I suggest posting before the absolute final drawings, as it isn't uncommon for the kitchen folks to point out structural changes that would really help, and you don't want to have finalized things and then have to go back again. :)

Here are the latest drawings from my architect. Due to the upper floor room reorganization the roofline changed and the attic space next to my daughters bedroom is now gone to allow for an egress window. This changes the massing a bit so now the side with the cupola is more dominant than the other side but I think it still works. The master bath was left the way it was before because we plan on having a very nice, freestanding tub and the architect felt this layout would better showcase it. We can have glass doors on each end of the shower. The toilet was rotated to allow for a linen closet which intrudes into the master closet a little but there is enough space. Of course, I get the smaller end of the closet and the wife the larger end. :) Also, the architect may flip the master bath so the sink is facing the exterior wall.

A wall was added to the mudroom because my architect felt it would be best to hide away the mess in the mudroom from the view of the kitchen and dining space. Can't argue with that. I'm much happier with this new plan. It's so much better than now - thanks guys!

Najeebah - The walkway will be 3'6". Since it's open on one side I don't feel like it needs to be more than that but I'm open to suggestions.

so explain to me again how those stairs are going to work? As shown they make you exit straight into a wall at the bottom. And then, as shown, they also are only 6 stairs (even at 8" rise is a little over 5' - not enough to clear anything) so how are you going to get to that closet behind them?

Um, I believe Janni's correct. The stairs don't make sense. You show only 12 steps. A step's maximum riser according to code (which I don't suggest you do because it is high) is 7.75" high. That only rises 8.39' (7.75" x 13 risers = 100.75" divided by 12" = 8.39') from first to second floor. If you do a more comfortable 7" riser, that only gives you 7.58'.

Being steps confuse me and I'm far from a math person, someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

CP-Your math is good. 9' ceiling heights will require at least 16 risers (15 treads). Thicker floor structure will require 17 risers. Your architect needs to cut a section through both sets of stairs to make sure they're working. You will also want to see how the window is relating to the stairs.

Thanks guys, the architect hasn't calculated the riser # and dimensions yet. The staircase drawing is simply a placeholder. :)

How do you put stairs as a placeholder when they are the most essential element in a 2 story home?

jannicone - It's because the architect was only hired to do the basic floor plan design and elevations. My builder has an in-house designer who will create the construction documents, finalizing the stairs and other details.

When the stairs don't fit, to where they look right, do you still have to pay the architect? How long has this architect been designing fictional houses?

I guess that with a feature stair such as this, the devil will be in the details and turning that over to an in house designer / builder person is going be risky.

jannicone - Good point. I'll have the architect finalize the stairs.

If you can find a professional stairbuilder, they can often do something more awesome than a generalist architect, but I wouldn’t leave it to the GC or most trim carpenters.

Regardless, the architect should specify the general details—rise, run, placement, turns.

Najeebah - The walkway will be 3'6". Since it's open on one side I don't feel like it needs to be more than that but I'm open to suggestions.

That's not bad, but it could be wider I think. Doesn't have to be, but it would be good. I know the space is open on one side, I'm not suggesting it because I think it will be crowded; it definitely won't be, but I'm thinking rather than have just a walkway, you can have a wider space. Depending on preferrences, you could possibly have a bench/reading nook/display cabinet there too, or simply a thoroughfare area.

Najeebah - You'll be pleased to know that the walkway is now a full 4ft wide.

Also,my architect is working on the stairs. Since there is ample space we can do ideal proportions for the riser height and stair depth. Around 7" height and 11" depth is ideal I've read. We'll have something like three steps to the first landing, then a 90 degree turn up to the second floor just like in that staircase photo I linked to above.

He'll also be working on the lighting plan.

Here are the preliminary staircase options. One uses an 11" tread but it intrudes into the room quite a bit. The other uses a 10" tread. Of course, there is always the option of having a straight staircase instead of the L. Which do you guys prefer?

I think I prefer the 10" tread with the L staircase. One rule of thumb is that twice the rise plus (2r+R) the run should be 25 inches to be ideal. A 7.5" rise with a 10" tread is exactly 25.

