Second Go-Round. Asking for Advice, Please
Hello.
I've posted previously about our situation and had posted an earlier floor plan. DH and I decided since we like our current house plan so much we are basing our new floor plan on the existing plan. The good news is we're moving along. The bad news is I can open and print it but I can't save it or anything else because it says it's too large. I'll continue to work on it and try to post it but I've added a few changes and would really appreciate any feedback and ideas. If I can get the designers copy to post I will also do that.
We are family of 4. DH is legally blind but does pretty well in a very well lit area. DS is 15 and has Autism and we homeschool and he attends a wonderful Homeschool enrichment program part time. DD is 24, lives at home because she works with DH and is primary driver for him to work and home. I'm blessed with 2 very good children and a great hubbie!
The lot is a rectangular, corner lot. I've added a hand sketch below. The county is requiring us to have the front door facing south. There is road frontage on 2 sides - south and west. Screen porch will be enjoyed most of the year but is also for DH and DD who are deathly allergic to wasps. The back bedroom will actually be our 'school room'. We all like to cook and enjoy family time together as well as entertaining so a nice kitchen is important to us.
In our current house we like the separate 'wings'. We would add a large solar tube in the kids hallway for natural light. In kitchen island will be trash - siligranit sink - DW (left to right). Dish drawers behind DW facing dining area.
I just stuck windows in the second plan so please just use them as a general idea not as they will be built.
My idea is to have small windows (craftsman style?) above the cabinetry on either side of the fire place. I'd really like to see if there is a better layout for the master bath and closet.
The roof-line/elevation will be fairly simple and sort of low country look. It will be finished once we are ready to finalize the floor plan.
Ideas are welcome!
Sunnny
P.S. In my previous post Lavender Las posted a great plan which I reworked and although we aren't going to use it I thought others might want to see it. Our plan
is posted below... followed later by LL's very modified plan.
Comments (17)
cpartist
8 years ago
chisue
8 years agoRelated Discussions
HELP! On my second round of herb seed germination...
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Comments (41)There's something really odd going on. Could someone be staying at his mom's house with her/them? Is there an Ex wife or someone his mom likes that she would help cover for? Don't get confused by the phone bill or other stuff he shows you. He could have been using prepaid phones and accounts you are not even aware of. How were you able to rule out all the clients he was afraid you would call from the phone list? Were these clients even on the phone list? Anyway, why is he calling his mother so much? That's insane just by itself. And, why is there a fraud alert on his account? Please, just talk to a lawyer. Again, you don't have to do anything. But, the lawyer may really be able to help you and at least point you in the right direction. I'm sure they have all types of experience with this kind of stuff. And, like cindy mentioned quit asking him for stuff; he is only going to give you what he finds safe, may even be able to doctor stuff up. Plus, you are giving him the heads up so that he can hide stuff... by using other phones, new accounts, etc. Personally, I would ACT like he won and even "act" a little sorry (don't let him move back yet or anything just tell him you need time to think), but I'd hire a PI and talk to a lawyer today (but don't tell him) and just go from there. He's probably not going to be truthful to you at this point anyway. If you find out your concerns are unwarranted, fine, but with the way he's acting, you really need to find out from someone other than him. Good luck. Keep us updated....See MoreSecond round: contractors?
Comments (19)Zazutoo, I have always worked with our architect for large remodels we have done. Most people that I know do large projects do the same. I don't know too may people that have gone with design build teams. My cohorts tend to do fairly extensive projects with architects and hire contractors to carry out the plans. Often, these projects extend into 6 figures or even 7 figures. For good or bad, we have worked with the same architect for 20 years on this house and he knows the house extremely well.... The pros of working with architect is that you have the blueprint that you can get competetive bids on for the cost of construction. It can add to the cost of construction which may or maynot be necessary in some poeple's mind. Most people do not have the kind of restriction regarding adding on as bostonpam does. However, most locations are limited by local rules regarding setbacks, height restrictions, lot coverage and existing conditions of the house. These are relatively simple rules that any reputable architect or contractor should be familiar with in the local area. If you want to spend the time to find out these zoning rules, that is fine. But, I actually think your time (if you have limited time) is better spent by getting a good architect that can deliever a good product at a given budget. There are market niches for architects as well. For example, you should not be interviewing architects that build homes that get featured in Metropolitan Home..... Most architects are pretty good about estimating the design cost of a given project. Undertaking a large remodel is daunting. It is expensive and scary. Some people chose to hire companies that have had reputation for delievering good product and others chose to do the leg work to shave off the cost of contruction. Both can have unexpected consequences, good or bad. For example, inexperienced home owners can actually cost significant cost/delay to the project. Our electrician told us last week that a project that they are on has a big problem. The owner wanted to provide the can lights to save money. The electrician specified the product. The owners bought another kind because they were cheaper. Unfortunately, they are not allowed (by code) to put in the type provided by the owner. The owners will have to pay the "stocking fee" to return the lights (50 of them) and will pay the full price to electricians so there is no further delay. Since there was a delay