Building with your self drawn plan?
project09
15 years ago
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (21)
Apolonia3
15 years agoRelated Discussions
Designing our own plans: how much more expensive?
Comments (23)Ditto above. My wife picked out an online plan and we made many changes.Then had them re-drawn and engineered to our county's requirements. Cost $3064.00 and he was a wealth of information and advise as well! If you go this route, you only need one set of the online plans as they will be re-drawn anyhow. Then get your multiple sets, at least 10. I made the mistake of assuming that we could draw up supplementals concerning structural, changes, counties requirements, etc., so i ordered 5 sets of online plans that are worthless. Out here, the plan drawer/engineer is licensed by the state and you have to go through them for submission to the county, so make sure you know your area's requirements....See MoreHow many times did you revise your plans before building
Comments (12)We are on plan version 44. Most of those versions with us also came in the 5 years that we designed the house before we started building. Some changes were fairly major, others were a series of minor changes until I felt like I needed to save it as a new version number (easier to go back on a change if you saved the previous versions). It is very interesting to open all of the old versions and follow them thru the changes that we made. The final version is 1,000% better than the first versions we started with !!! Lots of great suggestions from GW building, kitchen, and bath forums thru the years....See MoreMy plans drawn for real---please review!
Comments (7)LavLass- Thanks! We are so looking forward to those outside areas! Bevangel- Thanks for the initial feedback. I'm rather sick to my stomach about the square feet in this home. I certainly do not want to overextend ourselves in this home, been there. The garage has two sets of stairs & we will get rid of the one that goes up to the bonus room. Currently we have one from the garage to the basement and it is one of the few things that DH really wants and uses all the time. He goes from the garage to the basement shop/storage area with workboots on several times each week. The kitchen forumn did help me a few months back with the kitchen. I must say I have a large U-shaped kitchen currently with a huge island. Some would say it is a barrier, but we love it. We spend more time around the island than our other eating areas. I really want 9 feet or so of windows in there with large dish hutches. Oh, the wants versus the needs. NO, we will not have a counter dephth fridge (too much $ and too small for us). I do however think I do need to think about getting rid of some of the space in the kitchen and going with a somewhat smaller island. We are wanting to use the dining area more. So, I'm thinking if we have say 4 stools it would be fine...more than that and we go to the table for a meal. The older ones can grab breakfast quick at the island and the little ones can still have snacks and lunches there. Sunday brunch, all dinners and other meals that we are all home would be in the dining area. Homework and crafts will most likely be (like now) some kids at the table and someone at the island working while I'm prepping food, etc. I will try to get the upper floorplan posted soon. We have not even begun the basement level. Upstairs is flexible, currently it has 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, and a loft area. There is a door that leads to the bonus room above the garage. I also need to talk to our basement guy to see how much a partial basement would/could save us. Perhaps not even worth it, but we want to look at that too. Our basement is 2000 finished in this house and way too big for our needs. It has a guest bedroom,etc that we have never used. We want a small exercise room, a "larger" theatre room, 1/2 bath and a rec room/game room for teens. Thankfully, most of the boys hate being away from us. That will change, as the oldest is starting that "alone" time thing. We are used to all the boys sharing a large bathroom upstairs and that works fine for our family. We might add a second bathroom off of a bedroom...IF...we have a daughter:) I need to address the entire mud/laudry area. I really like a nice laundry room as I do a lot of laundry. We are bad about storing clean clothes in there. Perhaps I would be forced to get the hanging clothes back to the closets if I didn't have so much room in the laundry room:) I would like a floor sink, almost like a mop filler area. I want the kids to be able to rinse there feet off etc. I wanted a small desk area back there for quick school nots, writing lunch money, mail drop, laptop stuff, etc. Someone might even do some homework there and we would keep a lot of craft/homework supplies there (or in a near closet). I'm so confused on how this can be refigured without changing the foyer and everything else?! I do know that a lot of storage can work in a small mudroom space. We currenty have a long hallway with 6 cubbies and it stores everything we want it to. I was trying so hard to get this floorplan done as my designer guy retires next week and someone else will be taking over. With the sale of this house, finding temporary housing, doctor appointments, sleepless nights. I think I need to listen to DH and just slooowwww down. I truly hope this is our "forever" home. Thanks for your time and help!!!...See MoreSelf drawn layout - thoughts?
