new build-What size 2nd story windows are you using? Sill heights?
Comments (15)
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Window Egress.. 2nd story ..height from floor to window sill
Comments (8)I believe your building code is taken from the 2012 IRC. You should verify that with the building department. If that is the correct code and has not been amended, the applicable section is not Means of Egress (R311) but Emergency Escape and Rescue Openings (R310). One of these escape openings must be located in each sleeping room on all floors including habitable attics and basements. There are other requirements for basements. When the escape opening is a window, the sill height must be no more than 44 inches above the floor. The minimum net clear opening is 5.7 s.f. except on the ground floor where it must be 5 s.f. The minimum opening height is 24" and the minimum width is 20 inches. Tempered glass would be required if the window glass was within a certain distance of a door or the floor....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 More2nd floor seems hot in New build
Comments (6)There will always be temperature differences even from one side of the house to the other. I live in a single story home and installed a 4 zone set up before I moved in here 6 or so months ago I've seen temperature differences of 10 degrees from one side of the house to the other. Obviously those without zoning could only guess as to what the difference is in their home... unless of course they happen to put a thermostat in those areas. In a two story home you fight a fight that can be even worse, because the natural flow of heat is that it rises to the top of the ceiling however high that goes. The cause of this problem is associated with a few different things and each of these things can have an effect on the problem to 'one degree' or another. The room(s) that are hotter have no control to operate the HVAC system. If these room(s) do have the control to operate the HVAC system other areas of the home are probably too cool in order to make these hotter room(s) comfortable. There may not be enough air flow to these room(s) to adequately control the load being placed on the room(s). They may not be insulated properly. I know this sounds stupid, but you'd be surprised how many times in a given year I see poorly and even NO insulation on the opposite side of a 140 degree attic that the attic even suffers from poor ventilation among other serious problems. How does the sun fall on these areas? Typically the west sun will pose many challenges on temperature control within the home. There are more and more homes that have HVAC zoning from one degree to another. The problem is that many times the approach is completely wrong and in some cases the approach is not adequately used to address problem areas with in the home. An air conditioner will only do the best it can when it is designed to handle areas of the home like this. You could easily have rooms within the 2 zone set up that are 5 or more degrees apart. If you lack control of the system the system doesn't know that it's 5, 10, 12 degrees hotter 15 feet from the control that is with in that zone. It would be like having 3 rooms on first floor, 3 rooms on second floor with 2 light switches. Your complaint would then be my light bill is too high why can't I shut the lights off in the rooms I am not using? With that said, zoning is complicated because of sizing. Single speed systems can easily be zoned and will work better than a single speed non-zoned system. However, due to sizing it complicates things. I often say zoning isn't for everyone nor every house. It is a 'hands on' type thing that should only be discussed in person with a pro at your house. A 2 speed or more HVAC system is a much better candidate for zoning... but costs to do it properly are prohibitive for most. Without that, you're likely to be faced with what you have now or what you suspect you will be faced with given your limited knowledge of the situation. For more information with video on this subject: 2 Story HVAC zoning information...See MoreTransition from 2nd story front entrance to 1st story driveway/street
Comments (15)"... planning to bring the drive up as high as possible now, though ... we don't want it so high that it starts to block that lower-level window on the left." Your problem with getting good feedback is going to be that you're starting this process without properly introducing people to the surrounding site. We have only a snippet of information ... more or less a theoretical house front. Not a complete front yard or a driveway or even a good picture that shows the land/house relationship. As it is, every solution offered is already limited by your own preconceived notions, which limit what you show us. We've been here before and didn't come to a conclusion that you got excited. The set-up now is little different. Whatever you do architecturally, outside of changing the main entrance to the basement floor, will make no difference insofar as solving the problem, which has not yet been clearly identified (the path from parking-to-front-door problem.) No one can investigate how changing the approach to the house might work toward solving your problem. Most other threads on the forum seem to reach a more or less successful conclusion because they involve a little planting or a simple problem. Here, the problem is much more complex, but the base information is threadbare. Like a newspaper that starts with the front page headlines, and then goes to article titles, and then on to elaboration of details, is how you should be presenting information. We should see the whole front yard at a distance, some sequential pictures that show the present approach, some wide span scenes (from slightly overlapping pictures) that show the area from at least 2, or maybe three different points of view, since there is topography involved. (Each point of view should be a complete scene ... not a disconnected picture.) A landscape architect could not assess and explore the issue with so little information to go on. I'm not trying to be a downer about your thread or issue, but trying to say if you want to be happy when you leave, you've got to produce enough information to work with....See More
Becky
5 years agoIf the egress codes are the governing requirements on size and placement, the only operator that is going to allow you to sidestep that low threshold height is going to be a casement or a larger slider.