that the owners caused, the electricians are having trouble fitting them into their schedule, probably causing delays that are going to be accumulative. Electrical work is at the front end of construction. On the other hand, my husband is acting as the general contractor for our remodel and we will probably save significant cost due to many factors: getting multiple bids, finding cheaper/cost effective ways to achieve similar end product etc. Right now, my husband has the skill, experience and time to be the GC. Over the years, we have lined up our own subs for various work that we needed to do for our house and the rental properties. So we don't call people we don't know. Our painter, electrician, plumber, dry wall, HVAC people are people that we trust and have used many times in the past. Even if you end up paying more for the project, if you do not have the personal resources to pull it through, then it is the necessary cost of doing the work. I have also seen way too many project where the owners have added on an eyesore of addition with the drawings provided by the just the contractor or the owner. I can spot these from a block away. Yes, you can have a cheap add on but do you want one of these? There are huge risks on hiring the cheapest person out there. Find a good, affordable, reputable architect. This takes a lot of leg work. The design and the bid that you have from this firm is only one data point. My guess is that you will spend most of the year finding the right architect and design. Yes, 85k not unrealistic for the tear down of the existing structure, bringing in the bulldozer, excavate, repour the footing, frame, windows, siding of the addition..... I mentioned this on your earilier post that you may not be able to "finish" the existing space if it was not properly built in the first place. If your budget cannot handle these type of contruction cost, your best bet is to remodel the existing space live with the limitations of the house. In the end, starting a contruction project takes a huge leap of faith in all the players involved. You really don't know what you are going to discover once you start to open up those walls. I have done several projects. I am amazed how daunting each project is even though I have done many before. I wish you the best....See MoreWould these appliances go well together? Your advice please!
Comments (14)I went with MIele because you control the % of steam that you add and can easily set up multiple cooking steps with different % steam amounts.. Wolf only has cooking modes to choose from and you don’t know how much steam is being injected into the cavity and exactly what that mode is actually doing. I bake a lot of bread and particularly lean breads. I want to be able to add steam for X minutes early in the baking cycles and Miele allows me to have control over that. The plumbed version did not come out until after we had plumbed our slab and adding a drain for the plumbed version was too expensive for me. I also have a prep sink two steps away so dealing with the containers for me is not an issue. I would do a plumbed version if I was starting from scratch again. I would also go for the XXL model. I would go for a 10 year warranty. The Steam ovens have lots of moving parts so IMHO more likely to need repair and they are $$$ to fix. I was going with Benchmark induction but did not like the fact that the side elements default to bridge and you have to unbridge them to use them as separate elements. That was not intuitive to me and I wanted my friends and family to be comfortable cooking on my induction cooktop without a learning curve. I also did not like having to select a hob and then the level. If I need a quick turn down it is two steps. The Wolf is direct select one step - burner and level. I can also put one or more very small pans if needed on my large element to keep warm - Bosch’s large element did not recognize my smallest 4.5” pan. Bosch has more heat levels but Wolf calibrated theirs to be exponential so the lower levels are closer together than the higher levels. When would you use a 13 versus 14 or 15 or a 16 versus a 17? The 10 levels are more than sufficient In my 3+ years experience. Wolf’s bridging is great - you can bridge two left to right or front to back or all 4 at once. I have used every configuration. I can’t speak to your wok cooking. I stir fry on my wolf and find it completely adequate but I am not a wok expert by any means. Perhaps others can chime in here....See Morembaldauf61
8 years agoI hope this will be large enough. I've also removed most of the windows to simplify viewing.
THANKS!
New House · More Infocpartist
8 years agombaldauf61
8 years agoAlex House
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agocpartist
8 years agocpartist
8 years agombaldauf61
8 years agocpartist
8 years ago
PROMark Bischak, Architect
8 years agombaldauf61
8 years agoI've spent hours and hours re-working this plan to get a second floor and keep it at a similar square footage but now I'm seeing stars. It keeps getting bigger! The best option would be to have DD upstairs with a simple bath and remove the powder room downstairs. I don't want to be going up and down stairs during the school days. My knees wouldn't be happy!
I'm not sure who to give credit for the follow pic but I'm in love with this back door. I have a vague remembrance that it was a fabulous house from not too long ago. If I could do stairs like this with the lovely door I might consider doing stairs.
I found a house plan with some similarities to ours with a back hall. I could add the school room where the 'shop' is. What do you think? In some ways it seems like more waster space but it eliminates the long from hall so it really a wash. I'd open the wall in the front room for my piano.
I've learned recently that my piano was built in 1932, inside is cast iron, was in a hotel lobby in Boston when it was young. It's a 3/4 grand, just a bit larger than a baby grand. She is my baby! My mom bought it while it was being restored when I was in my early teens and that was quite some time ago. It's moved too many times but has to move one more time!
Anyway, got to get busy. Any suggestions??
Ohh, I'm posting the plan I re-worked which was posted by Lavender Las. It has a simple bedroom and bath upstairs.
Enjoy your day,
Sunny
mbaldauf61
8 years agocpartist
8 years agotcufrog
8 years agolast modified: 8 years ago- PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
8 years ago
mbaldauf61Original Author