Hubby wants a 2-story, but I hate stairs...
Rainbrella14
10 years ago
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (31)
ace_
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoChrisStewart
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Hubby wanted a 'natural' lawn
Comments (16)A lawn, a meadow and a prairie are three different things. Try and find out which one you two can agree on. There are also degrees to how pristine a lawn needs to be. There are low growing grasses that don't need so much mowing by the way. No matter which of the three you chose there is no escaping lots of prep. work and at least some maintenance. There are also low growing flowers and forbs. I wouldn't worry too much about what the neighbors think but that's just me and it sounds like your own preferences are not exactly being expressed. I have seen some very beautiful native plantings in place of lawns but they still require work and lots of weeding and mulching. Don't know which you purchased but a lot of "wildflower" packets are loaded with annuals, weed seeds and invasives. Tilling would probably make it worse. Your imported soil or your mulch may have been loaded with weed seeds as well. Some of the wildflowers also don't look great for the first year or two so maybe there are a few gems hiding in there which, hopefully, don't get overwhelmed by dandelions and such. Mowing will encourage grasses and discourage other plants to some degree....See MoreLong story that might be considered funny. i hate gophers
Comments (6)I once watched several small carrot plants get pulled under the ground one after another in a short period of time.Just like in the cartoons. I stomped the tunnel on either side of where the carrots were and trapped the gopher in the middle. It stuck it's head up out of a hole where a carrot used to be and a shovel was the last thing that critter ever saw.He made good fertilizer-at least the plants grew pretty good that year once he was gone. Putting the water hose in the hole doesn't work.they dig tunnels to drain rain water etc.so they know how to get away from water when they have to. A friend put a bunch of gopher gassers (poison smoke bombs) in several gopher holes then covered them with wood-as the instructions say-Halfway down the block people came running out of their house with smoke pouring out from under the house.They thaught they were on fire... He flooded his next door kniebors back yard where the gophers drain hole was too on another day.He had left the hose on all afternoon and the water was washing mud into the guys pool. Nothing like kicking back with a homebrewed beer watching someone at war with the gophers. Almost as good as watching the launch ramp follies at the lake every summer. Me,I feed the bugs and birds hot peppers and hot pepper plants... :) All my plants are in containers. Check out the link below.Watch the video. Blow them up.Pretty funny. Here is a link that might be useful: watch videos...See More1 1/2 Story with basement or 1 story with basement?
Comments (15)I agree on having our kids appreciate what they have. They really don't know how good we've had it! We have 1 incredibly small bathroom we are sharing (that right there has been a growing experience for me - not loving that nor the lack of water pressure - ack). It's an old home - as in no outlets or switches in one of the bedrooms upstairs. They were sharing a room but they've already rearranged. The room without any outlets also doesn't have a heat vent so I don't see my oldest staying in there come winter - but it is also the largest of the 2 rooms. :) We also have no dishwasher and no a/c. Those are basically the comforts that we had that we are now getting used to being without. I keep reminding myself that there is no perfect home and surely there will be things after living with it that we might think are too large, too small or a little off one way or another. Our pantry is pretty sizable - fits our chest freezer which I'm excited about but the doorway is off the kitchen, not IN the kitchen proper. That bugged me for a while but I think it's going to be okay. I was off a bit on my $250k number - dh informed me that it's more like $280k. :( Besides the roofing the other number that came in considerably higher than we thought was lumber. It recently took a jump so that was a bit disappointing. We are hoping to get all of our quotes by the end of the month so we can lock in our I/R before it also takes another jump. We will be doing all priming, painting, laying wood floor, tile, setting cabinets, some trim work, putting stone on fireplace (we have done that before and it's actually a very rewarding project but took way longer than we thought), hardware on doors and cabinets, lighting, ceiling fans. We too will be doing some of those very things you mentioned after the fact. Definitely closets and even the small office we have will be done after we are in. With work schedules and keeping timing on track it may come down to having to hire things out that we originally planned on DIY. We are not moving communities or school districts and are paying rent so time is money to a certain degree. For now though that is what we hope to do in sweat equity. I think you are wise to start working through house plans now. There are certainly many details to ponder. We were hoping to be about 2000 sq feet total for the main and upstairs but ended up at 2400. We don't feel the rooms are excessively large or that we have rarely used rooms so we went ahead with it. I had a few things that I really wanted configured a certain way and made sure they were laid out accordingly. After those boxes were checked I really didn't feel so picky about the rest. Hopefully they will live how I feel they will in my mind! :)...See MoreSmaller 2nd story possible in two story home?
