House plan advise
6 years ago
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- 6 years agolast modified: 6 years ago
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help and advise on house plan/style
Comments (6)Hello Bigtrain333: We are also looking to build a retirement home, but in Northern Georgia, and we too are considering a Timber Frame construction using (SIP) Structural Insulated Panels for the framing. One person I have been in contact with is Jeff Johnson in Franklin, North Carolina (see his contact info below). Ironically, Jeff has resently built a Timber Frame Home only a mile away from our present home here in Naples, Florida! Amazing coincidence! Infact it is on his web site "Home Page Images" (green colored home w/dark brown timber frame exterior accents). My wife and I have driven by that home and it looks beautiful! Jeff has also asked the Owners if it would be OK for us see to the inside of their home, which they happily agreed, so we will certainly be calling them to setup an appropriate time to visit. After emailing and talking to Jeff he too agrees that SIP's are the most cost effective way of enclosing a Timber Frame home, plus they are Energy Star Compliant and provide the highest insulation factor for the money. One thing to consider when Designing a Timber Frame home is to keep it simple! The more complex your design the more it will cost...Log homes have the same issue. This is why our Prow Front Chalet design has the Living & Dinning Area (Great Rm), Kitchen, Mast.Bed/Bath plus Laundry Rm/Half Bath...all on the Main Floor. The total square footage is approx. 1,500 sq. ft. or 30ft. wide x 50 ft. long. The 2nd Floor has a Bed/Bath and small Loft sitting area over the Mast. Bath and Laun/half Bath area below. Which allows all the Main Floor ceilings to be open all the way up to the Timber Frame Roof Rafters. and with a Gable Dormer over the 2nd Floor, that also will have vaulted celings. I've found Jeff to be a wealth of information and a very easy person to communicate with. He has reviewed our Preliminary Home Design and already has ideas how to lower construction costs. You may want to talk to Jeff about your home design before you reject the idea of building a Timer Frame Home completely. Yes a Timber Frame home is more expensive then a normal home, but I for one would rather have well built smaller home then a larger poorer built home that will require more maintenance in the long run! If anyone out there has prior experience, positive or especially negative with Timber Frame construction? Please provide your feedback so we can avoid those issues before we proceed ahead with our project? Good luck BigTrain and thanks to anyone who can provide us feedback! Jeff Johnson Timber Frames, Inc. http://jeffjohnsontimberframes.com/new/ 562 Terrell Road Franklin, North Carolina 28734 PHONE: Local.......828-524-7585 Toll Free...866-524-7585 Fax.........828-524-5611 Cell........828-342-5393...See MorePlease advise/help with Kitchen Plans – several drawings of plans
Comments (3)Regarding the refrigerator -- we have just under 33" b/w the refrigerator handle and the counter edge across from it - and it's much too shallow an aisle! We were stuck with it b/c of the numerous measuring errors on the part of our KD. While it's something we've adapted to - if someone is in the refrigerator no one can pass by - it's not what I wanted! (I was aiming for 48".) . However, it's your home and Kitchen - so it's your choice how to handle it. We're here to give you advice - with no financial benefit accruing from specific designs/appliances/etc. - and it's your choice whether to take it or not. I understand that you're used to what you have and you can't imagine anything better - but keep in mind that: Human beings are very adaptable. We can adapt to anything - good or bad - even the worst layouts! We adapt so well that we tell ourselves it's fine the way it is - we cannot imagine doing it differently or making it better. But, what if it could be better? If you ask just about anyone here who took our advice and changed their layout to make it better, they will tell you they never realized it could be so much better and wondered how they had lived with the issues for so long! (The answer is back to the adaptability of human beings!) Human beings are resistant to change. Even when something can be made better, we resist change. We like what we know and we have a hard time seeing other ways to do things - even if they could be so much better! And, as I mentioned before, we've adapted to what we have - both the good and the bad. [This is not specific to you - we are all resistant to change to some extent!] Once we get past that resistance and start opening up to new ideas, though, it can be amazing what we can come up with - and I don't mean just the people here helping you, I mean you and your family coming up with new ideas as well! So, why not at least try for something better and give others a chance to come up with a better design? If you are not open to looking at other options, then so be it - as I said before, it's your Kitchen, so you can do what you want with it. Good luck with your remodel!...See MoreNeed advise on house plans
Comments (32)The thing about open plans, is if someone really likes the open concept, they usually want a sink on the island, whether it's the clean-up sink, or the prep sink, because they want to face the kids, or the guests sitting at the island, or face the action in the living areas. Does the DW go under the drainboard of the sink? Where would you store dishes, if the clean-up sink is on the perimeter? If there is space for the DW on the perimeter, as NJ Mom drew the layout, then consider a prep sink on the island. More time is spent prepping than cooking and doing dishes. Helpers can also use the second sink, when you entertain. I like the idea of two sinks for that reason--you can be prepping or cooking, and a helper can be loading or unloading the DW, or gathering dishes to set the table, but that works better if the zones don't cross. In the layout I posted above, the zones are separate. All the prep/cooking is on one side of the kitchen, and DW/dish storage is on the other side. If the DW is on the perimeter pantry wall, then the cook will need to pass through the clean-up zone to get to the fridge. I wouldn't want the fridge in the pantry, but if you do, singhc, then perishables could be gathered at the beginning of prep and taken to the sink on the island. I'd probably forget the butter, or decide I had space in the skillet for another carrot, so I'd be stuck traipsing back and forth....See MoreFirst time home Builder Looking for Advise on Plan
Comments (46)I own a 1960s tract home in Southern California. One would think, based on its location, that I would have an abundance of light streaming in. I don't, though, because of the orientation of the house and the location of the rooms and windows. I agree with David and others that you've got to look for a plan that solves this issue first. Given that your front door faces south, it seems to me that your garage should be in the southwest corner. Then use the southeast corner for your main living area (e.g. your great room). The kitchen and dining areas could be in the northeast corner. I would move the bedrooms to the back (north) side of the house, and perhaps the master could be behind the garage in the northwest corner. It would be very secluded there. With Tamara's plan, while better than yours, the bedrooms are still clustered in the south and east sides of the house, and the main living spaces are all of the north side, where you're not going to get much light during the day....See MoreRelated Professionals
Clarksville General Contractors · Franklin General Contractors · Orangevale General Contractors · Summit General Contractors · Walnut Park General Contractors · North Bergen Architects & Building Designers · Grover Beach Home Builders · Midlothian Home Builders · Riverton Home Builders · Baton Rouge Architects & Building Designers · Manchester Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Ames General Contractors · Cedar Hill General Contractors · DeRidder General Contractors · Highland City General Contractors- 6 years ago
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