That is what I thought. Part of my problem is that I disagree with the way the manufactures are interpreting the code requirement. I think they are being very conservative for liability reasons when they state which windows meet code. For a double hung window they are only using the opening provided by the lower sash. If both sashes open, tilt and pop out, I should be able to count the entire opening (or at least 80-90%) towards the 5.7 SF requirement. If there was a local building inspector, I could argue my case with him/her. There are no building permits required here, thus no inspections. Technically I can build what I want. The only folks that can balk are the bank and insurance company. They'll both do an appraisal but doubtful they'll do an inspection and/or that an appraiser would note window sizes. That said, my intent is to build per code and keep my family safe. I just feel like one requirement is creating an unsafe low sill height.
Why don't you post floor plans and elevations, so that folks have something common in which to respond?
Will do. Please see below.
A lot depends on the style of house. Did you engage an architect in the design?
LOL! I think we both know I probably wouldn't be asking the question if I had done that! :) I'm using the builder's designer. I think it would be smoother if the builder weren't in the middle translating. :)
Architectrunnerguy
5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago
cpartist
5 years ago
PROVirgil Carter Fine Art
5 years agoSince you asked about second floor windows, I'd suggest a traditional approach often used in 2- and 3-story traditional residences, i.e., the windows on the first floor were the largest; the windows on the second floor were visually smaller; and the windows on the third or any other upper level, such as dormers, were the smallest of all. This sizing by floor level, tended to emphasize perspective (the closest windows were largest, and the highest windows were smallest), and usually created a pleasing vertical proportion to a house.
Here's an example of this sizing, in a simple 3-bay, end gable Colonial house, which I find very pleasing and attractive. Can you see the difference it makes when windows get smaller as they get taller?
Another example, in a 5-bay Federal style house, where windows differ in size based on the floor in which they are located:
Here's a classic 3-bay Colonial with windows of two sizes:
Looking at your elevation, have you considered discussing with your designer, whether or not the design quality would be improved if your main or central house was either a 3-bay, or a 5-bay design, but not a combination of the two?
The front facing gable element (on the far right), and what I assume is the garage and connecting element (on the far left) could be treated as later additions to the earlier "center" home, for an interesting design effect. This "add on" strategy was a common approach for building and enlarging homes in the 18th and 19th centuries.
But some further design consideration would strengthen the front facade. For example the gable element on the right seemingly can't decide if its a 2-bay or single bay element.
The garage and connecting element appear to simply be mechanical additions, without much design though given to the windows, proportions and rhythm of that large element of the house.
If the windows on the right and left were give additional design consideration, and the center portion became either a 3- or 5- bay element, there would be a more harmonious façade, and strengthened design.
Good luck on your project.
Becky
5 years agocpartist
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoThat sounds like a lovely way to disguise mismatched windows. Do you have a picture of the window seat/egress window? I tried searching through your older posts, but didn't see it.
But of course. LOL.
My egress window goes higher than my other three windows.
Becky thanked cpartistBecky
5 years agoBecky
5 years agoBecky
5 years agoI took everyone's advise (or tried to!) and resized/relocated windows. I couldn't get any traction with the builder revising the plans, so I did this on my own. Does this look any better?? I changed to 3-0 x4-6 windows on my 2nd floor. I also flipped the garage to a front entry instead of side entry. I've always wanted a side entry, but a front entry works better with the site grades and might actually help balance the front elevation. What do you think?
A 3-0 X 5-2 double-hung may be the minimum size for some window models but others will meet it with a size of 3-0 X 5-0.
Yes! I can do a 3-0 x 4-6 double hung which meets egress requirements by switching to a different series within the same brand. I think I'll be happier knowing all the windows meet egress requirements AND are higher than 18" above the floor! Win-win!
Virgil Carter Fine Art