Comments (19)We are in the early stages of building our first house. So the plan is that -- for now -- your college student gets the basement room with privacy, and your 10-year old is near you ... in the future, when the college student is out of the house, your X-year old child goes downstairs to the basement? That's a good plan. I don't know autism well, but is an exterior exit in the basement okay? I mean, is wandering out of the house likely to be an issue? Thoughts on the downstairs bedroom /bathroom: - It's a very practical design -- simple shapes, inexpensive to build - I'd make the walk-in closet into a room-wide reach-in. Two reasons: You've drawn the closet 6' wide ... clothing needs 2' on each side, so you'll only have 2' of walking space, which is do-able but hardly ideal. Second, as drawn, you'll have 6' + 4' (10' total) of hanging space in this walk-in closet ... whereas, the reach-in closet will give you 13' total of hanging space AND more space in the bedroom. The little alcove looks kind of useless. A bedroom this big will be great for an adult child. - In the unfinished space, you have another little alcove ... I don't see any purpose ... these alcoves seem to be "I had these spaces and had no idea what to do with them" spots. Since you're building that space anyway, I'd enlarge the bathroom. Instead of a tiny shower, open it across the back of the room ... stick with a single sink, but make it a large, comfortable vanity, and add a linen closet next to the door. This still isn't a fancy bathroom, but the added size will be nice. - You could open a second bathroom door between the bedroom and the bathroom, though since only one child at a time will live in the basement, privacy likely isn't a big issue. - I like that you have a window at the top of the stairs ... light on the stairs will be appreciated. - I also like that you've placed the kitchenette at the foot of the stairs. It'll be more convenient than carrying food down the stairs AND across the basement. - Overall, I think you have too much square footage allocated to bedrooms and not quite enough to closets and bathrooms. My husband cuts grass for a living. He comes in with grass all over his clothes, so we really would like a laundry/mud room area he can come straight into from outside. Question: Where will he enter the house after work? Front door? Back door? I think you're missing the mark here: you need to get the master bedroom, bathroom and laundry closer together ... and then provide an exterior door into these spaces. Without knowing where he'll enter, I wonder about flip-flopping the master and upstairs bedrooms ... this would allow the alcove to become an outdoor entrance to the master bedroom. Two notes on the master bath: a vanity this size cannot support two sinks ... yes, you can squish in two tiny sinks, but that means no drawer storage at the vanity, and two people won't be able to use them at the same time ... none of that's what a storage-starved family wants. I think all your bathrooms need more storage: an 18" - 24" linen tower provides an amazing amount of storage. We would like 2 bedrooms on the main floor. We have considered a master on the main and 2 in the basement, but at this time, we aren’t comfortable having our youngest on a separate floor. Your basement is nicely laid out for a potential second bedroom in the now-unfinished space. Could you do this instead: For now, place your office downstairs in the basement ... and give your son a small bedroom near yours ... then when he's ready to move farther away from you, switch the rooms. Below is our sketched up plan. I have read some posts here that speak of a “fat” plan. I think that means the inside is going to be dark??? I think this one is that way but not sure how to compromise on our porches and get things lighter. The way you've drawn your plans, yes, you're keeping light out of your house. You want a big screened porch ... does it have to be across the back? Couldn't you get the same effect by putting it on the SIDE of the house? It'd still be accessible from your family room and kitchen. How do you envision using these porches? What you want to do with them is everything. The best naturally light-filled homes are 1-1.5, no more than 2, rooms deep, including covered porches and garages. :-) So, redesigning the house so that it is 1 room deep + porch will get you a fantastically well-lit interior. Keep in mind that porches ARE "rooms". By the time your home is built, your 10 year old will be 11 or 12. Do you really want to live with a compromised master suite with a 15 year old living across the hall? Yes, I'm caught between this thought ... and the idea that I