Comments (13)Dormers are essentially required for attic (in the roof) square footage. I am not a building code expert but I am pretty sure that bedrooms require windows, assuming you want bedrooms on more than either end of the house they require dormers. As to your first drawing, houses similar to that (I forget the style) can be very striking and are very nice. I am not sure that they are cheaper to build than just going straight up, especially in Minnesota wher the snow load on the second roof is going to have to get transfered down to the foundation. If your plan has walls that will carry that load then it might be great, but that would essentially eliminate an open floorplan. I would think that the additional bracing required to have an open floorplan, modifications to the roof (essentially turning one roof into three), and the additional complexity of the plan would significantly eat into the cost savings that were the whole reason for the lesser square footage. Looking at the floorplan, I am assuming Lauren doesn't mean adding square footage over the garage roof, rather, building a second floor on most of the first floor (all that is not covered by the garage roof) and putting some additional one floor only square footage under the roof that also covers the garage. I think that would be fine, especially, if you can get the garage entrance turned sideways....See Morejdez
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agojdez
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoOaktown
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agojdez
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agodebrak2008
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agozone4newby
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agozone4newby
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoAnnie Deighnaugh
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agopalimpsest
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agonostalgicfarm
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agomethoddesigns
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoAnnie Deighnaugh
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRainbrella14
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agomrspete
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRainbrella14
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoautumn.4
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agolavender_lass
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRainbrella14
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoLawPaw
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agolavender_lass
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agodabunch
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoLawPaw
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agolavender_lass
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agozone4newby
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoStairwayToKevin
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agocricket5050
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoshannonaz
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoannkh_nd
10 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
Related Stories
LIFEIs Cabin Fever Real? Share Your Story
Are snow piles across the U.S. leading to masses of irritability and boredom? We want to hear your experience
Full StoryARCHITECTURETell a Story With Design for a More Meaningful Home
Go beyond a home's bones to find the narrative at its heart, for a more rewarding experience
Full StoryPETSDealing With Pet Messes: An Animal Lover's Story
Cat and dog hair, tracked-in mud, scratched floors ... see how one pet guardian learned to cope and to focus on the love
Full StoryREMODELING GUIDESMovin’ On Up: What to Consider With a Second-Story Addition
Learn how an extra story will change your house and its systems to avoid headaches and extra costs down the road
Full StoryHOUZZ TOURSMy Houzz: Curiosities Tell a Story
An interiors stylist uses her house as a 3D timeline of her tales and travels
Full StoryINSIDE HOUZZTell Us Your Houzz Success Story
Have you used the site to connect with professionals, browse photos and more to make your project run smoother? We want to hear your story
Full StoryGREAT HOME PROJECTSHate Hauling Laundry? Give Dirty Clothes the Chute
New project for a new year: Install a quick route to the laundry room
Full StoryKITCHEN DESIGNSoapstone Counters: A Love Story
Love means accepting — maybe even celebrating — imperfections. See if soapstone’s assets and imperfections will work for you
Full StoryHOUZZ TOURSMy Houzz: ‘Everything Has a Story’ in This Dallas Family’s Home
Gifts, mementos and artful salvage make a 1960s ranch warm and personal
Full StoryPATTERNHistory Comes Home: The Story of Toile
Woodcut-Inspired Toile Adds Delicate Color and Pattern to a Room. Is It for You?
Full Story
Annie Deighnaugh