Best tips for building with large families in mind
B Mac
6 years ago
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B Mac
6 years agoMilly Rey
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoRelated Discussions
Anyone else build a home for their large family??
Comments (38)Dsnine.. okay.. well.. I just have to get you caught up on something I am sure about! You are going to experience a lot more bugs than Alaska! I am familiar with upstate NY, near Buffalo, Rochester and Finger lakes. We almost moved to Ithaca but the taxes ;). The summers are really lovely in that zone more than VA! The summer; the heat, bugs, humidity, but I still have lots to do with kids. Plus still need to keep gardening for me (food, harvest, sowing again for more susscesions like lettuce, sometimes carrots (a bit later) and radishes and beets.. but eventually, life suddenly tells me, to go inside and drink some ice tea and homeschool the kids! Take them to the pool, etc. It seems like my choice not to do summer is also based on native annuals that are super happy! And some others like daisies. I guess I was trying to say; I don't try for summer but I keep up with what is going on; watering. I don't like to weed unless a weed is going to flower because the earth gets like a sun burn (top soil death)! And I relax in the heat a whole bunch to protect the roots of the plants I want to stay happy near by. I should have had all my weeding done but, nothing is perfect! Summer to me is a time to get busy and relax too! Lol! It is lovely weather for all kinds of fun in the evening here at least and some days; telescope out, campfires etc. Spring and fall for people that eventually grow green thumbs are a big deal and people that grow cheaper thumbs- FALL! Not only cheaper but surpirsingly well established plants had the luck of fall planting or seed sowing. Many native bulb like plants (perrienals) that will be gorgeous and give you so much interest and spread well, are almost unknown to me without fall seed sowing. Many annual seeds I tried sowing in the spring for our fenced garden showed up the following year due to, my layman's guess, a freeze! There are some nice bushes and bulbs (you will see Lillies in Ohio I bet in summer) that love summer. That is absolutely worth a try! You have figured me out by now that I can't stay away from the plants lol. We were suppose to not garden this year for house! But I was trying to voice that I threw seeds; tickseed, echineace and echineace and daisy keep on each year like almost wild flower annuals here. This is how I define my "no summer gardening plan" (starting self sowers (annuals, each fall, or when a free seed packet comes, even in winter under the snow sometimes.) I want to water the fruit trees and veggies on a timer one day! But we have to share the well for now and too tricky. The summer flowers and ornamentals need to be totally independent plants and they absolutely are! Drought tolerant or just not me tolerant. Watering in the spring and fall is so much more enjoyable with breaks with the rain and cool weather. Summer watering is so hot too, and basically, we feel irresponsible if we do more than for our food sake; very minimal for other plants. Small trees are okay to help start. Winter gardening is a new book topic (and fall too, but that book points mostly to color and sometimes to fall blooms, but chances are if it is foliage, the plant will be thriving in the spring too.) I love talking winter gardening! This is still new to me but what it says to me is mostly about form, evergreen and surprising blooms! The winter garden can be so everlasting! Elegant and besides sourcing the plants, easy! It is lovely to think of still forms placed carefully that add enough grace year round that the garden feels like a familiar room. Much like a favorite tree and a bench or swing. I don't see winter gardens that often and I know I will be one of the first in my circle. Many people have them if you thought about it a tiny bit.. like all the landscaping basic installments that people line their homes with. That is almost exactly it. You just take those plants and make them in front of your and on a path that you focus your attention on instead of something hugging your house or porch, like walking down a brick, or mulch, pea gravel path to a bench and a winter garden delighting around you. That is what it felt like to me anyway! You need to go to more historic gardens than most to find some. Here is the book! It is like a catalog and very few pages are the same but chapters do hold the similar ideas together. https://www.amazon.com/Cultivating-Garden-Style-Practical-Personality/dp/1604694777 Praire nursery is great eye candy too! (And a teaching and design catalog if you read it right.) It can help you sow wildflowers seeds on your septic leach field. We didn't buy a mix from them of it, but have gotten seeds from them before. (It can be pricey but easy and a good source for seeds; they always tell you the mix). They have your style for sure! And btw, you might like some purple grass! A sedge is like a grass (but not) and a wonderful mate to iris and others if you have water spots or gutter runs....See MoreWanted: tips for building with physical disabilities in mind