You seem to have two more risers for the 11" option than the 10" option. Have you looked at an option with one more riser than the 10" version?

Summit Studio Architects - I have not. Could you explain the benefit of this option?

Assume you can do one fewer treads (and risers) by going to 10.5 inch treads. You now have saved one tread at the bottom of the stairs. More importantly, 1/2 inch per tread x 12 treads is 6 inches you're 4.5 inches away from getting to your preferred 2 treads at the bottom of the stairs.

11 treads between landings × 10 tread(run) = 110" between landings. 10 treads × 11" tread also = 110" between landings. 10.5"×11=115.5" or a 5.5" narrower landing. (Of course, you could move a wall out, which is why you need to get the layout of the stairs figured before the house plan is finished by the architect)

"Assume you can do one fewer treads (and risers) by going to 10.5 inch treads." - tread depth has nothing to do with how many risers you need to reach a predetermined elevation between floors... unless you are trying to stick to one of those rule of thumbs that are a dime a dozen, and would change by the age of the person using the stairs.

The comfort of the deeper tread is most noticeable when descending.

Is there a big difference between 10" and 10.5" treads? I have 10" treads in my current home which haven't felt small to me. What do most people have?

10" treads are the minimum now days except for a few places east coast. I have not designed anything less than a 10.5" tread plus ¾" nosing in the last 35 years. (And, I don't think I have gone much over a 7" rise very often... maybe 7.25) Sometimes it is more about what you are used to, or don't know what you are missing. An extra 5.5" in that room, instead of in the entry couldn't hurt. With the stairs turning into the room, the furniture at the top of the room feels disjointed from the rest of the grouping.

To clarify. There is nothing in the building code that requires a tread depth to riser height proportion. I do use a rule of thumb even though it's not required by code. Code allows a 4 inch riser and 10 inch tread. I can't imagine the mincing steps it would require to actually step on each one. The rule of thumb is a guideline to keep us from doing weird stuff that's not natural with the human stride.

7 inch risers with 11 inch treads are great but not always possible or desirable. The idea I proposed was to go with a little less tread and a little more rise to see if the stairs could fit the plan a little better. I have no idea what those actual numbers are since I don't have enough information... but your architect should.

I can't read the numbers either, but if we do some math...

As an example, let's assume that the 10" treads have 7.5" risers as mentioned. 15 risers × 7.5" = 16 risers @ 7 ¹/32 for the 11" treads.

If you use 10.5" treads, you only get to choose between 7.5" risers or 7.03125" risers. Older people will almost always choose the 7 ¹/32" riser, as not to exceed the 25" in that loose rule of thumb. The younger people either don't mind either way, or like the shorter rise just because it seems more luxurious. I have never had anyone say that they prefer a 10" over a 10.5" tread even if it doesn't match the one of several different rules of thumb perfectly. Obviously, you would not want to get extreme with 4" risers and 17" treads, even though it still fits the formula.

yay exciting! glad you're working through the stairs now - you obviously have such a vision for them so you'd hate for that to get lost in the "do it later" details!

For non-stairs related bits:

- that gorgeous feature wall in the bathroom is pretty irresistible =) Is there sufficient space on either side to enter/exit the shower? From my guesstimate there's not quite 2' on each side..

- on the second floor, could the closet (and doorway) of the left-most bedroom be flipped - moving the closet provides a bit of an acoustic barrier between the bedroom and the bathroom/toilet

- I think it was mentioned before: have only 1 sink in the upstairs bathroom so you can add a closet/storage in there for towels etc

- also as mentioned by others, wouldn't hurt to pop into the kitchen forum to really get that layout optimized

Cheers!

damiarain - the shower entrance/exit spaces are 2' 3" on both sides. It's approx 9' 5" from one end of the shower to the other so there is plenty of space to work with. The closet for the far left bedroom was relocated from your original design because it interfered with the window placement on the exterior wall. I wanted the window to be doubled in size to bring in light but unfortunately due to the exterior elevation I can't move it without it looking out of place so I decided to move the closet instead. I'll be sure to use lots of Roxul in the walls for sound dampening. :) I forgot about the single sink upstairs, nice catch! I'd be nice to get the updated DWG file from my architect so I can draw the room dimensions for the kitchen forum. Otherwise it would be difficult to work without knowing how big the space actually is.

