Design my first house, Need guidance

12 years ago

Hey guys i am looking to build my first house. Im going to start out with a simple 2bedroom 2bathroom house. i have the ideas in my head and i have some simple software to get my ideas out there. Google sketchup. It will probably be about a year or so before i actually get the process serious but i wanted to give myself plenty of time to get this perfected for me. My plan is to just build on to the house as my family grows. (going to buy 10acres or so). My problem is i dont know many of the dimensions that are legal such as hallway widths window sizes etc. I figured this community would be able to help me out as i started working on this. Im going to make a generic base and give you guys an idea of what im doing and just keep it all on this thread if posible.

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Comments (3)

sedona_heaven
12 years ago
Hi Sneaky,

I'm new and looking to build our first house too (though have remodeled in the past). As a start you might want to get familiar with your building department and their website. They will have all the local codes. With the slow down they seem open to newbies like us coming by and asking questions (at least in our neck of the woods).

Also, I'll pass along what I've been reading from more experienced folks here - get a good book or two about the entire building process with checklists about things to consider at each stage. For example, finding out about easements, soil tests, etc. That might even help you pick your property and consider what questions to raise in the purchase process.
User
12 years ago
It would help to know the conditions and restrictions you will have to contend with like the location of the project and the applicable building codes.

Building codes are not very restrictive but you need to be sure you don't accidentally violate a provision. If the most common code is used (the IRC), hallways and stairs must be at least 36" wide and habitable spaces (a habitable space is a space for living, sleeping, eating or cooking - bathrooms, toilet rooms, closets, halls, storage or utility spaces and similar areas are not considered habitable spaces) must have aggregate an glazing area of at least 8% of the room floor area being lighted and the minimum openable area to the outdoors must be 4% of the floor area being ventilated.

However, artificial lighting and mechanical ventilation may be substituted if they meet the required standards.

Every dwelling must have at least one habitable room that is 120 s.f. or larger. Other habitable rooms must be at least 70 s.f. in area or 7 ft in any horizontal direction.

Habitable space, hallways, bathrooms, toilet rooms, laundry rooms and portions of basements containing these spaces must have a ceiling height of not less than 7 feet. Bathroom ceilings must be at least 6-8 at fixtures including the shower head.

A toilet must have a clear width of 30" and a toilet and a lavatory must have at least 21" clearance in front. A minimum shower is 30 x 30 but in some states it is slightly larger.

Basements, habitable attics, and sleeping room must have an "emergency escape and rescue opening" with a maximum sill height of 44" and a minimum clear opening of 5.7 s.f. (grade floor openings can be 5 s.f.) and a minimum width of 20" and a minimum height of 24". A basement can have a door with a bulkhead. Window catalogs will usually have a star or asterisk next to windows that meet these requirements. Some states have modified the IRC code to reduce the required opening size.
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HazelJosephine
12 years ago
I also want to know about the same relevant topic and this page give me very useful information about it. Thanks for sharing.

Design my first house, Need guidance

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sedona_heaven

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