house & their lead time was quite lengthy. We’d love it to be our forever home, but it might not be and adding in their costs (both similar) we’d be hard pressed to recover our initial investment. Snaggy – we’ll have a small closet in the foyer and one in the back coming in from the garage, if I can figure out where to put it. tatts – there will be no bath in the center of the house, unless you mean the guest bath on the hall. Also, the kitchen windows – probably 6-8’ wide - face south. Summit studio – I agree the long, shallow porches on the plan are artificial looking, we plan to shorten the front one & center on the entrance, making it deep enough to sit comfortably. We sit on our current porch a lot. We have mountain views to the south and often have coffee and lunch there. The rear will be more of a gathering space, I hope. We'll cover only a part of it and have a patio for grilling, etc. We get our strongest winds from the W and hope the garage will shield us a little. The rear looks out to the meadow beyond and will have my gardens just off of it.
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Lam Kam
Original Author
11 years ago
Upstairs

This post was edited by kattle32 on Sun, May 12, 13 at 20:09
Lam Kam
Original Author
11 years ago
Build footprint

This post was edited by kattle32 on Sun, May 12, 13 at 20:10
mydreamhome
11 years ago
Welcome, Kattle32 & congratulations on your new build!! We are located just south of you in Randolph county & we used Interlandi for our houseplans too--aren't Sal & Ryan great?!? They are so talented at making the space as efficient as possible while incorporating your unique wants & desires. Which lake are you building on? We have so many pretty ones in GSO! Which builders are you interviewing? (You can answer that one via email if you like--just click on my username). I can give you a good referral to who we used if you like as well--on-time, quick build, very reasonable pricing (his standard pricing includes what most of the others builders consider upgrades), low overhead, pays his suppliers on time and his subs weekly, awesome subs, quality work & materials. Just let me know. Enough on all the details, let's get to the plan...

I really like your plan--it's quite unique with the 2 story angled garage. Unfortunately,I can't tell much about room dimensions and such as the print is way too small in the pics (click the link below to see how to post pics through a free online photo service like photobucket which will allow us to view larger images). I'm guessing Interlandi has provided you with preliminaries in .PDF format, if so then you can export them to a jpeg file and upload to photobucket for posting. If you could reattach them that way, I could maybe suggest more.

From what I can see of your plan, there is very litlte I would change:

-Master toilet closet needs outswing door for safety reasons (if someone were to pass out in there and need assistance, their body would block the door and EMTs would lose precious minutes trying to get in)

-I would move the laundry sink to the corner if possible. Our laundry had a similar setup and we moved the sink to the corner as it was just a more efficient use of the space and allowed greater storage options. The corner space goes back so far that you really can't use it all, so moving the sink there makes a lot of sense.

-Post the kitchen layout in the 'Kitchen' forum for detailed feedback

-I would slide the kitchen sink (and the windows) just a little to the left to allow more elbow room when working at the sink. Looking at the exterior elevation, this shouldn't be a problem visually.

-Upstairs, I really don't see much I would change other than possibly adding a door to the back corner bedroom to access the bathroom direct. It would be nice, but having 3 doors set on that wall might not be worth the tradeoff. I really like all the walk-in closets!

Have you mocked up any to-scale furniture placement in the rooms to make sure everything fits, there is plenty of room for walkway clearances around the furniture and the room still feels a comfortable size? A definite must before you build.

Hope this helps!

Here is a link that might be useful: Posting Pics Thru Photobucket

Review of current house plan, please.

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Review of current house plan, please.

Comments (5)

Lam KamOriginal Author

Lam KamOriginal Author

Related Discussions

Lam KamOriginal Author

Lam KamOriginal Author

mydreamhome

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BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Lam Kam
Original Author

Lam Kam
Original Author

Lam Kam
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Lam Kam
Original Author