Fred S - I can't figure out how to post high resolution images in Houzz. I've blown up the staircase areas for you as well as the wall dimensions. The dimensions are from the previous plan but I don't think the recent changes affected the dimensions of the living room.

Your picture of the 10" treads does not match the numbers.

So, if the 11" tread picture is the accurate one,

16 risers × 7.5" = 120" = 8" @ 15 risers on the 10" tread drawing...which does not meet code.... which would require one more step out into the room.

OR, the last step at the top of the stairs is not drawn in, and the 11" tread drawing would actually be 17 risers @ 7.0588"...which seems more plausible assuming about a 42" wide stair.

ETA; I just can't help but feel that the exactly 10' elevation change between floors is just a made up approximation, given that the math did not even get redone for the second option.... and I never see that exact number in real life without recutting every single wall stud from the standard 104 ⅝" for nominal 9' walls. It may not be off enough to make a significant difference at this stage...don't know how deep the floor joists/trusses are.

Fred, I can't explain the discrepancy. All I know is I have a run of 160" and there is 120" of vertical length from floor to floor. The height to the main floor top plate is 9' and then there is a 12" allowance above for joists, sheathing, and flooring. Using these numbers do you think the 10.5" tread will work?

Fred S - So I spoke with my architect and he advised that I can't finalize the staircase until the plans go through engineering. He provided the 12" joist allowance assuming 11 7/8" TGI joists for a good starting point.

So, that is likely a 121 ¾"+ total rise, or closer to 7⅝ risers @16.

I will get back to the 10.5" discussion later, but this detail also needs looked at. This is drawn with a 10" tread and 7.5" riser. A 7" riser and 10.5 or 11" tread would give more room under the stairs for the closet so the door would actually open. (Blue line is approx 7" rise 10.5" tread, 33" clearance)

.

Often people opt for 14" or 16" deep open web floor trusses so that the HVAC ductwork can be hidden in the floor instead of hanging below... which will effect the overall design and how much room is needed for the stairs. I never have understood how some people think they can design a house without understanding how it will be built simultaneously with the pretty part...the architects on houzz keep saying their schooling on such matters is the benefit of using an architect.

Fred S - To be fair to my architect, the closet was only recently thrown in there. He hasn't done the math yet to see if it's feasible. I know he would prefer me to only post finalized plans for this reason but I'm throwing them up here the moment I get them.

Having the closet there is a nice feature. I suppose we could do other types of doors if a swing out wouldn't have enough clearance, such as a pocket door or barn door or even leave it open and have hooks and shelving.

I did think about the open-web trusses - we'll see if they'll fit my budget. My architect thinks there is no need to run HVAC in the ceiling because the upstairs HVAC will be in the conditioned attic and the downstairs HVAC run through the conditioned crawlspace with a ceiling height approximately 5'. Each floor will have it's own air handler. However, I do like the idea of the open-web trusses since running HVAC through the ceiling will free up space in the attic for more storage and I can use a single air handler...

One thing about the stairs - do you want your formal living room to be right there as you come in the door, or do you want more of an entryway feel? Having the stairs come out further into the room does make the furniture space a little smaller, but to my eye it also helps divide the 'entry' space from the 'living room' space. Either way you can't actually put furniture where the stairs are even if they don't come out as far, as that whole space will be a walkway TO the stairs and to the closet underneath, so I'm not sure the stairs-stick-out-less option actually opens furniture placement up all that much. It just seems like it would until you start thinking about where you can actually put a chair or whatever.

Like I said, it depends what you want the space to be and how you anticipate using the formal living room.

PirateFoxy - Great points. I think the 10.5" tread depth might be ideal then if it intrudes more into the room for more separation between living room and entry without being as obtrusive as the 11" tread.