Comments (12)I agree with all that has been said. We are building our home for the future as well. We installed an elevator - I think it's number one on our list for access to and from the second floor. when you add a backer, or support for your grab bars, my DH put in 1 1/8" plywood between some studs as well. this will allow you to change the height of the grab bars,without ripping up the wall to find the support, not all are created equal, some people over time will find a lower or slanted or vertical handle bar better than the standard horizontal. I would recommend some radiant heating. Older people tend to have poorer circulation in their legs, etc. Not to mention all of the other great things radiant heating does. Door levers vice handles, bin pulls vice small knobs Lighting/video/audio access bedside, this includes phones, internet, etc. I have a swing lamp just to the side of the master headboard for ease in turning on and off the light. phone hardwired in bathroom (safety) roll in showers, no lip, no shower pan, wide easy access into and out of the bathroom, toilet area and shower. Single level access throughout home, or back to the elevator, single level access into and out of home, or look at ramps, etc. If you get an elevator, size it correctly, so that a fairly large person with their leg extenders can easily manipulate themselves in and out of the elevator (we practiced this with a good friend of ours and sized our elevator to his size and needs) Bathroom vanity pulls out in the center for someone in a wheelchair, and rolls back in when not needed If I think of more, I'll post again, hope this is what you were looking for....See MoreTips for economy build
Comments (61)One thing to consider on a tight budget is to very deliberatly design your home with the intent to add on or finish unfinished parts of it (basement/attic) as the needs of a growing family change and as your budget permits. With three children, unless they're all the same gender, you should have probably have seperate his/her bedrooms for sons/daughters (in addition to the parent's bedroom) -- so ... you'll probably need at least three bedrooms -- and that would be best for the protecting the resale value of your home as well. You do, however, still want your home to work for your family in the meantime -- and not bust your budget w/huge utility bills. Pay attention to what side of the house will get the most/least sun and plan your home and the windows in it to take advantage of the sunlight and any seasonal shade around it. ... Better windows and insulation can pay for themselves by saving heating cost. ... Ceiling fans with overhead lights and windows placed in a room to enable a cross breeze when opened can pay for themselves by saving on air conditioning cost. Heat rises so ... ceilings higher than 8' ... nope. Expect multiple floors requiring separate heating/AC systems to add both building and utility cost. Something as simple as having your and breaker box back-to-back (inside/outside) can save a few dollars as can having only a couple clusters of plumbing rather than having plumbing spread out in every corner of the house.. In the middle of the last century, at least in my home community, most of the new homes being built were retangular brick ranch, three bedroom with a bath-and-a-half w/standard 4/12 roof. (FHA loans ... so, usually either a basement or a carport w/utility room at the back end but not both) (Water pressure usually wouldn't support two showers at the same time anyway.) The one dining area was either a part of the living room or a part of the kitchen -- though sometimes you'd find the three together in one "L" shaped great room -- a more open plan. A lot of working/employee class families raised their children in these homes. Some were designed so the third bedroom could alternately be used as a separate dining room. A lot of the ranch style homes had all the bedrooms on one end off a long hallway. If you do build any hallways, have them not be a "wasted" room -- you can build floor to ceiling wall to to wall closets/cabients accessible via the hallway as pantry storage, bed/bath linen storage; cleaning tool/products storage; holiday decoration storage; luggage storage -- leaves the bedroom closets for clothing and personal effects. My preference would be to put two children's bedrooms with a bath-and-a-half between them on one side of the house, w/each becroom accessible from a small (4'x4' or 6'x6') square hall in the middle that opens to the living area so the open doors don't visually open up the children's bedroom to the great room). With the entry, living/dining area part of the great room in the middle, putting a bath-and-a-half between the parent's bedroom and the kitchen/mudroom on the other side would be practical. Making a garage part of the orginal build of the new house would add initial cost. A separate garage could be built later and connected to the house via a breezeway or screened porch off the mud room, perhaps with a bonus room above it.....See MoreKids area ideas
Comments (24)As others have said, flexibility is key. DD has a main level flex room with a full bath. They are still youngish, but it was originally designed to be used as an away place/den off the greatroom that could be used as a bedroom in case of an injury or something that made climbing the stairs difficult and the bath serves as a powder room. They found out they were pregnant a week after breaking ground and it is perfect for a playroom. Of course toys do sill out into the greatroom, but it is so easy to put them back into the playroom. Also it is furnished safely, with plenty of toy space and storage and is a great place to corrall a toddler for now and will evolve as gthigpen mentioned as he grows older. Also a few little things through house help. A dedicated drawer in the kitchen, but out of the work zone for colors, markers, etc. His own low shelf in the pantry for picking out the snack he wants....See Moredoc5md
6 years agocpartist
6 years agoB Mac
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agosprink1es
6 years agoOne Devoted Dame
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoUser
6 years agoVirgil Carter Fine Art
6 years agoVirgil Carter Fine Art
6 years agoHolly Stockley
6 years agoOne Devoted Dame
6 years agoB Mac
6 years agoOne Devoted Dame
6 years agoartemis_ma
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoopaone
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoMilly Rey
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoOne Devoted Dame
6 years agocpartist
6 years agoartemis_ma
6 years agoMilly Rey
6 years agodsnine
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoElin
5 years agoMark Bischak, Architect
5 years agoLindsey B
5 years ago
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