do not really know an autistic child's needs. I'd like the house better ... and it would be most practical ... to use the two basement bedrooms and the one bathroom for the children, and to stretch the master across the left side of the house. They could also reduce the overall square footage with this concept. Consider this: The above (though poorly executed) shows how -- without the second main floor bedroom -- you could put in a half-bath, which would serve the master bath AND guests ... then a room with a good-sized vanity and shower ... a closet and laundry. Your husband could enter the laundry room directly from the front porch, then would have immediate access to the shower and clean clothes. Note that this gets you a small coat closet by the half-bath. You could flip-flop the half bath and shower room easily. Every one of these rooms could have nice windows. Do note that too many doors are squished together in this little hallway. This could be done better. And it's less square footage ... look how much I chopped off the edge of the plan. I was thinking we could do 2 or 3 windows over the sink with an eyebrow window above those. Also, I’m really concerned about the shallow but long kitchen. I don't like the kitchen's window plan at all. I agree that the kitchen lacks proportion. A bigger kitchen isn't better -- and at 20', you'll constantly be walking back and forth, and a 20' kitchen will be extremely expensive (cabinets and countertops are one of your most expensive interior items). I'd cut this kitchen down significantly ... add a pantry for storage ... and add a real dining area. Last thought -- office space: I understand your desire for a small office. Instead of adding an expensive bump-out on the side, I think you could put it in the alcove in the bedroom ... if you flip-flop the two main-floor bedrooms. Also, consider that YOU may not need a big office, but you're also saying that your special needs child may live with you as an adult. He will work, and with more and more people working at home, he may need a full-fledged office. Will you be able to carve this out in the basement? Actual last thought: Do note that you have a pinch-point at the foyer entrance; that is, a point where the stairs and the edge of the kitchen force everyone into a little bottleneck....See Moreccoombs1
15 years agohgoed
15 years agooruboris
15 years agoraenjapan
15 years agojemr
15 years agoRon Natalie
15 years agoajpl
15 years agomarthaelena
15 years agoproject09
15 years agomuddypond
15 years agoarewethereyet
15 years agoproject09
15 years agomuddypond
15 years agoproject09
15 years agolnhardin
15 years agomuddypond
15 years agomontalvo
15 years agomightyanvil
15 years agoarewethereyet
15 years ago
Related Stories
MOST POPULARHouzz Tour: A Playful Home Drawn Up by 8-Year-Old Twins
Plans for this innovative tower home in Melbourne were going nowhere — until the homeowners’ twins came to the rescue
Full StoryECLECTIC HOMESHouzz Tour: A Dilapidated Cottage Makes Way for Self-Expression
Clever design and imagination divide and conquer a suburban site for a homeowner with a bold vision and an even bolder art collection
Full StoryHOUZZ TOURSHouzz Tour: A Self-Sufficient Farmhouse With a Sheep-Pasture Roof
LEED Platinum certification and a soil-covered top make this pastoral Virginia home green in more ways than one
Full StoryLANDSCAPE DESIGNExuberant Self-Seeders for Gorgeous, Easy-Care Gardens
Keep weeds down, color high and maintenance low with beautful plants that sow themselves
Full StoryLANDSCAPE DESIGNGive Curb Appeal a Self-Serving Twist
Suit yourself with a front-yard design that pleases those inside the house as much as viewers from the street
Full StoryREMODELING GUIDESSee What You Can Learn From a Floor Plan
Floor plans are invaluable in designing a home, but they can leave regular homeowners flummoxed. Here's help
Full StoryCONTRACTOR TIPSBuilding Permits: What to Know About Green Building and Energy Codes
In Part 4 of our series examining the residential permit process, we review typical green building and energy code requirements
Full StoryCONTRACTOR TIPSBuilding Permits: The Submittal Process
In part 2 of our series examining the building permit process, learn what to do and expect as you seek approval for your project
Full StoryTHE ART OF ARCHITECTUREExperience Your New Home — Before You Build It
Photorealistic renderings can give you a clearer picture of the house you're planning before you take the leap
Full StoryREMODELING GUIDESSo You Want to Build: 7 Steps to Creating a New Home
Get the house you envision — and even enjoy the process — by following this architect's guide to building a new home
Full Story
muddypond