.... me again =) I swear I will stop thinking about this master suite eventually LoL

Instead of having the two small, square windows in the shower, what about flipping the bath/closet suite? By moving the water closet ever so slightly "down" and rotating the vanities: 1) the small square window that's centered under the gable can be in the WC (provides light but is private) and 2) a full size window can be added which would provide much more light for the bathroom.

(yellow is where the windows would go)

LOL, never stop. :) My architect actually spoke about the master bathroom today. He clarified that the shower/bathtub divider wall doesn't extend to the ceiling which allows the high windows to bring light into the room. Also, he wants to place tall, frosted windows on both sides of the shower at the ends to bring in more light. Not sure how that would look from the exterior elevation but it sounds like there's going to be plenty of light now. :)

That’s good! Since you’d mentioned the windows upstairs were basically set for the bedrooms I thought these ones might be too.

Another thought: will it be awkward to have a tall window shining directly onto the vanity mirror? At least it’s a north facing, frosted window so that should help mitigate the glare..

The windows are actually east facing but I don't think there's going to be glare because the frosted glass will soften the light and with the trees blocking most of the morning sun it won't get direct sunlight. I could always leave the bathroom door open behind me to block the glare too. ;)

Oh yeah you're right - it does face east - I apparently cropped that part out =) In that case, I would definitely consider moving the door to the left and rotating the vanity 90º. Avoids the reflection of the sun on the mirror in the morning and prevents you from getting hit by the door if you're at the vanity.

Hello everyone, it's been a while since my last post. I drilled my well which ended up being over 200 ft deep and costing ~13K to drill. Unfortunately I drilled it in the wrong spot. I was using a giant stump on the property as reference to drill because it was marked on the survey. Well, turns out the stump on the survey isn't the one I was using as reference. OOPS. I ended up needing to move the house and garage twenty something feet north to accommodate.

Since my original post it looks like certain construction details are going to change. For one, I don't need the Prosoco Cat-5 WRB. I still think it's one of the best products for this application but because much of my siding is protected by the wrap around porches, the fact that roof leaks will be minimized with a full standing seam metal roof, and the siding I'll be using is immune to the elements it seems like using Cat-5, which is over $500 for a 5 gal bucket is unnecessary. My builder recommended a product they have used in the past with great success by Tremco called Enviro-Dri. Prosoco also makes a product called MVP which is less than 1/3 of the price.

Speaking of siding, it doesn't look like I'll be using Boral. One of the issues with Boral is that it's very fragile. I have some samples and the edges will deteriorate quickly even when handled gently. I think once attached they work great though. Secondly, it's really expensive, like twice the price of fiber cement at least where I'm at. I spoke with Foreverboard and they're going to rip the magnesium oxide panels into clapboard siding for me. I'm using MgO for the wallboard so why not for the siding and possibly the roof deck too? It's a superior material.

No soil gas venting system. The radon levels in my area aren't too bad so I can get away with a sealed crawlspace with active exhaust fans that will depressurize the crawlspace, forcing conditioned air from above to enter the crawlspace instead of the other way around which is better for indoor air quality.

Finding an HVAC contractor has been extremely difficult. I've contacted almost every company in the area and most don't do residential new construction. The ones that do are completely booked up. I spoke with Cardinal Heating which estimated around $15-20 a square foot which for me would be $80K on the high end for a simple heat pump system. Looks like I'll be going with Ranger Heating which quoted me $30K. Single 4 ton heat pump, two zones. It's more expensive than I was expecting but I don't have a choice.

I'm still doing engineering. I hired a civil engineer who said he would be available in December. He's doing my soil testing, grading and erosion control plan and drainage plan, He keeps delaying and just asked for another one. I was originally planning on breaking ground this summer but he made me miss my window and it looks like fall at the earliest now since King County estimates permit approval will take 16-18 weeks.. It's not like he was the cheapest option either. I'm very disappointed.

I've been working on the garage. I added some awning roofs over the garage doors. I found a guy in Texas on Etsy who builds custom cedar doors like the ones in the photo. Very good price too - ~9K for all three shipped. I got a quote from another company that wanted at least $7300 per door!

If got a panel design from Premiere SIPS. I'll be using 6.5" Graphite impregnated SIPS for the walls which are R29.8 at 40 degrees. Here's what the preliminary panel drawing looks like:

Have you started building this house yet?!? Can you post some pictures?

Hello, I haven't started the actual construction of the house yet. I applied for my permits at the start of September and I'm still waiting. In the meantime, I'm working on having power installed. My utility company has requested that I provide two remote electric meters for my house and a future ADU and I'm building the meters right now. Hopefully I can break ground in late January.

Sounds super interesting. We're looking into many of the same techniques as you've mentioned. Looking forward to following along your progress. Can you share your ETSY door maker? I'm located in Texas. Thanks!

the door maker is craftdoorsusa on Etsy. The owner’s name is Sam I believe. I’ll update my post on the house project tonight.

1-3-2019 Update

Looking back at my original post I laugh at my novice aspirations. Prior to making that initial post I had done so much research on building products and I thought that I had a great plan for which products to use. What I didn't really factor in was availability and local labor rates. If you watch Youtube and read forum posts you'll think every contractor knows about best practices for designing a durable and efficient building envelope and being up to date on the latest products, especially those that offer great labor savings, but you'd be wrong. I've discovered that these contractors are actually the minority and the majority are doing things the way they've always done it and are stubborn to change. Even if they're willing to try something new they want to charge a premium to do it so it ends up being more expensive even for something that supposedly cuts labor significantly. Case in point, it's been difficult finding a framer experienced in SIPs. The panels go up super quick but so many contractors want to charge a huge premium so that it ends up being more expensive than if you stick-framed in.

Secondly, a lot of products just aren't available locally, at least for a good price. Case in point, Boral siding and trim. It looks like great stuff and I've read posts from others who say it's about the same price as fiber cement but that's not true here in Seattle. It's like double the price of fiber cement here so I can't justify using it. Other products like Tremco ExoAir Trio expanding foam, Delta Trela roofing underlayment, etc. I wanted to use but I can't even source. A few online shops carry it but at very high prices. I've had to completely change the products I'm using and the techniques based on what's available locally for a good price as well as what the contractors are comfortable installing. Here are a few revisions:

Henry Blueskin VP100 peel & stick WRB. Windows flashed with Henry Air-Bloc LF. No more Tremco Enviro-Dri (contractor doesn't want to apply it, says it's a pain)

No rainscreen under the metal roof now. Standing seam roofing panels directly fastened to a full ice & water shield now.

Hardie pre-painted fiber cement lap siding instead of Boral or magnesium oxide. I wasn't able to get magnesium oxide siding, unfortunately. Getting pre-painted siding saves me a bit of money vs having the house painted after factoring in the additional cost for the siding.

I've been getting bids so that I have some rough numbers to work off of to create a budget for my construction loan. I also tried to line up some work with contractors but I've realized it's better to just get your permit approved first and then bid out the jobs.

As far as the permit, King County requested some revisions in the drainage plan so I'm working on fixing that.

On another note, I'm updating my detached garage. Instead of a 1.5 story I'm doing a full 2 story to maximize the usable space. I'm also revising the footprint to a simple rectangle and the roof to a single gable roof, probably a 6/12 pitch. Super simple and I think the cost savings from doing this will offset the additional cost of the taller walls and increased siding area.

That's it for now, hopefully I'll have more to share soon.

It's been almost a year since my last post and the project is moving along. On a whim I decided to do the garage and house foundations with ICF.

I also decided to experiment with using Fast-foot forms. I must say, they're really nice and would highly recommend them. Here's a photo of the garage forms:

The nice thing about the fast-foot is that there were parts of the ground that were much lower and it would have been a lot more work to block it with wood forms. Instead, the fast-foot fabric kept the concrete from spilling out. In fact, there was no spill-out whatsoever so I used less concrete than I initially thought I would use.

Here's the house foundation:

For the staircase, I decided on an open riser design. The treads had to be thicker to minimize the gap between the treads. The wood is beech, and the railing powder coated steel. My staircase manufacturer's pricing is unreal - only $5,000! His website is fssirio.com